keesan
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response 147 of 198:
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Dec 13 03:33 UTC 2000 |
The Chess Shareware site is less busy in the afternoon. I could not figure
out how to download a file with Arachne (I had done a .jpg okay) but instead
used my beta-test browser, which for some reason displayed only the first
few pages of the site, A through the middle of D, so I downloaded the chess
programs for DOS from that part of the alphabet. I could tab to the other
links and see their names, so I also, somewhat blind, download sibir106.zip,
Siberian chess (one of several by Russian authors).
The results:
Chendos or chenard. Unzipped to ONE .exe file chenard.exe. No instructions,
no help of any sort by pressing any F keys. ESC quits (that was nice to know,
instead of needing to reboot). Checked for the desired features.
1. Nice VGA screen in few colors, 2D (sides parallel).
2. The game starts off by asking who plays which side (it can be the computer
playing itself or two humans) and how many second per move - he wanted to
adjust the level and should be able to handle 60 seconds (type in the number).
3. No mouse (which he preferred) but, unlike a program he rejected, which
required some odd combination of arrow keys, ins, and del, this one only
requires that you move to the piece, Enter, move to where it goes, Enter.
So do the other programs that I tested which use cursor keys.
4. Drawbacks - no instructions, so I don't know any way to take back a move.
ChessFX - 1992. It comes up as a very colorful screen with no instructions,
F1 does nothing, mouse does nothing, arrow keys do nothing. ESC quits.
I quit. Chessfx is only 53K and it looks like most of that is graphics.
(Chendos was 71K)
The third small program was Clueless, 47K zipped. It is for people who always
like to win.
1. Nice readable screen (EGA?), 2D.
2. The game starts by asking which of six levels you want. There is a help
file explaining that you can set the computer to make random moves, or to pick
the very worst move, or levels 4 and 5 let it think a bit and 6 is for people
who have a lot of time.
3. After asking you to make this one simple choice (with a mouse) all you
have to do is move pieces, again with a mouse.
I think he will like this one. It does all that he asked for and has no
confusing menus to ignore. To exit type ESC.
Next is another smaller program Cyrus (110K, 1985).
1. Type Cyrus and the board appears immediately. EGA, 3D, but very legible.
2. F1 Help, L to select levels 1 to 16. He can do this easily.
3. No mouse, but simple arrowkey/enter - arrowkey/enter. To start you have
to hit the spacebar, which I hope is not too much to learn.
(This one is borderline, depending what he thinks of the screen and if he can
remember to hit the space bar first).
It is tricky to exit, F1, Q, Y. He will use the reset button, I am sure.
Siberian chess, 94K.
1. Nice readable EGA screen, pieces are black of white, hit Enter (OK).
There is a menu but you can ignore it for a while.
2. Pieces can be moved with a mouse, or by tuping the moves (c1d1). Good.
3. The menu is clearly labelled LEVEL and ranges from easy to hard but is
described in terms of moves per minutes. He will have to learn.
This one is a winner - has everything he claimed to want: square board in
simple recognizable colors, mouse, and easy to set levels, and on top of that
the authors are Russian (three of them). The game is in English. Alt-X.
Cyberchess. Comes on in CGA, glaring colors with a confusing ad, three
screens are displayed before you get to the actual board. I was able to turn
off the sound effects. You have to hit the space bar to start. The board
is very hard to understand and has lots of flashing lights. But it does work
with a mouse and you can set the levels to + or -. I expect this one will
be an instant reject because of its looks. ESC exits, thank goodness.
Dabbabbo (1998), and AVOG (800) are command-line only. Q - quit.
CCSYSTEM, 700K, has made very good use of its size.
1. Extremely attractive 2D board (3D option available) which comes up
immediately, in SVGA (it detects CGA, HERC, VGA or SVGA).
2. Realistic mouse movement of the pieces, as if they were really moving
rather than teleporting themselves from one square to another..
3. For those who want it, the menu can be made to appear by right click at
screen top. You can set levels from Beginner, to Learning, to Thinking. He
explicitly wanted to set Beginner etc. as words (like in the Windows Chess
that crashed the computer). There is a way to undo a move (most programs have
this, Clueless did not seem to, Chenard did not say.)
This one is a clear winner, and will fit comfortably in the 10M that we will
free up by deleting Windows and its chess game.
Finally, Chessmaster 2000, 1986.
1. A CGA version with a square board, but really odd color combinations,
mostly including hot pink and chartreuse green. You get a choice of about
ten equally confusing colors - only one of which gives you one side with black
in it.
2. No mouse, but Arrow/Enter.
3. Ctl-L to change the level. F1 help, F10 menu, and I think this is more
than he can manage.
We will install CCsystem, Siberian chess, and one other game of his choice,
probably Clueless because it uses a mouse and he can set it so his grandson
always wins, but possibly Chenard or Cyrus or Chessmaster.
When he gets tired of these, we have the letters D through Z.
I would never have guessed there were so many chess programs around.
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keesan
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response 162 of 198:
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Dec 14 02:53 UTC 2000 |
I typed !man chess at the main prompt:
man - event not found.
Please be more specific. All I know about Unix I learned here.
The copy of Chessmaster 2000, a newer version, that someone sent me, meets
all the criteria - nice readable screen (with adjustable board colors),
inoffensive sounds (that you can turn off - choice of music, beeps, or a voice
saying "Gotcha!"), mouse or keyboard or joystick, an enormous choice of levels
and ways to set them. Only problem is that it does not come up ready to play
a new game. You have to learn (shudder) to press ESC for the menu, arrow down
to New, and press Enter. If he learned to set levels in WEP chess, he should
be able to manage this, if written down neatly.
There are all sorts of interesting things to do besides actually play chess,
such as look at famous games (if I can figure out how), some of which were
played by Russians.
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