Portable 1750L Sixty Four Level Chess Computer
(600-2444)                 Operation                  Faxback Doc. # 32304

BASIC OPERATION

TURNING THE GAME BOARD ON OR OFF

Move GO/STOP to GO to turn on the game board (and return to a saved game).

Move GO/STOP to STOP to save the game and turn off the computer.  The
computer stores all game positions and any next-move calculations it was
computing.

NOTE:  If you move GO/STOP to STOP to save a game and turn off the
       computer, wait at least 3 seconds before turning on the computer
       again.

STORING/REMOVING GAME PIECES

1.  Press down on the storage compartment cover, then slide the cover in
    the direction of the arrow.

2.  Lift and remove the cover.

3.  Replace or remove the pieces from the compartment.

4.  Replace the cover.

    NOTE:  Not all of the supplied game pieces will fit into the piece
           storage compartment.  You must leave some of the pieces on the
           game board or store the extra game pieces separately.

TURNING THE SOUND ON OR OFF

You can turn the computer's sound on or off anytime during your turn.

NOTE:  If you turn the computer's sound off, it does not beep even when you
       make an illegal move.

The computer's sound is normally on.  To turn the computer's sound off,
press (speaker symbol) until the computer sounds one long beep.

To turn the sound back on, press (speaker symbol) until the computer sounds
one short beep.

STARTING A NEW GAME

Press NEW GAME to start a new game and erase any game stored in memory.
If the sound is on, the computer beeps 5 times.

NOTE:  The computer always starts a new game with you playing white pieces
       and your opponent playing black pieces.

ENTERING MOVES

Playing chess against the computer is like playing with a human opponent
- you make your move, and the computer responds with its move.  The only
difference is that you must physically move both your piece and the
computer's.

To make a move, press down gently on the center of the FROM square, then
the TO square.  The FROM square is the current location of the piece you
plan to move; the TO square is where you are moving the piece.

NOTE:  [Black] lights to indicate that it is white's turn to move.

NOTE:  [white] lights to indicate that it is black's turn to move.

Follow these steps to enter moves.

1.  When it is your turn to move, press down the piece you want to move on
    the FROM square.  [Black] flashes brightly and dims, a rank board light
    shows the rank the piece is on, and a file board light shows the file
    the piece is on. Together, the rank and file board lights show the FROM
    square.

2.  Gently press the piece down on the TO square where you want to move
    it.  [Black] flashes brightly and turns off, the rank/file board lights
    turn off, then [white] flashes while the computer plans its move.

    NOTE:  If you do not want to wait for the computer to calculate its
           move, press PLAY to force the computer to make a move.

3.  When the computer is ready to move or if you pressed PLAY to force a
    move, [white] lights continuously and the rank/file board lights show
    the FROM square for the piece the computer wants to move.

4.  Press the computer's piece down on the FROM square.  [White] flashes
    once, and the rank/file board lights show the TO square.

5.  Gently press the computer's piece down on the TO square.  [White] and
    the rank/file board lights turn off, then [black] lights to indicate it
    is your turn to move.

Here's an example of how to move pieces and communicate with the computer.
Try it now!

1.  Press the white pawn on square E2.  [Black] flashes once, and the rank/
    file board lights show square E2.

2.  Move the pawn to square E4 and press it on the square.  [Black] turns
    off, and [white] flashes on the display while the computer calculates
    its move.

When the computer calculates its move, the rank/file board lights might
show square C7 to indicate that the computer wants to move a pawn from
square C7 (the FROM square).

3.  Press the black pawn on the FROM square.  The rank/file board lights
    might show square C5 to indicate that the computer wants to move a pawn
    from the FROM square to square C5 (the TO square).

4.  Press the black pawn on the TO square.  [White] turns off, and [black]
    lights to indicate it is your turn to move.

For each move, remember the three basic steps: press, move, and press
again.

TAKING BACK MOVES

If you press down on a from square, but you decide not to make that move,
press the piece down on the FROM square again.  The rank/file board lights
turn off, and you can enter another move.

If you change you mind after completing a move, you must wait for the
computer to indicate its move.  Enter the computer's move, then press TAKE
BACK.  The rank/file board lights show you how to take back its last move.
After you take back the computer's move, press TAKE BACK again.  Then the
rank/file board lights show you how to take back your last move.

For example:

1.  Press TAKE BACK.  The rank/file board lights show the TO square of the
    last move.

2.  Press the piece on the indicated TO square.  The rank/file board lights
    change to slow the FROM square of the last move.

3.  Move the piece from the TO square to the FROM square.

4.  Press the piece on the indicated FROM square.

5.  Repeat Steps 1 through 4 to take back additional moves.  You can take
    back up to 6 moves (three of your moves and three of the computer's
    moves).

As you take back moves, the computer will not remind you to return a
previously captured piece to the board nor a castled rook to its original
square.  If you are not sure about the position of a previously captured
piece or castled rook, see "Verifying Piece Positions", on Faxback Doc.
# 32299.

ILLEGAL MOVES

The computer only allows moves that comply with the rules of chess.

If the computer detects an illegal move or error, it sounds an error tone
(if the sound is on).  The display still shows the FROM square, and the
rank/file board lights remain unchanged.

Here are the main things that cause the computer to indicate an illegal
move:

  Pressing on a piece of the wrong color (e.g., it is white's turn and you
  press on a black piece).

  Pressing on the wrong square when making the computer's move (e.g., the
  rank/file board lights show square C5 and you press square B5).

  Pressing on a TO square without pressing on a FROM square first.

  Moving a piece that puts or leaves your own king in check or checkmate.

FORCING THE COMPUTER'S MOVE

When it is the computer's turn, you can press PLAY to force the computer to
make an immediate move.

NOTE:  At the mate finder level (B8), pressing PLAY does not cause the
       computer to make a move. Instead, the computer sounds an error beep.
       See "Mate Finder Level (B8)", on Faxback Doc. # 32298.

CHANGING SIDES WITH THE COMPUTER DURING A GAME

To change sides with the computer, press PLAY when it is your turn to move.
[Black] flashes while the computer takes over your pieces and makes a move.
Then you can enter moves for the computer's side and continue to play the
same game.

To watch the computer plays against itself, simply press PLAY every time
it is your turn to move.

PLAYING BLACK FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE GAME BOARD

Normally the computer plays the black pieces on top of the game board and
you play the white pieces on the bottom.  If you want to play the black
pieces from the bottom, follow these steps.

1.  Place the Pieces on the board. Be sure the black pieces are on the side
    nearest you.

2.  Press NEW GAME, then press PLAY.  [Black] flashes, then the computer
    indicates the first move for the white pieces.

PLAYING AGAINST ANOTHER PERSON

The computer has a 2-player mode that lets you use it as a referee when you
play against another person.

To use the 2-player mode, press TWO PLAYER.  SET UP/TWO PLAYER lights.

When playing against another person, if you want to know what the computer
would do in a certain position, press PLAY.  [white] or [black] flashes,
then the computer makes the next move.  After it has made the move, the
2-player mode remains in effect and you can continue the game.

To return to the automatic mode, press TWO PLAYER again.

GAME INDICATORS

Checkmate

When a checkmate occurs on the board, CHECK and END light.  Press NEW GAME
to start a new game.

Check

Whenever a check occurs on the board.  CHECK lights.

Stalemate

When the computer detects the conditions for a stalemate, END lights.

When END (only) lights, the game is over and cannot be continued.  However,
you can take back moves (see "Taking Back Moves", above), and then continue
play by making your next move or pressing PLAY.

MOVING SPECIAL MOVES

En Passant Capture

The computer recognizes when you capture a piece en passant, and it can
decide to capture a piece en passant, as well.

When performing an en passant capture, the computer first indicates the TO
square information for its pawn.  Then the computer displays the TO square
of the captured pawn.  Press the square and take away the captured pawn.

NOTE:  For more information about capturing en passant, see "Capturing En
       Passant" under "Game Rules" on Faxback Doc. # 32297.

Pawn Promotion

When you promote a pawn, press your pawn down on its FROM square, as usual.
To promote to a Queen, simply press down on the TO square, and the computer
automatically changes your pawn to a Queen.

If you want to underpromote (to a Rook, Bishop or knight), first press pawn
down on its FROM square.  Next, before pressing down on the TO square,
press the piece symbol key for the desired piece to enter your choice into
the computer.  Now move your pawn to the 8th rank.

The computer can also promote and underpromote.  When it promotes one of
its own pieces to a Queen, it makes its move as usual.  When it
underpromotes, it flashes the lights for its TO square after you have moved
its piece to that square.  Use the piece symbol keys to find out which
piece it chose to underpromote to.

NOTES:  You can substitute the promoted piece if one is available,
        but you don't need to.

The computer accepts the pawn as the piece it was promoted to.  All you
need to do is remember which pawn is yours or the computer's promoted
piece.  (To make this easier, you can put a piece of tape on top of the
promoted piece to mark it.)

During a game, you can use the piece symbol keys to tell which piece the
computer promoted its pawn to (see "Verifying Piece Positions" on Faxback
Doc. # 32299).

Castling

The computer castles whenever it determines that such a move is desirable.
You must than move the computer's king first, then its rook.

The computer recognizes when you choose to castle if you move your king
first.  When you properly move your king two squares, the computer
recognizes the move as the first part of castling and waits for the next
move.

NOTES:  Castling is a king's move.  If you attempt to castle by moving your
        rook before moving the king, the computer accepts the rook's move
        as a valid move, but will not let you complete the castle by moving
        the king.  You must take back the rook's move, then castle by
        moving the king first.  See "Taking Back Moves", above.

        If you move your rook incorrectly when castling and you moved your
        king first, the rank/file board lights show the correct TO square.
        Press the rook on the correct TO square.

For example, follow these steps to perform a white queen's side castle.

1.  Press the white king on square E1.  The rank/file board lights show
    square E1.

2.  Move the white king to square C1 and press it on the square.  The rank/
    file board lights show square A1.

3.  Press the white rook on square A1.  The rank/file board lights show
    square D1.

4.  Move the white rook to square D1 and press it on the square.  [White]
    flashes to indicate it is black's turn to move.

Follow these steps to perform a black king's side castle for the computer.

1.  Press the black king on square E8.  The rank/file board lights show
    square E8.

2.  Move the black king to square G8 and press it on the square.  The rank/
    file board lights show square H8.

3.  Press the black rook on square H8.  The rank/file board lights show
    square F8.

4.  Move the black rook to square F8 and press it on the square.  [Black]
    lights to indicate it is white's turn to move.


HAVING THE COMPUTER SUGGEST A MOVE

The computer can suggest moves for you during a game.

To see what the computer would do in your situation, press PLAY during
your turn.  [Black] flashes as the computer considers the move, then the
rank/file board lights show the FROM square for the suggested move.

To make the move, simply press the piece on the indicated FROM square.
The computer then shows the TO square for the suggested move.  Press the
piece on the indicated TO square.

NOTE:   If you do not want to accept the suggested move,. you must make
        the move then take it back (see "Taking Back Moves", above).


(LB/eb 04/26/96)

Privacy Policy