EXCALIBUR 375-2 LCD Chess & Checkers - Manual (Page 3)

SCOrE : Your display normally shows the
number of the current move. If instead
you want to see the piece-score of your
current position, turn this option on. The
scoring totals the following values:
Pawns—1, Knights—3, Bishops—3,
Rooks—5, and Queen—9.
PLAYr : Select between: ‘ 1 ’—Human vs
Computer; ‘ 2 ’—Human vs Human;
‘ 0 ’—Computer vs Computer.
HELP : When this option is turned on , all
legal moves for the selected piece will be
shown at one time.
InFO : When turned on, this option will
display the score, depth of search (num-
ber of moves LCD Chess is "thinking
ahead"), best move it is considering
playing, and clock times. These will be
displayed while the computer is thinking
at its higher levels.
CLrBr : Use this option to clear the chess
board for easier problem setup. Pressing
SETUP now, will enter setup mode with
the chess board cleared of all pieces
except a White king. You must also place
a Black king on the board to exit setup
mode.
SOUnd : Select between: ‘ 2 ’—All sound
on; ‘ 1 ’—No sound on key presses; ‘ 0 ’—
No sound, except for error buzzes.
SLEEP : Adjust the automatic shut off time
with this key. Setting it to ‘ 0 ’ will disable
auto shut-off altogether.
FLiP : Use this option to flip the chess
board around.
SETUP KEY
Press this key to promote a pawn that
reaches your opponent’s back rank to a
piece other than a queen. (The promotion
to a queen is the most common, so it is
automatic.) You can also use this key to
set up special positions (see page 10.)
†/„ KEY (CONTRAST)
Press this key repeatedly to adjust the dis-
play contrast to one of sixteen settings.
This allows you to compensate for differ-
ences in lighting and battery strength.
NEW GAME KEY
Use this key to start a new game.
RATING KEY
LCD Chess rates your play! Use this key
to view your current rating. Also use it to
enter game results for a new rating if the
‘O’ symbol is on, showing you played a
ratable game with no hints or take-backs.
How to Update Your Rating:
While viewing your rating with the ‘O’
symbol on, the first press of the
OPTIONS key shows:
Win —If you won the game, press the
RATING key to see your new rating. Or
press OPTIONS a second time to show:
LOSE —If you lost the game, press the
RATING key to see your new rating. Or
press OPTIONS a third time to show:
DrAW —If you drew the game, press the
RATING key to see your new rating. Or
press OPTIONS to return to your
unchanged rating display.
Playing the Black Pieces
When you want to play the Black pieces
(to let LCD Chess move first) press the
MOVE key before you make your first
move as White. You’ll see the White and
Black pieces switch places immediately!
Draw Messages
During the game, your LCD Chess will
display the word
DrAW if a three-time
repetition of position occurs, or if there
has been no pawn moved and no
exchanges for 50 moves. When either of
these situations takes place, the rules of
chess state that a player can claim a draw.
If you wish, you can ignore the message
and continue the game. When a stalemate
is reached, the display will read
StALE .
Game-Ending Messages
LCD Chess will announce mate in two
(
MAtE2 ) and mate in three ( MAtE3 ). It
will display +MAtE when executing a
checkmate. When you checkmate LCD
Chess, it will display
ILOSE . When you
want to claim a win, draw, or want to
resign—press the 2nd key and then NEW
GAME.
the longer it will think during its moves.
The first four levels (1, 2, 3 and 4) are
beginner levels and take approximately 4,
8, 12 and 16 seconds per move, respec-
tively. Level 5 is a fixed 1-ply (one-half
move) search. Levels 6 through 72 take
about 1 second per level number, so level
10 will average about 10 seconds per
move. The amount of time taken will
vary depending on the position, and the
stage of the game.
Level 73 is an infinite level. LCD Chess
will take as long to move as you want it
to, or until it finds a mate position in its
search. Level 73 is good for problem
solving (like the MATE problems avail-
able under OPTIONS), or it can be used
to play against. When you are tired of
waiting, press the MOVE key while the
computer is thinking, and the computer
will stop thinking and play the best move
it’s found so far.
Auto Play
If you would like to watch the computer
finish a game for you automatically, push
the 2nd key, then press OPTIONS, until
the option
PLAYr is showing. Use the
right DIRECTION key to change the
number of players to zero. Press 2nd to
exit the OPTIONS mode. Now press the
MOVE key twice and watch the game
play itself. You may stop auto play at any
time by pressing the MOVE key, which
will set the number of players back to one.
Replay Variation
You may automatically replay all the
moves saved by LCD Chess for undoing.
If you would like to replay the stored
moves, first undo all the moves by set-
ting the number of players to zero (see
Auto Play, above). Now press the UNDO
When I LOSE is displayed
press the NEW GAME or
UNDO key.
Screen Symbols
When a ‘ + ’ appears on the screen, it is a
reminder that you are in check. When an
‘O’ appears on the screen, the game you
are playing can be rated. When an ‘
= ’
appears, it indicates you are in two
human player mode. And lastly when an
‘!’ appears on the screen, you are being
warned that one of your pieces is threat-
ened with capture. (This is similar to the
friendly "en garde" warning sometimes
used by human players when they are
attacking an opponent’s queen.)
Levels of Play
Generally, the higher the level you select,
the better your LCD Chess will play, and
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