Piece training – Excalibur electronic 712 User Manual
Page 8
that world chess champions
play! At the beginning of a
game, you may choose to learn
one of 32 popular book open-
ings—ways to begin the game—
used by chess masters. Press
OPTIONS
repeatedly to display
OPEN
, and then press the
or
the
key to select the number
of the opening you want to
learn. (See list on right.) Press
the
CLEAR
key to return to nor-
mal play.
Now play a move. Ivan II, the
Conqueror Talking Chess Set
will tell you if your move is not
the correct opening move. To
learn the correct move press
CLEAR
and then press
HINT
.
When the computer comes back
with its move, you will briefly
see the word
OPEN
on the screen
if you have another opening
move to make. If the word
OPEN
does not appear, you may con-
tinue normal play. You have
completed the training for that
opening line.
The names of the openings
are:
1. Ruy Lopez, Open Defense
2. Ruy Lopez, Zaitsev Defense
3. Ruy Lopez, Exchange
4. Scotch
Game
5. Scotch Four Knights
6. Giuoco
Piano
7. Two Knights Defense
8. Four
Knights
9. Petroff’s
Defense
10. Sicilian Alapin Variation
11. Sicilian, Najdorf Variation
12. Sicilian, Dragon Variation
13. Sicilian, Keres Attack
14. Caro-Kann Defense
15. Panov-Botvinnik Attack
16. Caro-Kann Excahnge Variation
17. Queen’s Gambit Declined
18. Lasker Defense, Queen
Gambit Declind
19. Queen Gambit
Declined Exchange Var.
20. Slav Defense
21. Queen’s Gambit Accepted
22. Nimzo-Indian Defense,
Classical Var.
23. Nimzo-Indian Defense,
Rubinstein Var.
24. Semi-Slav Defense
25. Queen’s Indian Defense
26. Queen’s Indian Defense,
Petrosian Var.
27. Bogolubow Indian Defense
28. Catalan
29. Gruenfeld Defense
30. King’s Indian Defense
31. Modern Benoni Defense
32. Benko Gambit
The moves and explanations
of these famous openings are
given in many books on chess.
Entering Your Own
Opening
Ivan II, the Conqueror
Talking Chess Set also allows
you to set up any book opening
you want—or even an opening
you invent—to practice. Press
MULTIMOVE
, then make moves
for both sides until the opening
position you want to practice is
reached. Now press
MULTIMOVE
again. Press
CLEAR
and play
against the computer in this
position.
Piece Training
You can practice in eight dif-
ferent training positions. There
are five special minigames and
three mating-practice positions.
Mini-game positions
The most famous and suc-
cessful chess teachers in the
world take their beginning stu-
dents from the simple to the
complex by having them play
“mini-games” of chess that con-
centrate on just one or more
types of pieces. Even advanced
players practice these basics,
just as a concert pianist contin-
ues to practice the scales so that
they remain second nature. Like
any great trainer, Ivan II, the
Conqueror Talking Chess Set
will play you these special prac-
tice games.
First make sure you are at the
start of a game by pressing
NEW
GAME
. Now press
OPTIONS
until
TRAIN
is displayed. Then press
the
key. Look at the LCD to
see which of the mini-games are
displayed. You'll see that the
mini-games always include the
king and pawns for both sides.
In fact, one mini-game contains
just this material. The other four
mini-games use kings and
pawns, but add a different single
piece to the exercise knight,
bishop, rook, and then queen.
Start with the basic king and
pawns minigame.
Make your first move. Your
object, as in regular chess, is to
checkmate the king. Normally,
this means both sides will try to
force a pawn through to the
other side of the board safely to
promote it to a queen. You'll
learn lots of principles, tricks,
and traps in this training mode
that will win you many full-
fledged chess games!
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