I looked at their chess website and you did get a VERY nice one and
powerful , that is the one id get too ....If i ever get a real computer
..
Yes i looked at the GM one too and i like yours better .....

well let us know how you like it ..

How are the lights that light the board and does it hook up easy to your
computer ? How do you like the pieces ? Those looked good to me too.
How do they feel , heavy ? good weight ?
well have a good day..

If you ever want to play my Ivan feel free to e mail me or leave a
message here.....If not that is OK too ........

Yes that is the one i want in the future ....

On 2007-03-14 06:04:54 +0100, (SAT W-7) said:

Thank you..

How do you like playing it ?

Playing
1. strength
The computer is way too strong for me to beat at the middle or higher
levels. I can beat the computer though when I play carefully at the
easier levels. That is good to keep my frustration level controlled. It
plays quickly and won't make tactical errors. It looks like years of
enjoyment here for me since I need to learn a lot before I master this
machine.

I have set the Citrine up against my twenty year old Kasparov Team Mate
computer on 15 seconds/move several times now. The Citrine wins no
matter playing White or Black.

Persons at the shop told me that the Citrine is stronger than the
Excalibur Grandmaster and the Novag Osidian but weaker than Mephisto
Chess Challenger (Admiral) and Master Chess.

2. comfort
The looks and feel are just great. The board is just the size I like to
look at. Not too big, not too small. Stable wooden pieces, warm
colours. This machine really looks and feels better than the Mephisto
Exclusive Senator. The Senator is over twice as expensive and plays
stronger but the finish is poor and the drawer containing the chess
module feels like cheap "dont-touch-me-plastic". Not being a top level
player (both machines beat me) the choice between the two was a no
brainer for me.
Not having to press the pieces every move is a dream. The pieces are
magnetic so they lift up a magnetic contact underneath the wood. Lift a
piece and place it where you want just like human counterplay.

3. menu
The menu is displayed on a detachable small LCD screen. A menu button
on the side of the board activates the menue. The fields of the board
act as menu items. One gets used to the menu layout in a short time. I
would prefer a few buttons on the LCD screen for this purpose.

How are the lights that light the board and does it hook up easy to your
computer ?

The lights: 91 diodes so 4 diodes per field... looks good.
Hooking up to the computer: no way. There is a RS 232 (serial) cable in
the box. No hooking up instructions in the manual though. No practical
every day use for that cable so far. I think the only use for that
cable is to flash the ROM in case there might come up a program update
or so. At least until the time that someone will take the effort to
write drivers and a ROM update to use this board as a DGT board.

The rest of you questions in the other posting.....
Playing against your Ivan when I have time sounds like fun. I'll let you know.

Hans

I looked at that one too ( Mephisto ) and i like yours better ..I did
not see the Admiral one but id still buy yours ......

Yes you will probably never beat it on the strongest level but still
it will give you years of fun ...

My ivan is about I700 ELO and when i play Fritz 9 i can see ivans
weaknesses and i am still not good enough to exploit them myself but i
try..
have a good day ..

That is cool they give you that cable for a future update ...

ivan vs fritz 9 ...

One game in the end game ivans king was under pressure and ivan had
his rook protecting a lowly pawn and i was thinking why ? I am not a GM
but get that rook over to help the king.
ha ha ha..i was bugged ..ha ha....
I know how powerful those chess programs are and i expect ivan to lose
, it is my own pride that wants ivan to win..ha ha ha.....
Still all those games were interesting in their own way...

Hey when your computer plays white is it from the first and second rank
? When Ivan is white he plays white from the 7th and 8th rank and that
bugs me a little.....Black on the first and second rank.....

have a good day

Wow all those lights must look cool in the dark..

On 2007-03-15 03:35:41 +0100, (SAT W-7) said:



Hey when your computer plays white is it from the first and second rank
? When Ivan is white he plays white from the 7th and 8th rank and that
bugs me a little.....Black on the first and second rank.....



Citrine can do both: play white from regular setup rank 1 and 2. It can
also flip the board and play from rank 7 and 8.

That is good it can do both , Ivan can not .....