I've been playing chess for a long time. My father taught me how to
play when I was a teen. My friends and I have played off and on
through the years. Recently, I've been playing most of my games
against an Excalibur machine with magnetic pieces. I've also bought
some very good literature to supplement my existing strategies.

I started off at the lowest level and with each win I crank it up 10
levels. I'm now up to about 60 and the computer just can't be beaten
at this level. The games are always alarmingly close. But the computer
just always seems to win, except for one time when he apparently
didn't feel very comfortable about his positions so he forced a
stalemate. There may have been another time where I missed a chance to
nail him. But we're talking about a lot of narrow losses over several
months. I have to wonder how in the hell can anybody beat these
things.

At one point can one claim to be a chess expert? What level do you
have to be able to consistantly beat the computer at??

dos-man

dos-man 64 wrote:

dos-man. Interesting handle. You might want to taka a look at
the alt.msdos mnewsgroup.

I've been playing chess for a long time. My father taught me how to
play when I was a teen. My friends and I have played off and on
through the years. Recently, I've been playing most of my games
against an Excalibur machine with magnetic pieces. I've also bought
some very good literature to supplement my existing strategies.

I started off at the lowest level and with each win I crank it up 10
levels. I'm now up to about 60 and the computer just can't be beaten
at this level. The games are always alarmingly close. But the computer
just always seems to win, except for one time when he apparently
didn't feel very comfortable about his positions so he forced a
stalemate. There may have been another time where I missed a chance to
nail him. But we're talking about a lot of narrow losses over several
months. I have to wonder how in the hell can anybody beat these
things.

There are plenty of folks who can beat an Excalibur, but there are
far better chess programs than the one inside your Excalibur. The
best of them are good enough to give the top-rated humans trouble.
But so what? There was a time when horses were beating the best
race cars, until the race cars got to be a lot faster than any
horse. This does not seem to bother those who enjoy horse racing.

At one point can one claim to be a chess expert?

Look he

http://www.jaderiver.com/chess/ratings.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_expert

In the US, Experts are in the top 1% of all USCF tournament
chess players.

What level do you have to be able to consistantly beat
the computer at??

Please post the entire name and model of your chess computer.
There are many Excalibur macjhines, and some are stronger
than others. Then I can answer the above question.


--
misc.business.product-dev: a Usenet newsgroup
about the Business of Product Development.
-- Guy Macon http://www.guymacon.com/

Guy Macon http://www.guymacon.com/ wrote:
dos-man 64 wrote:
At one point can one claim to be a chess expert?

Look he

http://www.jaderiver.com/chess/ratings.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_expert

In the US, Experts are in the top 1% of all USCF tournament chess
players.

There's a distinction between the USCF Expert title and the concept of
being an expert at chess. After all, nobody would deny that, say,
Anand or Topalov is a `chess expert' but they will never be USCF
Experts.

I think it's clear that dos-man was using the word as an ordinary
English word, not as a specific reference to USCF titles.


Dave.

--
David Richerby Strange Apple (TM): it's like a tasty
www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~davidr/ fruit but it's totally weird!

David Richerby wrote:

There's a distinction between the USCF Expert title and the concept of
being an expert at chess. After all, nobody would deny that, say,
Anand or Topalov is a `chess expert' but they will never be USCF
Experts.

I think it's clear that dos-man was using the word as an ordinary
English word, not as a specific reference to USCF titles.

All true, but I would still advise avoiding the term, just as those
who have earned the title "Professor" by playing ragtime piano
should avoid calling themselves doctors outside of that context.

laocmo skrev:
Personally I think the chess computer has ruined chess for a lot of
beginners. My kids, neighbor kids, nieces and nephews were all taught to
play by me when they were youngsters. We had fun. Then I made the
mistake of giving them chess computers for gifts. Bad move. After
getting their butts kicked a couple dozen times, they lost all interest
in the game. Now I can't get them to play at all.

I am not sure if this can be blamed on the current strength of computer
chess. When you are an absolute beginner, _any_ level of opposition will
kick your butt.

I remember myself getting a chess computer when I was a kid in the 80s.
Even on the easiest level it beat me hands down all the time. Then I
gradually started getting some counterplay against it, until I one day
finally managed to get a win against it. I gradually improved my results
against it, also on more advanced levels. Then one day when I grew up, I
found it in a closet, found some batteries for it and tested a few games
on it, and even on the highest level I beat it consitently.

But my advice if you want something for kids is to make something that
can be "dumbed down" to play at an easier level. Chessmaster, for
instance, has plenty of kids-friendly personalities, including a monkey
that makes completely random moves. Also, when playing against beginners
myself, I always remove my queen from the board before making a single move.

On Feb 25, 4:23 am, Guy Macon http://www.guymacon.com/ wrote:
dos-man 64 wrote:

dos-man. Interesting handle. You might want to taka a look at
the alt.msdos mnewsgroup.

I've been playing chess for a long time. My father taught me how to
play when I was a teen. My friends and I have played off and on
through the years. Recently, I've been playing most of my games
against an Excalibur machine with magnetic pieces. I've also bought
some very good literature to supplement my existing strategies.

I started off at the lowest level and with each win I crank it up 10
levels. I'm now up to about 60 and the computer just can't be beaten
at this level. The games are always alarmingly close. But the computer
just always seems to win, except for one time when he apparently
didn't feel very comfortable about his positions so he forced a
stalemate. There may have been another time where I missed a chance to
nail him. But we're talking about a lot of narrow losses over several
months. I have to wonder how in the hell can anybody beat these
things.

There are plenty of folks who can beat an Excalibur, but there are
far better chess programs than the one inside your Excalibur. The
best of them are good enough to give the top-rated humans trouble.
But so what? There was a time when horses were beating the best
race cars, until the race cars got to be a lot faster than any
horse. This does not seem to bother those who enjoy horse racing.

At one point can one claim to be a chess expert?

Look he

http://www.jaderiver.com/chess/ratin...i/Chess_expert

In the US, Experts are in the top 1% of all USCF tournament
chess players.

What level do you have to be able to consistantly beat
the computer at??

Please post the entire name and model of your chess computer.
There are many Excalibur macjhines, and some are stronger
than others. Then I can answer the above question.

--
misc.business.product-dev: a Usenet newsgroup
about the Business of Product Development.
-- Guy Macon http://www.guymacon.com/

The machine is a Saber IV. The model # is 901E4. Apparently, I'm only
up to level 30.
That's pathetic. I beat him on level 1, 6, 11, etc. If I can't win on
30, how can win on anything higher?

dos-man

Yep. Excalibur computers are beatable. And even though I'm not an Expert, I used to beat my Excalibur Kingmaster III all the time. How did I do it? I looked for repetition and errors in its play. One error is that the KMIII will try to promote if you place your king on the top corner of the square of promotion. (So after it eventually plays p=Q, you respond with King takes Queen.) Maybe this error is repeated in your Excalibur computer?

So just hang in there. You'll eventually beat it on a regular basis. But you still won't be an Expert! Good Luck.

On Feb 25, 7:04 am, David Richerby
wrote:
Guy Macon http://www.guymacon.com/ wrote:

dos-man 64 wrote:
At one point can one claim to be a chess expert?

Look he

http://www.jaderiver.com/chess/ratings.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_expert

In the US, Experts are in the top 1% of all USCF tournament chess
players.

There's a distinction between the USCF Expert title and the concept of
being an expert at chess. After all, nobody would deny that, say,
Anand or Topalov is a `chess expert' but they will never be USCF
Experts.

I think it's clear that dos-man was using the word as an ordinary
English word, not as a specific reference to USCF titles.

Dave.

--
David Richerby Strange Apple (TM): it's like a tastywww.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~davidr/ fruit but it's totally weird!

I'm not currently a USCF member, but I'm thinking about joining. I
wouldn't expect to do very well in a tournament. But I wouldn't expect
to get killed either. It isn't like I'm making mistakes and giving up
pieces. I play mistake-free chess (tactics not withstanding), and the
computer still wins.

What's really frustrating is the way the games always go. I don't sit
back on defense hoping to withstand a computer's onslaught. I go on
all-out attacks right from the first move. Somehow, the computer (at
level 30) always manages to withstand the assault and then
counterattack. I've tried sacrificing minor pieces to prevent him from
being able to castle, but that didn't work either.

My fear is that my IQ level (whatever it is) in conjunction with my
knowledge of chess and tactical strategy has led to me to a brick
wall. I may not be able to improve much past where I am now, wherever
that is.

dos-man

On Feb 25, 4:23 am, Guy Macon http://www.guymacon.com/ wrote:
dos-man 64 wrote:

dos-man. Interesting handle. You might want to taka a look at
the alt.msdos mnewsgroup.

I've been playing chess for a long time. My father taught me how to
play when I was a teen. My friends and I have played off and on
through the years. Recently, I've been playing most of my games
against an Excalibur machine with magnetic pieces. I've also bought
some very good literature to supplement my existing strategies.

I started off at the lowest level and with each win I crank it up 10
levels. I'm now up to about 60 and the computer just can't be beaten
at this level. The games are always alarmingly close. But the computer
just always seems to win, except for one time when he apparently
didn't feel very comfortable about his positions so he forced a
stalemate. There may have been another time where I missed a chance to
nail him. But we're talking about a lot of narrow losses over several
months. I have to wonder how in the hell can anybody beat these
things.

There are plenty of folks who can beat an Excalibur, but there are
far better chess programs than the one inside your Excalibur. The
best of them are good enough to give the top-rated humans trouble.
But so what? There was a time when horses were beating the best
race cars, until the race cars got to be a lot faster than any
horse. This does not seem to bother those who enjoy horse racing.

At one point can one claim to be a chess expert?

Look he

http://www.jaderiver.com/chess/ratin...i/Chess_expert

In the US, Experts are in the top 1% of all USCF tournament
chess players.

What level do you have to be able to consistantly beat
the computer at??

Please post the entire name and model of your chess computer.
There are many Excalibur macjhines, and some are stronger
than others. Then I can answer the above question.

--
misc.business.product-dev: a Usenet newsgroup
about the Business of Product Development.
-- Guy Macon http://www.guymacon.com/

One of the reasons I like the Excalibur machines is they seem halfway
beatable. I always feel like I can win every game. I'm always one move
away from victory. The move often never comes

The nastiest I've played is the chessmaster PC software. Yikes. Even
at easy levels I was getting smoked. One of the games had a feature
where you could print out a certificate of achievement if you could
beat the chessmaster at the highest level. Boy, I tried so hard. One
time I had him back on his heels for a while. Nasty game. The
excalibur machines seem a bit more friendly.

dos-man

dos-man 64 wrote:

The machine is a Saber IV. The model # is 901E4. Apparently,
I'm only up to level 30. That's pathetic. I beat him on
level 1, 6, 11, etc. If I can't win on 30, how can win on
anything higher?

The Excalibur Saber IV is advertised as "Estimated rating 1750"

The german Active chess Elo list estimates it as a 1422
(estimated error +233 -200).

The average adult USCF tournament player is rated about 1450.

References:
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconVall...8/histogra.htm
http://www.schachcomputer.info/html/...elo_liste.html
http://translate.google.com/translat...X&oi=translate

What's really frustrating is the way the games always go. I don't sit
back on defense hoping to withstand a computer's onslaught. I go on
all-out attacks right from the first move. Somehow, the computer (at
level 30) always manages to withstand the assault and then
counterattack. I've tried sacrificing minor pieces to prevent him from
being able to castle, but that didn't work either.

The book I recommend below will show you a better way.

My fear is that my IQ level (whatever it is) in conjunction with my
knowledge of chess and tactical strategy has led to me to a brick
wall. I may not be able to improve much past where I am now, wherever
that is.

I recommend the following book to get past that brick wall:

How to Reassess Your Chess: The Complete Chess-Mastery Course
Expanded 3rd Edition by Jeremy Silman.
ISBN-10: 1890085006
ISBN-13: 978-1890085001
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1890085006/


--
Guy Macon
http://www.guymacon.com/