May June 1980 - Commodore Computers

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84 COMPUTE. MAY/JUNE. I <strong>1980</strong>. ISSUE d. 4. ATARI CHESS ATARI CHESS The ATARI A CHESS C H cartridge for r the Ihe ATARI 400 or 800 computers is now available, and I1 have used one in my rn y system at home. The chess board is a green and gold checkerboard with a maroon border. The pieces are black and white, and make use li of o r ATARI'S l 's high resolution graphics cs for easily y identifiable pieces. A blue e box or "cursor" is used to show where on o n the lhe board you u arc. are . That makes 6 different colors displayed at once on o n the screen - quite quile amazing, con n sidering g that there are only 5 color registers. registcrs. (NOTE: exact colors vary ry from TV T V to TV). T You u use a joystick to move your pieces. This may sound weird, , but it is very easy, and reliable. (Just Uust sit back in a comfortable n chair with \" the e joystick, and challenge the Ihe ATARI.) ) I have played the Ih e other olher chess games, and communicating g grid locations to the computer compuler is a chore. The ATARI method mel is so simple, even a young child can play. And there Ihere are 8 levels s of difficulty, difficull Y, to 10 satisfy li sfy all ranges of players, even those Ihose just learning to 10 play. As the Ih e level goes up, , the Ih e ATARI thinks longer about its move. According g to the documentalion, the Ihe lowest level (level 0) averages about aboul 15 seconds per move. TheT next I level (level 1) I) averages 30 seconds per move. Level two averages 45 '~ 5 seconds, level 3-214 3 - 2 Y2 minutes, level 4 - 3 minutes, and level 5 about 10 minutes. The two remaining levels take mentation, quite quile a bit bil of thinking Ihinking time, lime, and would be only for the e very serious player. Level 6 takes about 9 hours per move, and level 7 about aboul 10 hours per move. The skill level can be changed at al any time lime during Ihe the game if desired. In my games al at level 1I it il took look aboul about 10 seconds per move - at level 2 about 15 seconds - about 3 times faster than stated in the documentation. Moving a piece is a very simple matter. You simplyy move the "cursor" to the top off thee piece you wish to move. The cursor moves box by box, con trolled by a joystick. When the cursor is on lOp top of aany piece it blinks, alternatingg box aand piece 10 to allow you to see both the cursor and the piece oonn the square. . The cursor will continue moving fromm square to square until you hit the red controller button. If the cursor is over one of your pieces, the piece will go into blink mode. You now move the piece by joystick control while e the cursor remainss in the original location for reference. When the piece is where you want it, , simply hit the red controller button again and the move is made, unless it is an illegal move. The A ATARI will not aallow you to make aann illegal move, bUI but beeps 10 to tell you to try again. . ATARI CHESSH includes many polishing lOuches touches that make playing enjoyable, and less frustrating. slrating. If you are put into lO check, your king beginss fl flipping aaround, inside its square, softlyy beeping (you will nott be able e to miss it). Anytimee you move a piece th that would leave your king in check the word CCHECK appears in the top corner advising you ooff this s situation. Perhaps the nicest feature fealu re of ATARI CHESSC H is that at you can n leave to get gCl a sandwich while le the ATARI A is thinking g about its move, and when you come rne back you will know just what piece it moved. . It puts s the "cursor" r" in the piece's original location and blinks the piece in its s new location. The cursor and blinking g remain ono n until you move the joystick (then the piece picce remains s in its new location and the cursor follows yo ur conlrol). cursor follows your control). You can play the white oro r black pieces, with white e going first. If you wish to set up a particular chess chcss situation, , simply hit the "S"" key on the e key board, , and place or delete delele pieces anywhere on the Ihe board, , again under joystick control. Hit H il anya other key when the set-up is as you like it. This is nice, , if you would like to redo a move (after you saw how ATARI I clobbered you) - simply put pUI ATARIs ATARls piece back, and replace yours. Castling g and En Passant l capturing are allowed and explained in the documentation. ATARI CHESSC H plays a fairly y good game in its lower levels. I leave testing the e top levels to someone with more time, since it takes so long g to make its moves. At the easiest levels it would be a good way to 10 learn how to play chess, for it il will not nOl let you make an illegal move, and it doesn't think too long about its s own moves. ATARI ARI CHESS vs SARGON 2 I took lOok my ATARI computer (and ATARI I CHESS) C H over 10 a fr iends a nd cha ll enged his TRS-80 SARGON over to a friends and challenged his TRS-80 SARGON 2. We played two gamcs. games. The first game was SARGON 2 al at level 0 and ATARI CHESSC H at al level 1. I. This seemed to be an even match - both took about 6 seconds per move, unlil Ihe end wh en ATARI 6 seconds per move, until the end when ATARI tookk about 20 seconds each for a few w moves. . After 17 moves, each side had 13 pieces left. Move 18 was very bad for ATARI - il it missed laking taking SARGON's queen with a pawn (and no threat afterwards either). After 68 moves Ihe the winner was ATARI CHESS. That called for a rematch. SARGON 2 was set to level 1I and ATARI CHESS H att level 2. This lime time thee difference in thinking g times was noticable. The first 20 moves ATARI ARI CHESS lOok took only aboul about 7 seconds per move, while SARGON took about 26 seconds. The rest of Ihe the game, SARGON generallyy took a bit longer thinking time. The extra thinking time must have paid ofT, off, since SARGON 2 wonn aft alter 60 moves . They Iraded queens on Ih e eighth move. 60 moves. They traded queens on the eighth move. This match pointed out some of the cosmetic advanl advantages ages of ATARI CHESS. H Itss graphics were far superior, r, and easy to follow. My friend would usc use my ATARI CHESS moves as input for his move my ATARI C H ESS moves as inpul for hi s move againsl against SARGON 2. I in turn would lake take SARGON's move as inpul input 10 to ATARI CHESS. The case ease of entering moves with a joystick for r ATARI CCHESSH was quite evident - I was relaxing g oonn the noor floor 6 fecl feet from thee 25 inch color TV wilh with my joyslick, joystick, while e my fri end sal next 10 Ih e TRS-80 continually calculat my friend sat next to the TRS-80 continually calculat ingg Ihe the pieces starting and ending grid positions. © (§
MAY MAY/JUNE. I lQ8o. 198O. ISSUE 4. 4. COMPUTE. B5 . ..... .4iW#iii Did you read about the Dungeonmaster who became so Did you read about the Dungeonmaster who became so enchanted playing a real life version of Dungeons and Dragons that he disappeared for a month? You'll be able to hold on to reality just a little better when you play the Dunjonquest n l computer version, the greatest of all the role-playing fantasies. But don't bet on it. Sit at your computer. You're the hero. Enter the Dunjonqucst Dunjonquest ""Temple of Apshai" and into the greatest fantasy adventure you've ever experienced. . The Temple has over 200 rooms and catacombs in which lurk more than 30 kinds of monsters and beasts ready to do you in—in - real time -—before you can reach any of the 70 or so treasures waiting for the hero. You may spend days, , weeks, months.. . ...the rest of your life... striking at the forces of evil, , or running from them, , or calling on powers you can never completely understand. underst.and. Always, always demonstrating demonsu
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MAY / JUNE 1980 ISSUE 4. $2.00 MAY/
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ow you can add high resolution grap
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Take the mystery lake the mystery o
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' nrnauui J Authorized Dealers APRI
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■ ■ (:: Authorized Dealers •
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THANKS FOR THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES.
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May June 1980 - Commodore Computers

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