[{"TitleName":"Spectrum Micro Chess","Publisher":"Artic Computing Ltd","Author":"Stuart Hughes","YearOfRelease":"1983","ZxDbId":"0004728","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 16, Jul 1983","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1983-06-16","Editor":"Nigel Clark","TotalPages":108,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editorial Director: Nigel Clark\r\nConsultant Editor: Mike Johnston\r\nProduction Editor: Harold Mayes MBE\r\nStaff Writer: John Gilbert\r\nProgram Reviewer: Rebecca Ferguson\r\nEditorial Director: John Sterlicchi\r\nAdvertisement Manager: John Ross\r\nSales Executive: Annette Burrows\r\nEditorial Assistant: Margaret Hawkins\r\nProduction Assistant: Dezi Epaminondou\r\nManaging Director: Terry Cartwright\r\nChairman: Richard Hease\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by ECC Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\nTelephone\r\nAll departments\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to any of the Sinclair User group of publications please send programs, articles or ideas for hardware projects to:\r\nSinclair User and Programs\r\nECC Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nPrograms should be on cassette and articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped-addressed envelope is included.\r\n\r\nWe will pay £10 for each program published and £50 per 1,000 words for each article used.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1983\r\nSinclair User\r\nISSN NO. 0262-5458\r\n\r\nPrinted and typeset by Cradley Print PLC, [redacted]\r\n\r\nDistributed by Spotlight Magazine Distribution Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nCover Photograph: Max Bradley\r\nCover Illustration: Richard Dunn"},"MainText":"CHECKING THE BEST MOVES IN GROWING CHESS MARKET\r\n\r\nQuentin Heath emerges from the dungeons to return to the boards.\r\n\r\nIn the last few months I have been stuck underground in the Sinclair User dungeons with a variety of man-eating monsters, so this month I thought I would seek some fresh air and talk about chess.\r\n\r\nIn later articles I want o say something about the structure of chess programs but for now I will introduce you to what is available for Sinclair machines.\r\n\r\nMost of the early ZX-81 games were, more or less, copies of a famous American chess program called Sargon. Many manufacturers used the Sargon basic structure and re-wrote the printing routines so that they would be compatible for the ZX-81 screen format.\r\n\r\nAfter a few months of copying, manufacturers began to alter programs to make them play better and run faster. Out of the first batch of games to arrive on the scene, the Attic Computing ZX-81 Chess was acclaimed the best by the critics.\r\n\r\nThe original Artic chess, and its upgraded version, Chess Two, have sold well and with good reason. The games include all legal moves, with castling and en passant, and can be played at six levels. The easiest level has a response time of about one second and the most difficult, level six, takes several minutes to make a move.\r\n\r\nChess Two plays a good entertaining game for anyone with a slight knowledge of the laws of chess and when I played with it the game did not make an incorrect move, even on the simplest level. It is the game I would recommend for the average player who wants to try to beat a computer at chess. Some people may argue that a computer can play only a mechanical game with no invention or luck but playing a computer will give you some practice if no partner is available.\r\n\r\nArtic also produces a technically-excellent game which fits into the 1K ZX-81. It may not play brilliantly but it is fascinating to watch the computer scan the moves available to it graphically on the screen. The computer makes moves very quickly, although it will not allow the usual en passant and castling which are available on the bigger games. The game loads very quickly and at £2.95 it is worth the money.\r\n\r\nArtic has upgraded its ZX-81 chess games to the Spectrum. There are at present three versions but only one is for the 16K Spectrum. So far as I know it is the only chess program for the 16K machine. Its playing standard is similar to that of ZX Chess Two.\r\n\r\nThe most interesting of the chess programs from Artic is Voice Chess. It not only plays as well as Spec Chess, the other game in the trio, but each move made is announced by a voice which is generated by the Spectrum loudspeaker.\r\n\r\nSome people have asked if the amount of memory used to store the voice affects the quality of the game. So far as I can tell, it does not do so noticeably. Most chess programs occupy a great deal less room than 48K and the voice is just filling the space which is not used. My own feeling is that if you want a game with novelty you should buy Voice Chess but if you just want to buy a good game with no frills, 48K Spec Chess and 16K Micro Chess are choices.\r\n\r\nMaster Chess, from Mikro-Gen, also provides a formidable game. It runs on a 48K Spectrum and has 10 levels of play which are numbered from zero to nine. If you do not know which move to make the computer will suggest one for you. The game also includes an analysis option which can be used to solve chess puzzles.\r\n\r\nThe Masterchess program is capable of all legal moves, including en passant and castling.\r\n\r\nTo see how the games compete with a real chess machine I played a game between the Quicksilva Chess Player and a Sci-Sys chess computer. The results were interesting. Sci-Sys was slower in making moves than the Quicksilva game on level one but the dedicated chess computer earned checkmate in 67 moves.\r\n\r\nWhat was also interesting was that the Sci-Sys system often anticipated the moves of the Chess Player. That may indicate that most structures are similar.\r\n\r\nThe final game I want to examine is the best available, in my opinion. Superchess Two is from CP Software and is a chess player's dream. The range of options includes 10 levels of play, a recommended move option, self-play, analyse and technical information.\r\n\r\nThe self-play mode pits the computer against itself so that you can see how it solves game problems. You can also provide it with problems to analyse and solve.\r\n\r\nThe most advanced level is level 10. At that level the computer can take several hours to make up its mind about a move.\r\n\r\nThe game also includes an option which I have never seen in other chess programs. The technical information option will tell you how the program is structured and which techniques are used for the computer to find its next feasible move. Explanations of tree searches and data structures is provided to give the player a chance to further the computer's 'mind'.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"103","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Quentin Heath","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]