Saitek chess - Manual (Page 11)

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show that the game is over.
If you select a Blitz Level, you may want to set the chess clocks to
display countdown time instead of elapsed time (see Section 5.1).
When game time runs out, the countdown clock automatically reverts
back to the normal clock display.
3.5 Beginner Levels (Squares A5-H5)
LEVEL TIME PER MOVE DISPLAY
A5 .................... 1 second .................... BEG:1
B5 .................... 2 seconds .................. BEG:2
C5 .................... 3 seconds .................. BEG:3
D5 .................... 4 seconds .................. BEG:4
E5 .................... 5 seconds .................. BEG:5
F5 .................... 6 seconds .................. BEG:6
G5 .................... 7 seconds .................. BEG:7
H5 .................... 8 seconds .................. BEG:8
Are you a novice or beginning chess player? If so, these levels are
especially for you! Here, the computer restricts its search so that it
deliberately plays weaker and gives you a better chance to win! The
levels start out easy and gradually get a little harder—as you beat each
one, go on to the next!
3.6 Mate Search Levels (Squares A6-H6)
LEVEL PROBLEM DISPLAY
A6 ................... Mate in 1 .................... =in:1
B6 ................... Mate in 2 .................... =in:2
C6 ................... Mate in 3 .................... =in:3
D6 ................... Mate in 4 .................... =in:4
E6 ................... Mate in 5 .................... =in:5
F6 ................... Mate in 6 .................... =in:6
G6 ................... Mate in 7 .................... =in:7
H6 ................... Mate in 8 .................... =in:8
Selecting one of these levels activates a special Mate Finder Pro-
gram. If you have a position where there may be a mate and you would
like the computer to find it, set the computer on one of the Mate Search
Levels. This computer can solve mates in up to eight moves. Mates in
one to five are usually found quite quickly, whereas solutions taking six
to eight moves may take quite some time. If there is no mate present or
the computer can’t find a mate, it will display dashes (– – – – –). To
continue play, simply switch to another level.
3.7 Training Levels (Squares A7-H8)
LEVEL DISPLAY LEVEL DISPLAY
A7 .......... PLY: 1 A8 .......... PLY: 9
B7 .......... PLY: 2 B8 .......... PLY:10
C7 .......... PLY: 3 C8 .......... PLY:11
D7 .......... PLY: 4 D8 .......... PLY:12
E7 .......... PLY: 5 E8 .......... PLY:13
F7 .......... PLY: 6 F8 .......... PLY:14
G7 ......... PLY: 7 G8 ......... PLY:15
H7 .......... PLY: 8 H8 .......... PLY:16
On the Training Levels, the computer’s search depth is limited to a
certain number of moves, as shown above. As you cycle through the
levels, the computer displays
PLY: # for each level. A “ply” is an indi-
vidual move (a move for either side), and “#” is the number representing
the search depth. For example, on Level A7, the computer searches to
a depth of one ply (
PLY:1 ), and thus looks ahead only one individual
move. On this level, therefore, it will often overlook a mate in one. This
produces weaker play, giving beginners a better chance of beating the
computer!
4. INFO MODE: WATCH AND LEARN!
Imagine this: You’re playing chess against a friend, and it’s his move.
You’d love to know what move he’s thinking about, and you’d really like
to get his opinion of the board position. But, of course, you won’t ask—
because that’s just not done!
Well, guess what—when you play against
this chess computer, you can ask anything you want, and you’ll get all
the answers! In fact, you can get an incredible amount of information
about the computer’s thought process. On request, it will show you the
move it’s thinking of, the line of play it expects after that move, its
evaluation of the current board position, how deeply it is searching, and
more. As you can imagine, studying this information can help you learn
so much more about chess!
Using Info Mode
How do you access all this game information? By using Info Mode at
any time! If you do this while the computer is thinking, you’ll see the
information displays change as the computer considers different moves
and searches deeper!