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Every month we will be featuring a special offer. This month's offer is the Touch Chess from Excalibur Electronics. Touch chess is a highly innovative chess computer. Featuring the strength of many bigger machines, and yet as portable as a PDA, this device is a wonderful companion to anyone wanting to keep themselves amused or continue to learn whilst on the move. At only $45 it makes an excellent gift for any chess player and to us it is in no way surprising that Touch Chess happens to be one of Excalibur's best selling products.
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Product Review: King Arthur- Excalibur's Strongest Handheld Yet !Reproduced with kind permission of Chris KantackWhy this review?Some time ago, as part of a final software verification test, I received an engineering sample of the latest version of King Arthur. The software revision that I tested is what is now being used in the King Arthur units currently being produced. Originally I had no plans of doing a King Arthur review. However, I've found the unit to be quite portable and a lot of fun. As you read through this page, I hope you'll understand why I've got so much enthusiasm for this new chess computer. King Arthur is Special!
What is King Arthur?King Arthur is a tabletop chess computer that was first
introduced in July of 2000. King Arthur is unique in that it
cleverly incorporates the same LCD display used in Excalibur's fine LCD
Chess and Talking
LCD Chess handhelds. The entire unit has overall dimensions
(Length x Width x Depth) of 12" x 10" x 1 1/4". The
chessboard area measures 8" square with black and silver squares.
Thus each square measure 1" on a side. King Arthur appears very well built and durable. The overall matte finish of the unit is very resistant to any scratches or fingerprints. (I've given my unit a lot of abuse and it looks as good as the day I first received it.) Usually I have my unit set up in my bedroom for weeks at a time and it even seems to be resistant against collecting dust. Should you ever spill anything on King Arthur, it should be quite easy to clean up. Probably the only potentially vulnerable part of King Arthur is the LCD display area. As long as it doesn't suffer from any serious trauma, King Arthur should provide many years of reliable use.
An Excellent Manual!The documentation included with King Arthur is quite thorough and is especially appropriate for those just learning chess. In addition to the U.S. Chess Federation's "Let's Play Chess" summary sheet, Excalibur provides King Arthur with its own 52 page operating manual. This booklet provides text and illustrations covering all aspects of the unit. The manual, broken down into 10 chapters, covers: Chapter 1: Quick Start & the Basics Chapter 2: Key Functions & General Layout Chapter 3: Special Keys and Features Chapter 4: Getting a Rating at the Round Table Chapter 5: Special Messages From Camelot Chapter 6: Some Special Chess Moves Chapter 7: Too Hard? Too Easy? All
About Levels Chapter 8: Teaching and Training Features Chapter 9: Setting Up Special Positions Chapter 10: Important Technical Details
Basic OperationUsing King Arthur is nearly as easy as playing on a regular chessboard. You move your pieces normally, with the addition of providing just a little downward pressure on the piece before and after your move. In its "default" mode of operation, King Arthur works this way: As you touch the piece you're about to move, momentarily press down on it until you hear a beep. This will mean that the computer has registered which piece you're about to move. Move the piece to the desired target square--removing your opponents piece if necessary. As you land your piece on the target square, just apply a little downward pressure on the piece. The computer will beep again registering completion of the move.
Once your move is completed, King Arthur will begin to calculate its move. When the computer is ready to move, it will beep and display its move on the LCD screen. The move will be illustrated in two ways. Not only does it display the actual move (piece will flash alternately between its "From" and "To" squares), but it also displays the from and to algebraic coordinates on the top of the screen. You will then need to physically make the move for King Arthur in the same manner as you made your own move.
Some Features Worth HighlightingExcalibur's implementation of the LCD screen, provides King Arthur with a lot additional functionality you won't find in a lot of other tabletop chess computers. For example, because piece registration is also confirmed on the LCD display, you need not have the sound turned on when using the unit. (Setting the SOUND option to 0 will mute all sounds except for the error tone when an illegal move or invalid key combination is pressed.) Another great option, easily made possible with the LCD screen, is Excalibur's HELP feature. With HELP turned on, King Arthur will highlight all possible target squares for a selected piece. This is of great benefit to players just learning the moves of the pieces. The TOUCH option is also pretty neat. It's function is when you wish to play without the physical pieces. When TOUCH is turned on, you simply press the from and to squares on the chessboard to make your move. After the computer has decided on its next move, it will make the move automatically (as if you were playing on a handheld unit). So, if you don't own a handheld, you can sort of use King Arthur as a makeshift handheld unit via the TOUCH feature. Many fans of computer chess like to see what moves are being considered by the computer. If you're playing at level 6 or higher, you can use King Arthur's INFO option. With INFO on, this option will display the best move the computer has found so far along with the "move depth" that King Arthur is calculating at. Another unique feature made possible via the LCD display, is being able to play (or just practice) blindfold chess. With the "Board" key, you can turn on or off the piece display at will. Thus, by playing without the physical pieces, you can test your skill at visualizing piece placement in your head.
The Only Feature I Don't LikeI always think that a review is more realistic when the reviewer has something bad to say about the product. With King Arthur I just have one minor quibble. When you are playing the black pieces (and you choose to have the black pieces on the near side of the board), Excalibur will refer to the chess coordinates just as if you were playing white. It must do this because each square is pre-printed with the algebraic coordinate as if white was on the near side. For those of us who record our games, this can be quite disconcerting. Fortunately, I have come up with a few good workarounds. First you can choose to play black but leave the black pieces at the far end of the board. To have the computer play white in this manner, simply press New Game, Setup, Mode, then Move. Thus the computer will play white from the near side and the displayed coordinates will be correct. The other alternative when playing black, the one that I prefer, is to go ahead and set up the black pieces on the near side. When the computer displays its move, just ignore the algebraic coordinates that are displayed and just look at the LCD pieces themselves to see the move that needs to be made for the computer. Thus you can record the "true coordinates" of each move and not worry about the displayed coordinates that (in my opinion) are incorrect for this type of play.
Strength of King ArthurThe strength of King Arthur will vary a bit depending on what version software you have. (When you press New Game, the version number will briefly appear to the left of the word "PLAY".) My unit shows a 27 which means version 2.7. When King Arthur was first introduced, its software version was 1.2. Excalibur currently lists King Arthur's strength at 1750. For the currently produced version (2.7) I tend to think an Elo range of 1600 to 1700 may be a bit more accurate. I base my opinion on my own strength estimates of the Touch Chess handheld which is now also running version 2.7 software. 1700 Elo: Is that good?If you're a prospective buyer of King Arthur and are not familiar with chess Elo ratings, don't worry about it. 1700 Elo means that King Arthur plays a pretty darn strong chess game. Many club and tournament players aren't that strong. Of course, if you are a very strong chess player (1800 Elo or better), and are buying a chess computer for yourself, you'll want to purchase a unit with a stronger game than King Arthur. As for myself, I doubt if I'll ever be as good as King Arthur. I'd guess that 75 to 80 percent of the world's chess players would find King Arthur to be more than enough of a challenge. TheChessPiece adds: Please note that this product is now available in an attractive woodgrain finish (Model 915W) and is offered at the same special price! Product Code: 915-3 Normally: $69.95 Offer Price: Only $55.00 !!! ŠTheChessPiece.com, 2006 Reproduced with kind permission of Chris Kantack. |
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Staunton Chess Sets
Pre-printed
in the right hand corner of each square is the algebraic coordinates of
that square. Pieces are plastic with the white pieces a solid
white. Black pieces are correspondingly a solid black.
The King measures 2" in height. Pawns are 1" tall.
One end of the unit contains an LCD display and control buttons.
The display is the same size and style as that used in the LCD Chess
handheld. Thus the display has an overall diagonal measurement
of 3 3/4 inches with a diagonal chessboard measurement of 2 3/8 inches.
On
both sides of the display are the various buttons used for
game/position set up and control. These "membrane type"
buttons are well-spaced with each button approximately 1/2 inch long.
The bottom of the unit provides a compartment for piece storage as well as
access to the battery compartment. Like the Excalibur handheld
units, King Arthur is extremely efficient in terms of power consumption.
The three AA batteries required will run the unit for 500 hours or more.
(This can easily translate to years of play depending on your usage!)
Additionally,
while you're making your move, you can use the LCD screen to verify piece
registration and movement. For when you first register the piece
you're about to move, the computer will flash the selected piece on the
LCD display as well as display the algebraic coordinates of the piece.
Upon completion of the move, the display will be updated accordingly.
