On.. A Day In The Life Of the Hardcore Collector

[Steve B]

To further test the claim that the Ex Pro and Cougar have the same exact engines i pit the both of them against the CM9K Josh 9 Personality(Pondering disabled)
both computers had ..
Pondering OFF
Books OFF
Selective Search On
Random Play OFF

the TC was Game 30 minutes
the Dedicateds had white

here is the game..

[White "Explorer Pro/Cougar"]
[Black "Josh - Age 9"]
[Time Control "Game/30 Min"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nd2 Nc6 3.Ngf3 e5 4.dxe5 Ng4 5.g3 d5 6.exd6ep Bxd6 7.Bg2 Bc5 8.e3 O-O 9.O-O Nxe3 10.fxe3 Bxe3+ 11.Kh1 Bg4 12.Ne4 Qxd1 13.Rxd1 Rae8 14.Bxe3 Rxe4 15.Bc5 Rb8 16.Nd4 Rxd4 17.Rxd4 Nxd4 18.Bxd4 b6 19.Be5 Re8 20.Re1 Bd7 21.b3 Kf8 22.Re4 Bc6 23.Bxg7+ Kxg7 24.Rg4+ Kf8 25.Bxc6 Re6 26.Bf3 Rd6 27.Rh4 Rd2
28.Rxh7 Rxc2 29.Bh5 Kg8 30.Rxf7 Rc5 31.h4 Rxh5 32.Rxc7 Rd5 33.Rxa7 Rd2 34.Kg1 Kh8 35.h5 b5 36.a4 Rd3 37.Kf2 Rxb3 38.a5 b4
39.h6 Rb2+ 40.Ke3 Rg2 41.Kf4 b3 42.g4 Rf2+ 43.Kg5 b2
44.Rb7 Rc2 45.Kh5 Rc5+ 46.g5 Rxa5 47.Rxb2 Kg8 48.Rb7 Rc5 49.Kg6 Rc6+ 50.Kf5 Rc5+ 51.Kg4 Rc4+ 52.Kh3 Rc1 53.h7+ Kh8

54.g6 ??!
[d] 7k/1R5P/6P1/8/8/7K/8/2r5 b - - 0 54

both computers have played identically
move times,depth searches and evals
they even both throw away a possible win here with 54.g6 which results in the well known "Suicide Checking" maneuver
the Black Rook will check the White King until kingdom come.. as its capture results in stalemate

54..Rc3+ 55.Kh4 Rc4+ 56.Kh5 Rc5+ 57.Kg4 Rg5+ 58.Kxg5 1/2-1/2

FINAL POSITION
[d] 7k/1R5P/6P1/6K1/8/8/8/8 b - - 0 58

i can only conclude that unlike the Explorer and Miami ...
the 2007 Explorer Pro and 1998 Cougar ..do indeed have the same engines

Hammer To Gravel Regards
Steve

[Steve B]

As mentioned earlier the Explorer Pro has a rather unique feature called "Studies"
Classic games which can be played through with the computer halting play at various points in the game .the player is given 3 minutes to choose the next move and then awarded points with the total awarded points translating into an ELO rating for the player at games end

scanning the list of games i would not call these world famous classic games ..there are no "Fischer game of the Century" type games here but rather.. lesser known gems of chess history

here is a position from one of the games
i wonder if anyone can name the players and the event from this position?

[d] r3bk1r/p1p1q3/2p2bpp/2N1pp2/Q3P3/2P2N2/PP3PPP/3RK2R w K
White To Move

the move awarded points(2) was b4..
i chose a different move as did the CM9K which is rated about 2800 USCF on my laptop
we both chose Qa5 and got zero points for the move

in an effort to test the accuracy of the ELO given by the Study feature ,
i am going to rate the Cougar by testing it against some of the games in the Ex Pro's "Studies"
Cougar has a well established Selective Search rating of 2021
the rating should come close ..IF.. the "Study" feature's rating system is accurate

for this game i came away with a 1985 Elo
however i prefer to go with the CM9K and so i will rate my play

2800 Regards
Steve

[fern]

I wonder if we could just take this quietly as a fact OR we should insist before the audience of the galaxy that these makers are a troop of felons as much they present his new toys as something NEW.
If ever a car maker present a car with the same engine as a Fod T he would be hanged.
In this case these thieves present the equivalence of a car with a steam engine of the XIX century.

Death to Felons regards
Fern

[Steve B]

we still have much work to do
we must find out just how deep this conspiracy runs
i think perhaps that some new dedicated computers released this year have engines from the Alan Turing days

Greenblatt Program Regards
Steve

[fern]

How did you know about that?
I have been told of a dedicated unit that will come with a paper notebook and a pencil for the user to calculate the moves.

Going in reverse regards
Fern

[Steve B]

it has already been released brand new this year

it is called Cyber chess and there is no need for batteries
est. Elo ...2900+
very useful if stranded on a desert island
sells for $1500 shipped...shipping a bit more if to a desert Island


Paper Automation Regards
Steve

[fern]

Ok, so I only need to get the island and the bucks.
I am really interested in a marvel like that.
But......

...a friend of mine used to say that "really professional" audio gear comes without loudspeakers, without tuner, amplifier, etc, just the empty box. Pro's are supposed to get each component by themselves.

So I should wait the Pro version of your Cyber chess, the one that only consist in the shit of paper with the bill.

Real collector are never satisfied regards
fern

[Steve B]

i have now completed some testing of the Ex Pro's ELO Rating feature

i tested the Saitek Cougar with about 1/2 of the positions to get a rating of 1829..a good 200 points BELOW the established rating of 2021
you would think that Saitek would at least test their own rating system against their own computers to see if it was accurate?
especially the very computer that offers the Rating feature??
(Ex Pro=Cougar)

anyway..the Ex Pro is still a nice little computer
having learned all there is to know about the Ex Pro it will now be boxed up and sent down to the subterranean depths of my storage vaults
Regards From The Desert Island
Steve

[fern]

I think that to send it to a vault is a lose of time. Instead, I would send that piece of equipment to me for further testing. You never know what i could find with my tools.


looking for my hammer regards
Fern

[Steve B]

Due to unprecedented Demand(one request) i will now compare the Ultra Rare ,Brazilian Made,Splice Byte XD 300 with the Fidelity Chess Challenger 7

it will be remembered that the prevailing opinion amongst Collectors Worldwide is that the Splice is an illegally released Clone of the CC7..or is it??
the first thing all Collectors do when comparing chess computers is to review the instruction manuals
Lo and Behold and much to my shock..i notice that all the levels are NOT exactly the same

one level is different..level 4
on the CC7 it is 20 minutes per move while on the Splice it is 10 minutes per move


this does not bold well for the exact clone theory
A Game to follow regards
Steve