********* Welcome to Project 64! http://project64.c64.org The goal of Project 64 is to preserve Commodore 64 related documents in electronic text format that might otherwise cease to exist with the rapid advancement of computer technology and declining interest in 8- bit computers on the part of the general population. If you would like to help by converting C64 related hardcopy documents to electronic texts please contact the manager of Project 64. Extensive efforts were made to preserve the contents of the original document. However, certain portions, such as diagrams, program listings, and indexes may have been either altered or sacrificed due to the limitations of plain vanilla text. Diagrams may have been eliminated where ASCII-art was not feasible. Program listings may be missing display codes where substitutions were not possible. Tables of contents and indexes may have been changed from page number references to section number references. 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Neither the author(s) nor the members of Project 64 will assume liability for damages either from the direct or indirect use of this etext or from the distribution of or modification to this etext. Therefore if you read this document or use the information herein you do so at your own risk. ********* The Project 64 etext of GRAND MASTER Converted to etext by Neil Tomlinson. ********* GRAND MASTER ------------ GRAND MASTER USER MANUAL ------------------------ THE INSTRUCTIONS IN THIS MANUAL ARE APPLICABLE TO BOTH THE VIC-20 AND THE CBM 64 VERSIONS OF GRANDMASTER. LIST OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2. LOADING THE PROGRAM 3. BASIC OPERATION Enter moves Watch GRAND MASTER computing Illegal moves Clear errors in move entry Select colours and changing sides Special moves (Castling, En Passant, Promotion) 4. SPECIAL FUNCTIONS Centre screen Automatic play Choose colours of foreground, background & border Interlace mode Take back move Hint Level Begin new game Interrupt computing 5. THE GAME OF CHESS History of chess The pieces The game A move Moves of the pieces Check The won game The drawn game The GRAND MASTER program and manual and associated packaging are copyright (c) 1982 Kingsoft and Audiogenic Ltd. MANUFACTURED AND DISTRIBUTED EXCLUSIVELY BY AUDIOGENIC LTD., P.O. BOX 88, READING, BERKS, ENGLAND. 1. INTRODUCTION --------------- Congratulations on purchasing GRAND MASTER! You are now the owner of the world's strongest chess program for home computers. Whether you are an experienced player or a newcomer to the world of chess, GRAND MASTER will provide you with countless hours of interest and enjoyment both as an opponent and as an instructor. It will help you to increase your understanding of the game, thereby bringing you greater pleasure and satisfaction. The program has many features which we have incorporated specially to make GRAND MASTER easy and flexible to use. This book will take you through the steps of using GRAND MASTER. These instructions apply to both the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 versions of the program. Where there is a difference between the two versions it will be stated. If you are new to the game of chess, first look at chapter 5, where we explain the rules of the Royal Game. We will show you how GRAND MASTER can help you bypass the awkward learning period and get right into the fun of playing chess. For the veteran player we will explain how the more sophisticated features can enable you to get the maximum entertainment from your new chess partner. Out aim has been to help you to enjoy this program as much as possible. We wish you many hourse of fun and excitement and hope that you derive as much pleasure in using this program as we did in creating it and bringing it to you. GRAND MASTER is copyright 1982 by KINGSOFT. It is unlawful to make copies of this software on any medium for any purpose other than backup. It is unlawful to give away or resell copies of any part of this package. Any unauthorized distribution of this product deprives the authors of their deserved royalties and is pursued by law. We are obliged to carry out an aggressive policy of enforcement against infringement. 2. LOADING THE PROGRAM ---------------------- CBM 64 VERSION - To load your GRAND MASTER into your Commodore 64, make sure that the heads on your cassette deck are cleaned and demagnetised, then simply follow this procedure: a) Switch on, insert the cassette and rewind if necessary. b) Type L O A D then press RETURN. You will then be asked to "PRESS PLAY ON TAPE". Having done this, the screen will go blank until the program is found, then it will display "FOUND GRAND 64E" (or something similar - the actual program name may vary according to version number and country of sale). Press the CBM key (the one at the bottom left of the keyboard with the Commodore logo on it) and the screen will go blank again until the program has loaded. The screen will then display "READY". You may now simply type R U N (and RETURN) and the program will start. VIC-20 VERSION - To load your GRAND MASTER into your VIC-20, make sure that the heads on your cassette deck are cleaned and demagnetised, then simply follow these steps: a) Before switching on, ensure that you have an 8K RAM memory expansion pack, or larger, fitted into the cartridge slot at the rear of your VIC. b) Switch on, insert the cassette and rewind if necessary. c) Type L O A D then press RETURN. You will then be asked to "PRESS PLAY ON TAPE". Having done this, the program will load into your VIC which will respond with "READY." when finished. You may now simply type R U N (and RETURN) and the program will start. BOTH VERSIONS - If the screen displays "?LOAD ERROR" instead of "READY", repeat the loading procedure. If this does not work, there are two copies of the program on each side of the cassette, so try one of the other copies. In the unlikely event that you cannot get any copy to load, return the cassette to your dealer for free replacement. 3. BASIC OPERATION ------------------ At the beginning you'll see a chessboard with your (white) pieces standing on the bottom. In order to enter a move, it is necessary first to locate the square FROM which a piece is to move (e.g. E2) and then the square TO which that piece is to move (e.g. E4). In order to enter this move, press the keys E 2 E 4. If you have chacked again that it is the move which you wish to make, you should press RETURN. The move will now be displayed on the screen. GRAND MASTER will respond with his own move, either immediately from his own openings library or after computing his best reply. While GRAND MASTER is computing he will display his current thoughts. If you look to the letter P, you can see, how many plys deep the analysis is. A ply is one move for one side (e.g. P3 means that GRAND MASTER has analysed one move from himself, one move from you and again one from himself). You can also see the best move which GRAND MASTER has found so far in his search. If at any time you key in and enter an illegal move, GRAND MASTER will refuse to make the move on the screen and clear the input area. You should simply key in and enter a new, legal move. The DEL key is used to clear incorrect characters from the input area. Pressing the DEL key will clear the last character displayed. This will be necessary, for example, when a move or part of a move has been keyed in incorrectly. The DEL key will not erase a legal move which has been entered into the computer by means of the RETURN key. If you wish to correct a move after pressing RETURN, interrupt GRAND MASTER from thinking and take back one complete move (see chapter 4 - SPECIAL FUNCTIONS). At the start of the game it is White's turn to move. If you wish to play White, enter your first move inthe manner described above. If you prefer to play Black, simply press the keys CTRL and 0 together. GRAND MASTER will flip the board and make his first move as White. Anytime you press these keys together, a new game with reversed colours will begin. There are some special moves in the game of chess which you need to know how to deal with. They are castling, en passant captures and pawn promotions. You should consult the rules in chapter 5 - THE GAME OF CHESS, if you are in doubt about these moves. a) Castling. This move is made simply by entering the King's move only: Press E 1 G 1 when you wish to castle King's side as White " E 1 C 1 " " " " " Queen's " " " " E 8 G 8 " " " " " King's " " Black " E 8 C 8 " " " " " Queen's " " " b) En Passant. When you wish to capture en passant, you should simply enter the move of your capturing pawn. GRAND MASTER will automatically remove his captured pawn. c) Promotion. When you are playing against GRAND MASTER, he will automatically promote your pawn to a queen when it reaches the promoting square. You need not worry when GRAND MASTER promotes a pawn - he will choose whatever piece he thinks best! 4. SPECIAL FUNCTIONS -------------------- GRAND MASTER has a lot of additional commands for your convenience and comfort. These are the appropriate keys: CRSR RIGHT VIC version only. Moves screen one position right, if the screen position on your TV is off centre. CRSR LEFT VIC version only. Moves screen one position left, if the screen position on your TV is off centre. CRSR DOWN VIC version only. Moves screen one position down, if the screen position on your TV is off centre. CRSR UP VIC version only. Moves screen one position up, if the screen position on your TV is off centre. F2 Puts GRAND MASTER into automatic play mode. He will play himself until he finds a mate or stalemate, and then start over again. This mode is ideal for the beginner to learn from GRAND MASTER'S strategy, or as an attractive demonstration of computer chess. Press RUN/STOP key to exit this mode. F3 Chooses one of 8 foreground colours. F5 Chooses one of 16 background colours. F7 Chooses one of 8 border colours. F8 Selects interlace mode (required only for some TV sets). <- This key allows you to take back the last move (=two plys). Although technically this is cheating, it can be very instructive. This function always works, even when GRAND MASTER is in his opening library. If he chooses an opening variant you don't like, press this key and try again. Probably GRAND MASTER will now play another move. This function is disabled after MATE & STALEMATE. ? You can use GRAND MASTER as a chess tutor, to see what he would do in your place. When it is your turn to move, press ? and GRAND MASTER gives you a hint for your next move. If you want to play the suggested move, press RETURN. If you want to play a different move, you may simply enter it in the usual way. This function is available when GRAND MASTER is playing from his openings library, and during normal play. It is disabled after <- and at the time when GRAND MASTER is leaving his openings library. L GRAND MASTER has several levels of play designed to challenge players of various strengths and patience. Each time you begin a new game, the level is set to 1. To set the desired level press L and a number from 0 to 9. The new level will be displayed on the screen by L0 - L9. GRAND MASTER's level of play may be changed whenever it is your move in the game. The levels and their average response times are as follows: Level: Response Time: Description: 0 Hours/Days Special level for analysis or postal chess. 1 5 sec Beginner's level or used for speed chess. 2 15 sec Fast paced game. 3 35 sec The whole game should last about 1 hour (if you move at GRAND MASTER's pace). 4 1 min 5 1.5 min 6 3 min GRAND MASTER's tournament level, where it should make 40 moves in 2 hours. 7 5 min Interesting level for those, who are not challenged by level 1-6. 8 30 min For the patient player. 9 2 h For the very patient player. CTRL-0 Begins new game with reversed colours. RUN/STOP While GRAND MASTER is thinking you can see the best move he has found so far. You can halt his thinking and force him to make that move by pressing RUN/STOP. The stop feature is useful if you have set GRAND MASTER on a high level and are now tired of waiting for his move, or if you discover that you have just made an error. 5. THE GAME OF CHESS -------------------- In the fifth century A.D., a game called "chaturanga" made its appearance in historical records in northwestern India. "Chaturanga" as it was played then is easily recognizable, with few differences, as our modern chess. The game spread west into Persia, and thence along the ancient trade routes to the shores of the Mediterranean, reaching Europe by about 1000 A.D. The Norman Conquest brought chess with it into England; the Spanish soldiers and French explorers introduced it first into the New World of the Americas. By the 17th century chess had developed the exact form we enjoy today, although slight rule variations (Double Advance, En Passant, Queening and Castling) have been added, and fashions in strategy continue to change from decade to decade. Chess is the classic game of manoeuvre and control. It is played on an 8x8 board between two players, each with initial armies of 16 pieces. These pieces are as follows: A king Two rooks A queen Two bishops Two knights Eight pawns The two players must alternate in making one move at a time. The player with the white pieces commences the game. A player is said to "have the move" when it is his turn to play. With the exception of castling, a move is the transfer of a piece from one square to another square which is either vacant or occupied by an enemy piece. No piece except the rook, when castling, and the knight may cross a square occupied by another piece. A piece played to a square occupied by an enemy captures it as part of the same move. The captured piece must be immediately removed from the chessboard by the player making the capture. The King - Except when castling, the king moves to any adjoining square that is not attacked by an enemy piece. Castling is a move of the king and either rook, counting as a single move (of the king), executed as follows: the king is transferred, from its original square, two squares toward either rook on the same rank: then that rook toward which the king has been moved is transferred over the king to the square immediately adjacent to the king. Castling is impossible: a) if the king has already been moved, or b) with a rook that has already been moved. Castling is prevented for the time being: a) if the king's original square or the square which the king must cross or that which it is to occupy is attacked by an enemy piece or b) if there is any piece between the king and the rook toward which the king is to be moved. The Queen - The queen moves to any square on the file, rank or diagonals on which it stands. The Rook - The rook moves to any square on the file or rank on which it stands. The Bishop - The bishop moves to any square on the diagonals on which it stands. The Knight - The knight's move is composed of two different steps; first, it makes one step of one single square along the rank or file and then, still moving away from the square of departure, one step of one single square on a diagonal. The Pawn - The pawn may only move forward: a) Except when making a capture, it advances from its original square either one or two vacant squares along the file on which it is placed, and on subsequent moves it advances one vacant square along the file. When capturing, it advances one square along either of the diagonals on which it stands. b) A pawn attacking a square crossed by an enemy pawn which has been advanced two squares in one move from its original square may capture this enemy pawn as though the latter had been moved only one square. This capture may be made only on the move immediately following such an advance and is called capturing "en passant". c) On reaching the last rank, a pawn must be immediately exchanged, as part of the same move, for a queen, a rook, a bishop, or a knight of the same colour as the pawn, at the player's choice and without taking into account the other pieces still remaining on the chessboard. This exchanging of a pawn is called "promotion" and the action of the promoted piece is immediate. The king is in check when the square it occupies is attacked by an enemy piece; in this case the latter is said to be "checking the king". Check must be parried by the move immediately following. If the check cannot be parried, it is said to be "mate". The game is won by the player who has mated his opponent's king. The game is drawn: a) When the king of the player whose turn it is to move is not in check and the player cannot make any legal move. The king is then said to be "stalemated". b) By agreement between two players. c) Upon a claim by one of the players when the same position is about to appear or has appeared for the third time, with the same player having the move each time. The position is considered the same if pieces of the same kind and colour occupy the same squares and if the possible moves of all the pieces are the same. d) When a player having the move demonstrates that at least fifty consecutive moves have been made by each side without the capture of any piece or the movement of any pawn.