Saitek Chess Explorer manual Playing Levels

2.6 Changing Sides with the Computer

To change sides with the computer, simply press ENTER when it’s your turn—and the computer will make the next move for your side. Change sides as often as you wish.

Want the computer to play the first move for White at the start of a new game? Press CLEAR and ENTER together to reset for a new game, and then press ENTER.

Want to watch the computer play chess against itself? Press ENTER after each move—watch as it plays for both sides of the board, one move after another. Study its strategies, and you might improve your own game!

2.7 Built-In Openings

At the beginning of a game, the computer will often move instantly on many levels. This is because it is playing from memory, using its own built-in “book” of opening chess moves. This book contains most major openings and many positions from grandmaster play. If the current board position is in its book, the computer plays a response to that position automatically, instead of having to think about the move!

A special feature of this computer’s opening book is its ability to handle transpositions. A transposition occurs when a position reached by a certain set of moves can also be reached when those same moves occur in a different order. The computer’s integrated Automatic Transpo- sition Manager handles these cases with ease.

Also included is a unique user-selectable book feature, which lets you choose from different types of opening books, or even turn the book off, if desired. For complete details, see Section 5.2.

2.8 Thinking on the Opponent’s Time

As you play, you may notice that the computer sometimes replies to your moves immediately, even in the middle of games played on the higher levels. This is because the computer thinks on your time, using the time you are taking for your move to think ahead and plan its own strategies. It tries to guess the move you are likely to make, and then calculates its responses for that particular move while you are still thinking. If the computer has guessed right, there’s no reason for it to keep on calculating—it immediately plays the move it has already found.

To disable this feature, turn on the Easy Mode option, as described in Section 5.2.

2.9 Game Memory	ENGLISH
individual moves). When you switch back on again, you can continue
You may interrupt a game at any time by pressing GO/STOP. Play is
then suspended, and the computer stores your current game (up to 30
right where you left off.

3. THE PLAYING LEVELS

Your chess computer offers 64 different levels of play. When you set the level, keep in mind that when the computer has more time to think about its moves, it becomes stronger and plays better—just like a human chess player! For an overview of all the levels, refer to the Level Chart. The levels are also described individually in this section.

Setting a Playing Level

See “USE THIS CHART TO SELECT A PLAYING LEVEL!” for a look at how to set a level and a chart showing all the levels.

There are two methods of setting levels—by using the game keys or the board squares. Whichever method you use, always press LEVEL first to enter Level Mode, and the computer will display the current playing level. When you enter Level Mode the first time, the computer is set on Normal Playing Level D1 (with an average response time of five seconds a move), and the display shows L0:05.

•To select a level by using game keys: After entering Level Mode by pressing LEVEL, change levels one at a time by using the BLACK/> and WHITE/< keys. As a shortcut, press LEVEL repeatedly to skip over eight levels at a time. When the display shows your desired level, press ENTER to enter your new level into the computer and exit Level Mode.

•To select a level by pressing board squares: As indicated in the Level Chart, each of the 64 squares corresponds to one level. After entering Level Mode by pressing LEVEL, press the desired square to activate a level, using the chart as a guide. When you press down on the desired square and that level shows in the display, press ENTER to enter your new level into the computer and exit Level Mode. When making your selection via the board squares, pressing CLEAR has the same effect as pressing ENTER—it enters your level into the computer.

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