Author: Mike S.
Date: 18:50:42 07/15/02
Go up one level in this thread
On July 15, 2002 at 21:16:34, Chris Kantack wrote:
>On July 14, 2002 at 19:33:21, Mike S. wrote:
>
>>5. There was even a Nintendo 64 version which I have tested some years ago.
>>Unfortunately, this was a weak and buggy conversion.
>Well, I read in a review that the N64 version was rated around 2200+ Elo. I
>have not played Virtual Chess enough on our N64 to know what its rating might
>be but I have no reason to doubt a 2200+ Elo strength based on what I've seen
>so far.
>
>You say it is weak and buggy! In what way?
My impression that it is much weaker compared to the PC versions, came from some
test games and -positions. I'm aware that in general, a small number of test
games doesn't tell much. But in this case, it was clear: Virtual N64 was given
CPU speed compensation, running at 30 minutes for - most probably - 60 moves on
the N64, which has a 94 MHz CPU. It lost *every* game against the following
opponents running at 8 or 8.5 min./60 on a PII/333 MHz:
- ExChess (0-1)
- Goliath (0-1)
- Doctor? 3.0 (0-1)
- CSTal2 (0-2 see PGN below)
I also did (or tried to do) tests with 6 positions, which the PC version can
solve in a few seconds on P2/333. Four of them remained unsolved by Virtual N64
on tournament time level, within 3...7 minutes. In the other two, a bug occured
and V.N64 moved immediatly disregarding the level setting.
Another thing I noticed isn't a bug though, but a severe GUI flaw: The levels
are just numbered and no moves/time info is given. Somehow I figured out
indirectly what the time controls - most probably - were, but meanwhile I've
forgotten how I did that.
Here is a good illustration why I said Virtual N64 is weak:
Nordijk - Landau, Rotterdam 1927
[D]rnbq1b1r/ppp1p1pp/1n1p2k1/4P1N1/8/5Q2/PPPP1PPP/RNB1K2R b KQ - 0 7
Easy for most chess programs (7...Qe8). The Windows versions of Virtual Chess
avoid 7...Kxg5?? after 12 or 16 seconds on P2/333, while the Nintendo 64 version
calculated for 7 minutes and still wanted to take the knight, being mated in 6
moves then.
Regards,
M.Scheidl
P.S. An example game from the review, published in CSS magazine 4/1999:
[Event "8:30_30:00"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1999.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Chess System Tal 2"]
[Black "Virtual64 Nintendo"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C89"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3
d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6 12. d4 Bd6 13. Re1 Qh4 14. g3 Qh3 15.
Be3 Re8 16. Bxd5 cxd5 17. Qf3 Bb7 18. Nd2 Rac8 19. Bf4 Be7 20. Re5 a5 21. Qe2
Qd7 22. Re1 Kf8 23. Qh5 Kg8 24. Nf1 b4 25. Qe2 Kf8 26. Qd3 bxc3 27. Qxh7 f6 28.
Bh6 {#} 28... Qg4 $2 (28... gxh6 29. Qxh6+ Kf7 30. Qh7+ Kf8 31. R1e3 Rc6 $18 (
31... fxe5 $2 {# in 3})) 29. Ne3 Qg6 (29... fxe5 30. Nxg4 gxh6 $2 {# in 2}) 30.
Qxg6 gxh6 31. Nf5 Red8 32. Rxe7 cxb2 33. Rf7# 1-0
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