Author: Travers Waker
Date: 08:05:42 10/10/05
I bought it from: http://www.mindscape.co.uk/products/ProductInfo.asp?pid=251 I installed it today and played one 45min-45min game against it (with CSTal 2 handicapped, of course), which had plenty of tactical fireworks from both sides, as I had hoped for. The final result was not entirely what I hoped for, but I'll work on that next game :-) On the "About Chess Champion" screen, it reports that it is Chess Champion 1.0.0.3, which I'm assuming means it is the latest version of CSTal 2, which I think was 2.0.3. It seems to have all the bells and whistles, including Auto232 support. I got a pleasant surprise when I odered it - the price was listed as GBP 9.95 (about $20), but when I added it to my basket, it was GBP 4.97 (about $10) due to a discount they were applying to the product at the time. The special seems to be over now, though. I installed it on a P200 running Windows 2000. No problems, and it has the slick Installshield installer that many modern programs use. The CD comes with some tablesbases (haven't bothered to check exactly which ones - I'm not a fan of tablebases for human play, so I turn them off) and 2 opening books - a small "gambit" one and a large one. The interface allows you to select between choosing between book lines randomly or choosing the strongest lines. Although not mentioned in the documentation anywhere, I think it does have some sort of book learning, since the "book" directory contains many files called learn.xxx, where xxx is 3 digits (e.g. 001). So far, I'm very happy. At GBP 4.97, I think I've almost got my money's worth after just one game. Even at the full price of GBP 9.95, I think it's a great deal.
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