Computer Chess Club Archives


Search

Terms

Messages

Subject: Re: Collector's Corner..The Ultra Rare TSB 4 La Regence

Author: Terry McCracken

Date: 23:11:12 11/13/05

Go up one level in this thread


On November 13, 2005 at 12:42:05, Steve B wrote:

>Considered by  knowledgeable collectors as one of the top 5 rarest computers
>ever released for sale ,the La Regence was one of the last computers released by
>Applied Concepts before it went belly up
>
>very little literature exists on the TSB 4 but it did manage to receive a rating
>of 1460 Elo
>
>released in 1983 with a 6502 processor running at 2.5  Mhz with 12k Rom and 48k
>Ram
>it had an opening book of 4000 moves ..i am not certain which program was in it
>but i think it was the Sargon 2.5
>
>the computer is a tournament sized  wooden auto-sensory board with a two-tiered
>highly unique  layering of wood
>the playing surface is raised from the base of the board yielding a "platform"
>type of effect
>
>legend has it that only 10 were made and sold
>this one is number 6
>
>photos of it can be seen here
>click on the" Applied Concepts" Album and its the first 5 photos:
>
>http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/cpaa2@sbcglobal.net/my_photos
>
>
>Feeling a bit lucky and wanting to test it to make sure its in tip top condition
>i  decided to lock horns with this rare bird for a game 30 minutes
>there is no actual level like this so i played on the level closest to it(30 sec
>per move avg)
>
>in the game the TSB was out of book by move 5 and typically achieved  ply
>count's  of 4-5 in most positions
>
>to the best of my knowledge, this is the first game ever shown on the Net for
>the TSB 4
>as is usual in these sorts of situations the human takes white:
>
>[Site "Under Ground Bunker"]
>[Date "2005.11.13"]
>[Round "1"]
>[White "Steve B"]
>[Black "TSB 4 La Regence"]
>[TimeControl "Game 30 min"]
>[Result "1-0"]
>
>
>1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Bd3 e6 6.Bxf5 exf5
>7.cxd5 Qxd5 8.Nc3 Bb4 9.a3 Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 Nbd7 11.O-O O-O 12.Bb2 Rfe8
>13.Rc1 Qc4 14.Nd2 Qd5 15.c4 Qd6 16.Qc2 Ng4 17.Nf3 Re4 18.Qc3
>
>[D] r5k1/pp1n1ppp/2pq4/5p2/2PPr1n1/P1Q1PN2/1B3PPP/2R2RK1 b - - 0 18
>setting up the Q-B mating battery which could come in handy later
>
>
>18..Ndf6 19.h3 Nh6 20.Ne5 Rh4 21.f3 Rd8 22.Rfd1 g6 ???
>
>[D] 3r2k1/pp3p1p/2pq1npn/4Np2/2PP3r/P1Q1PP1P/1B4P1/2RR2K1 w - - 0 23
>
>his honor the TSB is oblivious to the coming onslaught and actually assists in
>its own demise
>my how i love this old babies of yesteryear
>:)
>
>23.d5 cxd5 24.Rxd5 !
>
>[D] 3r2k1/pp3p1p/3q1npn/3RNp2/2P4r/P1Q1PP1P/1B4P1/2R3K1 b - - 0 24
>
>ripping open the Black position .
>probably not a forced win yet but i was relying on the Q-B battery and the low
>ply count of the TSB to win the game for me
>
>24..Nxd5 25.cxd5 Qxd5???
>
You missed a forced win, not 24.Rxd5?! but 24.Nxg6!!+- and it's over!

Sorry to bring this up, but check 24.Nxg6!!

Terry
>the final blunder
>almost anything else is better such as Qf6
>
>26.Nxg6!!
>[D] 3r2k1/pp3p1p/6Nn/3q1p2/7r/P1Q1PP1P/1B4P1/2R3K1 b - - 0 26
>A bone breaking,spine cracking ,game ending,fatal blow
>
>did i fail to mention it was a violent ,shocking ,devastating move?
>
>what follows is an example of the "Horizon effect" typical of chess programs of
>its day
>the computer will make any move to push the mate outside of its search horizon
>
>of course ..26 Rd4 would be better here but of course all is lost for black
>anyway
>
>
>26..Qd1+ 27.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 28.Kh2 Rxh3+ 29.gxh3 Ng4+ 30.hxg4 f6 31.Qxf6
>Rd2+ 32.Kg3 f4+ 33.Kxf4 Rd4+ 34.Bxd4 hxg6 35.Qg7# 1-0
>
>FINAL POSITION:
>[D] 6k1/pp4Q1/6p1/8/3B1KP1/P3PP2/8/8 b - - 0 35
>
>Bring on Fruit Or Zappa!
>Lets Rock Regards
>Steve



This page took 0 seconds to execute

Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700

Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.