Author: Christophe Theron
Date: 23:02:18 07/06/99
Go up one level in this thread
On July 06, 1999 at 16:07:41, Ian Osgood wrote:
>On July 06, 1999 at 15:31:06, Christophe Theron wrote:
>
>>On July 06, 1999 at 14:34:24, Ian Osgood wrote:
>>
>>>On July 05, 1999 at 15:12:55, Pierre Bourget wrote:
>>>
>...
>>>>
>>>>It would be interesting if someone can play a match of a dozen games between the
>>>>Cosmos and the Sapphire II to see once and for all who is the best portable
>>>>chess computer.Anyone willing to do that ?
>>>>
>>>>Pierre
>>>
>>>Great idea!
>>>
>>>This is easy to do for anyone who owns a Cosmos and has access to FICS (telnet
>>>freechess.org 5000).
>>>
>>>Login and play SapphireII, an auto-playing Novag Sapphire II. I try to keep it
>>>available 24 hours a day, although I have been having problems with my internet
>>>connection lately.
>>
>>Huh... How is it possible? You can't operate that manually, do you? And I
>>thought the Sapphire was a standalone computer. How is it possible to have it
>>connected to the Internet to play automatic games? Did you build a robot with an
>>arm to operate the small thing and a video camera to look at the small
>>display??? :)
>
>Many models of Novag computers came with a serial port, through which you can
>send commands and receive results (such as the computer's move and thinking
>analysis). I wrote a WinBoard engine which translated WinBoard engine commands
>into Novag serial commands, allowing my Sapphire II to play on the Internet or
>from WinBoard! It is also handy to run test suites against the SapphireII
>(similar to crafty's "test" command). The engine also translates chess server
>incremental time controls into appropriate thinking levels.
>
>SapphireII has played over 5000 automated games on FICS, maintaining a rating in
>the range 2000-2200. Many of the amateur chess authors here have appreciated
>having a program of some sophistication (albeit slow) to spar against.
>
>BTW, the serial port is non-standard, requiring an adapter (called the Novag
>Distributor) to translate signals to RS-232. Most people don't buy the adapter
>because it is an outrageous $70! This is also the method used to connect the
>SapphireII to the Novag Universal Chess Board (sold as the Sapphire II DeLuxe).
>
>Come over to FICS and try it for yourself, Christophe!
>
>Ian
Wow! Good work Ian!
Unfortunately I will not have the time to challenge the SapphireII these days.
However, if I do it one day I will try to run Tiger on a computer of the same
class as the SapphireII processor. How fast is it? Is it 20MHz? In this case I
can play with my 386sx 20MHz notebook to equalize chances...
Christophe
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