I don't know the situation in other countries, but here in the US thrift stores are very popular and can be a source of real treasures. I don't remember how much I paid for my Radio Shack 1650, but I do remember being very surprised at 1) how cheap it was and 2) that it still worked just fine.
Today there are free chess programs for the PC and the phone, but I like the feel of actually picking up the pieces and moving them. Even if the pieces are very small.
I don't know the situation in other countries, but here in the US thrift stores are very popular and can be a source of real treasures. I don't remember how much I paid for my Radio Shack 1650, but I do remember being very surprised at 1) how cheap it was and 2) that it still worked just fine.
Today there are free chess programs for the PC and the phone, but I like the feel of actually picking up the pieces and moving them. Even if the pieces are very small.
Lucky you! The 80's, which I guess was the golden era of the dedicated chess computers, was the peak of poverty and devaluation of Polish currency (average salary was around $20), so even if chess computers had been available nobody would have coughed up $150. I guess if someone went abroad to the West to work (illegally) chess computers weren't their first choice as a 'souvenir'. And so very few of these machines were brought to Poland years ago. If you manage to find a real gem on an auction in Poland these days it's sometimes priced even higher than on the ebay, because somebody bought it to resell with a markup. Thrift stores are also popular, but you won't find any vintage chess computers as they were rare in the 80's-90's and our basements and garages aren't full of dust covered toys from the past like in th U.S. :/
. Im actually purchasing a Mephisto Milano from Germany as we speak. I cant wait to open the board up and replace the 2032 battery that serves as its backup memory function. Then i can examine the eproms that i will eventually replace to turn it into a Nigel Short! Fun!!
This caught my tinkerer mind's attention. Is this upgrade a standard process, or will it require the de-soldering of ROMs?
I've been hoping that the Millennium company releases more modules for their line of products akin to the modular Mephisto chess machines of the 90s.
My simple little chess computer. "Endorsed by Garry Kasparov - The World Champion"
This is what i intend to find out. Of course desoldering would be considered somewhat standard procedure for many repairs and modifications, but im in no way experienced let alone an expert. In fact, i need to find out what eprom (s?) I will even need and how to get them etc. I may end up sending it in to that small shop in Canada when i get around to having them fix the Jade 2.............lets just get the damn thing before Halloween and all is well. Im excited about receiving this contraption. Seeing as it rates over 2000 with such a slow clock speed of 5mhz, it must surely be an excellent program. It has many curious features that are not common in most devices. Such as the acknowledgment of openings displayed, multiple time counts displayed, the ability to analyze 10 particular positions post mortem, and the feature i will surely toy with first (the level setting based on specific elo!) This machine should be most interesting.
I also would love to see a "renaissance" of machines, and although there is hope with the smart boards that have come out, im dissatisfied as of yet. Certainly there are others such as myself whom are clamoring for some new micro machines to be released. I would be all over the 2023 version of the sapphires. Im afraid the days of "mid" dedicateds are long gone so im not holding my breath for the resurrection of the super vip or anything...................
I picked this up a couple of days ago at a thrift shop. It works great, and was practically free
@wids88 I had this one growing up. It talks trash too. Brings back a lot of childhood memories.
I had the awesome Boris chess computer. I loved that thing. It was the only chess computer/engine i ever enjoyed playing. I would love to have another one. Then again i also want one of those old school electronic vibrating football games.
I had one of those as a kid when I was into Chess. A special gift from my folks. It was not cheap. My dad was an old engineer and loved technology. I do not remember it playing that well. It needed way too much time to play at stronger levels. I wonder how much money Boris got from them using his name? If any??
I've started using one of my machines (a Kasparov Advanced Turbo Trainer, which is reasonably strong) for practicing endgames. I find it puts up better opposition than a modern engine. Perhaps the reason is that the modern engine will see the game as lost and therefore not care so much about what it plays - it knows it's losing so it just goes for the longest variation until checkmate, or something. So it might abandon its pawn(s) in a K+P ending to get the King to the centre of the board, since that was it's an extra move or two before it loses.
Anyway I find the dedicated chess computer very useful for this. It plays what I'd call "proper" moves at all times, even in completely lost theoretical endgames.
I picked this up a couple of days ago at a thrift shop. It works great, and was practically free
I have to say that I'm a little jealous. The chess computers everybody else is showing are much easier on the eye than mine. With mine, the contrast between the light and dark squares is not quite enough, so my eyes have to work harder to play. At my age that's less fun than it should be.
I think I will keep my eyes open for other old chess computers the next time I'm at a thrift store.
Just missed out on a Mephisto Master and a Novag Sapphire 😢 I did however receive the Mephisto Milano before Halloween like i had anticipated. Pics and comments to follow..
For anyone interested, Millennium’s upcoming Mephisto Phoenix is now available for pre-order. It is confirmed to come with UCI chess engines as well as the classic engines from the strongest dedicated chess computers via emulation on more powerful hardware. I just figured to share in case there’s an interest but the availability of the 80s/90s machines is scarce or the price is prohibitive for holy grails like the Saitek Renaissance, the Novag Sapphire II Deluxe with the universal board or the Tasc R30. Also, there is a new thread about the upcoming Mephisto Phoenix here on chess.com.
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From the review of a beta tester for the upcoming product line from Millennium:
There will be an emulation package for the market launch. This includes the following 20 classics of chess computer history:
Author Richard Lang: Mephisto Amsterdam, Dallas, Roma, Almeria, Portorose, Lyon, Vancouver, London.
Author Johan de Koning: Saitek Risk 2500, Mephisto Montreux, Tasc King V2.20, 2.23 & 2.50.
Author Ed Schroeder: Mephisto Rebel 5.0, MM IV, MM V, MMV (5.1), Polgar, Tasc R30 Gideon.
Authors Elmar Henne & Thomas Nitsche: Mephisto Glasgow.
Novag V.I.P. should be arriving any day now. I promise to post pics and review it, and the Milano which ive already developed a love hate relationship with........
Novag V.I.P. should be arriving any day now. I promise to post pics and review it, and the Milano which ive already developed a love hate relationship with........
I bet you do! The Milano is in the same max elo range as their Master modem from what I understand. I believe the Master was the last dedicated chess computer that they manufactured. They were silent for a few years until their brand reappeared as the upcoming Mephisto Phoenix which boasts to allow the classic programs to run on faster hardware which can be scaled back to the user’s preference.
The Mephisto line conzinued as a brand after the company had been sold to Saitek. Saitek put the same engines into theirs and the "Mephisto" computers, the old owners had nothing to do with that.
Millennium is owned by one of the former Mephisto (Hegener & Glaser) owners.
The Mephisto line conzinued as a brand after the company had been sold to Saitek. Saitek put the same engines into theirs and the "Mephisto" computers, the old owners had nothing to do with that.
Millennium is owned by one of the former Mephisto (Hegener & Glaser) owners.
It makes more sense to me now especially with the choices of retro dedicated chess engines that will ship with the upcoming Phoenix.
Regardless of ownerships, I’m just glad that the Mephisto engines are still available and can now be had.
This thread has really grown and I was away from it for a while, but now have gotten back and am reading through the posts since I last saw it.
Recently, I purchased the Millenium Chess Exclusive Classic. It seems to be a modern remake of the Tasc R-40. I was curious since I purchased the Millenium King Performance a while back and that program is an updated version of the Tasc program by the same programmer.
Chess House where I purchased these machines, makes no claim nor mention regarding the Tasc R-40 similarity. It was by googling the Tasc and reading about it, that it became quite obvious to me. It was the Tasc that I had always wanted but couldn't afford at the time and now I don't have to pay the high collector's price for one.
The Exclusive Classic contains both the King program and Chess Genius. Using RFID chips in the pieces for piece recognition, the play just seems more natural than having to press the to and from squares for each move. Also, setting up a position is much easier because you just set it up rather than having to use the menu to tell the computer each piece you want to set up.
Today is Thanksgiving and iChess has some serious Black Friday sales, so I am downloading both the complete Roman's Labs DVD series and the complete Foxy series as I read these posts.
I really enjoy playing on a good dedicated chess computer and studying chess.
Tony
Yeh, it has texture that makes it look like very cheap faux stone. And the frame is hollow, too.
They also had issues mounting the buttons straight.