PSA: Millennium Mephisto Phoenix

Just announced today (10/17/22). Available for pre-order.

https://computerchess.com/en/Mephisto-Phoenix-chess-computer-module/M920

In cooperation with Ruud Martin we have developed a multi-engine system that gives you access to a huge variety in chess.  

The Phoenix contains 4 top engines:
Shredder 13.5
Komodo 14.1
Hiarcs 14.2
Stockfish 15 NNUE

With Shredder Neuronal and Stockfish 15 NNUE, it is the first chess computer in the world to use state-of-the-art neural engine technologies.

The system reaches up to 3400 Elo playing strength, but is also suitable for absolute chess beginners. There are countless possibilities to adjust the playing strength to your own needs. The system covers the largest playing strength range ever offered by a chess computer.

The system has been extended with 23 classic chess computer emulations, all running at high speed. Most notable is "Mephisto Glasgow", the legendary 1984 World Championship program - it runs about 66x faster on the Mephisto Phoenix system than the original.

Richard Lang: Mephisto Amsterdam, Dallas, Roma, Almeria, Portorose, Lyon, Vancouver, London.

Johan de Koning: Saitek Risk 2500, Mephisto Montreux, Tasc King V2.20, 2.23 & 2.50.

Ed Schroeder: Mephisto Rebel 5.0, MM IV, MM V, MMV (5.1), Polgar, Tasc R30 Gideon.

Elmar Henne & Thomas Nitsche: Mephisto Glasgow.

The first devices will be available in December. Get your Mephisto Phoenix now at the early bird price!

Choose one of the three variants:

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A beta tester for the Mephisto Phoenix had been documenting his extensive review of the product since July 2022. You can read all about it on the link below. Google Chrome is recommended to translate the original text to your preferred language. 

https://www.schachcomputer.info/forum/showthread.php?t=6658 

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US-based ChessHouse.com is now accepting pre-orders for the Mephisto Phoenix units. They have a limited-time discount offer from October 17 through 31, 2022. Read more about it from their blog.

https://www.chesshouse.com/blogs/chess-sets-guide/mephisto-phoenix-by-millennium-luxury-electronic-chess-system?_kx=qXRQ5ait7JwfCcCulDzSpH81iPTB8flRXRa-q69WQrg%3D.Qp8DxS

Early shoppers can take advantage of a $200 pre-order discount. This includes faster delivery, planned for well before Christmas. Orders from Nov 1 and later will arrive in early 2023 and be available at the regular price.

To receive your pre-order discount, use code M9PRE in checkout for $200 off the price shown on this page.

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For those in England, it was recommended to order from Niggemann. The current discount promo of 200 euros is also honored there.

https://www.schachversand.de/computer-und-dgt-bretter/millennium.html 

https://www.niggemann.com/en/computer-and-dgt-pc-boards/mephisto.html 

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Here is information from Ruud's website regarding the Mephisto Phoenix:

https://phoenixcs.nl/products/mephisto-phoenix-module-m920-english/

The Mephisto Phoenix is a UCI based multi-engine chess computer, which provides access to a huge variety in chess gaming. With Shredder Neuronal and Stockfish NNUE, you see the world’s first dedicated chess computer using most modern neuronal engine technologies.

The module in its modern design comes with a large color touch screen made from real glass. Accompanied by the well-structured touch menu system it is meant to be the perfect home station for chess lovers of all ages, all playing strengths and all experience levels.  

Most powerful chess computer of all times

The Phoenix comes with 4 different Top-Class Engines on Board: Shredder 13.5, Komodo 14.1, Hiarcs 14.2 and Stockfish 15 NNUE. Starting from a very simple level, which is also suitable for absolute beginners, the system can reach a maximum performance of over 3400 ELO. In fact, there are countless options to adjust the playing strength to your individual needs. The system covers the widest playing strength range ever provided by a chess computer.  

Shredder offers a highly interesting new function with its fully automatic self-adapting playing strength with ELO rating. In this way you can continuously monitor your progress and see how much you have improved through training with the computer.

The evaluation bar beside the chess board tells you at first glance how the engine rates the position. Any blunders are quickly noticed that way and you always have a feeling on how good you do.  

Great opening training per your needs 

The machine comes with some different opening books: The standard one by Mark Uniacke provides you with more than 1.000.000 positions, all from master play. This is the biggest opening book ever provided by a dedicated chess computer.

The system is expanded with 23 classical chess computer emulations running at a high speed. Most remarkable is the “Mephisto Glasgow”, the legendary world championship program of 1984 – which runs on the MEPHISTO PHOENIX system at a speed of approx. 66 times faster than the original machine of the time.

With the speed bar you easily control the emulation speed or set it to the speed of the original chess computer, button and display layout follows the originals.

Updates for the System come via WIFI directly on the unit, and if you purchase additional software in the computerchess.com webstore it is installed as easy as with the press of one button. 

The Mephisto Phoenix is the right unit for you if you 

- Wish to own the most powerful chess computer ever made, building a bridge between past glory days and todays modern style of playing chess
- Are interested in modern engine technologies, e.g. NNUE Technology and see how they evaluate 
- Like to play with retro chess computers and to see how these programs perform on a modern hardware 

Compatible with the MILLENNIUM Exclusive and Tournament Sensor Boards

The MEPHISTO Phoenix requires a Millennium Exclusive or Supreme Tournament Board with RFID piece recognition.

Interesting, it says "ChessLink App for Mephisto Phoenix will be integrated for direct use in 2023" but only mentions lichess.  I wonder if it would allow one to analyze a completed game.  The price looks painful.

I noticed the price drops as well. It is to be expected as new products with better features are released just like any technology.

[EDIT]

As the owner of http://electronicchess.free.fr/good.html said about the Resurrection II:

"It's a luxury product for passionate players. Such purchase can not be made using an economic logic. "

It just dawned on me that I also caught wind of this as Ruud's next project on his own page back in 2020. I'm just glad it's finally a reality.

https://phoenixcs.nl/news/

From the 9/1/2020 announcement:

Phoenix Chess Systems partners with Millennium to take computerchess to ‘the next level’

It has been a very interesting computerchess career, developing my first chess program when I was 14 although computer chess as a whole and for the world was yet unknown to me. This changed decades later when I started to develop some of the most powerful chess computers : 2005 the Resurrection Module, later the Revelation Computer Chess Board and in 2013 the Revelation II as a joint venture with DGT.

Now this unique success story is being continued with MILLENNIUM. The know-how of MILLENNIUM and the expertise and ideas of Phoenix Chess Systems will take computer chess to the next level.
We are rethinking chess computers completely. This new generation should combine an unprecedented variety of functions with a highly intuitive operation. 

“It is almost like the chess game of the 21st century, in which 40 years of chess computer tradition from Munich interweave with the future in online gaming as if by magic”, says Thomas Karkosch, COO of MILLENNIUM.

Ruud Martin, CEO of Phoenix Chess Systems : “A logical next step but with enormous potential. Looking forward to work with Thomas Karkosch, Ossi Weiner and the whole MILLENNIUM team for the coming years.”

Consider that Ruud Martin is involved with this product. If you look into any of his products starting from the legacy Mephisto Resurrection module to the DGT Revelation II chess set, you'll appreciate that his stuff is on the highest shelf of the chess toys.

[EDIT]

j'ai consulté le produit sur le site millenium, le module est certainement fameux mais trop cher pour un amateur d'echecs de petit niveau avec tous ces moteurs extrêmement performant.

déja que je n'arrive pas à gagner au niveau minimum avec le "chess classics ". l'avantage avec celui  ci est le tactile car l'ergonomie du chess classics est mauvaise. 

je l'achèterai avec la planche tournoi lorsque le prix aura baissé. aujourd'hui 1799€ c'est 800€ de trop.

pour le module seul je donnerai 400€ au plus.

I now know exactly how people felt during the 90s when the high-end Mephisto stand-alone chess computers were first available. I’m sure they all seemed expensive when they first came out. 
What I hate even more is how much more expensive the same 20-30 year old machines cost in 2022.

I’ve been posting upcoming electronic chess computers in chess.com in the appropriate forum subsection since it is considered “chess equipment” AND there is a community of fans for these items here which includes the moderators of the site themselves. 

[EDIT] ChessHouse.com is now accepting pre-orders for the Mephisto Phoenix units. They have a limited-time discount offer from October 17 through 31.

https://www.chesshouse.com/blogs/chess-sets-guide/mephisto-phoenix-by-millennium-luxury-electronic-chess-system?_kx=qXRQ5ait7JwfCcCulDzSpH81iPTB8flRXRa-q69WQrg%3D.Qp8DxS

Early shoppers can take advantage of a $200 preorder discount. To receive your preorder discount, use code M9PRE in checkout.

[EDIT] The same thing can be said for the NOJ Zagreb chess pieces, the Sinquefield Cup chess pieces or the DGT Official FIDE chess pieces.

From the chesshouse.com blog:

Powerful Analysis - Training Made Easy

With more then 3100 ELO for example with Komodo, you can setup any position via the position mode and take a deep look into the engines analysis. Also here the Evaluation Bar shows you quickly how the engine thinks. Switch on all the display options to see all the evaluations even during the game itself.

Great opening training per your needs

The machine comes with various opening books. The standard one by Mark Uniacke provides you with more then 1,000,000 positions, all from master play. This is the biggest opening book ever provided by a dedicated chess computer. There is furthermore a "fun" book with more unusual openings and also three specially designed books playing typical openings from chess stars like Carlsen, Fischer and Kasparov.

The system does not only allow you to limit the depth of book moves, but also you can advise the engine to use e.g. only the best 25% of moves. 

What if you dislike an opening or like to train a special one? Just take back the move made by the engine, press move and it will play the second best automatically. So you can "scroll" through the opening options for your position directly on the board.

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Find the link to the in-depth review of a beta tester on the original post to preview how these two features work. 

It's a serious price of kit. If only it wasn't so expensive - I would order it in a flash otherwise and worry about paying for it later!

For those in England, it was recommended to order from Niggemann. The current discount promo of 200 euros is also honored there.

https://www.schachversand.de/computer-und-dgt-bretter/millennium.html 

I wanted to share some highlights from the review of beta tester known as "Sascha". The link to the review on schachcomputer.info is in the first post of this thread.

 ... some functions and features are already in the planning stage and will be guaranteed come as a (free) update ... other ideas are already being discussed internally ... because the Mephisto Phoenix is ​​expandable ... so feedback is not only allowed , but also desired ...

... those of you who are technically interested ... a Raspberry Pi is installed, ... in version 4B. The Phoenix has the following technical data:

- Quad-core CPU with ...four cores, each offering 1.5 GHz

- 4 GB RAM (memory)
- 16 GB memory for programs, data and more
- 7 inch touch screen (color) with a resolution of 1,024 x 600

Here are highlights from the beta tester regarding openings training:

Book Settings:

- Book Select (you select the opening book that should be used in games)
- Book (allow the program should use an opening book)
- Random (random factor that varies the openings played)
- Depth (limits the depth of the book, ie how many moves maximum from the opening books are played until the Engine calculates itself - selectable: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 , off)
- Thresh (set the limit to the best book moves - with Threshold Book you can determine that eg only the 25% of the best openings are used This limits the variety but produces stronger openings - selectable: 25%, 50%, 75%, off)

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Here are highlights from the beta tester regarding chess engine analysis:

Options available to ALL engines:

- Ponder (allow the calculation of the engine when it is the opponent's turn)

- Well-known Elo levels: OFF (no limit), 900, 1000, 1100, 1200, 1300, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1700, 1800, 1900, 2000, 2100, 2200, 2300, 2400, 2500, 2600, 2700 , 2800, Adaptive (program adapts to your skill level during the game)
- Thread (number of CPU cores to use -1 or 2)
- Hash (the size of the hash tables - 128 MB, 256 MB, 512 MB or 1024 MB)
- Clear Hash (clear hash tables)
- Speed ​​(percentage limitation of the processor: 1%, 2%, 4%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 25%, 50% or  100% performance)

I've had an epiphany about a dedicated chess computer over the last couple of days. Originally I thought something like the Mephisto Phoenix was a dumb idea and no one in their right mind would buy one.  Just use your "general purpose" mobile device I (and all the other eBoard manufacturers) thought.

Turns out I was wrong and I'll tell you why from my experience:

I just bought a Chessnut Air that I'm trying to integrate with an iPad, iPhone, and a Mac.  I'm having a ludicrous amount of trouble even though there's nothing wrong with the Chessnut board itself.

• There are no real chess database programs for the iPhone/iPad and none can load a different UCI engine because Apple prevents the installation of binary plug-ins.
• All of these boards require something in between the board and whatever the engine is running on.  If you are okay with Hiracs for iPad, or another single engine app, then you can play against that one engine. You want 3 or 4 engines?  Buy 3 or 4 separate apps, each with their own GUI. The board's proprietary mobile app may not have an engine at all so you can only play online against chess.com (maybe, no bots) or lichess.org opponents.
• The quality of these proprietary eBoard apps are all over the map.  Look thru the forums here to see the trouble each board's owners have had. Chessnut's engine (Stockfish?) or UI locks up in each game I've tried.  Those with DGT and Square Off have had their own litany of issues.
• There is no standard interface for eBoards, like there is with UCI, so every chess GUI has to write explicit software to support each board (so they mostly don't). A 3rd party is voluntarily using the DGT DLL/interface as a defacto standard since it is the most frequently supported by chess GUIs. His "drivers" convert each eBoard's protocol to DGT's but the technique he chose only works for Windows and Linux. As a result none of us with a Mac can use an eBoard with a chess GUI or database like Hiarcs Chess Explorer.  What happens to the Windows and Linux folks when he gets bored or loses interest?  
• There is no standard for online play at chess.com or lichess.org, either. Each eBoard manufacturer has to write custom software for each server's interface.  WhitePawn, a 3rd party iOS and Android app, has tried to support most eBoards and the two big servers but the results are mixed.  He supported UCI too but Google, since Android 10.0, is also disallowing binary plug-ins like chess engines.  So much for "general purpose" handheld computers that can do "anything".  
• If Phoenix/Millennium allow you to add your own UCI engines then the "dedicated" chess computer will be, ironically, more general purpose than your phone or tablet. 

Owning an eBoard has completely changed my mind about dedicated chess computers. The Phoenix Mephisto may well be the best solution to the Tower of Babel that are the PC/Mac and mobile operating systems, chess GUIs/database programs, online chess servers, and each eBoard's protocol and apps.  With the board and the Mephisto, you have a complete solution that provides both offline play (using 4 great engines) and online play with no 3rd party apps.  You only need Windows/Linux and a 3rd party "driver" if you want to use your board with a PC chess GUI and other UCI engines.

As a bonus you have the choice of 5 compatible sensory (RFID) boards including two tournament sized boards.  The Phoenix Mephisto is a lot of money, for sure, but it solves a whole lot of problems, especially for Apple users.