You can see that the computer is clueless once it is out of book.
10 seconds a move is not a reasonable test of one of those old computers. (It is from 2003.) On that setting, you might as well have played against the door handle.
At 10 seconds a move, it sounds like you chose one of the "fun levels".
From the Saitek Mephisto Master manual:
These unique “Fun Levels” are meant especially for beginners and young players—these levels allow those who might otherwise never win a game of chess to come up on the winning side for a change! On these Fun Levels, your computer acts much more “human” than most chess computers—it gives everyone a chance to win, in a world where chess machines are typically relentless and often quite difficult to beat. Even though the general consensus seems to be that computers don’t ever make mistakes, on the Fun Levels, your computer actually will!
Chess books often advise of basic rules—warning not to give away material, not to bring the Queen out too early, and advising on the development of pieces before starting an attack. Yet players see their opponents breaking these rules and getting away with it! The Fun Levels provide a way of practicing the punishment of these typical mistakes, enabling the beginner to strengthen his game against the human opponents he is likely to face.
Various handicaps are built into the Fun Levels, demonstrating common mistakes made by beginners. Level 33 (displayed as Fun:1) is the weakest level. On this level, the value of material is set so that the computer will not only “hang” pieces (leave pieces unguarded), but will also actually try to lose material. Even watching the computer throw away its Queen would not be uncommon on this level! Levels 34, 35, and 36 are similar to Level 33, in that they also give away material, but they do not do it as consistently. They progressively start to consider the value of pieces more and more, and Level 36 only occasionally gives pieces away. On Fun Levels 37 to 38, the computer does not actually give away material. Here, the computer plays more like a beginner who has learned the basics of the game, and the levels get progressively smarter when it comes to material. Players will see the computer make errors like bringing its Queen out too early, leaving its pieces unguarded, and opening itself up to threats of check and/or checkmate. Therefore, although Levels 37 to 39 may be “smarter” than Levels 33 to 36, they are still very much “fun” levels, offering beginners a winning edge! Even after a player has mastered the Fun Levels, theycan still be a valuable training tool. A game can be started on a Fun Level, for example, and, when the computer makes a bad move, the player can switch to a Normal Level and try to convert his advantage to a win, playing against the stiffer opposition of a higher level.
/ I know that 10 seconds per move is not officially a "fun level" but you see the computer acting the same way, purposelessly moving pieces back and forth, ignoring your threats, etc. Why don't you try one of the tournament levels and let us know how you do?
A nice win against the Saitek Mephisto master. For anyone familiar with these units, I had the power-saving options disabled, book option set to tournament & difficulty set to 10 seconds per move.