List of contents

A. General information
A .1. Description of the unit
A 2 ..
• Advantages of the MODULAR CONCEPT

B. Getting started
B.1. Preparation for a game
B.2. Setting up for a game
Il.�5 .. Making moves
H.4. I l t.ega t. mc>ves
IL5. Alternative moves

Communicating with the computer

Advantages of the ne� dialogue system
C.2. The five operation modes
Other features

D. Selection of playing levels <LEVEL mode)

ri. 1 • Changing playing levels
D.2. The meaning of the playing levels

E. Playing chess with MEPHISTO <PLAY mode>

E.1. Standby phase
E.2. Anal1;:1sis phase
E.3. Making moves
- normal moves
- capturing moves
- en-passant
- c astling
- Pawn promotion
- taking moves back

F. Entering and changing positions <POSITION mode)

F.1. Verifying a position
a. Chessmen symbols
b. Return to PLAY mode
F.2. Entering a position
a. Clearing the board
b. Entering a position
c. Choice of colour
F.3. Changing a position
a. Entering additional pieces
b. Removing pieces.
..
 L i st of contents < c o nt ' d >

G. MEMORY mode
G. 1 Tak i n g moves back
G.2. Replay i n g a game
G.3. E nter i n g a sequence of moves
G.4. Mon i to r mode

H. INFORMATION mode
H.L Ma i n- l i n e
H.2. Pos i t i o n evalua t i o n
H.3. G i v i ng up a game
H.4. Adv i ce on comments
Poss i b l e comments
H.6. Ana l ys i s d e p t h , branch, move counter

I. Fou r - t i me chess c l ock

I.1 . Th i n k i n g - t i me of the present move
I .2 . Tota l th i n k i n g - t i me

K. Spec i a l f u n c t i on s
K. l .• A u t o ma t i c p l ay
K.2. Chess- i n s t r u c t o r
a. Weak move warn i ngs
b. L i m its of the chess- i ns t ru c t o r
c. S w i tch i n g the chess-I n s t r u c t o r off
K . 3. Checkmate s o l ut i o n s ( p roblem-so lv i n g )
K.4. T u r n i n g the board
K.5. Randomlzer (best move >
K.6. O p en i n g s L i b rary < theory o pen i n g s )
K.7. Sound g e n e r a t o r
K.8. Rev i e w of spec i a l func t i o n s

L. O p e ra t i o n e r r o r s and c o r r e c t i v e ac t i o n
L.1. I nput errors
L 2... Correc t i n g er rors

M. MEPHISTO s e l f-tes t i n g rout i n e

N. Techn i cal data a n d a c c e s s o r i es

N . 1. Techn i ca l data
N .. 2. Accesso r i es

0. Summary of i n s t ru c t i ons

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A. General lnfor•atlon

A.1. Description of the unit

The MEPHISTO MODULAR/EXCL USIVE/MUNCHEN - AMSTERDAM is bu l l t - as

are all the chess-computers of the MEPHISTO fam i l y - to a llow
the un i t to be comp l e t e l y d i sassemb l e d . The MEPHISTO MODULAR/
EXCLUSIVE/MUNCHEN c o n s i s ts of e as i l y exch a n ge a b l e parts w h i ch
e n ab l e the user to u p g rade the un i t at any t i me . It is therefore
a s i mple affa i r to flt your MEPHISTO MODUL AR , EXCL U S I V E or
MUNCHEN w i th an AMSTERDAM-modu l e . Th i s m a nual therefore a p p l i es
to these un i ts , wh i ch are to be u p g r aded w i th an AMSTERDAM­
mod u l e . Ge t t i n g back to the components of wh i c h M E P H I STO is
bu i l t: the f i rst part is the sensor-board w i th a n LED <L i g h t
Em i t t i n g D i ode> in each squ a r e . These L E D ' s L i gh t when i nd i c a t i n g
moves . H i dden beneath the board, but neve r t h e l es s important, are
t h e s e ns o r s . Y o u w i ll have n o t i ce d , wht l s t u n p ac k i n g � o u r
MEPH ISTQ , that the p i e ces have a magne t i c b as e . These m a g ne ts are
detected by the sensors and e n ab l e MEPHISTO to reg i s te r that a
p i ece has Just been moved.

Your MEF'H ISTO is f i t ted in a hous i n g w i th a m a i ns adapter socket•

an an/o f f sw i tch and three modu l e bays. The MEPHISTO AMSTERDAM is
des i gned for ma i ns su p p l y through the processor modu l e only,
i.e. the on/o f f sw i t c h does not o pe r a te .

You can see the three modu l e b ays if you pu l l open the dr awer at
the front of MEPHISTO <MODULAR d o e s not have a d r awer ) . One bay
is occ u p i ed by the k e yb o a r d w i th 1 8 keys , us i n g w h i ch you can
g i ve MEPHISTO h i gh- l e v e l i ns t ruc t i o n s < e n te r i n g moves via the
keyboard is unnecess a r y ) . The next modu l e c o n t a i ns the d i s p l ay.
Us i n g th i s you can m o n i to r the computer ' s a n a lys i s procedure
e.g. w h i c h move is be i n g c o n s i de r e d , how much t i me has been t ak e n
for the game and h o w m a ny poss i b l e moves M E P H I S T O has a n a l y sed
ahe a d"

The th i rd modu l e c o n t a i ns the chess-program w i th w h i ch MEPHISTO

�on i ts t i t l es at the M i crocomputer Chess Wor l d C h a m p i o n sh i p . We
expect that by now you w i l l want t o k now how you c a n t ak e your
MEPHISTO apart. F i rs t of all you •ust d i sconnect HEPH I S T O . Then
pull out the dr a w e r ( d i sregard i ns t ruc t i o n s conce r n i n g d r awer if
you own a MODUL AR > as far as it will go. If you then bend the
p l as t i c rim Con the top r i gh t hand s i de of the d r awer > o u tw a r d s ,
you w i l l be ab l e to tip the d r aw e r f r a mework upwards. A f te r this
the modu l e s can be pulled from the i r bays, or pushed i nto p l ace .
When i ns e r t i n g the modu l e s • make sure that they slot f i rm l y i nto
p l ace - y o u shou l d feel them Lock in. Only when the modu l e s are
c o r r ec t l y i n place w i l l y o u be able to fold the d r aw e r f r am e w o r k
back to i ts o r i g i na l pos i t i o n .

As you w i ll have no t i cedr there is an adapter socket on the l eft

L o wer s i de of the p r o g r am modu l e . Use th i s and not the socket
on t h e s i de of the board < no t e that the sw i tch is now a l so
w i thout f u nc t i o n > .

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F i nall'..:Jt 'dC>u wl l l. f i nd two " h o l e s" in MEPHISTO's cas i n g on the
L e f t-hand s i d e . The foremost co n t a i ns the on/o f f s w i tc h < sw i t c h
forw a rds = o n , s w i tch t c t h e rea r = o f f > . T h e second ho l e i s for
the m a i n s adapter jackplug. These p a rts are not used w i th the
AMSTERDAM modules.

Please use only the m a i ns adapter d e s i gned for the computer.

Using any other a d a pt e r could d a m a ge the cost l y electro n i c
circu itry i ns i d e your MEPHISTO.

A.2. Advantages of the HODULAR CONCEPT

Most people ' at L e ast ln E u ro p e , a r e r i ght-h a nded , a f a c t �h i ch

has i n fluenced the des i g n of most dev i ces ' i nc l ud i n g c h e s s ­
computers. N o t s o w i th t h e MEPHISTO chess-compute r s .

Would you L i ke to have the keyboard o n the L e ft and the d i s p l ay

on the r i ght? No p r oblem at all - go ahead and swap the modules
round. You can even exper i me n t and exch a n g e the modules u n t i l
you f i nd the comb i n at i o n wh i ch su i t s you best b o t h opt i c al l y and
for use. There ls only o n e restr i c t i o n : all the modules
must rema i n in the computer and y o u c a n o n l y swap them w h e n the
unit is s w i tched o f f. Othe r w i s e your MEPHISTO c o u l d heave a
hefty s i gh and res i g n - wh i ch could m e a n an expens i ve repair for
you. We recomm e nd that you insert the p ro g r am mod u l e o n the Left
s i de t o avo i d the m a i n s L e ad gett i ng in the way. If you want to
use any other modules in y o u r se t , use the a p p ro p r i a t e ad a p te r
a11d the sod<c-:!t o f the s i de of the bo ard. The ad v a n t a g e s o f the
MODULAR CONCE P T are n a t u r ally not L i m ited to the pos i t i o n i ng o f
the modu l e s alone; future tech n i c a l i m proveme n t s , such as better
p r o g r am s , faster m i c ro p rocessors o r b e t t e r d i s pl ays , can be
s i mply bu i l t i n to the un i t by the o w n e r .

I n this way , your MEPHISTO is e qu l p t t o keep p a c e w i t h the most

modern and power f u l chess-co m p u t e r s o f the future.

B. Getti n g started

B.1. Preparation for a game

The compone nts of your MEPHISTO s h o u l d f i rst be f i tted to g e t h e r .

Then c o n n e c t the m a i ns a d a pt e r plug to the m a i ns power s u p ply
a nd the small round plug to MEPH I STO ' s socket i n the processor
modu Le.

The chessmen are n at u r ally an important part o f ches s . You should

set them up - wh i t e p i eces from A l to H l and A2 t o H2 - before
you s w i t c h MEPHIST� on. An alte r n at i ve s o l u t i o n to th i s is
exp l a i n e d in section K.4. <exch a n g i n g s i des w i thout turn i ng the
bc:> ard <H·ou nd) ..

.... 5 ...
B. 2 . Sett i ng up for a game

Immediately after plugging i n and c o n n ec t i n g , you w i l l see i f you

have i nc o r r ec t l y p l aced a p i ece on a square or no t . Shou l d a
piece not be in the m i ddle of i ts squ a r e , i ts LED w i l l bl i nk
rn a d l. 1.:1 and demand c o r r ec t i ve act i o n . After th i s , the w o r d llPLAYtt
w il l a p pe a r in the d i s p l ay to tell you that MEPHISTO ls now ready
to p l c!l'J.

If y o u don ' t w i sh to ch a n g e the p l ay i ng Leve l <see c h a p ter

D .1 . ) then MEPHISTO will set i tse l f to p l ay w i th an a v e r a ge of
10 seco n d s th i nk i n g t i me for each move. Th i s p l ay i n g L e ve l
CLE 2> is a u t om a t i c� L l y set when the un i t is sw i tched on, or
when a new game is s t a rted by pressing b o t h " RES " ke•-"'s
s i mu l t a n eous l y .

B.3. H ak i n g •oves

We are r e ady t o s t a r t! L i ft up the p i ece wh i ch you w i sh to move

and you w i l l see that the L E D i n that square will beg i n to
b l i nk . A s soon as you p l ace the p i ece on i ts dest i n a t i o n s q u arer
the LED there will moment a r i l y l i gh t - MEPHISTO h as Just accepted
your m o v e . A t the same timer the d i s p l ay will change . MEPHISTO
has moved from the standby ph ase r i n wh i ch i t w a i ted for your
mov e , i n to the analysis phas e , i n wh i ch i t c o n s i d e r s i ts own
moves. Let's forget the d i s p l ay for a mome n t . The only i mp o r t a n t
th i n g isr that the d i s p l ay i s f l a sh i n g a t a r a t e o f o n c e p e r
se c o n d . You therefore c a n ' t m i s t a k e n the anlys i s phase ( f l ash i ng
d i s p l ay) for the s t a ndby phase <calm d i s p l a y) .

The mome n t the computer f i nds a countermove ' i t sounds a dou b l e

" b e e- � p " and two LED'S ln two squares be g i n t o f l as h . MEF'HISTO is
te l l i n g you wh i ch move i t wants t o make. The move is s i m u l t a n­
eous l y shown i n the d i s p l ay C e g . •G8F6#) . Don't be su r p r i se d if
at some t i me 3 d o ts appear between the i nd i v i du a l characters.
Th i s m e a ns that MEPHISTO w a n ts to te l l you someth i n g e l se too -
you can f i nd out e x ac t l y what, in sec t i o n s H4 a n d H5

Make the move that MEPHISTO is show i n g you i n the s a m e way as

before. If you make the move c o r r ec t l y , the L ED's in both
squares w i ll be turned off.

It ls i•portant that you lift the p i ece fro•

lt's locat i on and place i t on its design�tion
square - don • t s l i de the piece across the board.

- O t h e r w i se the fo l l o w i n g w i ll h a p pe n : e.g. you want to move a

Rook from Al to D1 and slide it across the b o ar d . The sensor
under square A1 c o r r ec t l y re g i s t e r s that the Rook has been moved.
The sensor under Bl detects the pass i n g R o o k and reg i s ters th i s
as the d es t i n a t i o n to the computer, i .e. Rook from A1 to Bl,
wh i ch you d i dn ' t want. To m a k e the affa i r e a s i er. lift the p i eces
whilst moving them and the computer will be h a p py.

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B.4. I l l e g a l •oves

You wo n ' t be ab l e to cheat MEPHISTO by m ak i n g an i l legal move .

A s i ngle beep wi ll te l l you that you have broken the i n ter­
nat i onal chess-r u l e s . MErrl# w i l l a l so a p pear i n the d i s p l ay
to let you know you have made a m i s t ake and all you can do is
take the move b ack aga i n and co n t i nue to p l ay w i th a legal move.
The MErrl# In the d i s p l ay w i l l d i s a p pear once you make a legal
me> ve.

B.5. Alternative moves

It can s o me t i mes happen that you don't p ar t i cu l a r l y l i ke a move

wh i c h MEPHISTO w a n ts to make, or that it was p l ayed in a recent
g am e , or it is b as i c a l l y j ust too stro n g . We can soon c h a nge
th i s : don ' t e><ecute the move on the board - i ns te a d key in •cL"
and ")01'. Th i s b l ocks the move for MEPHISTO and the compu ter
has to f i nd the next-best a l ter n a t i ve .

A re a l chess-computer e><pert can use th i s f e a ture to l i st all

the poss i b l e c o n t i nu a t i o n s ( w i th po s i t i o n e v a l u a t i ons) for a
cer t a i n pos i t i o n . Th i s f e a ture is espec i a l l y i n teres t i n g for
a n a l•.:1s i n g var i ous pos i t i o n s ( see " P os i t i o n evalua t i on " , H. 2.).
The same key comb i n a t i o n "CL" and ">O" can also be used in
the o p e n i n gs l i brary < s ee c h a p ter K. 6.) to e x p l or e one or
sever a l a l tern a t i ve moves. Shou l d MEPHISTO fa i l to f i nd another
stored open i n g move in i ts l i br a r y , i t w i ll s t ar t to a n a l y se the
pos i t i on i nstead.

C. C0919Unicating with the co•Pt.J ter

C . 1. Advantages of the new d i alogue system

When you p l ay chess ' you want to ( a nd shou l d! ) concentrate on

the g ame com p l e t e l y . That ' s why the MEPHISTO AMSTERDAM was
des i g ned to let you p l ay u n d i s turbed w i thout hav i n g to operate
the computer ( a p ar t from mov i n g the p i eces and se t t i n g the
leve ls at the beg i n n i ng of the g a me ) .

I f however ' you w i s h to d o more w i th MEPHISTO e.g. mo n i tor i ts

a n a l ys i s p r o c e d u r e , s o l ve chess prob l ems e t c . you have the means
t o do th i s . To enab l e you to u n d e r s t a n d these f e a t u re s properly
MEPH I S T O o f fers a new d i a l ogue s y s t e m wh i ch d i v i des al l the
f u nc t i o n s i nto f i ve L o g i c a l g r o u p s . Th i s d i a l o g u e system was
f i r s t used i n MEPHISTO I I I ' s program , wr i t t e n by E . H e n n e and T.
N i tsche.

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Dur i n g the g ame you c a n see whose move it is by look i ng at the
d is p l ay ; when it is MEPH I STO ' s turn < a n alysis phase) the d i sp l ay
f l ashes , when i t is your turn <standby phas e > the d i s p l ay rema i ns
calm. You shou l d try to remember this for L a ter on.

C.2. The f ive operation •odes

You have a l re a d y used one of the f i ve f u n c t i ons (modes) w i th o u t

h av i n g exam i ned it p r o pe r l y , name l y t h e PLAY m o d e , wh i c h a s the
name i n d i cates , is the mode in wh i c h the game is normal l y
conduc t e d . The f o l l ow i n g t a b l e shows you wh i ch modes are
ava i l ab l e ' what they enable you to do and how to set them .

Mode Mean i ng Key Ref . chapter

PLAY M ak i n g moves 11CL11or B.2 . • • B.4

norm a l game sw i tch on and E

LEVEL S e l ec t i o n and check i n g "LEV"<•> D and K

of s k i l l - l e ve l s • se l ec­
t i on o f s p ec i a l f u nc t i o ns

POS I T I O N E n te ri n g , check i n g and 11POS11<•> F

ch a n g i n g of pos i t i o ns

MEMORY T a k i ng-back of moves , "HEM"<•> G

rep l ay i n g games

INFOR­ M o n i to r i n g of a n a lys i s "INFO" H a nd I

MATION procedure , chess c l ock•
obta i n i ng i n forma t i o n

The ast e r i s k <*> m e a ns that these modes can only be s e t in the

s t andby p h ase . The L e t ters in the l as t c o l um n te l l you where you
can f i nd more de t a i l e d i n forma t i o n in the m a nu a l .

C.3. Other features

Should you a t some t i me get the feel i n g that the MEPHISTO is

t ak i n g too long to make a mov e r you can force it to p l ay the
best move found so far by press. I n g the .. ENT" key. S i mi l ar l y ,
shou l d you fa i l to find a good move when it is your turn you can
Let MEPHISTO th i n k for you by press i n g the 11ENT" key .

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I f, howev e r , you make use of this f e a t u re ' y o u have to c o n t i nue
( a f te r p l ay i n g •.:1our move> by press i ng .. E N T " a g a i n to t e l l the
com p u t e r to c o n t i nue p l ay i n g for i tse l f and not for you . If you
forget to do th i s ' then you will have changed s i des and - i f you
want - can co n t i nue p l ay i n g for the other s i de. If you w i sh to
p l a•.:1 w i th b l ack at the beg i nn i n g o f a game then press "ENT" as
b e f o re and HEPH ISTO will p l ay w i th wh i te .

The me a n i n g of the other keys is d i scussed in Later sect i o n s as

the i r oper ation concerns s p ec i f i c f u nc t i o n s .

D. Selection o f playing- l evels <LEVEL 110de>

D . 1. Changing pl ay i ng-leve l s

As you a l ready know ' MEPHISTO automat i c a l ly sets i t se l f t o p l ay

at Leve l 2 when sw i tched on. You a l so know that MEPHISTO then
needs a p p rox i m a t e l y 10 seconds ana lys i s t i me to make a move .
F u r thermo r e , you read in chapter C.2. that you can c h a n ge the
p L ay i n g Leve l w i th the "LEV" ke•.:1 and as such •.:1 o u k n o w a l mo s t
all there is to know.

If 'dOU p ress the "LEV'" ke•.:1 dur i n g the s t a ndb•.:1 phase then
#LE 2tt w i l l appear in the d i s p l ay to c o n f i rm that the computer
has a u t o m a t i c a l. L y set Level 2 (as it shou l d when sw i tched on> . To
cha n ge the L ev e l press the a p p ro p r i a t e number key < e . g . " E5")
and you will see •LE 5• appear in the d i sp lay. Press uENT" to
co n f i r m that th i s is the L e v e l you w i sh to p l ay a t . "ENT'' isr by
thE) wa�" ' an abbrev i a t i o n o f "Enter" r wh i ch in computer j a rgon ,
means noth i ng more than that you w i sh to enter or co n f i rm an
i ns t r uct i o n . Once you have co n f i rmed the se l e c t e d p l ay i n g -Leve l
the w o r d #PLAY• w i l l appear in the d i s p l ay and you can start
the game .

D.2. The •eaning o f the p l aying levels

By now y o u w i ll want to know what the numbers of the d i ffe rent

p l. a y l n g L e ve l s , wh i ch you h a v e j us t L e a r ne d to changer a c tu a l l y
mean . F i rst of all, i t ought to be said that computers have the
s am e p r o b l ems as hum a n s . The more t i me you have to th i nk r the
more chance there is that you will f i nd a good move. For this
reason l t wou l d be u nj u s t i f i ed t o expect wonders f rom MEPHISTO
wh i l s t i t is set to a l.ower and thus qu i c k e r p l ay i n g leve l ,
espec i a l l y when you have the unfa i r adv a n t a g e of a l low i ng
yourse l f more th i nk i n g- t i me than you a llow H E P H I ST O .

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What ex act l y you can expect as far as p l ay i n g sk i l l and average
1response t i me are co n c e r n e d , i s shown i n the fo l l ow i n g t a b l e ..

Leve l Mean i ng D i s p l ay Ave r a ge t i me to move

--- - ----------------- - ---------------------------- ---- --------

Leve l 0 Be g i n n e r s leve l MLE Ott a p p rox . 3 s e c o nds

Lev e l 1 Bl i t z g a mes llLE lM approx. 5 seconds
Lev e l 2 S tandard level tlLE 2M a p p ro x . 10 seconds
Lev e l 3 Fast game 1 tlLE 3M a p p ro x . 3 0 seconds
Leve l 4 F as t game )
.:.
' llLE 4M a p p rox • 1 m i nute
Leve l 5 F as t game 3 llLE SM a p p ro x . 2 m i nutes
Le v e l 6 Tou r n ament leve l llLE 6M 40 moves i n 2 hours
Leve l 7 Preset tot a l t i me #LE 7tt accord i n g t o sett i n g
Leve l 8 Av. t i me per move #LE 8M accor·d i n g t o s e tt i n g
Levt:� l 9 C o r respondence chessllLE 9 M i nf i n i te

A g e ner a l note: the s t a t e d t i mes per move are only ave r a ge t i mes
and can o c c as i o n a l l y be much l o n ger .

Don't th i nk that your computer is i d l i ng the t i me away w h i lst you

are look i n g for a good m o v e . MEPHISTO does n ' t t a k e a b re a k but
a n a l yses further i n th i s t i me . Th i s o p e r at i o n system is c a l led
" pe r m a n e n t b r a i n" by t h e e x p e r t !: > .

L et ' s get back to p l ay i n g L eve l s 7 • • • 9. As you c a n see f r o m the

t ab l e , you c an s e t the t ot a l t i me limit for a game whilst in
leve l 7. This m e a ns that L eve l 7 is ideal for " B l i t z g a m es " .
MEPHISTO sees the t i me rema i n i n g in a game a n d uses 1/40th of the
rema i n i n g t i me as a gu i de l i ne for its next move. S e tt i n g the game
t i me is qu i t e s i m p l e and works i n the fo l l ow i n g w a y :

Key D i s p l ay Mean i n g
-------- ------- - ---- ---------------- ---------------------- - - ---

"LEV .. •LE 2M Enter LEVEL mode

"G7" llLE 7M Set level 7
"ENT'" •H --11 Re quests i n put of hours
">O"+ .. >O" •H 0011 Enters z e r o h o u rs
" ENT'" •H --II Requests i n put o f m i nutes
11>011+•ES11 lltt os• Enters f i ve m i nutes
"ENT" •s --· Re quests i n put o f s e c o n ds
" >O .. +">O" •s 0011 Enters zero s e c o n ds
11EN T 11 •PLAYll R e a d'=' t o s t a r t

You must be c areful here t o t a k e account o f t h e t i m e needed to

move the p i eces . For e x am p l e r if < as i n the e x am p l e above> you
w a n t to p l ay a game in 5 m i nutes a g a i ns t MEPHISTQ , you shou l d
ent e r an extra m i nute ( i .e. 6 m i nutes > even i f the p i eces a r e to
be moved qu i ck l y because othe r w i s e the l ast moves will be p l ayed
in zero s e c o n ds, wh i c h natu r a l l y wou l d be i m poss i b l e .

- lO -
In c o m p a r i so n to all the other l e ve l s , Leve l 7 has a so-c a l led
countdo w n mode i .e. t h e th i nk i n g t i me is counted down to zero.
In a d d i t i o n the norm a l four-t i me chess-clock rem a i ns act i ve and
can be cont r o l l e d w i th " I NFO'" and 11 82 11 as desc r i bed i n sec-
t i on I. Shou l d y o u exceed t h e p e r m i tted th i nk i n g t i me <wou l d mean
Loss o f the game> HEPHISTO will compl a i n w i th •TIHEM . Don' t
worry, you can st i l l cont i nue t h e p l ay , after all chess is j ust a
game .

The t i m e sett i n g in leve l 8 is ach i eved ln the same way a s i n

th i s e x am p l e• except that the i nstruct i o n for the average ti•e
g i ve n to make a move by the computer has to be ente r e d . For
exam p l e : 40 moves in 2 1/2 hours wou l d g i ve an ave r a ge response
t i me of 3 m i nutes and 45 seconds per move . I f you L e ave
a p p rox i m at e l y 10 seconds to actu a l l y c a r r y out the move , then you
can p l ay w i th a t i me-sett i n g of 3 m i nutes 35 seconds.

It rema i ns to ex p l a i n the c o r r e s pondence chess l e ve l , Level 9.

I n th i s l ev e l HEPHISTO w i l l not i n d i c ate a move u nt i l you press
the " E N T '" k e ' .:J . You c a n therefore occup•:J your e l ectron i c chess
compan i o n for days w i th a compl i cated analys i s of a pos i t i o n .

E. Playing chess with HEPHISTO <PLAY •ode)

E. 1 . Standby phase

D u r i n g the standby phase i nd i cated by the calm d i s p l ay i .e. at

the beg i n n i ng of a game or when i t ls your m ov e , you can g i ve
MEPHISTO a v a r i ety of i nstruct i o n s . Shou l d you be unsure du r i n g
thls phase ' whether you have l e ft another mode c o r rect l y or not
< s ee r e s pect i ve c h a pt e r > you o n l •.:1 need to p r e s s the "CL'" key
and •PLAYM w i l l appear ln the d i s p l ay , a sk i n g you to cont i nue
w i th the game.

E.2. Analysis phase

You can tell by the f l ash i n g d i s p l ay < o r the " r o t at i o n d i s p l ay"­

see sect i o n H> that HEPHISTO is in its analys i s phase . Dur i ng
th i s phase you can not c h a n g e the p l ay i n g l e ve l , change pos i t i o ns
or t ake b ack moves of the game. You can however e n t e r the
INFORMATION mode <sect i o n H>. You can a l s o t e r m i n at e the anal­
•.:1s i s phase at any t i m e by p r e s s i n g the "ENT" key . In thls case
the best move found u p u nt i l the moment "ENT" was pressed ls
shown o n the board and i n the d i splay. But th i s is noth i n g new .
I f three dots a p pe a r between the i nd i v i d u a l c h a r a c te r s , then
MEPHISTO has a message for you <see sect i o n s H.4. and H.5. > .

- l.1 -
E.3. Hak l n g •oves

Normal moves: It ls I m portant - as p r e v i ou s l y ment i o n e d - that

the p i eces are l i fted and then p l aced - and not sl id across the
board. As long as you have only l i f ted a p i ece up < I . e. not
p l aced) you can rep l ace It aga l n w i thout c o n s e q u e n c e . The rule
"once touchedr a p i ece must b e p l ay e d " c a n therefore be d i s­
r e g a r de d . As soo n as you h a v e p l aced a p i ec e o n Its dest i n at i o n
squ a r e r the move ls r e g i stered a n d M E P H I STO starts to " t h l nk " .
T ak i n g the move b a c k aga i n ls only poss i b l e i n the way d e s c r i bed
i n the respect i ve sect i o n .

Shou l d you acc i de nt a l l y k n o c k a p i ece overr the LED I n the square

from where It came will b l i nk as long as you are I n the s t a ndby
phase . Merely p l ace the p i ece b a c k on its square and peace w i ll
be restored. Dur i n g the analys i s phase MEPHISTO will f i rst p l ay
Its move r and then f l as h the L o c at i n g square as before. P l ace the
p i e c e b ack on I ts square as b e f o r e . If you know where t h e p i ece
belongs and put It back before HEPHISTO I nd i cates an e r r o r then •

a lL Is f I ne and we l L •

C a pturing moves: When a p i ece Is c a ptured r remove it f i rst and

then p l a c e the c a pt u r i n g p i ece o n the correct squ a r e . This
a p p l i es t o both your moves a n d those o f the comput e r .

E n - p as s a n t •aves: The same a p p l i es t o these as w i th c a ptu r i n g

moves.

Castlin g : When c a st l i n g It Is v ital - as I n the o f f i c i a l ru les

of chess - that y o u fl r s t m o v e y o u r K i ng and then your Rook.
Othe r w i se MEPHISTO will assume you are m e r e l y mov i n g your Rook.
W h e n H E P H I STO ls c a st l i n g the l o c at i o n LED's f o r t h e Rook will
f l ash after you have moved the K i ng.

Pa•n pro•otlon: If one of your Pawns reaches the o p p o s i t e s i de

of the b o a r d the n you are ent i t l e d - as ls commo n l y known - to
e xc h a nge it for a p i ec e of your own cho i c e ( ex c e pt a K i ng) .
HEPHISTO I n fo r m s you of a poss i b l e promot i o n by d i s p l ay i n g
MPr--M. All you h a v e to do ls p r e s s the a p p ro p r i ate key (e.g.
"CJ" = K n l ght r "D4" = B i sh o p r "E5" = Rook r "F6" = Queen>
wh i ch c auses the l i ne s i n the d i s p l ay to be r e p l aced by the
s e l e cted p i ece ' s symbo l . Press '"ENT" to c o n f l rm your cho i c e .
From then on HEPHISTO " k nows" that the Pawn ls no longer a Pawn
but e.g. a Quee n . If one of HEPHI STO's Pawns r e a ches the oppos i te
s lde r the p i ec e d e s i red will be i nd i cated I n the d i s p l ay, e.g.
MPr d W m e a n s that H E P H I STO w a n t s to e x c h a n g e the Pawn for a
Quee n . R e p l ace the p i ece and c a r ry on p l ay i n g .

Tak i n g •oves back : You c a n t a k e b ack any number of moves i n the

standby phase by s i m p l y p l ay i n g them in reverse. Of courser
c ap t u r e d pieces must be restored to the board. You shou l d only
use th i s method to t a k e moves back i f you have the moves f i rmly
in m i nd or have w r i tt e n them dow n . Another poss i b l e w ay ls
ex p l a i ne d i n sect l o n G.1.

- 12 -
F. E nter i n g and chang i n g p o s i tions <POSITION 110 d e )

F.t. Ver i fy i ng a pos i t i on

Some t i m es i t ls necessary to check a pos i t i o n on the board or

you may have acc i de n t a l l y knocked some of the chess m e n ove r .
Th anks to your MEPHISTO thls doesn't me a n that you have to s t a r t
all over aga i n . You can check the pos i t i o n on the board at any
tlme du r i n g the s t a ndby phase i .e. w h e n lt ls your move. To do
thls press the "POS" key once to enter the POSITION mode . The
c o m pu t e r then d i s p l a'.:IS ttPOS It. S l mply press the 11POS• key
aga i n . Each t i me you press the key , the p o s i t i o n of a d i fferent
p iece i s shown along w i th l ts s y m b o l ln the d i s p l ay . As a t es t ,
set u p the p i eces as for the s t a r t of a game and check the i r
Loc a t i o ns . The f o l low i n g table te l ls you whlch symbols a r e used
i n the d i s p l ay to i nd i c a te wh i ch p i eces.

F.1.a. Table of chess•en sy•bols

wh l t e Kl n g b l ac k K i ng
� �
-·· =

d --
wh i te Queen
d
= b l ack Queen

r r
I
-
wh i te Rook = b l ack Rook
I
I I
L = wh i t e B i shop L =
b l ack B i shop

s -
w h i te K n i gh t s = b l ac k K n i gh t

b --
whl t e Pawn b = b l ac k P a wn

As you can see for yourse l f , the b l ack p leces are d ls t l n gulshed
from the wh i t e o n es by a m i nus s i g n in front of the symbo l . You
w i l l. a l so see that after check i n g the L as t p i ece "POS" will
appear l n the d i s p l ay aga l n - to tell you that the ver i f i c a t i o n
is com p l e t e (all p i eces chec k e d ) .

F.t.b. Ret u r n t o PLAY mode

After comple t i n g your p os i t i o n v e rl f i c a t l o n and after the word

ttPOS • h a s r e a p p e a r e d i n the d i s p l ay , p r e s s "CL" t o r e t u r n to
PLAY mode, l . e . to c o n t i nue w i th the g a m e . If a p i ece is m i ss i n g
from the board or is i nc o r r e c t l y Loc a t e d r you must of course
cor r e c t the error. llPLAYM in the d i s p l ay t e l ls you aga i n that
MEPHISTO l s r e a d y to pl a y . You can end the pos i t i o n check
procedure at any tlme by press i n g "CL" tw i ce . MPOS M w i ll
f i rs t be d i s p l a yed and t h e n llPLAYtt.

- l.�3 -
F . 2. Entering a positlon

F.2.a. Clearing the board

The initial position <White A1-H1• A2-H2 and Black A7-H7• A8-H8)
is automatically stored in HEPH I ST O at the start of a game. In
order to enter a particular position e.g. for solving chess
problemsr it is flrst necessary to clear the board. It isn't
enough to just remove the pleces - as you can see from a position.
verification for yourself.

You.have to tell the memory ln your computer that nothing -

but nothing - is on the sensor board. Do this by pressing •pos11
<MPOS W appears in the display). Then press 11ENT11 and the
co�puter will ask you whether you really want to clear the board
by displaying MCL ?I. Changed your mind? - press •CL• and
everything remains as lt was. But you wanted to enter a certain ..

chess positionr so press "ENT" again boldly and the board is

cleared in HEPHISTO's memory. To confirm that "the deed is done"
M K--1 will appear in the display a symbol for the white King
<which is no longer there).

F.2.b. Entering a position

The advantages of HEPHISTO's new dialogue system become part­

icularly apparent when entering a position. You will see for
yourself how easy it can be. We have selected <more or less for
training purposes) a chess problem by Otto Dehler <see diagram>.

The symbol for White's King ls still

in the display <from the previous
section>. Simply place White's Klng
on square c . 2 .

a b c d e f g h

Hate in 3 moves

The display changes to M d--1. As White's Queen is not needed

in this problem press "ENT" to let HEf'HISTO know this. White's
Rooks and Bishops are also not needed so "ENT" must be pressed
again twice. A whlte Knight is placed on DJ but the display
contlnues to show M s--M. We don't need the other Knight so
press " ENT" once more. Using the same key, tell M E P H I S T O that
white Pawns are also not on the board.

- 14 -
 Next r MEPHISTO starts to ask about the b l ack p i eces < r emember
the e xt r a m i nus s i g n! ) . As you a l re a d y know how the system worksr
we' l l keep the i nstruct i on s to a m i n i mu m : p l a c e B l ack ' s K i n g on
A2 , ENT"
.. < no b l ack Quee n > , "ENT" < no b l ack Rook > , "ENT" < no
b l ac k B i sho p ) , "ENT'' ( no b l a ck K n i ght ) , p l ace b l ack Pawn on A3 ,
"ENT" ( no other b l ack P a w ns > .

After the l a st "ENT" i n put , MEPHISTO rem i nds you to ve r i f y the

• ent i r e pos i t i o n just to be sure, by d i s p l ay i n g #POS # .

Do t h e computer a favour and r e p e ate d l y p r e s s the "POS" key to

see i f e v e r yth i n g is r i ght. One canr by the way , a l so watch the
respect i v e LED ' s o n the board l i ght up for each consecut i ve
p i ece checked. When you get b a c k to •POS # i n the dis p l ay you
can go o n to so l v i n g the problem by p r e s s i n g •cL". By
d i s p l a y i n g #PLAY# MEPH I ST O i nv i t e s you to g i ve it the green
l i ght by p r e s s i ng "ENT".

There i s• howev e r r another method to enter a po s i t i o n . Let your

computer be a computer and set up the p i eces as des i red on the
sensor b o a r d of your M E P H I STQ, The o n l y th i n g that is i m p o r t a nt
l s t h at the unit is l n the standby phase . When all the p i eces
are i n the r i ght p l aces p re s s "POS" and then "ENT". The
computer responds w i th #CL ?# to ask if you ' re c e r t a i n that
you want to c l e a r the bo a r d .

Press " E N T " t o co n f i rm . I n the s a m e o r d er a s before , l i ft the

p i eces be i n g asked for < LED f l ashes > and r e p l ace it on its
locat i o n < L E D s w i tches o f f ) . H i ss i n g p i eces are i g no red w i th
"ENT". When flnlshed it ls adv i s a b l e to conduct a pos i t i o n
v e r i flcatlon as before.

On a gene r a l note , we recommend that you u s e the respect i ve

spec i a l funct i o n < sect i o n K.3) when solv i ng chess prob lems .

F . 2 . c. Choice o f colour

After a pos i t i o n has been ente red , lt is norma l l y Wh i te ' s t u r n to

p l ay . If you w a nt to change this• whatever the r e a so n r key i n the
fo l l ow i n g succes s i o n o f i n struct i o n s after ente r i n g the pos i t i o n
i .e. when •PLAYM l s b a c k l n the d i s p l ay :

"POS"• "<911 Pos i t i o n moder B l ac k to move

"ENT" C o n f i r m at i o n o f i nstruc t i o n
" C L '" R e t u r n to PLAY mode . B l ack to move

l\t:")y i n g- i n "POS " , ">O"r "ENT", "CL" results i n it be i ng

Wh i t e ' s move. In both c ases MEPHISTO w i l l make the f i rst move if
'dOU press "ENT" a g al n .

- 15 -
F.3. Changing a posit i o n

F . 3 . a. Entering additional pieces

You w i l l de f i n i t e l y w i sh at some t i me' that you had a f e w p i eces

more o n the board than your e l ectr o n i c spa r r i n g - p a rt n e r . The
poss i b i l i t y to do th i s is not merely there to enable peace f u l
a r m ament, but a ls o t o a n a l y z e chess p r o b l ems w i t h e x t r a p i eces
w i ht o ut caus i n g extra d i f f i c u lt i es .

Let's go back to the chess prob l em desc r i be d i n the p r e v i ous

sect i o n . If a b l ack B i shop were at G5 r the s i t u at i o n wou l d be
e nt i r e l y d i f fe r e nt .

So let ' s set up the p i eces where we w a n t them . Next w e h a v e t o ·1

t e l l. M E P H I S T O t h at someth i n g has changed. You will have suspected
that th ls m e a ns go i n g back i nt o the POS I T I ON mode :

"POS" C h a n g•� to POSITION mode

"(9"' B l ack p i ece
" D4 .. B i s hop
"G711 • •E 5" S q u a r e co-ord i n ates of GS
"ENT" Conf lrm i nput
" Cl '" Return to PLAY mode

:C f you w a nt ' 1.::1 ou c a n run a p os i t i o n check w i th "POS" between

the last two stages of the p r ocedure. What you can not do isr
bend the rules o f chess when i nt roduc i n g p i eces t o the b o a rd .

MEPHISTO won't a l low you to have more than one K i ng of each

colour. A ls o d i s a l l o w e d : p l ac i n g Pawns o n the back r a nk s or
h av i n g more than e l ght Pawns of o n e co l our. Try it anyway -
MEPHISTO will p rotest w i th #ERR3# o r MERR4# i n the d i sp l ay .
The l atter will a lso appear if you t r y (l n the face o f b e i ng
d e f e ated! ) to remove your K i ng f r o m the board. W i th that we are
now ready f o r the next sect i o n .
,

F . 3 .b. Re•oving pieces

Remov i n g a p i ece f r o m the b o a r d ls b as i c a l l y t h e s a m e as

i nt r o duc i n g it as an add i t i o n a l p i ece - except that we p l ace a
space on the s q u a r e c o n c e r n e d . Sounds complic ated? Wait and s e e r
and remember Otto Deh l e r ' s chess p r o b l e m f r o m the p r e v i ous
sect i o ns . We added an extra B i sh o p , wh i ch we w i l l now remove
aga i n r as fo l l ows :

"POS"' Change to POS I T I ON Mode

"<9"' B l ack p i ece
"Al" Key w i th no symbol = space ( n o p i ece )
"G7 " • ••E5" Space on G5
"ENT" C o n flrm i nput
"Cl Return to PLAY mode
II

- 16 -
 If you d o n ' t w a nt to b e l i eve us , run a pos i t i o n check . You can
remove e ach p i ece w i th a space <ke•.::1 "A l " ) i n the w a•.::1 desc r i bed .

G. HEttORY •ode

G.1. Taking •oves b a c k

MEPH I STO ' s b u i lt- i n memory enables you to r ec a l l moves or

even e nt i re games as long as y o u h a ve n ' t started a new game '
s w i tc h e d the unit off or used t h e c l e ar-board f u n ct i o n . The
MEMORY mode is set us i n g the "t1EH"-key < d u r i n g the s t a ndb•.::1
p h ase) wh i ch causes the name o f the mode <"HEHO'') to appear in
·,
the dis p l ay . Us i n g the "<9" key, you can r ec a l l any number of
moves of a game in reverse - even go i n g back t o the be g i n n i n g o f
a game. The c u r s o r o n the key <"<9") p o i nt i n g to t h e l e ft
i nd i c at e s t h at you are p r a ct i c a l l y s c ro l l i n g b ack the game .
The move to be p l ayed backwards is d i s p l ayed in reverse
notat i o n w i th a dot between each c h a r acter e.g. ME.4.E.2.M

At t h e s ame t i me , the l o c at i on-LED ' s f l as h to t e l l you how to

reverse the move . S h o u l d the LED ' s cont i nu e to b l i nk after you
have made the move, then a p i ece wh i ch w a s c a pt u r e d o rl g i n a l l y
stood t h e r e . If, desp i t e i nt e n s i v e l y comb i n g your memo r y , you
can't remember what e x a c t l y stood o n the square b e fo r e r you
w i ll
h ave to move i nto the P O S I T I ON mode. To do t h i s , l e ave t h e MEMORY
mode w i th "CL" and check the pos i t i o n o f the p i eces o n the
board a c c o r d i n g to sect i o n F.1. as ment i o ne d b e fo r e .

H av i n g c o m p l eted that p r o c e d u r e and r e t u r n e d to the PLAY mode,

1::1ou can u s e the "HEM" and "<9" k e y s to c o n t l n u e t o p l ay b ack
towards the beg i nn i n g of t h e game or use "ENT" to j um p b ack
d i r e c t l y to the be g i n n i n g .

MEPHISTO of course k n o w s that you c a n ' t g o b ack further than the

beg i nn i ng and it rem i nds you w i t h MSTA# t h at you are at t h e
start of the game .

You canr of course ' i nt e r rupt t h e p l a y b a c k rout i ne at a n y t i me

w i th " CL " . You can then m a k e the next mover or let MEPHISTO
take ove r b•.::1 press i n g "ENT".

I n th i s way you can cont i nue a game j ust p l ayed w i th a d i f f e rent

move from a p a rt i cu l a r pos i t i o n e.g. if you make a fatal error
and o n l y d i s c o v e r t h e d r a st i c consequences l at e r on.

G.2. Replaying a game

You can, of course, a l so p l ay the i nd i v i d u a l moves f o r w a rds

wh i lst i n t h e MEMORY mode , the key w i th the c u r s o r po i nt i n g to
the r i ght < " >0 " ) i s there f o r th i s purpose - o b v i ous l•.::1 , you can
only page f o r w a rds as far as moves w e r e p r e v i ous l y t a k e n b ac k .

- 17 -
To rem i nd you that you can onl� go th i s far HEND# a p pe a r s on
MEPH I S TO ' s screen. When r e p l a y i n g a game you can return to the
PLAY mode at any t i me by press i n g "CL" - even i f you haven ' t
reached the end o f the game .

G.3. Enter i ng a sequence of •aves

You c an use the MEHORY mode for other purposes at the

beg� n n i n g o f , or dur i n g , a game. One can enter < s to r e ) an
open i n g L i ne by sim p l y m ak i n g the moves for Wh i te and B l ack on
the board. Don't forget to press the "HEH" �<ey f irst though.

to c o n t i nu e , press "CL" to r e t u r n to the PLAY mode.

The MEMORY mode is also exce l l e n t for a n a l yz i n g games . One can

p a ge backwards or forwards at any t i mer even when enter i n g moves
manua l l y . The or i g i n a l pos i t i o n can thus be re t a i n e d at any
t i me.

G.4. ttonltor •ode

It is po s s i b l e to set your HEPH I S T O to act as an a b so l u t e l y

neu t r a l re feree in a game between two p l ayers, wh i l s t record i n g
it at the same tlme. To do th i s enter the MEHORY mode w i th "HEH"
and p l ay . Every move made thereafter i s r e g i s tered by the L ED ' s
in each square and b•.:1 the d i s p l ay be fore "HEHO" reappears i n the
d i s p l ay . I l le g a l moves will not be permi t t e d by your computer
referee . To i nd i c a t e such a move r HERR1• a p p e ar s in the dis p l ay
and the Last move must be taken b ack and the error-report c l e ared
f r·om the d i s p Lay 1,1,1 t th "CL 11 •

1 ">011'
Us i n g the ke1.:1s w i th the cursor s , i .e. "<91 and 1.:1ou may
page b a c k w ar d s and forwards a s you like . Sho u l d your partner lose
i n terest ln the gamer HEPH I S T O will g l ad l y t a k e over h i s s i de of
the board l f you press "CL" and then "ENT".

Ro t a t i o n d i s p l ay mode

In co n t r a s t to the other m o d e s • you can e nter the INFORMATION

mode at any time d ur i n g a game . In fact some t i me s , as we will
see l at e r , you must press the "INFO• key.

- 18 -
The MEPHISTO MODULAR/EXCLUSIVE/MUNCHEN AMSTERDAM does no t , as
opposed to the other M E P H I S T O c o m p u t e r s , show you t h e c h e s s c l ock
autom a t i c a l l y , but i ns t e a d d i s p l ays the most i mportant i n fo r m a ­
t i on in ro t a t i o n as fol lows:

1. p roceed i n g th i nk i n g t i me
2. 1 move of m a i n- l i ne
3. 2 move o f m a i n - l i n e
4. 3 move o f m a i n-L i ne
5. Pos i t i on ev a l u a t i o n o f move so far se l ec t e d
6. as 1 ( proceed i n g th i nk i n g t i me> e tc .

These p i ec e s o f i n form a t i o n are d i splayed o n e a f ter ano ther at a

rate o f one per second wh i l s t MEPHISTO c o n s i ders i ts next move.
It canr by the way, a l so occur that t h e computer w il l only
L i n es •----• dur i n g the f i rst three cycles < s t a ge s > wh i ch means
that HEPHISTO has ne i ther found a mover nor a su i t ab l e
countermove.

G i ve the computer a L i ttle t i mer it w ill soon f i nd someth i n g . In

the next sec t i o ns we will ex p l a i n what the i m por t a n t i n for m a t i o n
d i s pl a y e d to you dur i n g the f i ve cycles a c tu a l l y means. We will
also show you how to get certa i n i n for m a t i o n in the d i s p l ay .

H.1. Htilin-line

If you pr-ess the " I NFO" ke•J dur i n g MEPH I S T O ' s a n alys i s phase r it
w il l show you the move i t would make if you stopped i ts a n a lys i s
and forced it to play. Th i s move is a l so c a l led ''the f i rst m a i n­
l i ne move " .

Press the ">O" ke•J a f ter M E P H I S T O h a s rev e a l e d i ts move. You

will the n see the mover wh i ch HEPHISTO a n t i c i p a tes you will make
a'ft£�r it.!:; move� . Th i s move is log i c a l ly c a l led " the second
m a i n- l i ne move '' . Press the key aga i n to reve a l the t h ird
m a i n - l i ne move i .e. M E P H I STO ' s response t o your second m a i n - L i ne
move. Th i s can be e x t e nded further for qu i t e a t i me i f MEPHISTO
has had enough t i me to c a l c u l a te ( i .e. is i n a h i gher p l ay i n g le­
vel > . A max i mum o f e i ght plys can be show n . As already me n t i o ne d ,
the computer will not a l w ays i mmed i a t e l y reve a l a move i f it has
only just e n tered the a n a l ys i s phase .

You can of courser also p a ge b a c k w ards through the m a i n- l i ne

for wh i eh the "<9" k e •J c a n be used . Press i n g the "CL .. key
will al l o w you to return to the ro t a t i o n d i s p l ay mode at any
t i mE,� .

- 19 -
Rega rdless o f whtch d i s p l ay mode you s e l ec t , HEPHISTO rema i n s
u n d e t e r r e d a n d reg i s t e rs t h a t i t has found i ts next move w i th a
"l:>ee-� p" . The move is then d i s p l a•Jed a n d s i mu l ta n e o u s l y shown o n
the board. When you have reached t h e a na l ys i s phase a ga i n - i .e.
�hen you have made your move - the r o ta t i o n d i s p lay mode is
r e s to r e d . It is a l so poss i b l e to see the ma i n-L i ne <the move
sequence expected by HEPHI STO> in the d i s p l ay d u r i n g the
c;ta ndb•.:1 phase u s i n g the " I NFO'" and ">O" keys . One c a n t h e n
p l ay the move suggested o r make a n ent i re l y d i f fe r e n t move and
you can i g nore the d i s p lay i n both cases.

H.2. Pos ition evalua t i o n

Evaluat i ng the pos i t i o n o n the board is we l l w i th i n the a n a l �s i s

ca p a b i l i t i es o·f HEPHISTO. By press i ng "INFO" a n d "Al" r- e g a r d ­
L e s s o f wh i ch p h a s e o r d i s p l ay cycle you a r e inr y o u can per-suade
H E P H I S T O to evaluate the board posi t l o n . A number w i ll a p pea r in
the d i s p lay, wh i ch represents the e v a l u a tion o f the c o m p u t er- ' s
presen t pos i t i o n r i .e. how good o r b ad th i s is. The e va l u a t i o n is
g e n e ra l l y e x p r e s s e d i n Pawn-un i ts . A ne g a t i ve pr-e f i x < - > m e a n s
that HEPHISTO s e e s i ts e l f a t a d i sadva n t a ge; n o pr-e f i x means t h a t
the computer g i v es i ts opponent l i ttle chance o f w i n n i ng . Ifr for­
exam p l e r after press i n g " INFO" a n d "A1"r the number •-1,sott
ls d i s p l a y e d r then HEPHITO has a d i sadvantage of 1r5 Pawn-un i ts .
Other d i s p l ay poss i b i l i t i es in th i s respec t , apart from a
po s i t i o n eva l u a t i o n r wh i ch can be d i s p l ayed by the c o m p u t e r- r are
d i scussed in s ec t i o n H.5.

H.3. Giving u p a ga•e

If HEPHISTO d i s p lays the number #-9.99# d u r i n g a pos i t i o n eva­

lua t i o n then you can cred i t the game to your accou n t - the com­
puter has g i ve n up. Some chess e n t hus i a s t s r- e g a r d v a lues h i gh e r
than tt-8.00• a s a d e f e a t for the un i t . A f ter a l l r a computer
can not defend i t se l f i f it is in th i s s i tuatio n . Whateve r r the
comp u t e r ' s o p p o n e n t o u g h t to win from th i s pos i t i o n ( p r o v i ded
he does n ' t make a drastic m i stake> as the com p u t e r ' s pos i t i o n i s
fa i r l y hope l e s s w i th th i s va l u e .

If the number M9.99tt ls d i s p layed r then you m i gh t aswe l l

acknowledge MEPH I STO's s u pe r i o r i t y and surrende r . A n ob j e c t i ve
i ns p ec t i o n o f the pos i t i o n o n the board � i l l Lead to the con­
c l us i o n that to c a r r y on wou l d be hope l e s s .

H.4. Adv i ce on co••ents

We have a l ready briefly me n t i o ne d in th i s manual tha t r in cer­

ta i n s i tua t i o ns • HEPHISTO w i l l i ns i s t o n t e l l i n g you s o m e t h i n g .
MEPHISTO i nd i c a t es th i s to you dece n t l y , by p l ac i n g three dots
between the l n d l v i dua l characters in the d i s p l ay , (e . g .
tt H . I.H.3M> . In th l s case you shou l d i mmed i a t e l y key in •INFO''
and "A1", wh i c h d i s p l ays the pos i t i o n eva l ua t i o n .

- 20 -
Shou l d the e v a l ua t i o n be ab s o l u te l y unnecessary < ch e c k m a t e or
d r aw ) r HEPHISTO will forgo d i s p l ay i n g the eva l u a t i o n and will
d i re c t l y i nd i cate the end of the game ( see sect i o n H.5. ) . You can
ca l l up add i t i o n a l comments b•:.1 press i ng the ">011 k e y af ter the
pos i t i o n evaluat i o n . The mean i ng of the comments wh i ch can then
appear a re e x p l a i ned in the next sec t i o n . Note that i t is a l so
poss i b l e that more than one comment may appear at the s ame t i me
(e.g. check and promo- t i on > .

After check i n g H E P H I S T O ' s comments you can e i the r co n t i nue

p l ay i n g or can e r ase HEPH I S T O ' s message w i th "CL"• 111 h i ch
r e t u r ns you to the PLAY mode .

H.S. Pos s ible c011• ents

D i s p l ay Mean i ng

MSCH• Check
MHAT• Check m a t e
MPATTa S t a l e m a te
MRESO• D r aw because of SO-move rule
MRE3• D r a111 because of three f o l d repet i t i on
#1'12• Announc i n g checkm a t e e.g. Hate in 2
#Prda P r o mo t i o n : e.g. i nt o Queen
MEP• C a p tu r i n g e n - p a s s a n t
M - 9 . 99tl MEPHISTO g i v es up the game
#THEO• HEPHISTO is p l ay i n g f rom i ts open i ng l i b r a ry
( th i s comment can be c a l led up, as e x p l a i ne d , but
is not autom a t i c a l l y sho111 n )

N o comme n t will appear ifr espec i a l l y i n a low p l a y i ng- level '

ext reme l y qu i ck moves are made. Four l i nes i n the d i s p l ay i n d i ­
c a te th a t MEPHISTO 111 as in a hurry to p l ay i ts move a n d d i d n ' t
have suff i c i ent t i me to make comments.

H.6. Depth of c a l c u l a t i o n • branch• •ove counter

It is poss i b l e , not only to mon i tor 111 h i ch move MEPHISTO is pre­

se n t l y c o n s i de r i n g to make , but a l so ho111 far i t has p r o ceeded
111 i t h l ts a n a l 1:.1s i s of a game. "Spy i ng" i n th i s 111 ay is poss i b l e
us i n g the "INFO" �<e y . If you press "CJ" a f te r th i s , ':.:IOU can
exam i ne the a n a lys i s p a r am e t e r s of your c o m pu t e r , wh i ch means
noth i n g else than th a t you c a n see ho111 many moves ahead M E P H I STO
has c a l cu l a t e d ' how many v a r i a t i o ns i t has e x a m i ned and ho111 many
moves have been made in the game so far •

.... 2l. �
A t th i s p c) l n t we w o u l d L i ke to s ay a L i ttle about how MEPHISTO
actu a l l y flnds t h e moves i t makes . In contrast to the m a j or i ty o f
other chess-computer s , M E P H I S T O does not ana lyse all the
pos i t i o ns poss i b l e . W i th the so-c a l l ed "brute force m e thod" a
computer ana lyses everyth i n g , i nc l ud i n g abo l u t e l y nonsens i c a l
move s , wh i ch is not e f fec t i v e a nd can l e ad to a cons i d e r a b l e
t i me- LO S :>
\ .

M E P H I STO ' s A/B strategy operates in a d i f ferent way . For the

f ir s t few p lys, every poss i b l e cont i nu a t i o n is a n a lysed,
ther e a f t er t h e computer will only a n a lyse most prom i s i n g moves
dee�er found. You now under s t and why we gove MEPHISTO i ts
pos i t i o n eva l u a t i o n feature . It needs th i s feature to be ab l e to
d i s t i n g u i s h b e t w e t "Hl the " good" and " b ad " moves and thus to reach
i t s ob j e c t i v e qu i ck er .

The f irs t i n form a t i o n d i s p l ayed after " I NFO" and "A3" t e l l s

1.:1ou the so-ca l l ed m i n i mum a n a l ys i s d e p t h . Th i s reve a l s how "deep"
MEPHISTO has a n a l ysed in adv a n c e , us i n g the brute-force method.
MH 02M means for e x am p l e that all poss i b l e pos i t i o ns to a depth
c>f two p l •.:1s have been a n a l 1.:1sed. Us i n g the ")0" ke•.:1 • •.:1ou can
peer d e e p er l n to the secrets o f t h e AMSTERDAM progr a m . What then
a p p e ar s is the present branch number . Th i s number , w i th the
pref i x "A" r reve a l s the number o f the move prese n t l y be i n g
a n a lysed dur i n g the analys i s phase from HEPHISTO ' s l i s t of
poss i b l e moves. Dur i n g the s t a ndby phase ' the branch number o f
the l as t move a n a lysed l s d i sp l ayed.

Th i s sounds comp l i c ated so a l low us to expl a i n i t in a d i fferent

way. MEPHISTO sorts t h e moves ava i l a b l e us i n g i ts i n te l l i ge n t
pos i t i o n eva luat ion system. A f ter th i s r it sets up a l i s t of mo­
ves . Note that the move w i th the branch number 01 must not ne­
ces s ar i l y be the o n e p l ayed . T i me and t i �e ag a i n • your chess­
c o m p u t er will select a move from further down in the l ist. You
can e as l l y o b s e r v e th i s by s w i tch i n g over - as just e x p l a i ned -
dur i n g the change o f the f irst m a i n- l i ne move to the d i s p l ay o f a
branch number. The h i gher the d i s p l ayed branch number, the less
v a l u e MEPHISTO has g i ve n to th l s move - for t h e mome n t . Very h i gh
branch numbers <e . g . 38 at 43 poss i b l e moves ) prob a b l y i nd i c a te a
p i ece s a cr i fl c e . Thus HEPHISTO proves that it can change i ts
m i nd should i t d i scover better moves.

Press ")0'' and MEPHISTO will show you the a p propr i a t e move
( j ust c a l c u l ated ) for the branch number d i s p l ay e d .

Pres s i n g t h e ">O" key aga i n 11 i l l rev e a l HEPHISTO ' s s e l ec t i ve

ana lys i s de p t h . Th i s shows the d e p t h <number o f p ly s ) wh i c h
H E P H I S T O h a s reached in a g a m e us i n g i ts s e l ec t i ve s tr a t e g y . For
e x am p l e , if MEPHISTO d i s p l ay s #S 19•• then HEPHISTO has
s e l e c t i ve l y a n a l y s ed 19 plys dee p . MEPHISTO a n a lyses much deeper
than i ts human counter p ar t s . If you st i l l have n ' t had enough
i n form a t i o n you can press ">O" a ga i n to f i nd o u t how m a n y moves
have been made in the present game . Th i s l s e s p e c i a l l y marked
w i th the pr e f i x •nr # nex t to the number to avo i d any
m i s u n d e r s t and i n g s .

- 22 -
The s ame a p p l i es to the f u nc t i o ns descr i bed here as for all the
f u n c t i ons in the INFORMATION mode: the d i s p l ay f l ashes dur i ng the
an a l y s i s phase and rem a i ns calm dur i n g the s t a ndby ph ase . You can
p l ay your move or return to the PLAY mode w i th "CL" at any
t i me .

I. Four- t l •e chess c l o c k .

I.1. Think l ng- t l •e o f the present •ove.

You can use y o u r HEPHISTO as a chess-clock at any t i me dur i n g the

game . Us i n g the key comb i n a t i o n "INFO" r "82" •jou can i ns t r u c t
the computer t o show the t i me it needed for i ts L a s t move <or ls
s t i ll us l ng ) . C o n t i nue w i th " >O " to d i s p l ay the proceed i n g t l me
for your move (or the t i me needed for your L as t move > .

I.2. Tot a l th i nk l ng- t i •e

Press i n g the " >O" key aga i n b r i ngs the L e t ters ttSUH• to the
d isplay, i ns t ru c t i n g the un i t to show the total t h i nk l n g - t l me .
The total t i me for HEPHISTO ls the f i rs t d i s p l ayed < 1 x •>011 >
and then < a lso i n hours and m i nutes) your own total t i me < 2 x
">0 " ) . You can page backwards through all the four t l 1We
d i s p l ays w i th the "<9"key . The same a p p l i es aga i n here - du r i n g
the a na l ys i s phase the t i me d i s p l ayed f l ashes; dur i n g the s t a ndby
phase the d i s p l ay ls calm. You can L e ave the chess-clock mode
e i ther w l th "CL" < re t u r n to PLAY mode > o r by p l ay i n g a move < or
HEPHISTO p l ay s a move> wh i ch automat i c a l ly causes the c l ock to
d i s a p pe a r and sw i tches the un i t back to the PLAY mode .

K. S p ec i a l func t l ons

Your MEPHISTO has a number of add i t i o n a l spec l a l func t l o ns r

at t a i nab l e ln the LEVEL moder as a l ready men t l oned b e f o r e . It ls
i m por t a n t that MEPHISTO is ln the s t a ndby phase to enable acce s s .
It l s not v i tal that the spec i a l f u nc t i o n s are set at the
beg i n n i n g of a game r lt is a l so poss i b l e to set them dur i n g a
game or after e n te r i n g a pos i t i o n .
Some spec i a l f u nc t i o n s are automat i c a l l y set on and some "off"
when the un i t ls sw i tched on. Thereafter you have the p o s s i b i l i ty
to change the se t t l n g r as you will see.

K.1. Autom a t i c p l ay

You can Let MEPHISTO p l ay a g a i ns t i tse l f automat i c a l l y w i thout

hav i n g to a c tu a l l y make the moves for t h e compu t e r . You can even
Leave the chessmen away from the board. Your MEPHISTO will then
p l ay a game a g a i nst i ts e l f w i thout y o u h av i n g to L i ft a f i nger .

Th i s a u t om a t i c f u nc t i o n is useful for the a n a l ys i s of

com p l i c a ted pos i t i o ns e.g. ad j ourned pos i t i o n s > - you must
however remember that Longer ana lys i s t i mes w i l l be nee d e d .

- 23 ..
Hav i n g now whetted your a p pe t i te to use the s p ec i a l f u nc t i ons
for· your own purposes, we don ' t w i sh to w i thho l d ex p l a i n i n g how
to set them any longer.

To start you ought to b e ln the s t a ndby phase of the PLAY mode

and i n the des i r ed p l ay i n g Level ( sec t i o n D.1. > . Wh a t f o l l ows
then ls the d i a l o gue p r i nted below between you a nd your
compu ter .

Key Me a n i n g D i s p l ay
� - - ·M - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"LEV" LEVEL mode e.g. 8LE2 H

"LEV• Autom a t i c game <off) ltAU H
"ENT" Sw i tch on a u t om a t i c game 8AU H
"CL" S t art autom a t i c game Rotat i on
d i s p l ay mode

The I NF O R M A T I O N and HEHORY •odes rem a i n a v a i l ab l e to you even

dur i ng an automat i c game. You can thus check r at any t i me ' what
your co�puter is ana lys l ng r how Long i t has taken s o far or you
can rep l ay i ts moves.

You can L e ave the a u t om a t i c mode w i th "ENT" at any t i 11e dur i ng

the a n a l ys i s phase i .e. before a •ave is made , HEPHISTO w i ll then
p l ay the best move found unt i l then and will L e ave the o t her
s i de for you to p l ay ; the c o l ou r of the s i de depends on the
po i n t i n t i me at wh i ch you i nterrupted. You can then carry on
p l ay i n g n o rm a l l y and w i th all the o t h e r f e a tures ( p l ay i n g Leve l
se l ec t i o n , tak i n g - b a c k of moves e tc . > at your d i spos a l .

K .2. Chess- i nstructor

Th i s f e a tu r e , unusual for chess-computers but very usefu l r was

primar i ly conce i ved for Learners. HEPHISTO ls program•edr not to
explo i t crass m i s t akes ln order to merc i le s s l y crush i ts
oppo n e n t , but f l rs t to generous l y i nd i c a te the • l s t ak e to the
be g i n n e r . As a rule• lt ls adv i s a b l e to a l low the computer
enou gh t i me ln th i s mode both to make i ts own moves and t o keep
an eye on yours. You should at least be at p l ay i n g Leve l 2 ln
order to use th i s feature o p t l • a l ly , You can ac t i v a t e the
chess- i ns t ru c t o r feature as fol lows:

Key Hean l ng D i s p l ay
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - �- - - - - - - - -

"LEV" Leve l mode e . g . ltLE 2M

"LEV" Autom a t i c f u nc t l o n < o f f > MU H
"LEV" Ches s - i n s t r u c t o r < o f f > llLE ..
"ENT" Ac t i v a t e chess- l n s t r u c t o r ltLE tt
II
CL" P L A Y mode llPLAYM

- 24 -
Note: comb i n i n g the chess- i ns t ru c t o r f u nc t i o n w i th the a u t om a t i c
mode is not poss i b l e . Th i s wou l d be nonsense anyway - why shou l d
MEPHISTO warn i tse l f aga i nst mak i ng weak moves?

K . 2.�. Weak •ove •arn i n g

If dur i n g a game w i th the chess- i ns t ru c t o r m o d e o n ' MEPHISTO

cons i ders your l as t move to be somewhat though t l e s s then i t w i l l
do the f o l l ow i n g after a short pause : 1> four beeps will be
sou n d e d ' 2) four ques t i o n - m a rk s w i ll appear ln the d i s p l ay
C M????•> to warn you of your weak move .

MEPHISTO then term i n ates i ts a n a lys i s proceedure and g i ves you

an o p portun i ty to re-exam i ne your move r wa i t i ng he l p f u l l y and
p a t i e n ·tl y •

In the f o l l ow i n g ques t i o n- a n d - a n s w e r rout i ne ' M E P H I S T O w i l l t r y

to e x p l a i n to you r why i t w a s n ' t so i m p re s s e d w i th y o u r l as t
move:

Me a n i n g D i s p l ay
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - -

" INFO" Shows the move r wh i ch wou l d C o u n t e r move

p u n i sh you for your weak move.

If in memo r y , an e n t i re l i ne Hove-sequence
of moves can be d i s p l ay e d , wh i ch i n m a i n- l i ne
wou l d f o l low your weak move

11 A l .. P r i n ts the res u l t l n g " d am a g e " e . g . •3 . 34#

i n the form of a pos i t i o n -
eva l u a t i o n ( see sec t i o n H.2. > .

"G7 .. I f MEPHISTO has had enough t i me Move

to f i nd i tr the computer will s u g g es t i o n
show you a better move .

">O .. By s c ro l l i n g forwards, you can see Move seq­

how the game cou l d have c o n t i nued uence in
after the suggested move m a i n - l i ne

"CL"" C a nce l s your weak move and shows 11----M

< b l i nk i n g L E D ' s > how to take it
back . You can then ( ho p e fu l l y )
p l ay a b e t te r move .

- 25 -
"ENT" If you w i sh to i ns i s t on mak i ng Rot a t i o n
the move ob j ec ted to by MEPHISTO p l ay d i s p l ay
mode p r e s s "ENT" i ns t e a d o f " CL " . The mode
com p u t e r c a r r i es on c o ns i de r i n g i ts
own move . The c l ock co n t i nues from
the po i n t where M E P H I S T O i n t e r r u p ted
i ts c a l c u l a t i o ns .

K . 2 .b. L i • i ts of the chess- i nstructor

As a rule, the chess- i ns t r u c t o r can only warn the user a g a i nst

d r as t i c e r ro r s (e.g. capture of a p i ec e r t h r e a te n i n g checkm a t e >
i . e. when the pos i t i o n evalua t i on drops by a p p rox . 1 . 00 or mo re .
HEPHISTO must a l so have com p l e t e d an ana lys i s phase . If the
com p u t e r is only a l lowed a short ana lys i s t l mer it is poss i b l e
that a better move s u g ges t i o n may not be m ad e . Des p i t e allr the
L e a r ne r will soon come to a p p re c i a te the use of the chess­
i ns t r u c to r r even though can not a n a l yse all the s t r a te g i c de t a i l s
poss i b l e .

K.2.c. Sw i tch i n g the chess- i ns tructor o f f

Shou l d you h a v e h a d enough of MEPHISTO ' s d i re c t i ons dur i n g a

game r you can turn the i ns t ru c t o r off aga i n dur i n g the s t andby
phase . The k e y sequence is as fo l l ows ;

K e •J Mean i ng D i s p l a•d

"LEV" LEVEL mode e.g. #LE 2#

"LEV" Autom a t i c mode <off> ttAU--lt
"LEV" Chess - i ns t r u c t o r (on> ._E #
"ENT11 Deac t i v a t e chess- i ns t r u c t o r KE--#
"CL PLAY mode on llPLAY#
II

You can then co n t i nue to p l ay w i thout MEPH I S T O ' s adv i ce . You will
have no t i ced b y nowr that us i n g the "LEV" key , you can page
through to the des i r ed spec i a l f u nc t i o n and s w i tch th i s on <or
off) w i th " E NT " . If two L i nes appear beh i nd the spec i a l
f u nc t i o n symbol in the d i s p l ay , then the f u nc t i o n is sw l tched
off. If the L i ne s are not there r the f u nc t i o n is "on " .

Use "CL" to return from the spec i a l func t i o n d i a l ogue to the

PLAY mode . Try to remember the procedure for the fo l l o� i n g
s e c t i o ns .

- 26 ..
K.3. Check•�te soluti ons C pr oble•-solvi ng ) .

Th i s spec i a l f u nc t i o n is des i g ned t o so l v e checkmate problems.

MEPHISTO searches for the sh o r t e s t poss i b l e solut i o n to the
prob l e m . N o rm a l l y , m a t e - i n- 1 to m a te - i n-6 s o l u t i o ns will be found
w i thout much d i ff iculty. Longer s o l u t i ons <7 to 12 moves> may
a l so be found but are o f ten i mp r ac t i ca l due to a sho r t age of
memory s p ace , or your p a t i ence < when MEPHISTO takes d a y s to
a n a l yse the po s i t i o n > .

As a bas i c rule, you shou l d e n ter the pos i t i o n on the board < s ee
sect i o n F.2.> before sett i ng the p r o b l em - l eve l . Then co n t i nue
<ls fo l. L o w s : press the "LEV" k e ·� a numbel'" of t i m es unt i l the
d i s p l ay shows < w i t h HPr--•> that the spec i a l f u nc t i o n
" p r o b l em- Lev e l " is ava i l ab l e . Then c o n f i l'" m that th i s is the
f u nc t i o n you want to act i v ate w i th "ENT" < • nr ?H > is
d i s p l ay ed ) . Nex t you h a v e to te l l the computer the number of
moves i n wh i ch the checkmate is to be found. Th i s is d o n e by
sett i ng the r e s p ec t i ve p l ay i n g level i .e. Level 1 to 12 for
m a t e - i n- 1 to 12 moves ' e.g. "LEV " , "D4", 11EHT• for
checkmate in f o u l'" moves .

You can d e ac t i v a t e the P r o b l em level by s e t t i ng a n o l '" m a l P l ay i n g

l.eve l . Dur i ng the use of the P r o b l em leve l you can not use the
INFORMATION mode to i n ves t i g a t e a n a lys i s procedure or to obt a i n
a pos i t i on evaluat i on.

The AMSTERDAM p r o g r am o f fe r s you a new poss i b l y , n am e l y to f i nd

a l te rnat i ve s o l u t i o n s . A p r o p e l'" chess p r o b l em is norma l l y only
a l lowed t o have one so l u t i o n , o t h e r w i se it is cons i dered t o be
unsound . Th i s feature is thus a very i nterest i ng one for chess
enthus i as t s , who w i sh to search for a poss i b l e second s o l u t i on .

Why not try it out? - Let MEPHISTO solve the m a te- i n-3 p r o b lem
in sect i o n F . 2 . b . After a short t i me the reply 1 . Sd3-b4+ "' i t h
the checkmate a n n o u n c e m e n t MH3M is d i s p l ayed . Next press
"CL" and t h e n ">O" . The un i t beeps and •no H a p pe a r s . Th i s
means that there is no second s o l u t i on . O t h e r w i se the computer
wou l d show th i s a n d you c ou l d repeat the procedure in the s e a rch
for o th e r key moves ( s o l u t i o ns > .

K.4. Turn i ng the board

Occas i o n a l l y , you will want to p l ay w i th B l ack a g a i ns t MEPHISTO

but w i sh to have t h e b l ack p i eces , the d i s p l ay and the keyboard
in front of you too. Us i ng th i s spec i a l funct i o n you can turn
the " i n te r n a l " chess board around by 1 80 degrees and p l ay w i th
B l ack " f rom the b o t tom to the top " . The m a r k i n gs on the board
are, of cou r s e r no Longer val i d i .e. H8 is now at the bottom
Left of the board < wh i ch MEPHISTO autom a t i c a l l y accounts for in
l ts d i s p l a•:.-J ) .

- 27 -
Turn the board around as fo l l o w s : press "LEV" unt i l the d i s p l a•:J
shows •bd--Mr mean i ng " b o a rd f u nc t i o n a v a i l ab l e ( off) " . Sw i tch
the f u nc t i o n on w i th "ENT" and return to the PLAY mode w i th
" CL " . You shou l d n a t u r a l l•:J change the p i ec e s on the board f i rs t
You may comb i ne this funct i o n w i th other spec i a l f u nc t i o n s .

K.5. Rando• i zer <best •eve >

N o rm a l l y MEPHISTO will p l ay i ts best move , i .e. w i th a ce r t a i n

d e �r e e o f c e r t a i n t y , g i ven the same r e f l ex i o n t i mer it w i l l a l way
p l ay the s a m e move from a certa i n pos i t i o n . A r a ndom i ze 1r is
av a i l ab l e for those r for whom thls is too monotonous. MEPHISTO
will then random l y se l e c t another move from i ts L i st of moves
w i th the same or s i m i lar e v a l ua t i on . Of course th i s means the
computer will not a l w ays p l ay qu l te as we l l . The r a ndom l ze r ls
ac t i v a te d us i n g the spec i a l f u nc t i o n d i a logue aga i n : press
"LEV" u n t i l the "best move f u nc t i o n " is av a i l ab l e
( automat i c a l l y "on" - i .e. r a ndom i ze r off) is d i s p l ayed
C #B E • > . The r a ndom i z e r is then a c t i v i t a ted w i th "ENT'' . Don ' t
be put off by th i s unusual method of s w i tch i n g the func t i on on.
"Best move f u nc t i o n act i v ated" is natura l ly the same as
" r a n dom i ze r de-ac t i v a te d " and v i ce versa. Comb i n i n g th l s s p e c i a l.
f u nc t i o n w i th others is poss i b l e .

K.6. Ope n i ngs l i brary < theory open i n gs )

MEPHISTO has a l a r ge open i ngs L i b r a ry w i th a p p rox i m a t e l y 3 r 000

v a r i a t i o ns or approx. 2 4 , 000 pos i t i o ns In the AMSTERDAM modu l e .
Th i s is where the computer gets i ts chess k n o w l e d ge from at the
be g i n n i n g of a game I .e . It doesn ' t " i n ve n t " i ts own moves but
i ns t e ad checks a type of c a t a l ogue to see if there are s t a nd a r d
moves i n chess theo r y . You can sw i tch th i s o pe n i n g s l i brary off
and w a tch how MEPHISTO p l ays i ts f i rs t moves w i thout I ts stored
knowledge lf you w a n t . You know how to do th i s by now: The
de - a c t i v a t e d o p e n i n gs l i brary is c a l led up and shown in the
d i s p l ay w i th #TH--•. If the l i nes are not the r e , the l i b r a ry
is ac t i v a t e d . C o mb i n i n g this f u nc t i o n w i th others is poss i b l e .
P l e ase note that sw i t ch i n g the l i b r ary off ls only p u r p o se f u l at
the b e g i nn i ng of a g a me .

In add i t i o n to th i s r the MEPHISTO AMSTERDAM Modu l e o f fers the

i n te r es t i n g poss i b i l i t y to pre-select ce r t a i n o p e n i n g - L i nes '
or even to store your own var i at ions in the memo r y . The l a t t e r
will r em a i n stored as long as the un i t is s w i tched on. F o l low the
fo l l ow i n g gu i de l i nes to s t o re (or p r e - s e l ec t > open i ng v a r i a t i o ns :

- 28 -
 K e •:.:1 Me a n i n g
- - - � - - - - - - - - - - - - �- � - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - -

"HEH" Ac t i v a te MEMORY mode tltlEHOM

Make move for Wh i te MHEHOM

on the board

Make move for B l ack MHEHOM

on the board

etc . u nt i l the end of MHEHOM

the v a r i a t i on

" P O S " , •"EH11 a n d Store var i a t i on ltSTAM

"POS"

You can enter further o p e n i n g- l i nes of your own c h o i ce i n the

same way. A p p rox i m a t e l y 200 moves can be s tored. U n d e s i r e d moves
can be t ak e n back w l th " <9 " . It is poss i b l e to e n ter moves via
the keyboard i ns t e ad of the board.

To return to t h e PLAY mode s i mply press the "CL"key . HEPHISTO

w i ll then d i s p l ay •PLAYM i nd i c a t i n g that it is ready to p l ay
and w a i t i ng for your i ns t ruc t i o n s . MEPHISTO w i ll now p l ay the
moves you p r o g r ammed it w l th and not those f rom i ts o pe n i n g s
l i b rary . But t r a n s p o s i t i o ns i nto i ts own open i ngs l i brary are o f
course poss i b l e at any t i me .

K.7. Sound genera tor

In cer t a i n s i tu a t i ons <e.g. when a move has been found, when

i n p u t e r ro r s a r e made o r w h e n us i n g the chess- i ns t ru c t o r
f u nc t i o n > your M E P H I S T O w i l l a t t r ac t y o u r a t te n t i o n by b ee p i n g .
It i s poss i b l e t o sw i t c h the sound g e ne r a t o r o f f i f you w i sh to
p l a•::1 ln s i lence . P a ge through the spec l a l f u nc t i o n s w i th " LE V "
u n t i l MTO M < to n e o n ) i s d i s p l ayed a n d t h e n d e - ac t i v a t e the
f u nc t i o n w i th " E N T " . Comb i n i n g th i s f u nc t i o n w i th o t h e r s i s
n a tu r a l l 1::1 poss i b l e . "CL" b r i ngs 1:1ou back to PLAY mode , as
usu a l .

K.8. Revie• o f spec ial funct i ons

We w i sh t o ex p l a i n - one f i na l t i me - the way i n wh i ch you can

C de > ac t i v a t e the spec i a l f u nc t i o n s . Rememb e r , lt is i mportant
that MEPHISTO is in the s t a ndby pha s e . Don ' t forget that we ' the
m a nu f a c t u r e r s , have p r o g r ammed the computer to set these < a nd
o t he r > f u nc t i o n s accord i n g to a cer t a i n pattern when sw i tched on.
The fo l l ow i n g table shows these se t t i n g s . Once the r e s p e c t i ve
s�ec i a l f u nc t i o n has been s e l ected ( is av a i l ab l e ) it Is sw i tched
on < or off) w i th "ENT" depend i ng on i ts p r e v i ous state.

- ::!9 ..
Just remember that the r e a f t e r you can return to the PLAY mode by
press i n g the "CL"key and you have understood the concept beh i nd
the spec i a l funct i o n d i a logue.

Note : once you have worked your way through the e n t i re d i a logue
w i th al l the spec i a l f u nc t i o ns you can return to the PLAY mode
ag a i n w i th "LEV " .

Mean i n g D i s p l ay

"LEV" Ac t i v a t e LEVEL mode e . g . lll.E 2M

"LEV" Spec i a l func t i o n : a u t om a t i c p l ay ttAU--M

< se t 'off ' )

"LEV" Spec i a l func t i o n : chess- i n s t r u c t o r lll.E --M

( se t 'off' )

"LEV" Spec i a l func t i o n : p r o b l em Leve l llPr--M

( se t 'off' )

"LEV" Spec i a l funct i on : turn the board tll>d -- M

<set 'off' >

"LEV" Spec i a l f u nc t i o n : best move

< se t ' on ' )

"LEV" Spec i a l funct i o n : theory o p e n i n gs •TH tt

< se t 'on' >

"LEV" Spec i a l func t i o n : sound gene r a t o r •TO M

( tone set 'on' >

"LEV" Return to PLAY mode llPLAYM

L. Oper a t i on errors and correct i ve act i o n

L.1. Input errors

There is a reaso n a b l e chance that at some t i me you will not

e x ac t l y a g r ee w i th your MEP H I S T O . e.g. it may d i s p l ay •ERR1tt
when i t is your turn to move or may sudde n l y make a move w i th a
p i ece you have Long s i nce removed from the board. In the vast
m a j o r i ty of cases, the error wlll not be due to a techn i c a l
f au l t in the com p u t e r .

Try to b e tolerant and rema i n calm in such a s i tu a t i o n • mak i n g

an o c c a s i o n a l m i s t ake is o n l y hum a n • so assume f i rst that you
have made a m i s t ake wh i l s t ope r a t i n g the un i t . We have L i sted
some of the most common m i s t akes made, b ased on our e x pe r i ence
from v a r i ous t e l e phone calls and Le tters in the past:

- 30 -
Co111111o n • i s takes:

1. Read i n g the d i s p l ay i ncorrec t l y ( m i stak i ng C for G and

5 for 6 e tc > .

2. M ak i n g a move dur i n g the computer ' s a n a l ys i s phase

( d i s p l ay still f l a sh i n g ) .

3. Ente r i ng a set-up pos i t i o n w i thout hav i n g f i rs t c l e a red

the board.

4. Analys i n g po s i t i o ns on the b o a r d dur i n g the a n a l ys i s phase.

P i ec e s then not r e t u r ne d to or i g i n a l L oc a t i o n s .

5. A p i e ce ls not p r o pe r l y L o c a ted o n i ts s qu a r e : A f l ash i n g LED

to warn you of th i s is some t i m es covered up by the p i e ce .
Look down vert i c a l l y o n to the board.

6. Desp i te all the w a r n i n gs , a p i e ce has been slid across the

sensor board and not l i fted f rom i ts locat ion and p l ac e d on
i ts d es t i n a t i o n square.

7. When cas t l i n g , t h e Rook was moved f i rs t i ns te a d of the K i ng,

wh i ch s to r e d a movement of the Rook only in the com p u t e r .

B. T ry i n g to p l ay a game w i th a prob l e m Level i ns t e a d of a

p l ay i n g Level be i n g s e l ec ted .

Some e r rors are not i m med i a te l y apparent and i t can t ake a wh i le

before MEPHISTO comp l a i ns . The best th i n g to do in th i s c ase is
run a p o s i t i on ver i f i c a t i o n < see sec t i o n F. 1 . ) . If th i s doe s n ' t
he l p , then p l ay the game ln reverse us i n g the MEMORY mode
< se c t i o n G. 1 . ) - th i s mos t l y helps to f i nd the error. From then
on. you c a n co n t i nue to p l ay as you or i g i na l l y I n tende d . If you
have used our adv i c e to no ava i l and are still conv i nced that the
m i s t ake isn't yours then our s e r v i ce outlets will n a tu r a l l y he l p
you out and save the day. If you can send a w r i t ten copy o f the
game In w h i ch the error occu r e d • you w l ll he l p us Locate the
error more qu i c k l y , and that means that you w i ll get your
M E P H I S T O b ack qu i c k e r too.

L.2. Correct i n g errors

M i s t akes don ' t necess a r i l y have to be s e r i ous ones . Some t i mes you
may have just pressed the wrong key and want to correct this.

As long as you were only chang i n g i ns t r uc t i o ns (e.g. p l ay i n g

Leve l change ) and have not co n f i rmed these w i th "ENT" •.:1ou can
clear the undes i red i nput w i th "CL" and then press the correct
�<e•.:1 .

- 31 -
The i ns t r uc t i o n is not co n f i rmed unt i l you press "ENT '' . If you
have made a move r w h i ch you d i dn ' t rea l l y want to make and
MEPHISTO has then a l ready e n t e red i ts ana lys i s phase r press
"ENT" to force HEF' H I STO to p l ay , make the m o v e f i rs t a n d t h e n
take the c o m p u t e r ' s m o v e b ack a g a i n . Y o u c a n a l s o t a k e y o u r
m i s t aken move back and after that a f r i e n d l y •PLAYM in the
d i s p l ay i nv i tes you to c o n t i nue w i th the des i re d move.

H. HEPHISTO sel f-tes t i ng rout i ne

Your MEPHISTO AMSTERDAM modu l e has been c a re f u l l y tested by the

m a nu f ac t u r e r . Shou l d your set st i l l seem to co n t a i n a fault
des p i te our tests you c a n use the f o l l ow i n g test r ou t i ne to see
whe t h e r your MEPHISTO has a se r i ous error.

Me a n i n g r1 i s p l ay

"LEV" Act i v a t e LEVEL mode •LE 2 M

"C3 " • •ENT" Enter p l ay i n g Level 3 •PLAY#

"POS .. A c t i v a te P O S I T I ON mode aPOSM

"POS" Check po s i t i o n < Rook Al > •T A l #

LED i n square Al f l ashes

2 ><"CL• Return to PLAY mode •PLAY#

"H EH " Ac t i v a t e MEMORY mode tlttEHOM

Hove Pawn F2 - F4 llHEHOM

Hove Pawn E7 - E6 attEHOM

Hove Pawn G2 - G4 aHEHOtt

"CL Return to PLAY mode llPLAYtt

II

"ENT" Computer a n a l yses ttd.8. H . 4 . tt

Queen to H4 for b l ac k •
dots i nd i cate comment

" I NFO•. "Al" Cal l comment < checkm a t e > 8HATtt

"CL Return to PLAY Mode tlPLAYM

II

"POS" Ac t i v a te P O S I T I O N mode llPOS M

"<9" Check b l a ck ... ___ ..

"CL" Clear llPOS tt

>O II
Check wh i te • -·--*
II

"RES" '"RES" Both keys s i m u l taneous l y •PLAY#

.. 32 -
Shou l d your MEPHISTO do anyth i n g else other than i n d i c a te d in
the table above p l ease add a note to this e ffect i n your Letter.

N. Techn i ca l data and accessor i es

We have l i sted the mos t i mportant data for those readers who are
a l so i n terested to know what is h i dd e n i n the i r M E P H I STO MODULAR/
E X C L U S I VE/MUNCHEN AMSTERDAM a s i de s p l ay i n g c a p ab i l i ty .

N.1. T e ch n i c a l data

M i c ro p ro c e s s o r 68000 ( 16 B i t; exchangeab l e )

C l ock f r e qu e n c y 12 Megahertz

Read o n l y memory 64 KByte ROM

R a ndom access memory 16 KByte RAM

Program Modu l e s i n t e r ch a n g e ab l e . Comb i n a t i o n of

S h a n non-A and S h a n n on-B s t r ategy.
Open i n gs l i b r a ry c o n t a i ns about 3 r 000
v a r i a t i ons or a p p r ox . 2 4 r 000 p o s i t i o ns

P l ay i n g l ev e l s 7 p l ay i n g Levels
10 p r o b l em Levels
1 c o r respondence chess level
Optional t i me-s e t t i n g

Chess-clock F o u r- t i m e - c l o c k
Move-cou n t e r

D i s p l ay 4 -d i g i t LCD d i s p l ay
( i n t e r c h a n ge a b l e )

Pc�er M a i ns operat ion

N.2. Accessor i es

Further a c c e s so r i es ' e . g. new p r o g r ams or p r o g r am extens i ons are

in p r e p a r a t i on. P l e ase ask you r MEPHISTO agent for further
i n form a t i o n .

- 33 -
O. Su•• ary of the •ost i •portant features

Putt i ng i n to oper at i o n

Plug the adapter i n to the m a i ns r connect the adapter j ackp l u g to

the socket i n the p r o g r am mod u l e . Don ' t use the socket on the
s i de of the board. Set up the p i eces i n the i n i t i al pos i t i o n and
press both " RE S " ke'.:IS . ttPLAYtt a p pe a r s i n the d i s p l ay . Make
sure that none of the locat i n g LED ' s are f l a sh i n g or are covered
b1d a p l ece
�.

P l ay i ng level

Level 2 automa t i c a l l y set ( approx. 1 0 seconds response t i me for

HEPHISTO > . To change Level e.g. 11LEV11 r 11C3" , "ENT" for
Leve l 3.

Enter i n g a •ove

L i ft chessman and p l ace on des i red square. MEPHISTO re p l i e s

e i th e r i mm e d i a te l y or after a s ho r t th i nk i n g - t i me and a n nounces
that it has found a countermove w i th a doub l e bee p . The
com p u te r ' s move is i nd i c a t e d on the board w i th the r e s pec t i ve
LED ' s and is a l so shown i n the d i s p l ay .

Press "ENT" if MEPHISTO is to start w i t h Wh i te .

Note: the d i s p l ay f l ashes dur i n g the a n a l ys i s phase . F i ve

d i f f e re n t p i ec e s of i n f o rm a t i o n conce r n i n g the computer ' s move
ana l ys i s are shown i n rotat i on i n the d i s p l ay .

I l legal. •oves

HEPHISTO will not accept i l legal moves ' re j ec t i n g them w i th

ttERRt• . T ake the move back and press "CL" . C o n t i nu e w i th a
l eg a l move

Cast l i ng

A l ways e n ter the K i n g ' s move f i rst and then the Rook ' s move .
MEPHISTO i nd i c a tes i ts c as t l i n g moves i n the same way .

U n i ntended i ns t ruct. i o ns

C l. e a r these w i th "CL" before press i n g "ENT" to c o n f i rm .

Term i na t i n g the anal ys i s phase

You can s to p MEPHISTO c a l cu l a t i ng a move and force i t to p l ay the

best move found so 'far bo,.� Pl'"ess i n g "ENT " .

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MEPH I S T O is the re g i s t e r e d t r ad e m a r k of:

HEGENER + GLASER AG
MUNICH , WEST GERMANY

C o py r i gh t 1 98 5 .

ALL co p i es ' i n part or i n whole ' requ i re the p e rm i s s i o n of the

m a nu f a c t u r e r i n a d v a n c e .

The sale and rental of MEPHISTO sets is only a l lowed w i th the

p e r m i ss i o n of the m a nu f ac t u r e r in adv a n c e .

T h e m a n u f ac t u r e r can not be he l d respons i b le f o r m i s t akes in

th i s or other m a nu a l s and reserve the r i gh t to make a l te r a t i ons
to su i t techn i c a l i m proveme n t s .

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