Re: [ql-users] (was - I want your software)- Psion Chess - Where are they Now?
Psion Ches was the first 'game' I bought on my 19th birthday ( that would be 21st December 1985 ), that actually sounds a little sad but I did get very wrecked that night :-). I think it cost about £20 but I thought it not only looked amazing ( esp on a Microvitec QL monitor) but played amazing too, plus it beat me every time ( shan't mention which level but thinking time was a few short seconds ! ). It's one of only a few games that I leave on DEMO mode. I often wonder what happened to the developers, QL book authors, magazine writers of the QL era. Are these guys still around?? Neil R. 7 Reading UK [EMAIL PROTECTED] 26 September 2006 19:32 Is that the Psion chess below? I highly recommend it to anyone. Psion, despite being only 67K and old, played one of the most amazing games I've ever seen, any chess package, even a master, maybe grandmaster. This includes Francois Lanciault's Blackknight (I wrote reviews for QL magazines). (In fact, I need to find my notes; while Psion was playing White, it may have been Blackknight playing Black indirectly). Come to think of it, an annotated version of the Psion game could even make a QLT article. Even an interesting one :-) . Doug L. 37830 USA *** The contents of this email are confidential to the intended recipient. It may not be disclosed to or used by anyone other than the addressee, nor may it be copied in any way. If received in error, please contact the company on 01793-715380, then delete it from your system. Please note neither the company nor the sender accepts any responsibility for viruses and it is your responsibility to scan attachments (if any) for viruses. No contract may be concluded on behalf of the company by means of email communications. www.boxclever.co.uk *** ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [ql-users] I want your software
extdgl42 wrote: Is that the Psion chess below? I highly recommend it to anyone. Psion, despite being only 67K and old, played one of the most amazing games I've ever seen, any chess package, even a master, maybe grandmaster. This includes Francois Lanciault's Blackknight (I wrote reviews for QL magazines). (In fact, I need to find my notes; while Psion was playing White, it may have been Blackknight playing Black indirectly). Yes, it is Psion Chess - and the last time I tried it that one actually works! I have to agree - it's a fantastic game. Phil ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [ql-users] I want your software
Written I believe on a 68000 based Sage computer. Malcolm Phil Kett wrote: extdgl42 wrote: Is that the Psion chess below? I highly recommend it to anyone. Psion, despite being only 67K and old, played one of the most amazing games I've ever seen, any chess package, even a master, maybe grandmaster. This includes Francois Lanciault's Blackknight (I wrote reviews for QL magazines). (In fact, I need to find my notes; while Psion was playing White, it may have been Blackknight playing Black indirectly). Yes, it is Psion Chess - and the last time I tried it that one actually works! I have to agree - it's a fantastic game. Phil ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [ql-users] I want your software
Further: Francois' Blackknight was not being any slouch, don't get me wrong. But Psion played a surprising sacrifice early in the game, really surprising for a program esp a small one, slowly ground it out in seemingly adverse circumstances into the better game, then into an endgame with only a few pieces left on the board, then checkmated in that endgame with requirements which your child even with experience might find difficult. And it was about 100 moves! Years later I can still give that description off the top of my head (even if there's not much left up there :-) . Thanks for all the comments. Doug L. 37830 USA -Original Message- From: Malcolm Lear [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sep 27, 2006 7:10 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [ql-users] I want your software Written I believe on a 68000 based Sage computer. Malcolm Phil Kett wrote: extdgl42 wrote: Is that the Psion chess below? I highly recommend it to anyone. Psion, despite being only 67K and old, played one of the most amazing games I've ever seen, any chess package, even a master, maybe grandmaster. This includes Francois Lanciault's Blackknight (I wrote reviews for QL magazines). (In fact, I need to find my notes; while Psion was playing White, it may have been Blackknight playing Black indirectly). Yes, it is Psion Chess - and the last time I tried it that one actually works! I have to agree - it's a fantastic game. Phil ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
[ql-users] QL NA show: repairs
Tony, As you may know (you don't? uh-oh :-) you've been listed for the NA show as fixing things. I'd like to mention beforehand something I'd like done: getting my floppy drives working. Years ago the previous ones, old, had trouble I replaced them with new generics. They had some sort of trouble, and at a NA show (Maryland US?) Roy or somebody flipped four wires in the cable. They worked a little better, but e.g. they still won't format, and putting a new file on a diskette is done only by deleting an existing file from a used diskette and inserting--not say by format just write. Puts a crimp in your day. Installing the sH I bought from you looks involved, and I expect you the expert could do in five (ten?) minutes with myself needing an afternoon for reading dickering... If as a matter of principle, and you needing to ration your time at the show maybe, I should do it myself, I can. Thanks, Doug L. 37830 USA If you can evaluate the Minverva I also bought recently, that could be handy; as I say I dropped it and don't know yet, through installation or just check-out, whether I've damaged it. Even I the non-specialist can install one of those though. I will have the black box which is in the process of being converted to main QL (newer Minerva, sH, remove old 68008; SGC, repaired floppies; SMSQ maybe in forseeable future--yes, I still run without). Maybe even the old black box (older Minverva, maybe shot). ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
[ql-users] QL NA show: QL monitor?
If anyone has a QL monitor they'd like to part with, please bring it to the show and we likely can negotiate a decent price. Esp if you take plastic. May not have checks before I leave. What I am looking to replace: Currently I have an old Acorn III RGB, roughly a foot or foot and a half cube, which has given up the ghost. The only semi-useable one is an old Datapoint green monochrome, which just isn't good enough. The old black cubes which say Sinclair or a similar item would probably do. I am not looking to have to do noticeable rewiring, make adaptors, repair, etc. The old Acorn (from someone named Sherman I think) just plugged in its power cable and its video cable. Doug L. 37830 USA I would not be entirely averse to items which are somewhat above the foregoing characteristics but allow for expansion beyond the old QDOS; as I've said in other posts, it's likely I'll upgrade to SMSQ finally, although I doubt I'll go beyond the black box to say Aurora. (I maintain a life outside even the QL ... e.g. several Linuces, OS X and OS 9, though absolutely _no_ Winnie--Wintel/IE--except at work. There is no Earthlink phone # in N.F. Ontario, and that was the final factor in deciding not to bring the old G3 400 laptop). Black box, SGC, 2x 3.5 needing repair, new Mk II uninstalled, sH uninstalled, IBM keyboard (also GC, Trump 896), 14.4 (surely 56K after sH installed), monitor needed, SMSQ in foreseeable future, QPC, Xchange (3.91?), Psion chess as mentioned, more. ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [ql-users] I want your software
BlackKnight... now this brings memories... My first attempt at a chess program... But yes, it could not beat Psion chess. This program is a marvel. I should try to pitch my latest chess program against it one day... On to another topic... My (main) QL is a Aurora/SuperGoldCard/Minerva MKII/Hermes machine, running SMSQ/E. Recently my mouse died. I had this mouse since the first release of the sermouse driver. Now sermouse is included in SMSQ/E. I don't remember the type of mouse, something like PC system mouse. Anyway microsoft serial mouse did not work with sermouse at the time. I said to myself: after all these years, sermouse must now support serial microsoft type mouse! But no! And that is the only working serial mouse I have in my house. Now try to find a serial mouse these days, especially a PC mouse system type... So my question is : can a microsoft serial mouse be used on a QL with hermes in any way ? Anybody has a compatible mouse that they could sell me at the U.S. show ? Regards François Lanciault Le 06-09-27 à 10:14, extdgl42 a écrit : Further: Francois' Blackknight was not being any slouch, don't get me wrong. But Psion played a surprising sacrifice early in the game, really surprising for a program esp a small one, slowly ground it out in seemingly adverse circumstances into the better game, then into an endgame with only a few pieces left on the board, then checkmated in that endgame with requirements which your child even with experience might find difficult. And it was about 100 moves! Years later I can still give that description off the top of my head (even if there's not much left up there :-) . Thanks for all the comments. Doug L. 37830 USA -Original Message- From: Malcolm Lear [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sep 27, 2006 7:10 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [ql-users] I want your software Written I believe on a 68000 based Sage computer. Malcolm Phil Kett wrote: extdgl42 wrote: Is that the Psion chess below? I highly recommend it to anyone. Psion, despite being only 67K and old, played one of the most amazing games I've ever seen, any chess package, even a master, maybe grandmaster. This includes Francois Lanciault's Blackknight (I wrote reviews for QL magazines). (In fact, I need to find my notes; while Psion was playing White, it may have been Blackknight playing Black indirectly). Yes, it is Psion Chess - and the last time I tried it that one actually works! I have to agree - it's a fantastic game. Phil ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [ql-users] I want your software
Nuts--too late--there is, or used to be, a place in town with not just old systems but boxes of old serial mice--cheap too. I only have one in my place. One can, though, ship within the continent without breaking the bank. Doug L. 37830 USA -Original Message- From: Francois Lanciault [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sep 27, 2006 11:30 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [ql-users] I want your software BlackKnight... now this brings memories... My first attempt at a chess program... But yes, it could not beat Psion chess. This program is a marvel. I should try to pitch my latest chess program against it one day... On to another topic... My (main) QL is a Aurora/SuperGoldCard/Minerva MKII/Hermes machine, running SMSQ/E. Recently my mouse died. I had this mouse since the first release of the sermouse driver. Now sermouse is included in SMSQ/E. I don't remember the type of mouse, something like PC system mouse. Anyway microsoft serial mouse did not work with sermouse at the time. I said to myself: after all these years, sermouse must now support serial microsoft type mouse! But no! And that is the only working serial mouse I have in my house. Now try to find a serial mouse these days, especially a PC mouse system type... So my question is : can a microsoft serial mouse be used on a QL with hermes in any way ? Anybody has a compatible mouse that they could sell me at the U.S. show ? Regards François Lanciault Le 06-09-27 à 10:14, extdgl42 a écrit : Further: Francois' Blackknight was not being any slouch, don't get me wrong. But Psion played a surprising sacrifice early in the game, really surprising for a program esp a small one, slowly ground it out in seemingly adverse circumstances into the better game, then into an endgame with only a few pieces left on the board, then checkmated in that endgame with requirements which your child even with experience might find difficult. And it was about 100 moves! Years later I can still give that description off the top of my head (even if there's not much left up there :-) . Thanks for all the comments. Doug L. 37830 USA -Original Message- From: Malcolm Lear [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sep 27, 2006 7:10 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [ql-users] I want your software Written I believe on a 68000 based Sage computer. Malcolm Phil Kett wrote: extdgl42 wrote: Is that the Psion chess below? I highly recommend it to anyone. Psion, despite being only 67K and old, played one of the most amazing games I've ever seen, any chess package, even a master, maybe grandmaster. This includes Francois Lanciault's Blackknight (I wrote reviews for QL magazines). (In fact, I need to find my notes; while Psion was playing White, it may have been Blackknight playing Black indirectly). Yes, it is Psion Chess - and the last time I tried it that one actually works! I have to agree - it's a fantastic game. Phil ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [ql-users] (was - I want your software)- Psion Chess - Where are they Now?
Psion chess was written by Richard Lang. It's more recent incarnations are as Chess Genius for PC, pocket PC etc. It is even stronger now, but still about the same price. I had a private correspondence with him a while ago - as I have a whole archive of old chess games stored on disc, and while I have a version of psion chess which runs under uqlx etc, it can't read the old data files. Unfortunately he neither remembers or has documentation on the file formats he used back then. I get the impression that that side of things was handled by someone at psion and not himself. Jeremy Neil Riley wrote: Psion Ches was the first 'game' I bought on my 19th birthday ( that would be 21st December 1985 ), that actually sounds a little sad but I did get very wrecked that night :-). I think it cost about £20 but I thought it not only looked amazing ( esp on a Microvitec QL monitor) but played amazing too, plus it beat me every time ( shan't mention which level but thinking time was a few short seconds ! ). It's one of only a few games that I leave on DEMO mode. I often wonder what happened to the developers, QL book authors, magazine writers of the QL era. Are these guys still around?? Neil R. 7 Reading UK [EMAIL PROTECTED] 26 September 2006 19:32 Is that the Psion chess below? I highly recommend it to anyone. Psion, despite being only 67K and old, played one of the most amazing games I've ever seen, any chess package, even a master, maybe grandmaster. This includes Francois Lanciault's Blackknight (I wrote reviews for QL magazines). (In fact, I need to find my notes; while Psion was playing White, it may have been Blackknight playing Black indirectly). Come to think of it, an annotated version of the Psion game could even make a QLT article. Even an interesting one :-) . Doug L. 37830 USA *** The contents of this email are confidential to the intended recipient. It may not be disclosed to or used by anyone other than the addressee, nor may it be copied in any way. If received in error, please contact the company on 01793-715380, then delete it from your system. Please note neither the company nor the sender accepts any responsibility for viruses and it is your responsibility to scan attachments (if any) for viruses. No contract may be concluded on behalf of the company by means of email communications. www.boxclever.co.uk *** ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [ql-users] I want your software
Actually, a port of something Richard Lang originally wrote for the Z80 !!! Malcolm Lear wrote: Written I believe on a 68000 based Sage computer. Malcolm Phil Kett wrote: extdgl42 wrote: Is that the Psion chess below? I highly recommend it to anyone. Psion, despite being only 67K and old, played one of the most amazing games I've ever seen, any chess package, even a master, maybe grandmaster. This includes Francois Lanciault's Blackknight (I wrote reviews for QL magazines). (In fact, I need to find my notes; while Psion was playing White, it may have been Blackknight playing Black indirectly). Yes, it is Psion Chess - and the last time I tried it that one actually works! I have to agree - it's a fantastic game. Phil ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [ql-users] (was - I want your software)- Psion Chess - Where are they Now?
Free downloads for various platforms available here http://www.chessgenius.com/pc/index.html you have to pay £20 for a licence to unlock most of the options, but it gives a playable game, instantaneous response and a feel very similar to the original. You can beat it the same way as the original as well - just play solidly with white (inverse stonewall, say), and very very slowly build an attack. I'm sure that with a licence, and the advanced levels unlocked it would play better. Of course these days there are far stronger chess programs for the PC. The Fritz family comes to mind. Fritz8 plays to near master level on a fast PC, and even Fritz2 is stronger than psion chess. Fritz2 fits on a 3.5 floppy with a database of several thousand classic games. Hiarcs seems to play the most aggressively - plays the most amazing winning sacrifices. Jeremy Jeremy Taffel wrote: Psion chess was written by Richard Lang. It's more recent incarnations are as Chess Genius for PC, pocket PC etc. It is even stronger now, but still about the same price. I had a private correspondence with him a while ago - as I have a whole archive of old chess games stored on disc, and while I have a version of psion chess which runs under uqlx etc, it can't read the old data files. Unfortunately he neither remembers or has documentation on the file formats he used back then. I get the impression that that side of things was handled by someone at psion and not himself. Jeremy Neil Riley wrote: Psion Ches was the first 'game' I bought on my 19th birthday ( that would be 21st December 1985 ), that actually sounds a little sad but I did get very wrecked that night :-). I think it cost about £20 but I thought it not only looked amazing ( esp on a Microvitec QL monitor) but played amazing too, plus it beat me every time ( shan't mention which level but thinking time was a few short seconds ! ). It's one of only a few games that I leave on DEMO mode. I often wonder what happened to the developers, QL book authors, magazine writers of the QL era. Are these guys still around?? Neil R. 7 Reading UK [EMAIL PROTECTED] 26 September 2006 19:32 Is that the Psion chess below? I highly recommend it to anyone. Psion, despite being only 67K and old, played one of the most amazing games I've ever seen, any chess package, even a master, maybe grandmaster. This includes Francois Lanciault's Blackknight (I wrote reviews for QL magazines). (In fact, I need to find my notes; while Psion was playing White, it may have been Blackknight playing Black indirectly). Come to think of it, an annotated version of the Psion game could even make a QLT article. Even an interesting one :-) . Doug L. 37830 USA *** The contents of this email are confidential to the intended recipient. It may not be disclosed to or used by anyone other than the addressee, nor may it be copied in any way. If received in error, please contact the company on 01793-715380, then delete it from your system. Please note neither the company nor the sender accepts any responsibility for viruses and it is your responsibility to scan attachments (if any) for viruses. No contract may be concluded on behalf of the company by means of email communications. www.boxclever.co.uk *** ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
