From: cuffell@spot.Colorado.EDU (CUFFELL TIMOTHY MICH)
Newsgroups: rec.games.chess
Subject: Re: Chessmaster 3000 features??
Date: 1 Oct 92 00:47:24 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder

In article <1992Sep29.193115.3461@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> jpgraham@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (John P Graham) writes:
>Can anyone tell me how CM3000 is supposed to estimate 
>ratings for its opponent? Is this based on a series of 
>stored positions (as in chessplayer 2150) or based on 
>actual games played against the program.. if based on 
>games .. just one game or a series of games?
>Similar questions concerning Grandmaster chess...
>Also how effective are the 'different personalities'
>claimed by the CM3000 people??
>Many thanks in advance .... 
>John.

CM2100 rates its opponent about the same way FIDE does.  You start out at
800, and get 32 points for each win.  The problem is that it doesn't care
if those wins are on weenie level or not, and it has no way to prevent you
from not finishing lost games.  Needless to same, I was slowly working my
way to GM status before I got CM3000.  Its rating system is nearly as bad.
It gives you a series of "What move is best" positions, and ranks you based
on your answer.  I guess it is accurate, but there are only three tests, so
after that, you are SOL.  

The personalities are well done.  You can adjust Attack v. Defend, Material
v. Position, opening book depth, realtive value of each piece, pawn, and 
central pawn, propensity to draw, and vision.  All of theses work well
except draw and vision.  Draw allows the computer to treat a draws as a win,
a loss, or a draw.  This means that with K+Q v. K+B, the computer will 
exchange the Q for the B, because he sees the insufficient material draw
before the forcible mate, if it treats a draw as a win.  Similarly, it
will not use the stalemate defense in K+P v. K if a draw is a loss.  Vision
is worse.  What it attempt to do is simulate a human opponent by arbitrarily
not considering a certain number of moves.  I thought this would be nice.
I have missed capture en prise pieces against opponents, but the computer
didn't do that, and I wasn't used to it.  Similarly, I am less able to 
handle unsound attacks, simply because my primary opponent doesn't use them.
Anyway, you can set vision at 40% to 100%, 100% being all moves visible.
Every game I play with vision at anything other than 100% (99% has been tested
thouroughly), I win because the computer will leave a piece en prise, missing
the one move that captures it, or it will capture a protected pawn, missing
the one move that recaptures the piece.  This would be great if it didn't do
this like ten times during the games.  I have yet to exchange Q's with him
before he gives his away.

This makes about four of the personalities worthless to anyone who can remember
how a knight moves.  Other than that, this feature is well done.  My favorites
are the ones that have little quirks.  One values your queen to be about
a rook too valuable, and takes great pains to exchange.  Another values all
of your pieces about a half pawn more valuable than his and has the attack
tendency cranked.  Overall, there are about 20 different personalities, 15
of which can be used without serious loss of play quality.  And you can
always make your own.

I think CM3000 is about the best program available for intermediate players.
It will challenge you until you reach Master level, at which point you can
apply your tournament winnings to Zarkov or Mephisto.  In has enough bells
and whistles to keep you happy for a long time.
 
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