AtariDude Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 Hi everyone, I did a video of myself playing the Atari 2600 Video chess game that is part of the Atari Flashback Classics Volume 2. Here is link to the first part of the game: The conclusion to the game is located here: Please review the videos and let me know about what you think. I plan to go up the levels and see how high a level I can play against. Looking forward to getting some feedback on the videos and enjoy 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColecoJoe Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 I thought this was going to be boring but i'm really enjoying the first video Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
high voltage Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 (edited) Watched it, very good indeed. Doesn't play as annoying as I thought it would. And that game came about only because of a picture on the Atari packing box.... Edited January 11, 2019 by high voltage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariDude Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 It is considered to be an urban legend. I am sure that the box probably did include a chess figure but I don't think someone sued Atari to claim false advertising. Glad that everyone is enjoying the video since while I know everyone on this board is fans of Atari, I was not sure about the game of chess since not everyone plays the game. I just finished playing a second game but this time at skill level 1 so I will be posting the links to that came in a separate message. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr SQL Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Cool thread, Video Chess is one of my favorite Atari games! I like to play on Level 4 or 5 on a classic Television with a classic console; this combination ensures the game operates as intended: This is 70's Computer Chess similar to Fidelity's Chess Challenger 7 engine in performance (around 1400 or better than your average player) only coupled with a 70's mood ring effect (probably best played on a shag carpet with lava lamps). There are several minutes of mood ring ambiance per move when played as intended that are either reduced to seconds or entirely absent when played via emulation on a modern Atari console or modern system like the PS4 compilation. On the flip side It's pretty cool that you can time compress level 8 with the compilation version instead of having each move take all day - the time factor ensured this level was always overlooked bitd; looking forward to seeing your experiences with level 8! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 IIRC Atari's chess will cheat on its highest level. Is that level 8? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariDude Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 (edited) According to the Wikipedia article on Video Chess, there is a bug with levels 6 and 7 (the two highest levels) where it seems to lose track of the position and in essence, moves pieces on its own. I am not sure how many people would consider playing at those levels. Level 6 could take as much as 12 minutes to decide on what move to make while level 7 could take as long as 10 hours for a move. Would you want to play a game where you have to leave your device on for 10 hours just to see it move? Edited January 15, 2019 by AtariDude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 With Stella you can speed up the calculation times by a factor of 10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariDude Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 I wonder if someone has played an entire game this way. Even by a factor of 10, I would still mean possibly one hour for a move at level 7. The other issue is what happens if you encounter the bug where it moves pieces on its own? I would probably consider level 6 speeded up by a factor of 10 since this would make it less than a minute to a move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr SQL Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 Video Chess doesn't move the pieces on it's own, what happens is the screensaver kicks in and some pieces can become invisible so seemingly the board position changed. As soon as you move the controller they reappear where you expect them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariDude Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 Ok. The wikipedia made it seem like the machine lost track of where everything was and then moved pieces on its own. I play the game on my PS4 so I don't think I would want to play at either setting on the PS4 since it would take too long for it to move and I don't think there is a way to tell the PS4 to go into a mode where it simulates the time as those the real time had passed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoundGammon Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 I set up a chess board and move the pieces as the game is being played! This lets me study the board while the computer is thinking! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariDude Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 I pretty much did the same thing as I was playing. The vertical blinds of the chess pieces makes it harder to me to determine what everything is so I use a real chess board and play the moves on the physical board as opposed to the virtual board of the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 According to the Wikipedia article on Video Chess, there is a bug with levels 6 and 7 (the two highest levels) where it seems to lose track of the position and in essence, moves pieces on its own. I am not sure how many people would consider playing at those levels. Level 6 could take as much as 12 minutes to decide on what move to make while level 7 could take as long as 10 hours for a move. Would you want to play a game where you have to leave your device on for 10 hours just to see it move? Not unlike playing chess by mail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariDude Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 Yes except remember that you need to leave the device on the whole time. I am not sure if there is an issue with the Atari 2600 burning out if you were to play where it takes up to 10 hours to move. One thing that I would have included in that setting would be to able to tell the system to just play the best move that it found during that time. This way I might just allow it to spend a set amount of time such as say 30 minutes to find its best move and then proceed from that point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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