Saitek Mephisto Maestro Chess Mode D'emploi page 11

square. To add a different piece, press a different
PIECE SYMBOL KEY and follow the same steps
outlined above.
• To clear the board, press ENTER while you are in
Position Mode. The display will show _ to symbol-
ize the empty chessboard. Press ENTER once more
to confirm that you really want to clear the board.
Then add pieces as described above. Note that this
feature can be handy whenever you want to set up a
position which contains only a few pieces, where it
would be easier to start out with an empty board.
• Once you have changed the board position as
described above, make sure the color indicator in
the display is showing the correct color of the side to
move. Change the color, if necessary, by pressing
BLACK/+ or WHITE/–.
• Press CLEAR to exit Position Mode
Any legal board position may be set up using the
procedures outlined above. The computer will not permit
you to set up an illegal position, such as one where there
are more than the prescribed number of pieces for a
normal game, or one where a King is in check and is not
to move. If the position is illegal, the computer will sound
an error beep and the display will not return to normal
when you press CLEAR. Check the position using the
PIECE SYMBOL KEYS, if necessary, and correct the
position by setting up a piece, removing an illegal piece,
or replacing an incorrectly placed piece. Then exit Posi-
tion Mode by pressing CLEAR.
CAUTION: All previous moves in your current game
will be erased from the computer's memory if you make
changes to the position during a game.
6. GAME OPTIONS
In addition to all the features described so far, your
chess computer also offers many other intriguing game
options, all of which are user-selectable at any time
during the game. For an overview of these options, refer
to the Options Chart in this section.
Selecting Game Options
The computer's Game Options are divided into three
groups: Operation Mode, Playing Mode, and Rotating
Display Mode. Pressing OPTION cycles from one group
to another. Each group contains eight different options,
and the BLACK/+ and WHITE/– keys are used to cycle
through the options within each of the groups. For each
option, a plus (+) in the display indicates the displayed
option is on, and a minus (–) means the option is off.
Press ENTER to turn each option on, off, or select other
factors as they are displayed. After making all your option
selections, press CLEAR to return to normal game play.
Another method of selecting game options is to press
certain board squares. As shown in the Options Chart,
Squares A1-H1, A2-H2, and A3-H3 can be used to turn
Game Options on, off or select other alternatives. First,
press OPTION to enter Option Mode; then press the
desired square to access any option, using the chart as a
guide. Notice that pressing a square repeatedly turns that
option on, off or selects other alternatives again, with plus
(+) for on and minus (–) for off. Once you have made all
your selections, press CLEAR to return to the game.
When the computer is first powered on, certain default
options are set. Options which are automatically on at the
first startup are shown in the chart with a plus (+), and
options which are off are shown with a minus (–). When-
ever you reset the computer for a new game, most of
your selected options are carried over to your next game.
GIVE VERIFY MODE A TRY!
PRESS DISPLAY
[, 0:00;00
CLEAR+ENTER
KEY White Knight, B1
KNIGHT
KNIGHT KEY White Knight, G1
Black Knight, B8
KNIGHT KEY
KNIGHT KEY Black Knight, G8
Knight only
KNIGHT KEY
[, 0:00;00
CLEAR
AND...
TRY OUT POSITION MODE, TOO!
PRESS DISPLAY
[, 0:00;00
CLEAR+ENTER
-POS-
POSITION
White pawn, –D2
Square D2
Square D4 White pawn, +D4
Black pawn
BLACK/+
Square D8 Black Queen, –D8
Black Queen, +H5
Square H5
White Queen
WHITE/–
[, 0:00;00
CLEAR
The only options which go back to their default state
when you start a new game are Auto Play Mode and Play
White From the Top .
6.1 Operation Mode Options
These eight options affect how you operate your com-
puter. Press OPTION once to select this group, and then
use the BLACK/+ and WHITE/– keys to select the op-
tions. Press ENTER to turn options on (+) or off (–).
Auto Play Mode (Square A1)
Normally, the computer automatically answers with a
countermove whenever you enter a move. If you turn
Auto Play on by choosing +AuTo, however, you can
watch the computer play against itself! Auto Play Mode
can be extremely useful if you want to analyze a position
very deeply, and the ideal levels to use with this feature
are the higher Training Levels. On level 58, for example,
the computer searches 10 ply for each move, unless it
finishes its search early (e.g., if it is playing from its open-
ings, finds a forced mate or draw, etc.). Selecting this
level will enable the computer to analyze game positions
very deeply as it plays against itself—perhaps overnight
or even for several days! When you get back to the com-
puter, you can take back approximately the last 200
moves of the game and replay them on the board. You
can then study the results of the computer's work at your
leisure. Note that, when you leave the computer and let it
search for a long period of time, it is recommended that
you use an AC-DC adapter.
Note: You can speed up the computer's opening play
in Auto Play Mode by pressing CLEAR while it is still
playing from memory in the opening. Also note that Auto
Play Mode will be cancelled if you press ENTER to abort
the computer's search, or if the game ends.
Sound with Keypress (Square B1)
This option allows you to turn off the sound that accom-
panies each keypress by choosing -SNd. You will still
11
(New game, White to move)
(1st square with a White Knight)
(2nd square with a White Knight)
(1st square with a Black Knight)
(2nd square with a Black Knight)
(No more Knights on the board)
(Exit Verify Mode)
(New game, White to move)
(Enter Position Mode)
(Remove White pawn from D2)
(Move White pawn to D4)
(Change color to Black)
(Remove Black Queen from D8)
(Move Black Queen to H5)
(Set White to move next)
(Exit Position Mode, White to move)