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Basic Computer games & battle chess

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wmmullaney

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2008
Messages
589
Location
Columbia, SC USA area
Hi, I recently aquired a copy of more BASIC computer games by David h. Ahl 1979. Also got Battle Chess for IBM PC DOS 2.0. This is an awesome 3d chess game from interplay. Includes both 5.25" and 3.5" disks. Both are for sale make offer.
 
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wmmullaney said:
Hi, I recently aquired a copy of more BASIC computer games by David h. Ahl 1979. Also got Battle Chess for IBM PC DOS 2.0. This is an awesome 3d chess game from interplay. Includes both 5.25" and 3.5" disks. Both are for sale make offer.
Click to expand...

I just wanted to say that William is correct.. both are awesome! The book is so good, that as a kid, that book was at my home more than it was at the library ;) and when I found it again recently, I purchased that one, the original Basic Computer Games and Big Computer Games by the same author.

And Battle Chess{/} is just really cool even if you aren't any good at chess. Just watching the pieces finish one another off is really fun!
 
rebeltaz said:
And Battle Chess is just really cool even if you aren't any good at chess. Just watching the pieces finish one another off is really fun!
Click to expand...

Yeah, but, it wears a little thin pretty quickly and i don't think it would be in the top 10 best computer chess games. I have the game and I know.
 
They get old VERY fast! It is fun to find someone that never saw the game before. I don't think it played a very good game of chess, can't really remember.
 
wmmullaney said:
Hi, I recently aquired a copy of more BASIC computer games by David h. Ahl 1979. Also got Battle Chess for IBM PC DOS 2.0. This is an awesome 3d chess game from interplay. Includes both 5.25" and 3.5" disks. Both are for sale make offer.
Click to expand...

Ah the memories :) Battle chess really rocks. At least graphically, I have no clue how good the AI is. I was probably not even ten years old when I played it so it beat me :)

Original:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKcZwPb7C3k

Another version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_zl3rSGKY4

The towers are probably my favourites
 
battle chess

battle chess

I often make use of the ultimate BattleChess move, especially when I'm down to a few pieces; it's called the 'turn off' move.
patscc
 
I enjoyed it as a kid but also don't remember the greatness of the AI engine. I actually was considering trying to find whatever last version they made or a version for my phone when they recently had a few friendly chess competitions here at the office. I only got entered after jokingly talking trash in the break room about not wanting to embarrass any of them if I played (I've never been a huge chess player but for whatever reason got forced into a game with some chess club kid in high school which to my surprise I beat him but that's the last time I played until this year).

Interesting though, I don't remember battle chess being that old.
 
Druid6900 said:
Yeah, but, it wears a little thin pretty quickly and i don't think it would be in the top 10 best computer chess games. I have the game and I know.
Click to expand...

One project I hope to try someday is to set up two identical PCs and pit the following programs against each other:

  • Chessmaster
  • Chessmaster 3.0 (there was no 2.0 for PC)
  • Sargon III
  • Sargon IV
  • Battlechess
  • CHESS.COM (little 6K chess program that supports CGA)

Coming up with rules might be difficult, though. Some programs support time-based thinking (ie. 10 moves in one hour, etc.) while some others don't. And the ones that don't can take up to a day to make a move (annoying for me, but more than that, it's an unfair advantage).

Any other PC chess programs from the 1980s I may have forgotten?
 
Trixter said:
One project I hope to try someday is to set up two identical PCs and pit the following programs against each other:

  • Chessmaster
  • Chessmaster 3.0 (there was no 2.0 for PC)
  • Sargon III
  • Sargon IV
  • Battlechess
  • CHESS.COM (little 6K chess program that supports CGA)

Coming up with rules might be difficult, though. Some programs support time-based thinking (ie. 10 moves in one hour, etc.) while some others don't. And the ones that don't can take up to a day to make a move (annoying for me, but more than that, it's an unfair advantage).

Any other PC chess programs from the 1980s I may have forgotten?
Click to expand...

Another good CGA (even Hercules and Olivetti) compatible DOS-based Chess program is Psion Chess (freeware). It is actually very hard to beat the AI on most levels, and the engine it is relatively fast. It is 238Kb in size, but I guess it'll work in most IBM PC's and XT's with at least 256Kb of RAM.

For the speed's cause, you can actually force the AI to make a move at any time in it's process of figure out the best move to make. This will of course make the game easier and might be considered as cheating. Other things you can do to cheat is to ask for a hint or undo a move.

I strongly recomend it if you want a good chess program for your DOS-based computer.

*Addition*
You can play:
Player vs. Player
Player vs. Computer
Computer vs. Player
Computer vs. Computer

it also supports and maintain ALL the advanced chess rules, like 'En Passant' and 'Draw' conditions.
 
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pontus said:
Ah the memories :) Battle chess really rocks. At least graphically, I have no clue how good the AI is. I was probably not even ten years old when I played it so it beat me :)

Original:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKcZwPb7C3k

Another version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_zl3rSGKY4

The towers are probably my favourites
Click to expand...

We have in interview with Phil Adam, past president of Interplay during the Battle Chess days coming up in our Feb. podcast at http://www.retrogamingroundup.com. Make sure to give it a listen.
 
Battle Chess

Battle Chess

The Coolest Chess Game around at the time due to the Animations!
I remember playing this for hours.

The regular Battle Chess for the PC is on Ebay for only $1.50 Buy It Now and shipping is $3.75. (This is the cheapest one currently for sale)

Did anyone play Battle Chess II?
 
Never heard of Psion chess, thanks for the info! I'll add it to the cookoff (if I ever get around to doing it).

Sargon and Chessmaster also have options to force a move, btw.
 
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