Saitek Capella User Manual - page 5
5
ENGLISH
found a mate. To continue your game, switch to another
playing level.
So please remember...
Press PLAY when the computer is thinking to inter-
rupt the thought process. Press PLAY when it is
your turn to play if you want to change sides (see
section 2.8)
4. ADVANCED FEATURES
What we have seen so far is enough to give you count-
less hours of pleasure with your chess computer. You can
play straight games against it, correct mistakes and adjust
the level of skill to match your own. But there are many
other things the computer can do that make it even more
fun to use. This chapter deals with each of them individu-
ally.
4.1 Non Auto
Normally, as soon as you have made a move on the
sensor board, the computer immediately begins to com-
pute its reply. But there are situations in which you just
want to enter moves. For instance you may want to try a
special opening against the computer, one it doesn’t play
of its own accord. Or you may want to force it to play a
certain continuation in order to understand a complicated
position.
In such cases just press NON AUTO. This puts the
computer into a special mode in which it will not compute
a reply, but only keep track of the moves you enter, mak-
ing sure that they are legal. To return to normal play press
NON AUTO a second time.
Note: While you are in NON AUTO mode the NON
AUTO light is on. Pressing NEW GAME always cancels
the function.
Playing through master games
One very interesting use of NON AUTO is to study
master games. You can play through the World
Championship games, or famous games you find in
chess books, or in fact your own games against
friends or the computer, in NON AUTO mode. When-
ever you reach an interesting position and want to
analyse it with the computer, press PLAY. It will
compute and execute the next move.
4.2 The computer as a referee
The NON AUTO mode has another important use.
When you play a game with a friend press NON AUTO
and then play the game on the sensor board. The com-
puter will act as a referee and advisor. It will protest if
anyone makes an illegal move, and if either side needs
help he can always press PLAY and get some advice
from the computer.
4.3 Information from the computer
Would you like to know what your electronic chess
partner is doing while it is computing a move? Well, your
Kasparov chess computer will gladly tell you, giving you a
wealth of information on its “thought process”. It will show
you which move it is presently considering and its evalua-
tion of the current position. This is not just of passing
interest - it can help you to learn more about the game.
Press INFO while the computer is thinking. It will show
you the best move it has found so far. Note that the INFO
light is turned on.
If you press INFO a second time (while the computer is
thinking) the lights on the left-hand side of the board will
show you what it thinks of the current position. The evalu-
ation is on a scale of 1 to 8. This is how to interpret the
display:
Light Meaning
8
White has a winning position
7
White has a clearly better position
6
White has an advantage
5
The position is balanced
4
The position is balanced
3
Black has an advantage
2
Black has a clearly better position
1
Black has a winning position
You can watch the evaluation change as the computer
looks more deeply into the position.
Note that the INFO display (best move or evaluation) is
retained throughout the game, in fact even when you start
a new game. You can switch it off by pressing INFO a
third time. This function is not available in Mate Seach
levels as computer use different search algorithm.
An experiment with INFO
Press NEW GAME and NON AUTO, and then enter
the following moves: 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 d7-d6
3. Bf1-c4 h7-h6 4. Nb1-c3 Bc8-g4. Now set the
computer to level B8 and press PLAY. Press INFO
and watch how the computer keeps changing its
mind until it finds a really good move (5.Nf3xe5!).
You should also press INFO again to see how the
evaluation changes. Experiment with the position to
find out why the white queen may not be captured
after 5.Nf3xe5. If you play5...Bg4xd1 for Black the
computer will immediately show you the reason!
4.4 Advice from the computer
During a game you may reach a position in which you
can’t think of a good move. Just press INFO. The com-
puter will suggest a move for you, using lights to indicate
that this is only a suggestion. You can accept its advice or
play any other move you like.
Use of INFO
While the computer is thinking: Press INFO for “best
move so far” . Press INFO again for evaluation.
Press INFO a third time to cancel display. When it is
your turn to move: Press INFO to get advice from
the computer.
4.5 Verifying the board position
It may sometimes happen that you have upset the
pieces on the board or for some other reason are not sure
that the position is correct. In such cases you can always
ask the computer to show you the proper location of each
piece.
This is very simple. Just press one of the piece keys.
The computer will use the board lights to show you where
that piece is located on the board. Press the same piece
key again to find further pieces of the same kind (an error
beep indicates that there are no more of the piece se-
lected). You can check other pieces by pressing the
appropriate piece keys, in any order you like. To change
colors press COLOR. Watch the WHITE/BLACK lights to