Saitek Cosmos User Manual - page 5
5
ENGLISH
Pawn Promotions: When you promote a pawn, first make your
move as usual, pressing your pawn down on its from and to squares.
Next, press the Piece Symbol Key for your desired promotion piece (
%
,
$
,
#
, or
@
). The computer recognizes your new piece immediately, and
begins thinking about its next move. Remember to change your piece
on the board! When the computer promotes a pawn, the display
shows both the pawn and the promoted piece. Don’t forget to replace
the computer’s pawn with its new piece.
2.3 Illegal Moves
Your computer will never accept an illegal move! If you try to make
one, you’ll hear a low double beep, and the board lights and display will
simply continue to show the square the piece came from. Either move
that same piece to another square, or press the piece back down on
the original from square and move a different piece.
If you don’t make the computer’s move correctly, you’ll also get an
error beep. This means you are moving the wrong piece, or moving the
computer’s piece to the wrong square. If the computer wants to move
its pawn from C7 to C5, for example, and you press down on C7 and
then C6, the display shows
:C5
briefly, pointing out your error. The
display then returns to showing the move again (
C7-C5
), and the
computer expects you to press C5 to complete its move.
If you press down on a piece and the from square is displayed, but
you decide not to make that move, simply press down on that same
square again to cancel. Then make another move. If you change your
mind after entering your whole move, take the move back as described
in Section 1.4.
2.4 Check, Mate, and Draw
When a King is in check, the computer first displays its move as
usual. After the move is made,
CHECK
flashes in the display for a few
seconds, along with the checking move. The display then goes back to
showing the clock.
If the computer discovers a forced mate against its opponent, it first
displays its move as usual. After the move has been made on the
board, the computer flashes a mate announcement along with the
move for several seconds (e.g.,
=in 2
for a mate in two moves). The
display then goes back to showing the clock.
When a game ends in checkmate, the display flashes
MATE
(along
with the mating move) for a short time after the move is made. The
display then goes back to showing the clock.
The computer recognizes draws by stalemate, three-fold repetition,
and the 50-move rule and insufficient material. After a draw has oc-
curred, the display flashes
EnD
,
EnD:3
,
EnD:50
,or
EnD:In
,(along with the
drawing move) for a brief time after the move has been made. The
display then goes back to showing the clock.
2.5 Interrupting the Computer’s Search
Think the computer is taking too long to move? You can interrupt it
any time! Simply press ENTER while the computer is thinking, and it
will stop and play the best move it has found so far. This feature can be
handy on the higher levels, where the computer can take a long time to
move, and on the Infinite Level, where the computer thinks indefinitely
unless you stop it.
On the Mate Search Levels, pressing ENTER won’t force the com-
puter to make a move. Instead, the computer will sound an error beep
and display – – – – – to indicate that it was interrupted before it found a
mate. To continue play, switch to another level.
2.6 Changing Sides with the Computer
To change sides with the computer, simply press ENTER when it’s
your turn—and the computer will make the next move for your side.
Change sides as often as you wish!
Noted that if you press ENTER at a new game, computer will play
White from top (see also Section 5.1).
2.7 Built-In Openings
At the beginning of a game, the computer will often move instantly on
many levels. This is because it is playing from memory, using its own
built-in “book” of opening chess moves. This book contains thousands
of positions, including most major openings and many positions from
grandmaster play. If the current board position is in its book, the com-
puter plays a response to that position automatically, instead of having
to think about the move!
A special feature of this computer’s opening book is its ability to
handle
transpositions.
A transposition occurs when a position reached
by a certain set of moves can also be reached when those same moves
occur in a different order. The computer’s integrated Automatic Trans-
position Manager handles these cases with ease!
Also included is a unique user-selectable book feature, which lets