At the 9th World Microcomputer Chess Championship, which was held at Portorose, Yugoslavia, from September 8th to 18th, 1988, MEPHISTO once again won the laurels for West Germany as it had done before in Glasgow (1984), Amsterdam (1985), Dallas (1986), Rome (1987) and Almeria (1988). MEPHISTO won all categories, finishing well ahead of its competitors. This long run of victories - unequaled in the annals of world microcomputer championships - is ample proof that Richard Lang, who is widely regarded as the best chess programmer in the world, has once again succeeded in substantially increasing the playing strength of his program, which he has been constantly revising and improving over the years.

Hardware:

The MEPHISTO world championship units are the first commercially available chess computers to have been fitted with 512 K Bytes of Random Access Memory (PORTOROSE 68000) and 1024 K Bytes (PORTOROSE 68020) respectively for working memory, which has permitted their computing capabilities to be increased dramatically in comparison with traditional computers.

Software:

The program has been improved in all areas:

Opening:

The opening library has been increased to about 10,000 variations with almost 85,000 half-moves, which makes the program even more attractive to play with.

Middle game:

A more active and vigorous playing style with even better piece coordination in conjunction with even faster and deeper selective search techniques to spot possibilities for attacks and combinations.

Endgame:

Improved handling of advanced and connected passed pawns as well as greater activity in the endgame. Enormous increase of computing speed due to the use of so-called “hash tables”.

Excerpts taken from the Hegener + Glaser Mephisto Portorose User Manual.

Picture shows Mephisto Portorose 68020 on the 16/32 Bit Display Module. The dot matrix display has 2 rows of 16 digits. Each digit comprises of a grid of 5 x 8 dots (40 dots in total) which are used to draw each letter or number.

The program was sold in three versions: Motorola 68000, 68020 and 68030 microprocessors. This version is the Motorola 68020 32 Bit version. The playing strength is approximately ELO 2300 USCF.

Mephisto Portorose 32 Bit chess game module playing inside a Mephisto Muenchen Magnet-Sensory Board.

MEPHISTO PORTOROSE 32 BIT  MODULAR BOARD COMPATIBILITY CHART:

Technical Specification

Mephisto Portorose 32 Bit (1989) Chess Game Module

1990 World Champ.

6 Button Controls

User Manual

Spacious Mind

Schachcomputer.Info

Active 2017

Tourn. 2015

2146

2118

T1

T2

T3

T4

T5

Final

-

-

-

-

-

-

MANUFACTURER

PROGRAMMER

Hegener + Glaser

Richard Lang

2400 German

1989

$2495.00

2127

Year:

MFR ELO:

Original Price:

Wiki ELO:

Model #:

-

My Serial #:

0790012

Processor OEM

Motorola

Processor:

68020

Speed:

Type:

32 Bit

12 MHz

ROM:

128 KB

RAM:

1024 KB

Battery Type:

Mains Only

Power Adapter:

Board Powered

Display:

Needs 16/32 Disp

Board Type:

Needs ext. Board

Overall Size:

Not Applicable

3.3/4x7.5/8x3/4

Options Select:

Button Select

Play Levels:

Infinite Amount

Opening Book:

10000 Variations

Take Back:

All Moves

Position Setup:

Available

Position Verify:

Available

Move Analysis:

Display Info:

Available

11 ply main var.

Solve Mate:

Mate in 16

Save Game:

Available

Ponder:

Available

Search Depth:

31 ply max.

Provide Hint:

Available

Teach Mode:

Not Available

Change Sides:

Available

Active Level:

TM Level:

TOURN 03

Infinite Level:

INFIN

NORML 04

Hardware Specification

Game Features

Matchplay & Test ELO Ratings

Computer Game Rating

Rating Test

Other Computer Chess Ratings

USCF

USCF

Spacious Mind

Human Rating

USCF

CCR 1995

CCNS 1995

Ply 1995

FIDE

USCF

2292

2299

2308

2169

2232

Top View of Mephisto Portorose 32 Bit Module inside Mephisto Muenchen Modular Chess Board

National Master Level Electronic Chess Module!

Board Size:

6 Key Game Module - 16 Bit Motorola 68,000 Processor

16/32 Bit Dot Matrix Display Module