E-chess1

ABOUT RADIOSHACK E-CHESS MODEL 60-2845 ELECTRONIC TRAVEL CHESS COMPUTER

Your Radio Shack E-Chess computer is one of the most versatile chess computers available. Your computer can play chess at a relative strength of 1700.

Ron Nelson reported that in 1999 he spent 9 months in developing a new 4 Bit chess program which became the foundation for many future Excalibur models as well as its continued use by Excalibur's successor EB Electronics. The first 4 Bit Model 375 Excalibur LCD Chess was launched in the year 2000. This program can also be found inside many chess computer models sold by other companies such as Radio Shack.

This 4 Bit program seems to be per Nelson's comments an even further slimmed down version of the original Nelson H8 program, compressed into this much smaller hardware and trimmed with many of the features of the original stronger H8 program removed in order to squeeze a workable chess program into the lesser ram space available on the 4 Bit hardware. This included removal of many of the more sophisticated chess routines used in stronger chess programs such as Nelson's Attack Bit Map Tables, much smaller opening books, removal of any pondering routines and excess search routines.

Nelson commented on his great interest in developing a capable program suitable for any beginning or hobby chess player and thereby finding larger outlets of distribution for the Excalibur chess products. Radio Shack 2-in-1 Chess & Checkers is a very playable and capable chess program ideal for most players was one of the many creations that followed as a result of this nine month period of new program development in 1999.

Radio Shack 2-in-1 Chess & Checkers was sold to Radio Shack by Excalibur. Excalibur contracted the manufacturing to Cybertronics (Expert) in the Shenzen Province of China.

The chess program is Ron Nelson's Version 3.8 24K 4 Bit program which comprised of his 16K 4 Bit chess program plus 8K additional programming. Part of this additional 8K programming was to create a Universal I/O to allow easier adaptation to other chips used in other Excalibur chess computer models.

MAIN RADIOSHACK E-CHESS MODEL 60-2845 GAME CHARACTERISTICS

8 Teaching Modes — help you learn how to checkmate an opponent's king.
73 Chess Play Levels — let you match the level of difficulty to your skill level.
Opponent Selection — lets you play against the computer or another person, or have the computer play itself.
Chess Clocks — show the elapsed time for each move during a game or the total game time.
Liquid Crystal Display — shows current move, piece position and verification, level, position set up, and chess clock information.
34-Strategy Opening Book Library — contains most major opening strategies, so the computer can respond more rapidly during a game's opening moves. This speeds up play and helps you play more professionally.
Undo — lets you take back the previous move, to help you improve your game.
Rule Enforcement — the computer prevents illegal moves like a game referee, to help beginners learn the rules of chess.
Power Off Option — lets you turn off the computer without interrupting the game in progress, so you can continue playing later.
Help — shows you all legal moves you can make during a game.
Move Suggestion — lets you ask the computer to suggest your next move, teaching you the best response to an opponent's move.
Great Game Library — the computer contains 16 historic games in its memory, letting you practice your chess skills against the moves of the greatest players on earth.
Problem Setup — lets you set up special chess problems so you can practice solving problems published in newspapers, chess literature, or history books.
Contrast Adjustment — lets you adjust the display contrast to the desired level for easier viewing.

Excerpts taken from the RADIOSHACK E-CHESS user manual.

Technical Specification

RadioShack E-Chess (2001)

Control Buttons

Computer Label

User Manual

Spacious Mind

Schachcomputer.Info

Active 2017

Tourn. 2015

1367

-

T1

T2

T3

T4

T5

Final

-

MANUFACTURER

PROGRAMMER

RadioShack/Tandy Corporation

Ron Nelson

1700 USCF

2001

$49.00

Not Available

Year:

MFR ELO:

Original Price:

Wiki ELO:

Model #:

60-2845

My Serial #:

Not Available

Processor OEM

Samsung

Processor:

SAM47 S3C72P9

Speed:

Type:

4 Bit

1.5 MHz

ROM:

16 KB + 8 KB

RAM:

1056 x 4 Bit

Battery Type:

3 x AA

Power Adapter:

Not Available

Display:

LCD Dot Matrix

Board Type:

LCD Chess Board

Overall Size:

Board Size:

2x2 in

5.1/2x3.7/8x1 in

Options Select:

Button Select

Play Levels:

73

Opening Book:

34 Openings

Take Back:

26 Half Moves

Position Setup:

Available

Position Verify:

Available

Move Analysis:

Display Info:

Not Available

Solve Mate:

Mate in 8

Save Game:

Available

Ponder:

Not Available

Search Depth:

16 Ply Max.

Provide Hint:

Available

Teach Mode:

Available

Change Sides:

Available

Active Level:

TM Level:

72 (129 Seconds)

Infinite Level:

73

23 (31 Seconds)

Hardware Specification

Game Features

Matchplay & Test ELO Ratings

Computer Game Rating

Rating Test

Other Computer Chess Ratings

USCF

Spacious Mind

Human Rating

USCF

CCR

CCNS 2013

Ply

FIDE

USCF

-

1453

1537

Class C Level Electronic Travel Chess Computer!