Excalibur Model 311E Mentor (2000) Electronic Chess Computer

Mentor by Excalibur - picture taken from computer.

MAIN EXCALIBUR MENTOR MAIN GAME CHARACTERISTICS

SKILL LEVELS: Your MENTOR has a total of 128 level settings to choose from.

TAKE BACK A MOVE: The MENTOR offers the possibility to take back 25 half-moves to enable you to rectify your last move in reverse.

CHANGE OF COLOR: The COLOR key can be pressed at any time during a game and the color to move will be reversed. Any moves made prior to pressing this key will be erased and the game history will begin from this position.

REFEREE LEVEL SETTING: On this level the player can enter moves for Black and White. The computer will not calculate any moves but will check the legality of all moves entered. This level may be used to enter particular book openings or to allow 2 players to challenge each other.

VERIFYING A POSITION: Any time before entering your next move or after setting up a board position you can check the position of any of the pieces to see if the board position corresponds to the position stored in the computers memory.

SETTING UP A POSITION: This mode is designed to enable you to set up board positions to solve chess problems or to set handicaps by removing or entering a piece, as well as changing the positions of pieces.

MOVE SUGGESTION: The computer can suggest moves if you are not sure how to continue your game which is a great tutoring feature. When it is your turn to move press the HINT key and the computer will show the move it considers the best for the color to move. You can accept any suggested move or make a move of your own choice. If you don't like the first HINT suggested by the computer press the HINT key again and the computer may suggest another move. Pressing the HINT key whilst the computer is calculating its counter move will show you (by the rank and file LEDs and on the LCD display) the current best possible move it is considering. The best possible move will vary dependent on the level setting that you have set.

TRAINING FUNCTION: This function is to help the novice player. When it is your turn to move press TRAINING key and the blinking LEDs (the square position is also shown on display) will show the from and to squares of the first piece with a legal move. If you continue to press the TRAINING key the computer will show you show you the next possible move of that particular piece. The computer will terminate the TRAINING function once you have cycled through the last chess piece.

Excerpts taken from the EXCALIBUR MENTOR user manual.

NOTE

The EXCALIBUR MENTOR is the exact same computer as the NOVAG MENTOR 16 which came out in 1989. Between the years 1995 - 2000, Excalibur must have made some agreements with Novag to enable them to rename and repackage some of their previously released computers. Some of these were:

Excalibur Karpov 2294 = Novag Emerald Classic Plus
Excalibur Mentor = Novag Mentor 16
Excalibur Viper = Novag Amethyst
Excalibur Escort = Novag Opal

Some minor modification in level choices and other features might have been made but none of these features provide a noticeable difference in game strength.

Technical Specification

Excalibur Mentor (2000)

LCD Display

Computer Label

User Manual

Spacious Mind

Schachcomputer.Info

Active 2017

Tourn. 2015

1523

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T1

T2

T3

T4

T5

Final

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MANUFACTURER

PROGRAMMER

Excalibur Electronics

David Kittinger

1800 USCF

2000

$179,00

Not Available

Year:

MFR ELO:

Original Price:

Wiki ELO:

Model #:

311E

My Serial #:

Not Available

Processor OEM

Not Known

Processor:

Single Chip

Speed:

Type:

8 Bit

8 MHz

ROM:

16 KB

RAM:

256 Byte

Battery Type:

6 x AA

Power Adapter:

9V DC -/+

Display:

LCD P4 S7 + 16B

Board Type:

Press Sensory

Overall Size:

Board Size:

8x8 in

11.3/4x10.3/4x1

Options Select:

Button Select

Play Levels:

128

Opening Book:

8500 Half Moves

Take Back:

25 Half Moves

Position Setup:

Available

Position Verify:

Available

Move Analysis:

Display Info:

Available

Not Available

Solve Mate:

Mate in 6

Save Game:

Available

Ponder:

Not Available

Search Depth:

Not Known

Provide Hint:

Available

Teach Mode:

Available

Change Sides:

Available

Active Level:

TM Level:

WF6

Infinite Level:

BF5

WE7

Game Features

Matchplay & Test ELO Ratings

Computer Game Rating

Rating Test

Other Computer Chess Ratings

USCF

Spacious Mind

Human Rating

USCF

CCR

CCNS

Ply

FIDE

USCF

-

1656

1609

Class B Level Electronic Table Top Chess Computer!

Hardware Specification