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'''[[Main Page|Home]] * [[Engines]] * Excalibur Mirage'''
[[FILE:ExcaliburMirage.jpg|border|right|thumb|link=Excalibur Mirage#Video| Excalibur Mirage <ref>Capture from the [[#Video|Video]]</ref> ]]
'''Excalibur Mirage''', <br/>
a [[Robots|robot type]] [[Dedicated Chess Computers|dedicated chess computer]] by [[Excalibur Electronics]], released in 1996 <ref>[http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7591&start=8 Chess Products Ron Nelson designed/programmed] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], January 11, 2016</ref>.
The computer features a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X%E2%80%93Y_plotter X-Y plotter] type [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actuator actuator] with motor driven [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadscrew leadscrews] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solenoid solenoid] able to pick up and move the magnetic pieces,
a [[Sensory Board|sensory board]], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid-crystal_display LCD], and a control button panel. The program was [[Ron Nelson|Ron Nelson's]] initial chess program developed for Excalibur, and ran on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitachi Hitachi's] [[H8]] controller at 10 MHz with 48 kibi [[Memory#ROM|ROM]] and 2 kibi [[Memory#RAM|RAM]].
The development was supported by chess consultant and [[:Category:Opening Book Author|opening book author]] [[Larry Kaufman]] <ref>[http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=78 Excalibur Electronics] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 22, 2015</ref> <ref>[http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=112 Re: Ron Nelson] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 23, 2015</ref>.
=Failure Rates=
Quote by [[Ron Nelson]] <ref>[http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=108 Ron Nelson] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 23, 2015</ref>
But the Pop-Up Tent, Inc mechanical “engineer”, screwed up on the Mirage housing design and the main motor mounting was off axis and caused high failure rates.
<span id="AttackMaps"></span>
=Attack Maps=
Quote by [[Ron Nelson]] <ref>[http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=78 Excalibur Electronics] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 22, 2015</ref>
In 1981 at the [[ACM 1981|California ACM Computer Chess Tournament]], [[Kathe Spracklen|Kathy]] introduced me to their friend [[Ken Thompson]]. I asked him about his [[Belle]] hardware chess machine, and he was quick to explain how the Hardware [[Attack and Defend Maps|Attack Bitmaps]] worked. I realized that attack bitmap approach was now in a [[Chess Challenger]], but in software. I used the Belle Attack Map generation on my [[H8]] program.
Further Quote by [[Ron Nelson]] <ref>[http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=170 Re: Ron Nelson] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 29, 2015</ref>
But it was my watching the [[Chess Game|games]] and the [[Principal Variation|PRVs]] like you do, and we did at [[ACM North American Computer Chess Championship|ACM tournaments]] that started me asking questions of [[Dan Spracklen|Dan]]. Why can we not [[Move Generation|generate]] [[Check|checks]] in the [[Quiescence Search|quiescent search]]? He said because it would blow up the search and slow down. Ok, I said, but what if we only generated checks that didn't occur as often, like a knight check that [[Double Attack|forked]] a major piece. He said, ummm,,, that would not take much and the search would not blow up. So that is how we slowly started developing a [[Tactics|tactical]] quiescent search that had all of the things a strong chess player explores when thinking of a tactical position. But I would see that the PRV was missing these obvious strong player "tricks" and have Dan look to see if he could add them. Because of the attack map, all this type of information was easily divined. At the [[WMCCC 1988|Micro Tournament]] in Spain, it was music to my ears to have the Chess Master commentator, perhaps [[Michael Valvo|Mike Valvo]], say The [[Fidelity]] unit was playing moves it had never before been capable of playing. Just like the Masters we played to get the certified rating, who were amazed.
I used this same type of tactical threat generation on the H8 machine, since I had attack maps with the needed information.
=See also=
* [[Alexandra The Great]]
* [[Excalibur Grandmaster]]
* [[Excalibur Igor]]
* [[Ivan The Terrible]]
* [[Ivan II The Conqueror]]
* [[Milton Bradley Phantom]]
* [[Mirage]]
=Manual=
* [https://www.manualslib.com/products/Excalibur-Mirage-3749788.html Excalibur Mirage User Manual | ManualsLib]
=Forum Posts=
* [http://www.talkchess.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?t=12970 Playing Ron Nelson Programs, Today] by [[Fernando Villegas]], [[CCC]], April 08, 2007
* [http://www.talkchess.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=48691 Help with repair of Excalibur Mirage] by jcgdijkstra, [[CCC]], July 19, 2013
* [http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=68 Re: Ron Nelson Ever Copied, Used , Cloned the Spracklen?] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 21, 2015
: [http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=78 Excalibur Electronics] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 22, 2015
: [http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=82 Excalibur Electronics] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 22, 2015
: [http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=105 Ron Nelson] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 23, 2015 » [[Excalibur Electronics|Excalibur]]
: [http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=108 Ron Nelson] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 23, 2015 » [[Fidelity Electronics]], [[Sidney Samole]]
: [http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=122 Re: Ron Nelson] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 24, 2015 » [[Excalibur Mirage]], [[Eric White]]
: [http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=170 Re: Ron Nelson] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 29, 2015
* [http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7591 Excalibur Chess Products Ron Nelson designed/programmed] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], January 05, 2016
: [http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7591&start=8 Chess Products Ron Nelson designed/programmed] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], January 11, 2016
=External Links=
==Chess Computer==
* [http://www.ismenio.com/chess_excalibur_mirage.html Excalibur Mirage] by [[Ismenio Sousa]]
* [http://www.chesscomputeruk.com/html/excalibur_mirage_marble.html Excalibur Mirage Marble] by [[Mike Watters]]
* [https://sites.google.com/site/proyectosdeberger/reparaciones/ajedrez/excalibur_mirage Excalibur Mirage - Los Proyectos de Berger - DIY]
* [https://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/index.php/Excalibur_Mirage Excalibur Mirage] - [https://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/index.php?title=Hauptseite_En Schachcomputer.info Wiki] (German)
* [http://www.spacious-mind.com/html/excalibur.html Excalibur Electronic Chess Computer Collection], [[The Spacious Mind]]
* <span id="Video"></span>Excalibur Mirage - Testing after repair, November 18, 2017, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube YouTube] Video
: {{#evu:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAKF_K8jDf0|alignment=left|valignment=top}}
==Misc==
* [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Excalibur Excalibur - Wiktionary]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excalibur Excalibur from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mirage mirage - Wiktionary]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirage Mirage from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirage_(disambiguation) Mirage (disambiguation) from Wikipedia]
=References=
<references />
'''[[Engines|Up one level]]'''
[[Category:H8]]
[[Category:Commercial]]
[[Category:Dedicated]]
[[Category:Robot]]
[[Category:Quotes]]
[[Category:Arthurian Legend]]
[[Category:Videos]]
[[FILE:ExcaliburMirage.jpg|border|right|thumb|link=Excalibur Mirage#Video| Excalibur Mirage <ref>Capture from the [[#Video|Video]]</ref> ]]
'''Excalibur Mirage''', <br/>
a [[Robots|robot type]] [[Dedicated Chess Computers|dedicated chess computer]] by [[Excalibur Electronics]], released in 1996 <ref>[http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7591&start=8 Chess Products Ron Nelson designed/programmed] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], January 11, 2016</ref>.
The computer features a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X%E2%80%93Y_plotter X-Y plotter] type [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actuator actuator] with motor driven [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadscrew leadscrews] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solenoid solenoid] able to pick up and move the magnetic pieces,
a [[Sensory Board|sensory board]], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid-crystal_display LCD], and a control button panel. The program was [[Ron Nelson|Ron Nelson's]] initial chess program developed for Excalibur, and ran on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitachi Hitachi's] [[H8]] controller at 10 MHz with 48 kibi [[Memory#ROM|ROM]] and 2 kibi [[Memory#RAM|RAM]].
The development was supported by chess consultant and [[:Category:Opening Book Author|opening book author]] [[Larry Kaufman]] <ref>[http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=78 Excalibur Electronics] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 22, 2015</ref> <ref>[http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=112 Re: Ron Nelson] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 23, 2015</ref>.
=Failure Rates=
Quote by [[Ron Nelson]] <ref>[http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=108 Ron Nelson] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 23, 2015</ref>
But the Pop-Up Tent, Inc mechanical “engineer”, screwed up on the Mirage housing design and the main motor mounting was off axis and caused high failure rates.
<span id="AttackMaps"></span>
=Attack Maps=
Quote by [[Ron Nelson]] <ref>[http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=78 Excalibur Electronics] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 22, 2015</ref>
In 1981 at the [[ACM 1981|California ACM Computer Chess Tournament]], [[Kathe Spracklen|Kathy]] introduced me to their friend [[Ken Thompson]]. I asked him about his [[Belle]] hardware chess machine, and he was quick to explain how the Hardware [[Attack and Defend Maps|Attack Bitmaps]] worked. I realized that attack bitmap approach was now in a [[Chess Challenger]], but in software. I used the Belle Attack Map generation on my [[H8]] program.
Further Quote by [[Ron Nelson]] <ref>[http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=170 Re: Ron Nelson] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 29, 2015</ref>
But it was my watching the [[Chess Game|games]] and the [[Principal Variation|PRVs]] like you do, and we did at [[ACM North American Computer Chess Championship|ACM tournaments]] that started me asking questions of [[Dan Spracklen|Dan]]. Why can we not [[Move Generation|generate]] [[Check|checks]] in the [[Quiescence Search|quiescent search]]? He said because it would blow up the search and slow down. Ok, I said, but what if we only generated checks that didn't occur as often, like a knight check that [[Double Attack|forked]] a major piece. He said, ummm,,, that would not take much and the search would not blow up. So that is how we slowly started developing a [[Tactics|tactical]] quiescent search that had all of the things a strong chess player explores when thinking of a tactical position. But I would see that the PRV was missing these obvious strong player "tricks" and have Dan look to see if he could add them. Because of the attack map, all this type of information was easily divined. At the [[WMCCC 1988|Micro Tournament]] in Spain, it was music to my ears to have the Chess Master commentator, perhaps [[Michael Valvo|Mike Valvo]], say The [[Fidelity]] unit was playing moves it had never before been capable of playing. Just like the Masters we played to get the certified rating, who were amazed.
I used this same type of tactical threat generation on the H8 machine, since I had attack maps with the needed information.
=See also=
* [[Alexandra The Great]]
* [[Excalibur Grandmaster]]
* [[Excalibur Igor]]
* [[Ivan The Terrible]]
* [[Ivan II The Conqueror]]
* [[Milton Bradley Phantom]]
* [[Mirage]]
=Manual=
* [https://www.manualslib.com/products/Excalibur-Mirage-3749788.html Excalibur Mirage User Manual | ManualsLib]
=Forum Posts=
* [http://www.talkchess.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?t=12970 Playing Ron Nelson Programs, Today] by [[Fernando Villegas]], [[CCC]], April 08, 2007
* [http://www.talkchess.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=48691 Help with repair of Excalibur Mirage] by jcgdijkstra, [[CCC]], July 19, 2013
* [http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=68 Re: Ron Nelson Ever Copied, Used , Cloned the Spracklen?] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 21, 2015
: [http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=78 Excalibur Electronics] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 22, 2015
: [http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=82 Excalibur Electronics] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 22, 2015
: [http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=105 Ron Nelson] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 23, 2015 » [[Excalibur Electronics|Excalibur]]
: [http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=108 Ron Nelson] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 23, 2015 » [[Fidelity Electronics]], [[Sidney Samole]]
: [http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=122 Re: Ron Nelson] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 24, 2015 » [[Excalibur Mirage]], [[Eric White]]
: [http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6768&start=170 Re: Ron Nelson] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], December 29, 2015
* [http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7591 Excalibur Chess Products Ron Nelson designed/programmed] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], January 05, 2016
: [http://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7591&start=8 Chess Products Ron Nelson designed/programmed] by [[Ron Nelson|ChessChallenger]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], January 11, 2016
=External Links=
==Chess Computer==
* [http://www.ismenio.com/chess_excalibur_mirage.html Excalibur Mirage] by [[Ismenio Sousa]]
* [http://www.chesscomputeruk.com/html/excalibur_mirage_marble.html Excalibur Mirage Marble] by [[Mike Watters]]
* [https://sites.google.com/site/proyectosdeberger/reparaciones/ajedrez/excalibur_mirage Excalibur Mirage - Los Proyectos de Berger - DIY]
* [https://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/index.php/Excalibur_Mirage Excalibur Mirage] - [https://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/index.php?title=Hauptseite_En Schachcomputer.info Wiki] (German)
* [http://www.spacious-mind.com/html/excalibur.html Excalibur Electronic Chess Computer Collection], [[The Spacious Mind]]
* <span id="Video"></span>Excalibur Mirage - Testing after repair, November 18, 2017, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube YouTube] Video
: {{#evu:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAKF_K8jDf0|alignment=left|valignment=top}}
==Misc==
* [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Excalibur Excalibur - Wiktionary]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excalibur Excalibur from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mirage mirage - Wiktionary]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirage Mirage from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirage_(disambiguation) Mirage (disambiguation) from Wikipedia]
=References=
<references />
'''[[Engines|Up one level]]'''
[[Category:H8]]
[[Category:Commercial]]
[[Category:Dedicated]]
[[Category:Robot]]
[[Category:Quotes]]
[[Category:Arthurian Legend]]
[[Category:Videos]]
