mclure@SRI-UNIX@sri-unix (08/31/82)
Here's more information about the upcoming Fidelity Prestige
micro, the successor to Elite, from some private communication
with the program authors (Dan and Kathe Spracklen).
Will Prestige sacrifice material?
No. It will make pseudo-sacrifices which regain
the material within its ply-depth. It is also
possible for positional factors to reach the
value of a pawn, but not enough to prevent pawn-
grabbing and other obnoxious materialistic
behavior. Then too, in end games with unstoppable
passed pawns, the material value of the pawn is
altered significantly.
Does it have better endgame knowledge?
Yes. Especially King and Pawn endgames, but it is
still weakest in th endgame compared to its opening
and middle-game play.
Is Prestige a new program?
No. Prestige is an upgrade of the Elite. Principal
improvements include the endgame, pawn structure,
King-safety, and time control. The same playing
program will go into the Elite upgrade.
What will its rating be?
We took the Prestige, in preliminary form, to the
U.S. Open where it earned a provisional rating of
1875 after 12 games. We also found a few things that
we needed to change. Whether our improvements between
now and release date will pull it over the 1900 mark,
I can't say.
What additional ideas are brewing for the future?
The information you picked up about the sacrifices
sounds like someone's describing the research
work we've been doing around here. It's a major
focus, but no-where near product ready.
What does the Prestige offer besides the above?
It is in a totally new housing; a full-size, wood-
inlaid board with carved wood chess pieces. It has
a zillion new features like a printer option for
figurine algebraic notation and a lot of ways to
"see-inside" the search. We've really catered to
the user who wants to experiment with the program.
Level choices (15 in all) include fixed-depth
(iterative & non-iterative), fixed-time, user-
selectable and mate-finder. It is modular. Program
modules add-to or selectively replace parts of the
main program which resides in 20K ROM memory perm-
anently housed in the unit. The unit comes with one
module, an opening book containing 16,000 positions.
What about future upgrades for the Prestige?
Speed chess module
Threat Analyzer (sacrificial work described above)
Specialized opening modules which will include an
understanding of the opening covered.
Endgame module.
As a comparision test of Elite vs. Prestige, I asked them to compare
Elite's play in a past game with what Prestige would have done. Here
are the results.
White Black Black Different
Cracraft Elite Prestige
1. d4 d5 d5 (forced)
2. e4 de4 de4
3. Nc3 Nc6 Nf6 x
4. d5 Nb4 Ne5 x
5. f3 ef3 ef3
6. Nf3 Bg4 Nf6 x
7. a3 Na6 Na6
8. Be3 Qd6 Nb8 x
9. Be2 Bf3 Bf3
10. Bf3 Nh6 Nf6 x
11. o-o Nf5 Nf5
12. Nb5 Qd7 Qd7
13. Bg4 Qb5 Qb5
14. Bf5 Rd8 Qb2 x
15. Qf3 Qb2 g6 x
16. Bd3 Qf6 Qf6
17. Bb5 c6 c6
18. dc6 Nc7 Nc7
19. Qh5 Nb5 Nb5
20. Rf6 gf6 gf6
21. Qb5 Resigns Resigns
The Prestige's last deviation from Elite (15. ... g6) probably saves
immediate loss although White's attack is still strong. Overall, its
different moves seem stronger than Elite's.