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King King Ar Ar thur thur www.ExcaliburElectronics.com Model No. 915-3 E E X X C C A A L L I I B B U U R R E E L L E E C C T T R R O O N N I I C C S S OPERATING MANUAL English p. 2

King King ArArthurthur - The Chess Piece · King King ArArthurthur ... 6.4 En passant—taking a pawn in passing CHAPTER 7: TOOHARD? TOO EASY? ... power supply—for example, by

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King King ArArthurthur

www.ExcaliburElectronics.com Model No. 915-3

EEXXCCAALLIIBBUURREELLEECCTTRROONNIICCSS

OPERATING MANUAL English p. 2

ENGLISH

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C ongratulations! You now own King Arthur, not just a terrificchess player, but your own personal chess trainer. You’ll beamazed at his strong, insightful play and delighted by his

many unique features, those that make playing chess and improvingfun! One of these innovative features is the LCD that automaticallyshows you the current board position, and lots of other information,at all times!

Take a moment to notice that every square on King Arthur’s chessboard has a unique “address,” a letter and number that corresponds tothe file and rank of the square. This is the same system used by chessmasters the world over. King Arthur uses these square designations tocommunicate with you about the game. Of course, he shows you themoves on his unique display as well.

The legendary King Arthur brandished a magic sword,Excalibur, from which we take our company name. With

this unique weapon in his hands, he could not be vanquished.Although Excalibur Electronics can’t claim the magi-

cal secrets of Merlin, King Arthur’s courtwizard, sometimes our patented technologymay make it seem as if we could.

King Arthur chess is another unmatchedinnovation of Excalibur Electronics.

We make you think.

KING ARTHUR TABLE OF CONTENTSCHAPTER 1: QUICK START & THE BASICS. . . . . . . . . . page 6

1.1 Installing the batteries1.2 Finding the pieces1.3 Setting up the pieces1.4 Making your move1.5 Moving King Arthur’s piece as displayed

—you’ve got a game going!1.6 Putting a game “on hold”

CHAPTER 2: KEY FUNCTIONS & GENERAL LAYOUT . . page 10

CHAPTER 3: SPECIAL KEYS AND FEATURES . . . . . . . page 123.1 Starting a new game 3.2 Playing the Black pieces from the start of a game3.3 Switching sides during a game3.4 Adjusting the display contrast3.5 Playing without the physical pieces3.6 Change your mind? Take your move back!3.7 Changing levels of play3.8 Display options3.9 Forcing King Arthur to move immediately 3.10 Getting hints3.11 Displaying threats 3.12 Peeking into King Arthur’s brain on higher levels3.13 Replaying a variation3.14 Practicing blindfold chess3.15 Turning off the sound3.16 King Arthur versus King Arthur—“automatic pilot”3.17 Human versus Human3.18 Automatic shut-off3.19 Flip Option: Playing Black from the LCD-Side

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KING ARTHUR TABLE OF CONTENTS, CONTINUEDCHAPTER 4: GETTING A RATING AT THE ROUND TABLE . . . . page 18

4.1 Viewing your rating4.2 Submitting a game for rating

CHAPTER 5: SPECIAL MESSAGES FROM CAMELOT . . . .page 19 5.1 Check5.2 Ratable game5.3 Two-player mode5.4 Threat5.5 Draw5.6 Stalemate5.7 Forced checkmates5.8 Other checkmates

CHAPTER 6: SOME SPECIAL CHESS MOVES . . . . . . . . . . page 21 6.1 Capturing6.2 Castling6.3 Promoting pawns6.4 En passant—taking a pawn in passing

CHAPTER 7: TOO HARD? TOO EASY? ALL ABOUT LEVELS page 23 7.1 Beginner Levels 7.2 Fixed-ply level 7.3 Timed levels 7.4 Infinite search7.5 Fast level option7.6 Random level option

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CHAPTER 8: TEACHING AND TRAINING FEATURES . . . page 25 8.1 Piece training positions

The mini-gamesThe mating-practice positions

8.2 Mate-problem training8.3 Opening book trainer: learning book openings

the easy way, with King Arthur’s help!8.4 Multi-move: setting up your own opening positions8.5 Great games

CHAPTER 9: SETTING UP SPECIAL POSITIONS . . . . . . . page 34 9.1 Removing a piece9.2 Changing the color of a piece9.3 Adding a piece or changing the type of piece9.4 Setting up special positions & problems

CHAPTER 10: IMPORTANT TECHNICAL DETAILS . . . . . .page 3710.1 The ACL button10.2 Special care 10.3 Battery information10.4 Warranty information

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1.2 Finding the pieces

The larger compartment lid onthe left conveniently stores yourchess pieces when they’re not inuse. Although one of KingArthur’s breakthrough featurespermits you to play withoutusing these pieces, let’s start byusing them. Open the larger lidin the same method you used inStep 1. Remove the pieces andset them to the side. Thenreplace the lid. Now you canturn King Arthur right side up,with the Excalibur Knight on thebottom left.

1.3 Setting up the pieces

Whichever side (color) youplay in chess, a light-coloredsquare must always be locatedon your right—chess players say“Light on right.” (You’ll havefun noticing television and mag-azine ads, movies and even

some products that show anignorance of this basic rule!)You’ll see that King Arthur’sboard is of course designed cor-rectly.

Place the chess pieces in theirinitial starting position, asshown in the LCD display at thebottom of the chessboard,, withthe White pieces closest to you.(If you choose to play Black, goto the Section 3.2 “Playing theBlack pieces from the start ofthe game.)

1.4 Making your move

Besides deciding on a goodmove, you have to move thepiece in a way that King Arthurwill recognize what’s beenplayed. He will automaticallysense your move if you follow asimple routine. Think of com-municating your move as a two-step process—registering theFROM square and then register-ing the TO square.

Be sure to read this section. Itcontains information not dupli-cated in the rest of this manual.Chapter 1 will show you thebasics of getting started. Ifyou’re impatient for the fun tobegin, you’ll be able to play agame of chess with King Arthurafter only the few minutes read-ing this short chapter will take.But we recommend that yousoon go on to read the entireoperating manual, so that you’llget the full benefit of KingArthur’s amazing features.

1.1 Installing the batteries

Turn King Arthur over care-fully with his chessboard face-down, so that the small compart-ment lid is at the top right. Thislid covers the battery compart-ment. Place your thumb below

the pressure-catch at the bottomof the lid. Push up and then pullout. The lid will detach. Insertthree (3) fresh, alkaline AA bat-teries in the battery holder. Notethe arrangement of the batteriescalled for by the diagram in theholder. Make sure that the posi-tive tip of each battery matchesup with the + sign in the batterycompartment so that polaritywill be correct. When the batter-ies are properly installed, you’llhear a series of tones as KingArthur automatically turns him-self on and lets you know he’sready for action. Replace thebattery compartment panel byfirst fitting the two small tabs atthe top of the lid into their recep-tacles. Then place your thumbunder the pressure catch, push-ing up and in until the lid snapsinto place. Leave King Arthurface down.

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KING ARTHURCHAPTER 1:QUICK START & BASICS

King Arthur “times out” after not being used for a few minutes.If this happens, just press the ON/CLEAR button

on the bottom row of keys.

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need to move the piece on theboard for him. Follow the sametwo-step procedure you didwhile registering your ownmove—gently pushing on theTO and FROM squares and lis-tening for the confirming tones.You’re already playing a game!Enjoy the contest.

1.6 Putting a game “on hold”

Want to stop for a phone call,or even a weekend trip? Anytime it’s your move and you wishto stop playing for a while, justpress the OFF/SAVE key. KingArthur will switch off and gointo a sleep mode. He willremember the last position,including the elapsed time, as

long as you do not interrupt thepower supply—for example, byremoving the batteries. Toresume play, just press theON/CLEAR key. A word ofwarning—your memory of thegame in progress may get a bitvague, but King Arthur willremember the game perfectly! Ifyou’ve put the pieces safelyaway in their compartment dur-ing your break, or they may havebeen disturbed, just use the dis-play to help you correctly set thepieces back up. If you do want toclear the current game at anytime, just press NEW GAME.

Lift the piece or pawn youwant to move. (Moving thepawn in front of either your kingor queen ahead two squares for-ward is a great first move forWhite.) Press the edge of thepiece’s base down gently on thecenter of its FROM square.You’ll hear a beep, and KingArthur will display the FROMsquare—for example “E2.”Then press the edge of the piecedown gently on the square youwant to move it to—for exam-ple, “E4.” King Arthur will beepagain, confirming that he has

registered your move. Place thepiece gently on its new square.(Some players like to push thesquares with their forefingerwhile holding the piece in therest of the fingers of the samehand.)

1.5 Moving King Arthur’spiece-you’ve got a gamegoing!

You’ll notice that King Arthuralmost immediately displays hisresponse to your move. KingArthur decides on his ownmove, of course, and lets youknow what it is by displaying itat the top of the LCD board. For

example, if you play 1. E2-E4,he may respond E7-E5. But you

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If you make an illegal move, King Arthur will sound a lowertone and display the TO and FROM squares necessary to move the piece back to its previous square. When this happens, you

must follow the standard procedure of pushing on the FROM and TO squares to get the piece back in its previous position. Then make

a legal move.

To register your move properly, pressthe side of the piece’s base gentlydown on the center of the FROMsquare, and then on the center of theTO square.

In between moves, King Arthur will display the time taken foreach move and the number of the move.

King Arthur’s display will always show the correct position as King Arthur “sees” it.

It’s a good idea occasionally to compare the position in his “head” to the one

on the board.

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MOVE KeySwitch sides or makeKing Arthur moveimmediately.

Physical chess pieces

SETUP KeyAdd or remove pieces and enter special positions.

HINT KeyObtain a hint.

AUTO KeyWatch King Arthurplay himself.

LEVEL KeyChange skill levels.

NEW GAME KeyStart a new game.

TAKEBACK KeyTake back a mistake.

MULTI-MOVE KeyMake moves for both sidesto set up favorite openings.

LCD Board DisplayShows piece positions,

board and messages.

ON/CLEAR KEY Turn King Arthur

on or clear an entry.

OPTION KeySelect many features.

RATING KeyCheck your rating.

CONTRAST KeyAdjust display

contrast.

WIN KeyRate a win.

Sensory BoardRecognizes your moves.

THREAT KeySee the threat!

MODE KeyAccess training features.

OFF/SAVE KeyPut King Arthur in sleepmode & save your game.

KING ARTHURCHAPTER 2:KEY FUNCTIONS& GENERAL LAYOUT

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3.1 Starting a new gameIf you want to start a new

game, simply push the NEWGAME button when it’s notKing Arthur’s move. KingArthur will sound the “charge”for a new game.

3.2 Playing the Blackpieces from the start ofa game

Since White always movesfirst, you’ll want to practiceplaying Black as well as White.To play the Black pieces, start anew game by pushing the NEWGAME button. Then press theMOVE button. King Arthur willnow automatically make thefirst move. You’ll see that theLCD shows Black at the bot-tom. If you’re using the playingboard with the three dimension-al pieces, set the Black pieces

up at your end—close to theLCD.

Of course, the labels on thesquares can’t change. So whenplaying White, if King Arthurwants to play what normallywould be “E2-E4” for White,he’ll do this by communicating“E7-E5,” which accurately cor-responds to your board.

Make all moves and chooseall options in the normal fash-ion.

3.3 Switching sides during a game

After the first move, whenev-er it’s your move you can switchsides, taking over King Arthur’sgame and color and giving himyours, by pushing the MOVEbutton. The pieces will remainas they are, meaning you will beplaying from the top of the

board. You can switch sidesback and forth as often as youlike.

3.4 Adjusting the display contrast

To compensate for differencesin lighting and battery strength,press the CONTRAST keyrepeatedly to adjust the displaycontrast to one of sixteen set-tings.

3.5 Playing without thephysical pieces

You can play without thethree-dimensional pieces, view-ing only the display. Press theOPTION key until the displayshows “TOUCH.” Then pressthe > key. “ON” will be dis-played. Now when you play, thedisplay will show you KingArthur’s move, signaling the TOand FROM squares severaltimes to make it clear, but youwill not have to register hismove. In this mode, the largeplaying board acts as a touchscreen so that you can inputyour moves by pressing TO and

FROM squares with your fin-ger.

3.6 Change your mind?Take your move back!

If you’ve made a move andthen changed your mind, simplypress the TAKE BACK key. Infact, by repeatedly pressing theTAKE BACK key, you can takeback a whole series of moves.For each move you wish to takeback, the display will show theTO and FROM squares neces-sary to move the piece back toits previous square. You mustfollow the standard procedureof pushing on each of thesesquares (when a move was acapture, King Arthur will thensignal the capture square, andthe LCD will display the properpiece to restore) to get eachpiece back in its previous posi-tion.

If you change your mind backto the original move, you canpress the MOVE key to replaythe taken-back move or moves.

KING ARTHURCHAPTER 3:SPECIAL KEYS & FEATURES

To show all legal moves for aselected piece, press theOPTION button until HELP isdisplayed. Press the MOVE >key to turn on the option. Thedisplay will show HELP. ExitOPTION mode by pressingON/CLEAR.

3.11 Displaying threatsKing Arthur will tell you when

there is a serious threat by dis-playing the “!” sign. (See alsoSection 5.4.) When this hap-pens, you can push the THREATkey, and King Arthur will flashthe threatening move.

3.12 Peeking into KingArthur’s brain on higherlevels

At levels 6 and above, you canactually see what King Arthur is“thinking.” Press OPTION until“InFO” is displayed. Turn thisoption on by pressing > or <.Exit OPTION mode by pressingON/CLEAR.

When turned on, this optionwill display the score, depth ofsearch (number of moves KingArthur is “thinking ahead”), best

move he is considering, andclock times. These will be dis-played while the computer isthinking at its higher levels.

3.13 Replaying a variation

This feature is used best whenplaying without the physicalpieces (See 3.5, above.) Whenyou want to take back a wholeseries of moves, press AUTOthen TAKEBACK. King Arthurwill take back all moves in hismemory. If you change yourmind, you can replay the entirestring of moves by immediatelypressing MOVE. (When“rPLAY” is no longer shown onthe display, the last move of thevariation has been reached.)

3.14 Practicing blindfold chess

Very good players sometimesamaze people by playing with-out looking at the pieces andboard. King Arthur gives you achance to test yourself at thisfeat. To use this option, clear thelarge playing board of pieces.

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3.7 Changing levels of play

You can change levels bypressing the LEVEL key toincrease the level one at a time.Pressing the > key increases thelevel by 10. Pressing the < keydecreases the level by 10. (Seechapter 7 for a full explanationof levels.)

3.8 Display optionsYou have quite a choice of

information that King Arthurwill display for you. All of theseoptions are made available bypressing the OPTION key untilthey are displayed. Then press >to turn these options on or off.Press the CLEAR key to exitOPTION.

Displaying total game time used:Your King Arthur normally

shows the time taken for eachmove. With the “TotAL” option,you can instead choose to havethe total game time displayed.

Displaying the position score:Your display normally shows

the number of the current move.If instead you want to displaythe piece-score of your currentposition to see quickly who’sahead in material, turn on the“SCORE” option. The scoreoption totals the following val-ues: Pawns—1, Knights—3,Bishops—3, Rooks—5, andQueen—9.

3.9 Forcing King Arthurto move immediately

To interrupt King Arthurwhile he’s thinking and makehim move immediately, press theMOVE key. King Arthur willmake the best move he’s foundso far. This feature can be veryuseful on higher levels, whenKing Arthur may take a whilethinking about his moves.

3.3 Getting HintsIf you don’t know which move

to make, or you simply want tosee what King Arthur would rec-ommend, press HINT, and thedisplay will show you the moveKing Arthur believes to be best.

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your mind, you can press AUTOagain, and you will see the dis-play read “1PLAYr.”) PressMOVE. King Arthur will playhimself. King Arthur willbecome fully automatic, notneeding any move-registrationhelp from you. You can see hismoves on the display. You canstop auto play by pressing theMOVE key again. All otheroptions remain available to you.

3.17 Human versus human

You can play another humanusing King Arthur’s board. He’llmonitor the game for you, mak-ing sure all moves are legal, andwill provide hints and elapsedtime. Access these in the normalways.

To play a friend in this man-ner, simply press MULTI-MOVE. Notice that the displayreads “2PLAYr.” This indicatesthat two humans will be playing.You and your friend can beginplay. (If you change your mind,you can press MULTI-MOVEagain, and you will see the dis-play read “1PLAYr.”)

3.18 Automatic shut-off

To save battery power, KingArthur will turn himself offwhen no key has been pressedfor a while. You can decrease orincrease the timing of this auto-matic shut-off or turn it off alto-gether. Press OPTION until“SLEEP” is displayed. Thenpress the > key to select a delayfrom 1 (shortest) to 14 (longest).Or select 0 to eliminate the auto-matic shut-off.

3.19 Flip option:Playing Black from theLCD Side of the Board

Pressing the OPTION keyrepeatedly will display all selec-table options. To play Blackfrom the LCD-side of the board,press OPTION until "FLIP" isdisplayed. Use this option to flipthe chessboard around.

Chess players who play inofficial tournaments receive arating. Similarly, King Arthurwill rate your play.

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Press the BOARD key. Thepieces on the LCD chessboardwill disappear—you are now“blindfolded”! Play chess bypicturing in your head where thepieces are. Enter your moves asusual, and register King Arthur’smoves normally.

When your memory gets hazy,you can push BOARD to con-firm the position. You can thenplay the game out normally orpress BOARD again to continueplaying “blindfold.” This exer-cise may help you learn to visu-alize better when you play“without a blindfold.”

Note: Do not turn on theTOUCH option (see 3.5 above)while trying blindfold chess,since you must see KingArthur’s move coordinates onthe display.

3.15 Turning off the sound

You may now select betweenthree styles of sound effects forKing Arthur, Do so by pressingOPTION until “SOUND” is dis-played. Select between “2” - All

sound on, “1” - No sound on, or“0” - No sound except for errorbuzzes. Turn this option off bypressing >. Exit OPTION modeby pressing ON/CLEAR.

Even when the sound option isturned off, King Arthur will con-tinue to announce that he hasfound a move by making his nor-mal sound. He will also sound analarm when an illegal move ismade, and make the “in check”warning sound.

3.16 King Arthur versus King Arthur—“automatic pilot”

You can choose to have King

Arthur play both sides of the

game. (This feature can be used

from the beginning of the game

or at any point in a game.) The

feature can also be used after

setting up a special position (see

Chapter 10). To choose this feature, press

the AUTO key. You’ll notice thatthe display reads “0PLAYr.”This indicates that no humanswill be playing. (If you change

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4.1 Viewing your rating

Press the RATING key to viewyour current rating. But under-stand that your rating won’tchange until you “submit”games to the Round Table forrating.

4.2 Submitting a game for rating

Like any official tournamentgame, to be eligible for rating,your game must be played withno HINTS or TAKE-BACKS.When you finish such a game,King Arthur will confirm that itis eligible for rating by display-ing a “0” symbol.

To enter a game for rating,immediately after finishing it,

simply press the RATING keyand then press the appropriatekey: WIN, DRAW, or LOSS,depending on your result in thegame. That’s all there is to it.King Arthur will automaticallyadjust your rating. However,when you checkmate KingArthur, he will display “LOSE.”Before updating your rating, youmust press the NEW GAME keyand then the RATING key toregister your win. The “0” sym-bol will remain on, even whenNEW GAME is pressed.

Arthur weighs your first threerated games the most heavily inorder to establish a rough esti-mate of your strength quickly.Winning your first rated gameincreases your rating by 300points. Winning your second

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KING ARTHURCHAPTER 4:GETTING A RATING ATTHE ROUND TABLE

game sends your rating up 200points. You get 100 points forwinning your third rated game.After that, rating adjustmentsare more modest.

On any given level, you can-not improve your rating by morethan 400 points. When younotice that your rating does notgo up when you submit a game

that you’ve won, increase yourplaying level by 10 when youplay rated games. King Arthuris telling you that you’veimproved and you need to moveup to a tougher level of play!

King Arthur will send youhelpful messages while youplay.

KING ARTHURCHAPTER 5:

SPECIAL MESSAGESFROM CAMELOT

General-informationmessages5.1 Check

When you are in check, KingArthur will alert you by display-ing a “+” sign.

5.2 Ratable GameWhen a game is ratable (see

Chapter 4), King Arthur willdisplay a “0.”

5.3 Two-player modeTo remind you when you are

in two-player (human versushuman) mode (see 3.17, above),“=” will be displayed.

5.4 ThreatKing Arthur will tell you

when there is a serious threat bydisplaying the “!” sign. (Seealso Section 3.11.) When this

It’s useful to focus on fourchess moves—capturing, cast-ling, promoting pawns, and enpassant—to make sure youunderstand how to operate yourKing Arthur when employingthese moves.

6.1 CapturingTo win at chess, you’ve got to

know how to take your oppo-nent’s men! Capturing men whileplaying your King Arthur is real-ly the same process as moving,except, of course, the capturedpiece has to be removed. Tocapture one of King Arthur’spieces, simply lift your piece offits FROM square, pressing thesquare to properly register themove. Then lift the piece beingcaptured off the TO square, andset your piece down on the TOsquare, pressing the square. Set

the captured piece aside, off theboard.

When King Arthur displayshis move and there is one ofyour pieces on his TO square, heknows he’s capturing that piece.Follow the normal procedure:Lift his piece off the FROMsquare, pressing the square. Liftyour piece from King Arthur’sTO square, and then set KingArthur’s piece down on its TOsquare, pressing the square. Setthe captured piece off the board.

6.2 CastlingCastling is a special and

important move in chess. Itwhisks the king away to safetywhile getting the rook into thegame. Castling while playingKing Arthur is just like movingany other piece, except that incastling, you move two pieces,

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happens, you can push theTHREAT key, and King Arthurwill flash the threatening move.

Draw Messages5.5 DrawWhen King Arthur recognizesthat a three-fold repetition of theposition has occurred, he willdisplay “DRAW.” Additionally,when King Arthur recognizesthat 50 moves have been playedwithout exchanges or pawnmoves, he will display “DRAW.”In either case, you can accept thedraw or ignore it by continuingto play.

5.6 StalemateWhen either opponent has

been stalemated, “STALE” will

be displayed. (Stalemate occurswhen one of the players has nolegal moves but is not in check.Stalemate is one of the ways agame can be drawn.)

Game-ending Messages5.7 Forced checkmates

King Arthur will announcewhen he can force a mate-in-two(“MAtE2”) or a mate-in-three(“MAtE3”). He will display“MatE,” along with “+” whenexecuting a checkmate.

5.8 Other checkmates When you checkmate King

Arthur, he will display “LOSE.”When you want to claim a win,draw, or want to resign—pressthe NEW GAME key.

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KING ARTHURCHAPTER 6:

SOME SPECIAL CHESS MOVES

remove the captured pawn. Youmust press down on the captured

pawn before removing it fromthe board.

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and you have to move the kingfirst.

Whether you’re castling king-side or queenside, first moveand press your king down on itsFROM square (if castling king-side, E1). Then move and pressyour king down on its TO square(if castling kingside, G1). KingArthur automatically recognizescastling maneuvers after theking is moved two squares. Hethen reminds you, by displayingthe proper FROM square, tocomplete castling by moving therook. Move the rook in the rou-tine manner, pushing on its TOand FROM squares normally.Remember, you must alwaysmove the King first whencastling!

6.3 Promoting PawnsWhen a pawn reaches the

other end of the board, officialchess rules say that you can pro-mote it to a more valuable piece.To promote a pawn, make yourpawn move to the last rank in thenormal manner. King Arthurwill automatically promote the

pawn to a queen, since this is thebest choice in nearly every case.In the unlikely event you want topromote your pawn to a pieceother than a queen, use KingArthur’s SET UP feature. (SeeChapter 9.)

King Arthur immediately rec-ognizes your new piece, andbegins thinking about the posi-tion in order to move. When thecomputer pushes a pawn to yourback row or rank, it will alwayspromote to a queen. Rememberto change the piece on the boardafter either side promotes apawn. When promoting a pawnto a queen and the originalqueen is still on the board, chessplayers frequently mark the newqueen with an upside-downrook.

6.4 En Passant —takinga pawn in passing

For an en passant capture,press the FROM and TO squaresof the capturing pawn. Thesquare of the pawn being cap-tured will then appear on the dis-play. This is to remind you to

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KING ARTHURCHAPTER 7:

TOO HARD? TOO EASY? ALL ABOUT LEVELS

You already know, fromChapter 3, section 3.7, how toselect the level King Arthur isplaying at. With his 73 levels ofplay, King Arthur can adjusthimself to play you a competi-tive game, no matter what yourlevel of skill! It’s more fun andmore educational to select alevel that gives both you andKing Arthur a reasonablechance of winning. Try to find alevel at which you win abouthalf the time. As you get better,simply adjust King Arthur’splaying level so he can“improve” as you do!

7.1 Beginner levelsThe first four levels (1, 2, 3

and 4) are beginner levels andtake approximately 4, 8, 12 and16 seconds per move, respec-tively.

7.2 Fixed ply levels Level 5 is a fixed 1-ply (one-

half move) search.

7.3 Timed levelsLevels 6 through 15 take

about 1 second per level num-ber, so level 10 will averageabout 10 seconds per move.Levels 16 through 72 take about2 seconds per level numbers.The amount of time taken willvary depending on the position,

8.1 Piece Training Positions

You can practice in eight dif-ferent training positions. Thereare five special mini-games andthree mating-practice positions.

The mini-gamesThe most famous and success-

ful chess teachers in the worldtake their beginning studentsfrom the simple to the complexby having them play “mini-games” of chess that concentrateon just one or more types ofpieces. Even advanced playerspractice these basics, just as aconcert pianist continues topractice the scales so that they

remain second nature. Like anygreat trainer, your King Arthurwill play you these special prac-tice games.

Press MODE until “TrAIn” isdisplayed. Then press >. Look atthe LCD to see which of themini-games are displayed. You’llsee that the mini-games alwaysinclude the king and pawns forboth sides. In fact, one mini-game contains just this material.The other four mini-games usekings and pawns, but add a dif-ferent single piece to the exer-cise—knight, bishop, rook, andthen queen.

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the stage of the game, andwhether or not the FAST leveloption is on.

7.4 Infinite searchLevel 73 is an infinite level.

King Arthur will take as long tomove as you want him to, oruntil he finds a mate position inhis search. Level 73 is perfectfor problem solving (seeChapter 10). You can also playagainst it. When you are tired ofwaiting for King Arthur tomove, press the MOVE keywhile the computer is thinking,and the computer will stopthinking and play the best moveit’s found so far.

7.5 Fast level optionPress LEVEL, then OPTION.

The display will indicateoptions.

First the display will show the“FAST” option. “FAST” uses amore selective search for think-

ing. In this mode, King Arthurwill search faster and look moredeeply into the position. Press >or < to turn FAST on or off.Press CLEAR to exit optionsmode.

7.6 Random level optionPress the OPTION key until

the display shows “RAND,”which stands for “random.”“RAND” allows King Arthur tochoose between good movesrandomly so that you get topractice and play against differ-ent responses. Press > or < toturn “RAND” on or off. Pressthe CLEAR key to exit optionsmode.

King Arthur offers four majorteaching and training programsthat provide you unique andenjoyable ways to get to be avery strong chess player. Youcan access all of them by press-ing the MODE key and selectingthe training feature you want byusing the > key.

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KING ARTHUR CHAPTER 8:TEACHING AND

TRAINING FEATURES

lem you’d like to solve.Problems 1-31 are mate-in-twoproblems, which means Whitecan force mate in two moves.There may or may not be otherways to win, but you’re lookingfor the two moves that will resultin checkmate. Most of the time,the first of these moves is thehardest to find. Problem 32 is amate-in-three.

If you can’t find the solution,make King Arthur show you thecorrect moves to a problem bysetting his level to 73, and thenpressing the MOVE key.

8.3 Opening book train-er: learning book open-ings the easy way, withKing Arthur’s help

One of the most stunninginnovations of King Arthur is hisspecial ability to teach you“book openings.” Book open-ings are the beginning patternsof moves that have been workedout by chess masters over thecenturies as the best ways tobegin a game. Previously, play-ers had to spend tedious hourssearching out lines of play fromhard-to-follow columns in books.This practice required a confus-ing process of looking back and

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Start with the basic king-and-pawns mini-game. Press > untilyour display looks like the dia-gram below.

Make your first move. Yourobject, as in regular chess, is tocheckmate the king. Normally,this means both sides will try toforce a pawn through to theother side of the board safely topromote it to a queen. You’lllearn lots of principles, tricks,and traps in this training modethat will win you many full-fledged chess games!

The mating-practice positionsTo win at chess, you have to

know how to checkmate! Justknowing that you have enoughmaterial to mate doesn’t earnyou the point. King Arthur’s

mating-practice exercises willmake sure you know the tech-niques.

After pressing MODE until“TrAIn” appears, again press >until you come to positionswithout pawns and with theBlack king in the middle of theboard. These are the mate-train-ing positions. The three differentmate-training positions giveWhite, besides his king, eithertwo bishops, two rooks, or thequeen. These are excellent exer-cises, used by the greatest chessteachers in the world. In all threepositions you can force mate in anumber of ways. Work on thesemate-training exercises until youcan mate Black efficiently.

8.2 Mate-problem training

You can further hone yourcheckmating skills and have funat the same time by solving the32 separate problems availableon King Arthur. At the start of agame, press MODE until“MATE” is displayed. Thenpress > or < to select the prob-

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wdwdkdwd0p0p0p0pwdwdwdwddwdwdwdwwdwdwdwddwdwdwdwP)P)P)P)dwdwIwdw

All of these training modes can be madeeven more effective by combining them with otherteaching features of King Arthur:

Ask for a HINT any time it’s your move.

Get King Arthur’s position score.(See section 3.8.)

Switch sides when you want to practice fromthe Black side.

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7. Four Knights8. Petroff Defense9. Vienna Game

10. Sicilian, Classical Defense11. Sicilian, Accelerated Dragon12. Sicilian, Rossolimo Attack13. Sicilian, Dragon Variation14. Sicilian, Scheveningen

Variation15. Sicilian, Najdorf Variation16. Sicilian, Moscow Variation17. Caro-Kann Defense18. Panov-Botvinnik Attack19. French Defense, Winawer

Variation20. French Defense,

Classical Defense21. French Defense,

McCutcheon Variation22. French Defense,

Tarrasch Variation23. Queen’s Gambit Accepted24. Queen’s Gambit Declined25. Queen’s Gambit,

Semi-Slav Defense26. Queen’s Gambit,

Tarrasch Defense27. Queen’s Gambit, Slav Defense28. Nimzo-Indian

Defense, Rubinstein Variation29. Nimzo-Indian

Defense, Classical Variation30. Queen’s Indian Defense31. Queen’s Indian

Defense, Petrosian Variation32. Bogo-Indian Defense33. Gruenfeld Defense34. King’s Indian Defense

These openings and the expla-nations of each move, alongwith example games by chessmasters, are given in many

books on chess available atbookstores and libraries.

8.4 MULTI-MOVE:setting up your ownopening positions

King Arthur also allows you toset up any book opening youwant—or even an opening youinvent—to practice. PressMULTI-MOVE. Your displaywill read “PLAYr.” Make surethe number of players is set to 2.Then make moves for both sidesuntil the opening position youwant to practice is reached. Thenpress MULTI-MOVE again toset the number of players to 1.Press CLEAR and play againstthe computer in this position.

8.5 Great Games

One of the many extra featuresoffered by King Arthur that isboth great chess training and alot of fun is the Great Games.Over the centuries there havebeen many chess masterpiecesthat players have recorded, stud-ied, and passed down to follow-ing generations. Top chess play-

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forth between a book and achessboard. But with your KingArthur’s special training feature,you’ll find yourself learning theopenings extremely quickly, sav-ing yourself many hours—andhaving fun while you learn! Usethis training mode as often asyou wish—keep improving yourknowledge of opening play!

At the beginning of a game,you may choose to learn one of34 popular book openings. PressMODE until “OP En” is dis-played. Then press > until thenumber of the opening (see listbelow) you want to learn orreview is displayed in the upperleft of the display. (You can use< to “loop” backward in the list.For example, if you want toselect opening 30, it’s faster touse the < key.)

Now play a move. If your

move is not correct, an errorbuzz will sound and the movewill NOT be made. You can takeanother guess, or learn the cor-rect move by pressing HINT.When the computer comes backwith its move, you will brieflysee the word “OP En” on thescreen if you have anotheropening move to make. If “OPEn” does not appear, you maycontinue normal play or go on toanother opening. You have com-pleted the training for that open-ing line.

Below are the numbers andnames of openings that you canstudy with King Arthur’s BookOpening Trainer.

1. Ruy Lopez, ExchangeVariation

2. Ruy Lopez, Closed Defense3. Ruy Lopez, Open Defense4. Ruy Lopez Archangel Defense5. Giuoco Piano6. Scotch Game

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After the first move of any opening,whenever it’s your move, you can switch sides

with King Arthur by pressing MOVE.In this way, you can practice both sides of these

important, standard chess openings.

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tions, and dates of the greatgames are given below, alongwith a brief explanation of eachgame by popular chess writer AlLawrence. (All game explana-tions are © 2000 by AlLawrence; all rights reserved.)

1. Adolf Anderssen vs. LionelKieseritsky, London, 1851

This marvelous attacking game, a King'sGambit, is widely known as "The ImmortalGame." Both players show the 19th-centurypreference for attack at all costs, andAnderssen was one of the most ingeniousattackers of all time. After 18. Bd6, he givesaway both of his rooks and his queen! In thefinal position, his tiny force is deployed injust the right way to bring the complete Blackarmy to its knees.

2. Adolf Anderssen vs. J. Dufresne,Berlin, 1852

Again we see Anderssen bamboozling hisopponent. The game starts as an Evan'sGambit, a form of the Giuoco Piano. White's19th move, Rad1!! is one of the most cele-brated in the history of the game. With hisreply, … Qxf3, Black actually wins a knightand threatens mate. You'd think that would beenough! But Anderssen follows with a rookand queen sacrifice that forces checkmate ina shower of brilliant blows. This classic isknown as the "Evergreen Game."

3. Paul Morphy vs. Duke Karl & Count Isouard, Paris, 1858

While in Paris at the opera, the brilliant,unofficial world champion from NewOrleans plays an offhand game against twonoblemen. In this case, we're sure it was overbefore the fat lady sang! In a PhilidorDefense, the team of two played a weak 3. …Bg5 that left Morphy with superior develop-

ment (more of his pieces are deployed) andthe bishop pair (two bishops against a bish-op and knight). These two important advan-tages were all Morphy needed. After Blackwastes even more time with another pawnmove, 9. … b5?, Morphy hits the duo with aseries of brilliant sacrifices to mate. Victoryof mind over material is the poetry of chess.

4.Wilhelm Steinitz vs. Kurt vonBardeleben, Hastings, 1895

Wilhelm Steinitz, the first official worldchampion, begins this game as a GiuocoPiano. He maneuvers deftly to keep hisopponent from castling into safety. Then hesacrifices his pawn on d5 so that he canmake the square available for his knight. Butthe most brilliant move of the game is 22.Rxe7+. At first glance, it simply looks like ablunder. All of White's pieces are attacked,and if Black wasn't in check, he could play… Rxc1+ with mate next. But if Black can'ttake the rook—with either his king orqueen—he loses in all variations. And by nottaking it, he is eventually mated anyway. Ifyou're interested in these complex lines, youcan find a complete explanation of this clas-sic game in many books.

5. Alexander Alekhine vs.O. Tenner, Cologne, 1911

World Champion Alekhine was a chessfanatic (he even named his cat "Chess") andone of the greatest attacking players of alltime. Here he plays the unusual Bishop'sOpening and seems to be developing quietly.Black even appears to be getting a goodgame just at the time Alekhine is able to playthe swashbuckling 11. Nxe5, allowing Blackto capture his queen. Black's king is forcedto march to the center of the board, anunhealthy spot for a monarch when so manypieces are still on the board, where he ismated. It's important to understand that suchsacrifices don't just happen illogically.White's pieces again had a dominating com-mand of the board, and Black allowedWhite's pressure on f7, Black's most sensi-tive defensive square when he hasn't castled,to build into an explosion.

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ers know many such games byheart.

King Arthur gives you 16 suchgames to enjoy and study.What’s more, you play the win-ning side in these masterpiecesand try to find the same ingen-ious moves the great mastersdid! Don’t worry; King Arthurwill help you whenever youwant. Just push the HINT key tofind the next move. (Don’t feelbad about pushing the HINT keyoften—after all, these are amongthe world’s most brilliant games!)

To access this feature, at thebeginning of a game, pressMODE until “GA ME” is dis-played. Then press > until thenumber of the great game (seelist below) you want to see isdisplayed in the upper left of thedisplay. (You can use < to “loop”backward in the list. For exam-ple, if you want to select GreatGame 15, it’s faster to use the <key.)

Along with the game number,you will see the position of thegame after the first two moveswere played. King Arthur will

automatically give you the win-ning side. Make the best moveyou find!

King Arthur will give youpoints for each correct move thatyou make. The display will showyour total great-game score intwo digits (zero at the start) onthe left. On the right, the displayalso shows the amount of pointsyou will win if you play the cor-rect next great-game move.

If you don’t play the correctgreat-game move, an error buzzwill sound, the incorrect movewill NOT be played, and thepoints for this move will bedivided in half. If the bonus goesto zero, the correct move willautomatically flash. Most movesstart with 4 bonus points, butsome brilliant moves start with 8points.

These famous games by someof the most brilliant chess mas-ters of all time can be found,along with full explanations ofthe reasoning behind the bril-liant moves, in many books onchess.

The numbers, players, loca-

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"unemployed" queen and rook on a8 and b8!

12. J. Banas vs. P. Lukacs, Trnava, 1986

In a Four Knights' Game, Black gets his kinginto safety by castling and takes advantage ofWhite's awkward piece placement by sacri-ficing his knight with 9. … Nf3+. Then heallows White to take his bishop on c5. But bythat time, White's king is surrounded. In thefinal position, after 13. … Ng4, White's onlyeffective defender, his knight on e3, is forcedfrom its square, allowing … Qg2 mate.

13. Anatoly Karpov vs.Victor Kortchnoi, Moscow, 1974

Twentieth-century chess perfected defense.It is no longer typical to see top-level playersplaying only for the attack. In fact, Korchnoiat the time of this game was one of the bestin the world, and his forte was defense. Manyfine players would attack him ingeniously,only to break up on his rock-like fortifica-tions. Still, World Champion Karpov crusheshim in only 27 moves with a mating attack!In a classic manner against Black's SicilianDragon defense (so named probably becauseof the "tail" of control Black's bishop makesfrom g7 to a1), Karpov plays the St. Georgeattack, castling queenside and prying openthe h-file to slay the dragon.

14. Boris Spassky vs. Tigran Petrosian,Moscow, 1969

Spassky won the world championship fromPetrosian in the match that produced thisgame. In this English Opening that becomesa Queen's Gambit, you'll see that once againWhite gets a strong center and quick devel-opment of his pieces. As early as 13. Rd1,you can sense that Black is in danger. Hisking has no piece defenders; his forces seempassive while White's are aggressively coor-dinated. As often happens in such situations,White breaks through with a pawn push inthe center, in this case 15. d4-d5!. It clearsthe board for White's more active forces.Petrosian, one of the best defenders of alltime, tries repeatedly to trade queens, butWhite wisely rebuffs these offers, whichwould take much of the power off the board.White's d-pawn becomes a star, advancing

all the way to the 7th rank. Because of thisqueening threat, White is able to sacrifice hisqueen for one of Black's defending rooks. Inthe final position, it's hopeless for Blackbecause White will either promote his pawnto a queen or capture whatever Black uses toblock on d8.

15. Robert Fischer vs. Reuben Fine,New York, 1963

Nine years before winning the world cham-pionship, Bobby Fischer played this Evan'sGambit (a variation of the Giuoco Piano)against his famous elder. Bobby sacrificestwo pawns in order to get his pieces outquickly. Then he plays 14. h2-h4!, sacrific-ing another pawn to force the Black queenaway from the g7-square. After that, Black'sking will be stuck in the center and in dangerof the h4-d8 diagonal. Bobby's final move,17. Qg3!, forces Fine to resign, because hemust move his queen from the critical blackdiagonal h4-d8. Even on 17. … Qxg3, Whiteignores the capture of his own queen andplays 18. Bf6 mate!

16. Lajos Portisch vs. Johannessen,Havana, 1966

During the first half of this game, a Queen'sGambit Slav, the great Hungarian grandmas-ter Lajos Portisch locks up the center with ad4-e5 structure by move 14. This gives him a"beachhead" on e5 and makes it hard forBlack to counterattack in the center, which isthe standard antidote for an attack on thewing. The next stage starts with 16. h4.Portisch announces his intention to attack onthe kingside. He refrains from castling hisown king into safety because he knows it’ssafe enough in the center, at least for the timeit will take him to break through with hisattack. When Black tries to trade off pieceswith 17. … Bxf3, Portisch sacrifices a knightfor an unstoppable attack with 18. Bxh6 andthen calmly moves his king to the secondrank to bring his other rook into the game.His Rxh4 was another brilliant sacrifice thatcrushes any hope of defense. In the finalposition, Black resigns because White willsimply play 26. Rxh6+, winning the Black

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ENGLISH6. Gaudersen vs. Paul, Melbourne, 1928

This "miniature" of only 15 moves, starts offas a French Defense in which White playsthe Advance Variation, placing his pawns ond4 and e5. Black's 8th move, castling, was inthis case a blunder because his kingside isattacked by many pieces and not effectivelydefended. White's sparkling 9. Bxh7+ is anexample of a bishop sacrifice that's hap-pened so often it has a name—the "GreekGift." White's 14. Nxe6+ is an example of adiscovered check, the dive bomber of thechessboard. White's amusing 15th move is avery rare example of checkmate with the enpassant capture.

7. Edward Lasker vs.George Thomas, London, 1910

This masterpiece, a Dutch Defense, featuresa famous example of the king’s walk to mate.Edward, an American distant cousin of thegreat world champion Emmanuel Lasker,gets his pieces activated against Black'skingside while the English championThomas develops (gets his pieces off theback rank and into play) too slowly. By 10.Qh5, White is already threatening an all-outblitzkrieg. His brilliant queen sacrifice 11.Qxh7 is followed by a devastating discovereddouble check, 12. Nxf6++. Then Black's kinghas to walk the plank, all the way across theboard to g1, the normal spot for the Whiteking! Here he breathes his last.

8. Wilhelm Steinitz vs. A. Mongredien,London, 1862

This game starts out as a Center Counter(also called Scandinavian Defense). Blackloses too much time developing his pieces,while White gets his into play aggressively.Indeed, White's army dominates the all-important center of the board as well as theking's side. This sets the stage for a matingattack. White's two-move maneuver 13. Rf3and 14. Rh3 is called a rook lift, and is a typ-ical attacking strategy. This rook then sacri-fices itself on h7 in a way that allows Steinitzto bring his other rook quickly into the fray.White is a rook down, but all of his forcestake part in the assault, while the Black

queen's rook and bishop seem to be waitingfor the next game. They don't have long towait.

9. Aaron Nimzovich vs.S. Alapin, Riga, 1913

Another French Defense. In this one, thegreat Latvian player and writer Nimzovich(after whom the Nimzo-Indian Opening isnamed—see page 6) plays an opponent whowastes time stealing a pawn with 9. … Qxg2."Nimzo" plays a punishing 12. O-O-O!, sac-rificing his knight. He finishes up with aconvincing queen sacrifice that forcescheckmate.

10. Jose Capablanca vs. Herman Steiner,Los Angeles, 1933

The handsome Cuban World Champion JoseCapablanca had a deceptively simple style.Here we see him playing the old-fashionedFour Knights' game and opening up hisopponent's kingside pawn protection bymove 11! His first rook sacrifice, 17. Rxf6!,can't be refused and forces Black's king intoa deadly crossfire. With 23. Qxb7!, Capaoffers a second rook, which can't be takenimmediately because of 23. … Qxf6? 24.Qb4 checkmate. But Black is forced to takethe rook a move later and mate follows onthe same square.

11. Mikhail Botvinnik vs. Paul Keres,The Hague, 1948

Botvinnik won the world championship arecord three times. His opponent here is pos-sibly the strongest 20th-century chess playerwho did not become world champion. Theopening is a Nimzo-Indian. White's doubledpawns are potentially a long-term weakness,but in the short term they control a goodmany all-important central squares. Whiteplays cleverly to keep a grip on the positionand breaks through on the queenside with hispawn-push 17. c4-c5. This gives him achance to bring his queenside rook intoaction. He swings it against the kingside,sacrificing it on g7 to win. In the final posi-tion, Black's king will be mated by the Whitequeen, supported by the bishop on c1. Wheredid Black go wrong? Take a look at his

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9.3 Adding a piece orchanging the type of apiece

To add or change a piece,press SETUP, then press the keythat indicates the type of pieceyou want to place on the board.Then press the square on thesensory board until the pieceappears as the correct color onyour display board. PressCLEAR to continue the game.

9.4 Setting up specialpositions & problems

Using the three techniquesabove, you can easily relocate apiece by chossing its square,making it blank, and then choos-ing another square and settingup the piece once again.

This is another terrific featurethat allows you to solve prob-lems that you see in magazinesor newspapers, or that you make

up yourself. It also allows you toenter game positions you wantto play, or that you want KingArthur to look at, perhaps usinghis Infinite Search level (seeChapter 7).

Normally, it is easier to startfrom an empty board to set upsuch problems. So first, pressOPTION until “CLr Br” (clearboard) is displayed. Then pressthe SETUP key. You’ll see thatyour display board is automati-cally cleared. The word “nOnE”will appear.

You’re ready to set up thekings in the new position.(Notice that the SETUP key isalso the king key.) Press the sen-sory board square on which oneof the kings should stand. Pushthe square until the king is theproper color on your display.Then press the square on whichthe other king should stand;

ENGLISHqueen. If 26. … Qxh6, then White plays 27.Qxh6+ and will mate on h7.

At any time during a gamewhen it is your move, you maychange the position on the boardby adding a piece or pieces,removing one or more pieces, oreven changing any of the

pieces—for example, from aknight to a queen. Obviously,this feature lets you strengthenyour side of the game or thecomputer’s, resurrect lost pieces,or even move your king out of animminent checkmate threat.

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KING ARTHUR CHAPTER 9:SETTING UP SPECIALPOSITIONS

Using the SETUP key, youcan also set up a problem youwant King Arthur to solve or aposition you want to practicewith King Arthur. Your LCDboard display makes it easy tosee the position and verify it asyou’re setting it up. The wholeprocess takes only a minute.

9.1 Removing a piecePress the SETUP key. Then,

on the large, sensory board,press the square the piece is onuntil the square on your displayis empty. Press CLEAR to con-

tinue the game.

9.2 Changing the color of a piece

Press the SETUP key. Pressthe key that shows the sametype of piece as the one that youwant to change the color of.(The piece keys are located tothe left of the display.) On thesensory board, then press thesquare of the piece until itappears the right color on yourdisplay. Press CLEAR to con-tinue.

Using the above three techniques, you caneasily relocate a piece by choosing its square,making it blank, and then choosing anothersquare and setting up the piece once again.

3534

10.1 The ACL buttonKing Arthur may occasionally

“freeze up” or refuse to functionproperly because of static elec-tric discharge. If this happens,press the ALL CLEAR (ACL)button.

To do this, turn King Arthurupside-down so the battery com-partment is on the upper right.The ALL CLEAR button isrecessed. You'll see a "dimple"toward the bottom right. It has asmall hole in it. Gently push aballpoint pen or a straightenedpaper clip into the hole and thenrelease. You'll again hear KingArthur's ready tones.

SPECIAL NOTE: After you pushthe ACL button, King Arthur will haveforgotten any game positions that mayhave been in his memory.

10.2 Special Care� Avoid rough handling such as

bumping or dropping.

� Avoid moisture and extreme tem-peratures. Store away from win-dows and other direct sources ofheat and cold, such as heating, airvents or direct sunlight. For bestresults, use between the tempera-tures of 39º and 100º Fahrenheit(4º and 38º Celsius).

� Clean using only a slightly dampcloth. Do not use cleaners withchemical agents.

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press it until the king is the cor-rect color. (You won’t be permit-ted to leave the SETUP modeuntil both the White and Blackking are placed.)

Next, pick out another piece inthe problem or position youwant to set up, and press theappropriate piece key to the leftof the display. Then press thesquare on the sensory boardwhere this piece should stand.Press the square until the piece

appears in the right color onyour display.

Follow this procedure until allthe pieces in the problem orposition are completely set up.Make sure that King Arthurknows which color is to move—press CONTRAST (�/�) tochange the side to move. Finally,press CLEAR to play or to haveKing Arthur analyze the posi-tion.

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Nearly all operational problems are caused by incor-rectly registering moves! King Arthur can’t see yourmoves, he has to “feel” them. Remember—always follow thesimple two-step procedure:

1. Push the FROM square; listen for the confirming, high-pitched beep.

2. Push the TO square; listen for the confirming, high-pitched beep.

If a low-pitched beep sounds, look carefully at the LCD andfollow the directions displayed to replace the illegally movedpiece. Then make a legal move.

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KING ARTHURCHAPTER 10:

IMPORTANT TECHNICALDETAILS

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10.3 Battery Information

� CAUTION: BATTERIESSHOULD BE REMOVEDAND REPLACED BYADULTS ONLY.

� King Arthur uses 3 AA bat-teries, not included.

� Do not mix old and newbatteries.

� Do not mix alkaline, stan-dard (carbon-zinc) orrechargeable (nickel-cadmi-um) batteries.

� Do not use rechargeablebatteries.

� To avoid explosion or leak-age, do not dispose of bat-teries in a fire or attempt torecharge standard or alka-line batteries.

� Be sure to insert batterieswith the correct polaritiesand always follow the toyand battery manufacturers’instructions.

� Remove batteries and storethem in a cool, dry placewhen not in use.

� Always remove old anddead batteries from theproduct.

� The supply terminals arenot to be short-circuited.

10.4 Limited One-YearWarrantyEXCALIBUR ELECTRONICS, INC., war-rants to the original consumer that its prod-ucts are free from any electrical or mechan-ical defects for a period of ONE YEAR fromthe date of purchase. If any such defect isdiscovered within the warranty period,EXCALIBUR ELECTRONICS, INC., willrepair or replace the unit free of charge uponreceipt of the unit, shipped postage prepaidand insured to the factory address shown onthe back page of this operating manual.

The warranty covers normal consumer useand does not cover damage that occurs inshipment or failure that results from alter-ations, accident, misuse, abuse, neglect,wear and tear, inadequate maintenance,commercial use, or unreasonable use of theunit. Removal of the top panel voids allwarranties. This warranty does not covercost of repairs made or attempted outside ofthe factory.

(Warranty information is continued on following page.)

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Any applicable implied warranties,including warranties of merchantabilityand fitness, are hereby limited to 90DAYS from the date of purchase.Consequential or incidental damagesresulting from a breach of any applica-ble express or implied warranties arehereby excluded. Some states do notallow limitations on the duration ofimplied warranties and do not allowexclusion of incidental or consequentialdamages, so the above limitations andexclusions in these instances may notapply. The only authorized service cen-ter in the United States is:

Excalibur Electronics, Inc.13755 SW 119th Ave

Miami, Florida 33186 U.S.A.

Phone: 305.477.8080Fax: 305.477.9516

www.ExcaliburElectronics.com

Ship the unit carefully packed, prefer-ably in the original carton, and send itprepaid, and adequately insured. Includea letter, detailing the complaint andincluding your daytime telephone num-ber, inside the shipping carton.

If your warranty has expired and youwant an estimated fee for service, writeto the above address, specifying themodel and the problem.

PLEASE DO NOT SEND YOURUNIT WITHOUT RECEIVING ANESTIMATE FOR SERVICING. WE

CANNOT STORE YOUR UNIT!

LIMITED ONE-YEAR WARRANTY

We make you think.

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Excalibur Electronics, Inc.13755 SW 119th Avenue,

Miami, Florida 33186 U.S.A.Phone: 305.477.8080

Fax: 305.477.9516

Play games live at:www.ExcaliburElectronics.com