A chess program from Quicksilva in which you play against the computer. The opening screen asks whether you want to play a game or analyse a board. You then choose a black-and-white or colour television, a level of play, your colour, which colour moves next and the move number, so a game can be started from any position. The computer announces check, mate in 2, stalemate and checkmate, can resign, and comments on your moves (“GOOD MOVE!”, “BAD MOVE?”). It can also taunt you with lines such as “SO, YOU CHALLENGE MY POWER?” if you answer yes to “Do you want me to talk to you?”. Boards can be saved to and loaded from tape, moves can be sent to the printer, and there is an optional alarm signal. Quicksilva’s description gives six skill levels and says the lower levels can be beaten by a beginner.
The title text in the code reads “THE CHESS PLAYER” and “By Martin Wren-Hilton”, with “Quicksilva 1982”; the loading screen is Quicksilva’s “Game Lords of Britain” logo, marked © 1984. The download has the tape as TAP, TZX and WAV, and a picture of the cassette.
Program Analysis
The tape holds three blocks. QS LOADER is a short BASIC loader whose REMs credit S. S. Dosanj of Bitterne Software (“created 25TH NOVEMBER 1983”); it does CLEAR 32000, loads the QS LOGO screen, loads the 23,296-byte CHESS block at 42240 with its header hidden in white ink on white paper, and starts it with RANDOMIZE USR 63657. The game itself is all machine code, which fills memory from 42240 to the top of RAM.
Potential Issues
- The alarm prompt is misspelled “ALARM AIGNAL” in the code.
Image Gallery
Note: Type-in program listings on this website use ZMAKEBAS notation for graphics characters.