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Colossus Chess

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Colossus Chess
C64 box art
Developer(s)Martin Bryant
Publisher(s)CDS Micro Systems
English Software
Platform(s)Acorn Electron,[1]Amiga,[2]Amstrad CPC,[3]Amstrad PCW,[4]Apple II,[4]Atari 8-bit,[5]Atari ST,[6]BBC Micro,[7]Commodore 64,[8][9]Commodore Plus/4,[10][11]MS-DOS,[12]Enterprise 64 & 128,[13]MSX,[14]ZX Spectrum[15][16]
Release1984–1990 (Colossus Chess)
2006–2008 (Colossus Chess UCI)
Genre(s)Chess
Mode(s)Single-player

Colossus Chessis a series ofchess-playing computer programsdeveloped byMartin Bryant,commercially released for varioushome computersin the 1980s.

History

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Colossus Chess 4.0onCommodore 64
Colossus Chess 4.0onCommodore 64(3D chessboard)

Bryant startedColossus Chessin 1983, using hisWhite Knight Mk 11program,[4]winner of the 1983 European Microcomputer Chess Championship,[17]as a basis. It was developed on anApple II,but was first commercially released forCommodore 64asColossus Chess 2.0(CDS Micro Systems,1984). A number of releases for 8-bit microcomputers followed. Version 3.0 was released in 1984 for theAtari 8-bit computers(published byEnglish Software), followed by 4.0 in 1985 which was released on most formats of the day (published by CDS). As other games of the time, theAcorn Electronimplementation required that part of the screen memory be used as working space.[18]

Colossus Chessfeaturedtime-controlledplay withgame clocks,an opening book with 3,000 positions, andproblem-solving mode that could solve normal mates,selfmatesandhelpmates.[19]Pondering on opponent's time and a three-dimensionalchessboardwere introduced inColossus Chess 4.0.All releases were written in theassembly languageof the appropriateCPU;[4]theZX Spectrumversion could examine an average of 170 positions per second.[19]

Uncommon for microcomputer chess programs of the era,Colossushad a full implementation of therules of chess,includingunderpromotion,thefifty-move rule,draw by repetition,anddrawby insufficient material.[19]Colossuswas also able to execute all the basiccheckmates,including the difficultbishop and knight checkmate.[19]

Colossus Chess X

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Colossus Chess Xfor MS-DOS

The program was subsequently ported toAtari ST(1988),Amiga(1989) andIBM PC(1990) under the titleColossus Chess X.The new releases featured four chess sets[20]and enhanced graphics developed with the assistance of Gary Thomlinson and Carl Cropley.[4]The opening book was extended to 11,000 positions, and the program had the ability to learn from past playing experiences.[20]

UCI version

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No work was done onColossus Chessfrom 1991 to 2005, when Martin Bryant created a completely new and freely available Windows version conforming to theUniversal Chess Interface.[21]It was written inC#,then converted toCfor speed, and was finally publicly released in 2006.[21]As of January 2009,the latest version is 2008b.[21]

Reception

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InfogaveColossus Chess IVfor the Commodore 64 three stars out of five, stating that it was less attractive but "a darn sight more playable" thanChessmaster 2000with both keyboard and joystick controls. The magazine warned of the difficulty of remembering the "shifted keyboard control sequences" and said it was "badly in need of a quick-reference card".[22]

References

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  1. ^"Colossus 4.0 for Acorn Electron - X Game Database".www.xgd.com. Archived fromthe originalon 2011-07-17.Retrieved2008-06-14.
  2. ^"Colossus Chess X for Commodore Amiga - X Game Database".www.xgd.com. Archived fromthe originalon 2011-07-17.Retrieved2008-06-14.
  3. ^"Collosus 4 Chess by CDS for the Amstrad CPC".www.cpczone.net.Retrieved2008-06-15.
  4. ^abcdeBryant, Martin."Colossus Chess".Archived fromthe originalon 2013-11-24.Retrieved2008-05-22.
  5. ^Colossus Chess 3.0at Atari Mania
  6. ^Higham, Mark; (Dec 1988);Battlechess vs Colossus Chess XinST Amiga FormatIssue 6;pp. 66
  7. ^"Colossus 4.0 - Chess for Acorn BBC Micro - X Game Database".www.xgd.com. Archived fromthe originalon 2011-07-17.Retrieved2008-06-14.
  8. ^"Colossus Chess 2.0".www.lemon64.com.Retrieved2008-07-07.
  9. ^"Colossus Chess 4.0".www.lemon64.com.Retrieved2008-07-07.
  10. ^"Colossuss Chess +4 - Software Details - Plus/4 World".plus4.emucamp.com. Archived fromthe originalon 2008-03-13.Retrieved2008-06-15.
  11. ^"Colossus 4 Chess for Commodore C16, C116 & Plus-4 - X Game Database".www.xgd.com. Archived fromthe originalon 2011-07-17.Retrieved2008-06-14.
  12. ^Ponting, Tim; (Sep 1990);Colossus Chess Xreview inZero 11;pp60-61
  13. ^"Colossus Chess 4 for Enterprise 64 & 128 - X Game Database".www.xgd.com. Archived fromthe originalon 2011-07-17.Retrieved2008-06-14.
  14. ^"Colossus 4 Chess (1986, CDS Micro Systems)".www.generation-msx.nl.Retrieved2008-06-15.
  15. ^"Colossus 4 Chess".www.worldofspectrum.org.Retrieved2008-06-15.
  16. ^"Colossus 4 Chess for Sinclair ZX Spectrum - X Game Database".www.xgd.com. Archived fromthe originalon 2011-07-17.Retrieved2008-06-14.
  17. ^Bryant, Martin."White Knight".Archived fromthe originalon 2015-03-17.Retrieved2008-05-22.
  18. ^Bernard Hill (March 1987). "New Chess grandmaster for the Beeb? (Colossus 4 review)".Beebug.5(9): 12.The manual indicates that the program version which loads in to a Model B or Electron is different to that for the Master or B+, and the board display shows this very clearly. The 32k program displays less than a full mode 4 screen as the program loads right up to %6040 [Mode 4's screen memory starts at %5800]
  19. ^abcdColossus Chess 4 for Sinclair ZX Spectrum.CDS Software.Retrieved2008-06-02.(product manual)
  20. ^ab"More from Artworx".ST-Log(35): 11. August 1989.Retrieved2008-06-10.
  21. ^abcBryant, Martin."Colossus Chess UCI".Archived fromthe originalon 19 March 2016.Retrieved2009-01-18.
  22. ^Dunnington, Benn; Brown, Mark R.; Malcolm, Tom (January–February 1987)."64/128 Gallery".Info.pp. 14–21.
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