The Chessmaster
Typed out by Jesse Smith
Instruction Booklet NES-EM-USA *
Licensed by Nintendo(R) for play on the Nintendo Entertainment System(R)
The
Chessmaster
Page 2
PRECAUTIONS
Official
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ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM ARE Game Pak from the Nintendo
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The Chessmaster: Copyright 1989 The Software Toolworks.
Page 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Thank you for buying The Chessmaster. Please read this
booklet for a complete explanation of how to play the game.
KEY SUMMARY 4
STARTING THE GAME 5
PLAYING CHESS 6
MENU 8
WAR ROOM 17
KEY SUMMARY 4
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Control Pad: Select Button: B Button:
Used to move Used to switch Used to enter Take
the hand and back and forth Back/Replay mode.
the selection between the A Button:
arrow. Chessboard and Used to pick up and
the Menu. release the chess
pieces. Also used to
select menu items.
STARTING THE GAME 5
The Chessmaster logo will appear first.
Press the START button.
When the copyright screen appears, press the START button again.
Next, the chessboard will be presented.
You're now ready to play chess!
PLAYING CHESS 6
To move one of your pieces, use the control pad to position
the hand over the piece you want to move. Pick up the piece
by pressing the A button. Use the control pad to move the
piece to the desired destination square. Release the piece by
pressing the A button. The Chessmaster will tell you if you
have attempted to make an illegal move. When the Chessmaster
is thinking about his next move, the hand will change into a
light bulb. After he has made his move, the light bulb will
change back into a hand.
To perform a castling move, move your King two squares towards
the Rook. The Rook will move into place automatically.
To capture a pawn En Passant, move your pawn to the appropriate
destination square. (Directly behind the enemy pawn).
PLAYING CHESS 7
If one of your pawns reaches the eighth row, the Chessmaster
will ask you to promote the piece. To promote the pawn to a
Queen, press the SELECT button. Alternatively, you may use
the A or B button to cycle through all of the available
pieces (Queen, Rook, Bishop, Knight).
When you are satisfied, press the SELECT button.
Occasionally, an informational message will appear over the
chessboard in a window. To remove the message, press the SELECT
button or the A button.
MENU 8
The menu is used to change settings and select options.
Access the menu by pressing the SELECT button. Under
certain circumstances, some menu items will be unavailable.
These selections will be red in color instead of yellow.
The first 9 items in the menu are actions. Use the control
pad to move the arrow to the desired selection. Press the A
button to initiate the action. You will automatically be
returned to the chessboard.
START NEW GAME: This selection discontinues any game in progress
and begins a new game.
PLAY AGAINST CHESSMASTER: You may play a game of chess against
the Chessmaster, against another player, or you may watch
the Chessmaster play against itself. Choosing "Play Against
Chessmaster" allows you to play a game against the Chessmaster.
MENU 9
CHESSMASTER PLAYS SELF: The Chessmaster will play both
sides of the game. To interrupt the Chessmaster's game,
press the SELECT button and you will return to the menu.
PLAY AGAINST ANOTHER HUMAN: With this selection, you may play
against another player with the Chessmaster acting as referee.
When it is BlackÕs turn, the second controller will control
the hand as well as the first controller.
CHANGE SIDES: When it is your turn, you may ask the Chessmaster
to play your pieces while you take over his pieces. Use this
selection at the beginning of the game to make the Chessmaster
play the White pieces.
FORCE CHESSMASTER TO MOVE: When the Chessmaster is thinking about
his move, you may force him to move immediately by activating
this selection.
MENU 10
ENTER TAKE BACK/REPLAY MODE: This selection enters a mode where
you can take back some or all of the moves made so far during
the game. While in Take Back/Replay mode, press the~ B button to
take back a move. Press the A button to replay a move. Press the
SELECT button to resume normal play. You may enter Take Back/Replay
Mode directly from the Chessboard by pressing the B button. While
in Take Back/Replay mode the hand will change into a "T/R" symbol.
ENTER SETUP MODE: This selection allows you to arrange the pieces
on the board. The chessboard will be displayed along with a set
of pieces (the "grab bag") to the right side of the board. To
remove a piece from the board, position the hand over the piece
using the control pad, pick up the piece by pressing the A button,
move the piece off the board using the control pad, and drop the
piece by pressing the A button. The Kings cannot be removed from
the board. To add a piece to the board, pick up a piece from the
grab bag and drop it over the desired destination square.
MENU 11
There are some restrictions on how the board may be set up. A
pawn may not be placed on row one or row eight. The number of
Queens, Rooks, Knights, or Bishops that may be placed on the
board depends on the number of missing pawns.
While in Setup mode, press the SELECT button to access the
Setup menu. To return to Setup mode from the Setup menu, press SELECT
The following selections are available:
CLEAR THE BOARD: This selection clears the board of all pieces
except the Kings.
SET UP INITIAL POSITION: This selection will place the pieces
in position for a new game.
MENU 12
SIDE TO MOVE FIRST IS WHITE: This selection is used to indicate
whose turn it will be when you return to the game. Activate
this selection to toggle between White and Black.
SETUP COMPLETE: Use this selection to return to the game.
LEAVE AND ABANDON CHANGES: This selection returns you to the
game and ignores everything you did during setup.
SOLVE FOR MATE: This selection asks the Chessmaster to examine
the current position and determine whether or not a forced mate
exists in a given number of moves. You must be playing against
the Chessmaster for this selection to be available. The
Chessmaster will tell you whether or not a forced mate exists.
If the Chessmaster finds a solution, the solution moves are appended
MENU 13
to the move list and you will be put into Take Back/Replay mode.
You may view the solution by pressing the A button as many times
as necessary.
To interrupt the Chessmaster while he is solving for a forced
mate, press the SELECT button.
MENU 14
The next 8 menu selections are settings. You may change a
setting by moving the arrow to the desired selection and
pressing the A button. The display will change to show the
new setting. You may cycle through all of the available
values for a given setting by continuously pressing the A
button. The values will repeat.
The settings are as follows:
MATE IN 1 MOVE(S): This setting is used in conjunction with
the Solve for Mate action described earlier. This indicates
the number of moves that the Chessmaster will use to solve for
a forced mate. This setting can be from 1 to 5.
LEVEL OF PLAY IS NEWCOMER 1: There are sixteen levels of play
available in The Chessmaster: Newcomer 1, Newcomer 2, Levels 1
through 13, and Infinite. With Newcomer levels 1 and 2, the
Chessmaster plays it's easiest game. These levels are intended
for chess beginners. With levels 1 through 13, the Chessmaster plays
MENU 15
increasingly more challenging games. The approximate amount of
time that the Chessmaster will take to move is indicated by
the two numbers following the level number. These two numbers
indicate a certain number of moves in a number of minutes. For
example, level 1 is 60 moves in 5 minutes, while level 7 is 30
moves in 45 minutes. In Infinite mode, the Chessmaster will
think about his best move until you activate Force Chessmaster to Move.
DEEP THINKING ON/OFF: When Deep Thinking is ON, the Chessmaster
thinks ahead while you are thinking about your move. With Deep
Thinking OFF, the Chessmaster will only think about his move
when it is his turn.
OPENING BOOK IS ON/OFF: When the Opening Book is ON, the
Chessmaster will quickly consult his library of over 150,000
positions during the early part of the game. When the Opening
Book is OFF, the Chessmaster will not consult his opening book library.
MENU 16
TEACHING MODE IS ON/OFF: When Teaching Mode is ON, the Chessmaster
will show you all the legal moves for a particular piece whenever
you pick up that piece. This feature is useful for those just
learning the game of chess.
BOARD COORDINATES ARE ON/OFF: When Board Coordinates are ON, the
rank and file coordinates are displayed along the edge of the chessboard.
WHITE PIECES ON BOTTOM: The chessboard may be rotated so that
the White pieces are on the bottom, top, left side, or right side.
THE VIEW IS CHESSBOARD: There are two chessboard displays
available. In the Chessboard view, the board takes up the
entire screen. The other view is called the War Room.
WAR ROOM 17
In the War Room view, a smaller version of the chessboard is
displayed along with several informational windows: move list,
thinking, and captured pieces.
The move list shows the last three moves made by each player.
These moves are displayed in coordinate notation, e.g. E2-E4.
The thinking window gives you a peek into the Chessmaster's
brain. The moves listed under the "Best" heading represent
the best sequence of moves that the Chessmaster has found so
far. When it is your turn to move, the move displayed under
the "Hint" heading is the move that the Chessmaster considers
your best move given your position.
The captured pieces window shows all of the pieces that have
been removed from the board.
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