ahoogerhuis
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Tool for Solitaire Blindfold Chess - 2006/08/13 14:18
Today, we have Palm and Pocket PC toys to play with. Nice.
So, what sort of chess software, for use on such toys, would be ideal for playing solitaire blindfold chess? The following are a few ideas. Maybe someone else can come up with other ideas? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
I played many blindfold chess games with a friend while I was a teenager. After he moved away, I could not find anybody else to play blindfold with. My other "chess friends" were uninterested in blindfold.
Back then, there were no Palm or Pocket PC toys to play with. In fact, there were no PCs either. Essentially, I was "out of luck."
But, just for the sake of discussion, what if there had been? What sort of features would I have wanted in the blindfold chess software for my pocket computer toy?
First of all, the chess engine would have had to be strong enough to make it seem that it was human, but not so strong that playing against it would be discouraging. Perhaps the ability to set the computer to different levels would be useful. Alternatively, having the computer automatically adjust itself to the user`s playing level would also work.
Next, to aid in learning to play blindfold chess, there must be features which facilitate the learning process. Here are some thoughts: (a) For the absolute blindfold beginner, there must be a way to temporarily display the position at will, perhaps by push of a button. After the button is released, the screen would go blank, or return to a display of an empty chessboard. In this "learning mode" for absolute beginners, this feature would be very important. (b) For the beginner who has advanced somewhat beyond the "absolute beginner" level, it would be useful to have the empty board displayed all the time. This "crutch" could be disabled when the user advanced to the point to where he/she no longer needed it. (c) The next feature is one which I consider to be very important. It should be possible for the user to key in the coordinates of a square, and perhaps hit enter, producing the appearance of the piece or pawn on that square. The learner would use that feature extensively at first, but might eventually be weaned off of it later.
I will stop here, and expectantly await other ideas. Maybe if this bulletin is followed by a long enough thread, there will be enough ideas to formulate a "specification." Then all that will remain is to communicate it to the likely program developers.
We "users" can get what we want if we can specify/quantify our "wants" and communicate our specs to the "providers."
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The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit.
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