Millennium ChessGenius Exclusive.

Hello All.,

This topic is for the already brought out Millennium Chess computers and in future the new ones

So that means in general, for example if u like to see Blue tooth ore something on the Chess Genius Exclusive u can give your thoughts of course

Ore what is desired if Millennium make a new chess computer in Future

I am also a Official Tester of Millennium ,so i will discuss it with the people of Millennium

That means i have not a 100% vote in what Millennium will do ,but they do listen to their Tester that i can assure u.

I can not reveal any info to u ,of what is coming .But i will try to answer u

Here a Interview with Mr Ossi Weiner from Millennium

1- Introduce yourself

My name is Ossi Weiner, I'm 63 years old and living in Munich, Germany. Already as a teenager I have been an enthusiastic chess player, winning more than a dozen tournaments and playing many years in the German Bundesliga for the Bayern München chess team.

2- How did you get involved in computer chess?

I became involved in computer chess in the year 1978, when I started writing articles about the first chess computers entering the German market.

3- How did you get in touch with Mephisto / Hegener & Glaser?

I met Manfred Hegener the first time in 1980, when I was writing an article for the German SPIEGEL magazine and at the same time also working on my first book about chess computers.

4- How did you get to know Richard Lang?

The first time I met Richard Lang was at the world championship 1984 in Glasgow. A few months later we met again and convinced Richard to work for Hegener & Glaser, the producers of the famous Mephisto chess computers.

5- You did some books for the World Championships of the computers of Richard Lang, was that hard work?

At that time we didn't have PCs available, so my opening books had to be written by hand on large spreadsheets.

As you probably know I did much more than just the openings, of course. Richard and me closely cooperated in order to improve the strategic parameters of the program. I had the idea to define different pawn structures and combine them with fitting game plans. I believe that was quite a progressive concept at that point in time, and so it has strongly determined the successful playing style of Richard’s chess programs.

6- I believe you where good friend with Richard Lang?

Yes, that's true, we always had a very good relation. Over the years we have spent quite a lot of time together, not only in England but also during many chess computer tournaments around the world.

7- Do you know if King Richard may have a comeback with a new chess program for Millennium or for PC ?

Well, Richard is now over 60 years old, under this aspect I’m not sure if he will be interested to start once again from scratch.

8- You were taking part in the “golden age” of computer chess, as they called it, how was it?

The absolute highlight of my professional career was the famous victory of ChessGenius against Garry Kasparov on August 31, 1994 in London (on a Pentium 90 PC). That was a most exciting moment, which I will never forget in my life.

9- From Vancouver you where out of the Richard Lang team as book author, did you have no more time for that?

That's not correct, our successful cooperation continued until Richard's last world championship participation in 1995.

10- At one point you did leave Mephisto / Hegener & Glaser, why?

Already in November 1983 I founded my own company HCC in Munich. In parallel I continued working for H & G until 1994, supporting then with the development of various new Mephisto chess computers. And by the way, I was responsible for winning a few computer chess world championship titles for the company.

11- When you did get involved with Millennium ?

After H & G was taken over by Saitek, Manfred Hegener and me decided to join our forces. We became partners and the company HCC was soon renamed in MILLENNIUM 2000 GmbH.

12- What is your job or role inside Millennium?

As already mentioned I founded the company in 1983 and acted as a managing director until 2014, when I decided to retire for private reasons. Also after that I'm still a shareholder of the company and active as a consultant (mainly for developing new chess computers).

13- For years you made cheap and not so strong chess computers, why?

In the mid-90s we realized that there is a huge market for inexpensive chess computers. In the following 20 years we sold round about 3.5 million pieces of Millennium chess computers all over Europe – quite a successful business indeed.

14- When did Millennium decide to make a stronger chess computer?

In 1995 we received a lot of inquiries from our customers and dealers for stronger machines, and finally we decided to give it a try and to develop the new ChessGenius computer.

15- I assume that the sales did go well, and then you released the ChessGenius Pro, was this a logical choice?

Yes, that's true. We were really surprised about the huge success of our ChessGenius, and so going one step further was quite a logical decision.

16- How important is it for Millennium to have some testers on board? Are their comments useful for Millennium?

We are receiving a lot of feedback from our testers as well as from Internet forums, and as a matter of fact we take such comments very serious.

17- How important are test games for a new product?

Test games can sometimes be important for the purpose of analysing potential weaknesses and trying to find improvements.

18- When did Millennium decide to make your latest product the ChessGenius Exclusive?

Again we had a lot of inquiries from important customers for a higher quality product, which brought us to this decision in 2016.

19- Was it a risk to build a more expensive chess computer like this one?

The development costs for such a sophisticated product are really very high, as you can imagine. But now we are happy that this important business decision has been made.

20- Are you satisfied with the new Millennium product?

For me the new ChessGenius Exclusive is like "my baby", and as a matter of fact I'm very proud about this creation.

21- Can we expect more from Millennium in the future??

All decisions must be made by the Millennium management, of course. If our products continue to become very successful on the market, then I see no reason why we shouldn't go on working into this direction.

22- Do you think there is still a market for chess computers?

Yes, of course! There will always be serious chess players, who prefer to play on a real chess board with real chess pieces, instead of a mobile phone or computer screen.

------------------------------

Hans, let me thank you for this interview and for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts with your readers.

I hope u all enjoyed this Interview

Kr,Hans

Dear Ossi,

I was delighted to read your story and to learn so much about the foundation of the Millennium company and your relationship with Hegener.

We must thank Hans to have brought you to our forum.

Just one question: do you plan to have other programmers out of Richard Lang in a near future?

Lang is for sure the best and the most famous programmer by his consecutive victories in the World Championship Tournaments, still others deserve to be selected and would be exciting for our community.

Best regards,

Maurice

Hi Hans,

What could be the future developments of millenium in term of programs embedded in their Exclusive platform?

Best,

Maurice

Hello Maurice,

Well there is a update coming for owners of the Millennium Exclusive ,When ? Q1 2018

So people have to be little patient ,but it is worth the waiting i can tell u

I think ore am sure many people in the chess computer community will enjoy this update

Kr,Hans

IMO With the Pgn tool working, it should be possible to connect the exclusive with the pc via normal USB cable and use it as an I/O unit for the pc, e.g. For all Chess GUIs that use UCI i could imagine a MCGE uci engine that is doing nothing but bringing the moves from the MCGE into the GUI so that one could use the MCGE in almost ALL UCI capable chess programs as I/O device.

All the dummy MCGE UCI engine does would be to go into analysis mode and wait for the moves Beeing input and bring the moves from the pc into the chess board while the display of MCGE either shows computation information or only the moves Beeing made or operates as chesss clock.

IMO With the Pgn tool working, it should be possible to connect the exclusive with the pc via normal USB cable and use it as an I/O unit for the pc, e.g. For all Chess GUIs that use UCI i could imagine a MCGE uci engine that is doing nothing but bringing the moves from the MCGE into the GUI so that one could use the MCGE in almost ALL UCI capable chess programs as I/O device.

All the dummy MCGE UCI engine does would be to go into analysis mode and wait for the moves Beeing input and bring the moves from the pc into the chess board while the display of MCGE either shows computation information or only the moves Beeing made or operates as chesss clock.

I am wondering if it is possible to use the Gavon of Josu with the MCGE.

Dave, did you try the Gavon?

A priori, nothing is missing in the Gavon to succeed to exchange with the MCGE.

I am sure that Josu tried with success to connect his Gavon to some chess boards, but to the MCGE?

Maurice

An excellent idea, Maurice. When I return home (extended trip) I will attempt to connect the Gavon to the MCGE. If it doesn't work maybe we can convince Josu to work his programming magic and issue a software update to Gavon owners.

Dave

How strong is the Millennium chess Genius exclusive ?

If we compare it e.g. with results of old pc chess software:

Pentium 90:

Millennium Chess Genius 48 MHz 2077 ELO

Millennium Chess Genius pro 120 MHz 2180 ELO

Wchess 1.06 2236 ELO

Fritz3 2246 ELO

Chess Genius 3 IPhone 4 800 MHz 2261 ELO (I do believe it is 4s because 4 had 1000 MHz while 4s had 2x 800 MHz )

Genius 3 2312 ELO

Mchess Pro6 2315 ELO

Hiarcs 6 2337 ELO

ChessTiger 11.8 2387 ELO

I do not have a Pentium 90.

But I do have a Pentium 133 MHz .

So it should be possible to find out about the strength of millennium chess Genius exclusive by running it against the above opponents.

Hello Thorsten,

Yes indeed ,i think some interesting matches to look forward to , Personal i think the CGE will have +-2400 elo

I did Test it only with the Hiarcs Book>Human ,and the results where not bad i would say

Hope to see the games

Have fun

Kr,Hans

Beautiful computer... I like it, but the price seems strange:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Millennium- ... SwUnFZtx~C

Is this seller thinking that he is selling a special model?

I was reassured finding it at a "normal" price:

https://www.chesshouse.com/products/mil ... -exclusive

Crazy things happen on eBay...

Maurice

And another seller following the same way:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Millennium- ... SwiOBZn~fD

Maurice

Hello Maurice ,

Indeed a "special" Model

Well as Tester i have now some unique never released prototypes

For example a Chess Genius Pro in Chess Genius Housing with a ARM CPU on 100Mhz and a other book inside then the released version

120Mhz ,other Housing ,other Book ,more Hash that is special i think

Kr,Hans

Hello Maurice ,

Indeed a "special" Model

Well as Tester i have now some unique never released prototypes

For example a Chess Genius Pro in Chess Genius Housing with a ARM CPU on 100Mhz and a other book inside then the released version

120Mhz ,other Housing ,other Book ,more Hash that is special i think

Kr,Hans
Hi Hans,

It does not seem to me that these 2 computers are prototypes... at least the 2 sellers are not claiming that there are special

... but maybe , I missed something in the description of these computers...

Maurice

Hello All,

Very soon i will get the new Update from Millennium ,with the new program as well and more ....

Excited to see it play.... i know what program it is but i can not tell u people that unfortunately at this moment

I will Test it first in many games +- 100 games vs different opponents in active chess ,means 30 sec a move

After that there will be some Tournament games as well

Results will be placed here and games when i am allowed by Millennium

Kr,Hans

Hello ,

I can now announce that the new program in the Chess Genius Exclusive will be version 2.61.014 from Johan de Koning ,better known as The King

I was in user Tournament in Kaufbeuren this weekend and have with me the first Prototype of the King

Of the short time to get the program ready it is not complete finished

It did run on the Millennium CGE but did not ponder ,that will be of course when it is released ,also endgame will be more improved as well

This King 2.61 is the same as Chess Master 6000

I think it will be released for the Chinese new year

It have the Aegon Book on board and a new Master Book of Mark Uniacke Hiarcs

Maybe in further more books could be available like the Book of 2.2 ,but that is not sure

This CGE King 2.61 runs 11 a 12 x faster then the Tasc R30 !

The CGE King 2.61 did play 2 games against the winner of the A Group in Kaufbeuren the Phoenix Reflection Vancouver running at 150Mhz

CGE King was only allowed to play with 150MHz also ,but it did not Ponder ! like the Reflection Vancouver

I state that this was only a demo match of 2 games . The CGE King did win with 1.5-0.5 points

Testing with King 2.61 with full Ponder will state the elo then +-

Also i can inform u that CGE Richard Lang Program will get improved updates and more

Here i can not say what on this time .When i am allowed i will let u people know

Kr ,Hans

'

Hello ,

I can now announce that the new program in the Chess Genius Exclusive will be version 2.61.014 from Johan de Koning ,better known as The King

I was in user Tournament in Kaufbeuren this weekend and have with me the first Prototype of the King

Of the short time to get the program ready it is not complete finished

It did run on the Millennium CGE but did not ponder ,that will be of course when it is released ,also endgame will be more improved as well

This King 2.61 is the same as Chess Master 6000

I think it will be released for the Chinese new year

It have the Aegon Book on board and a new Master Book of Mark Uniacke Hiarcs

Maybe in further more books could be available like the Book of 2.2 ,but that is not sure

This CGE King 2.61 runs 11 a 12 x faster then the Tasc R30 !

The CGE King 2.61 did play 2 games against the winner of the A Group in Kaufbeuren the Phoenix Reflection Vancouver running at 150Mhz

CGE King was only allowed to play with 150MHz also ,but it did not Ponder ! like the Reflection Vancouver

I state that this was only a demo match of 2 games . The CGE King did win with 1.5-0.5 points

Testing with King 2.61 with full Ponder will state the elo then +-

Also i can inform u that CGE Richard Lang Program will get improved updates and more

Here i can not say what on this time .When i am allowed i will let u people know

Kr ,Hans

That is good news.

I am looking forward to this.

Wo
Also i can inform u that CGE Richard Lang Program will get improved updates and more

Interesting news: King 2.61 and King Richard for the CGE...

When will be the tournament playing CGE King 2.61 against CGE improved Lang?

Who will be the winner?

A guess?

In the Shakespearean tradition, King Richard would give his Kingdom for a horse...

Maurice

Hello ,

Here the games that are played vs the Kaufbeuren D.A.C.H tournament winner ,the Reflection Vancouver 150MHz

Note King 2.61 did not Ponder and played on 150Mhz only

[Event "30 min / Partie"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.10.29"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Reflection Vancouver, Phoenix"]
[Black "King X 150 Mhz, Millenium"]

[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C65"]
[Annotator "Pillen,Markus"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "2017.10.31"]
[SourceDate "2017.10.31"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.10.31"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. d4 Bb6 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4
d6 9. a4 a5 10. Re1 {Buchende} exd4 {Buchende} 11. Nxd4 Nxd4 12. cxd4 c6 13.
Bf1 d5 14. e5 g5 15. Bg3 Ne4 16. Nc3 Bf5 17. Rc1 Re8 18. Kh1 Qd7 19. Be2 Kg7
20. Bh5 Nxg3+ 21. fxg3 Rf8 22. g4 Bh7 23. Rf1 Qe7 24. Ne2 f6 25. Qb3 Ra6 26.
Qg3 Be4 27. Rf2 fxe5 28. Rxf8 Qxf8 29. Qxe5+ Qf6 30. Qxf6+ Kxf6 31. Rf1+ Ke6
32. Bf7+ Kd7 33. Bh5 Bd3 34. Rf7+ Ke6 35. Rf2 Bc4 36. Bg6 Bxe2 37. Rxe2+ Kf6
38. Bd3 Ra8 39. Rf2+ Kg7 40. Re2 Bxd4 41. Re7+ Kf6 42. Re2 c5 43. g3 c4 44. Bh7
Be5 45. Bf5 Ra6 46. Rd2 d4 47. Bd7 Ra8 48. Kg2 d3 49. Bb5 Rc8 50. h4 Bd4 51.
Bd7 Rc7 52. Bf5 Re7 53. Kf1 Re3 54. Rh2 Rxg3 55. hxg5+ hxg5 56. Ke1 Rg1+ 57.
Kd2 0-1

[Event "30 min/Partie"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.10.29"]
[Round "2"]
[White "King X 150 Mhz, Millenium"]
[Black "Reflection Vancouver, Phoenix"]

[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C36"]
[Annotator "Pillen,Markus"]
[PlyCount "138"]
[EventDate "2017.10.31"]
[SourceDate "2017.10.31"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.10.31"]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 d5 4. exd5 Nf6 5. c4 c6 {Buchende} 6. Nc3 cxd5 7. d4
{Buchende} Bd6 8. Ne5 Nc6 9. Bxf4 O-O 10. cxd5 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Bxe5 12. Bxe5 Re8
13. Qd4 Qd6 14. O-O-O Qxe5 15. Bb5 Qxd4 16. Rxd4 Bd7 17. Bxd7 Nxd7 18. d6 Re6
19. Rhd1 Rc8 20. Kb1 Rc6 21. g4 h6 22. h4 Kf8 23. Ne4 Rg6 24. Ng3 Re6 25. Ra4
a6 26. Rad4 Re3 27. Nf5 Re2 28. Rc1 Rxc1+ 29. Kxc1 b5 30. Rd3 Re1+ 31. Kd2 Re8
32. Re3 Rd8 33. g5 g6 34. Nxh6 Nc5 35. Ng4 Rxd6+ 36. Kc3 Na4+ 37. Kc2 Rc6+ 38.
Kb1 Nb6 39. Nf6 Re6 40. Rxe6 fxe6 41. Kc2 Ke7 42. Kd3 Nd7 43. Nxd7 Kxd7 44. Kd4
Kd6 45. b4 e5+ 46. Ke4 Ke6 47. a3 Kd6 48. Kf3 Kd5 49. Kg4 e4 50. h5 gxh5+ 51.
Kxh5 e3 52. g6 e2 53. g7 e1=Q 54. g8=Q+ Qe6 55. Qd8+ Kc4 56. Qa5 Qf5+ 57. Kh4
Qg6 58. Qc7+ Kb3 59. Qa5 Kb2 60. a4 Qe4+ 61. Kg3 Kb3 62. axb5 Qe5+ 63. Kh3 axb5
64. Qa8 Kxb4 65. Qa2 Qe3+ 66. Kg4 Qd3 67. Kg5 Qd8+ 68. Kf4 Qc7+ 69. Kg5 Qe5+
1/2-1/2

Hello,

Thank you for keeping us informed. I have some friends who will be delighted with this information.

It's great that Millenium keeps improving ChessGenius Exclusive.

Best regards,

Berger

Hello Berger ,

Yes and there is more to come....

Kr,Hans

Hello Hans,

Any indication on the strength of the King 2.61 in the MCGE Unit.

A faster replacement unit with bluetooth facility would be good.

Woodpusher.

Hello Woodpusher

I can not give test results now ,as u can understand

But it is stronger then CGE Lang

and for now the first Prototype do not ponder as well

Soon i will get a unit what will Ponder

Kr,Hans

I can hardly wait Hans, we have waited years for some competition in this sector.

The CGE has a lot of shortcomings in the endgame and it would be nice if some of that

was put back as it was included in the Genius 68030.

Exciting times indeed and we still don't know what DGT is going to offer.

Woodpusher.

Hello Woodpusher ,

Well regarding to your "asking"regarding the endgame of CGE Lang

Maybe the Santa will be for fill your wish-list....

Kr,Hans

Thank You Hans,

That is excellent news indeed.

Woodpusher.

There are many new things planned concerning the machine for 2018.

Guess this will be a very interesting computerchess year.

Hello Thorsten,

Yes indeed many promising things are to come regarding the CGE King

Still behind the screens ,hard to work with bunch of things regarding King and future !

Kr,Hans

I also find it very good that Richard Lang continues programming on this CGE engine,

Knowledge as in the old 68000 version is the way to go in the “C” version.

A very clever move IMO.

Hello, Thorsten,

I also like it very much that Richard Lang after so long time really put on hand again and further developed the ChessGenius engine. I would hardly have thought this possible.

Best Regards

Egbert

Hello Egbert,

Yes yesterday we did get the new version C22 Lang program as update ,some more things are improved ...

What can be good for the playing strength , this should be tested of course

But i think with these improvements it will be only good is mine opinion

Yes the "old "Fox Richard is still working on it .who have thought that ? well i did know it from first hand

But as we know Ossi Weiner and Richard Lang go way back and are good friends as well .

Regarding to the King 2.61xxx is in basic CM 6000 indeed , but here Johan did also work on improvements >still is

I can say for now that the endgame is way better as by R30 2.5 version

Of course i can not reveal all .But that u can understand i suppose

When it comes out we have to wait ,but i think better a good and final product at once ,then adjustments afterwards

Kr,Hans

Hello, Hans,

Thank you for your opinion. Yes, it would be simply too nice if besides the old pioneers like Richard Lang and Johan de Koning, other luminaries of the old chess computer times, such as Dave Kittinger, Thomas Nitsche & Söhne, Julio Kaplan, etc. could be reactivated: -)

With the new improved The King Engine we can look forward to a very powerful engine, which also has a game style that inspires the human eye; -)

Best regards

Egbert

I agree completely.

Richard Lang was involved from the beginning of the chess computer adventure until now and associated with the mot famous dedicated chess computers. Remember Psion, CXG, La Regence, L'Empereur, WM Mephisto World Chess Champions and... the Mephisto Wundermaschine Genius 2 (I certainly omit a lot of others).

So much successful machines. Many years ago, I was buying the Genius application for my IPhone and I was surprised to discover that Lang was still programming and working on his app.

kr,

Maurice

Yes, Thats all very cool. And the testing continues.

Better castling. Playing styles. Opening books.

More knowledge.

Let’s have fun.

Soon we can show pgn of the games, or ?!

Hello Thorsten,

Well to shown games is a bit to soon i think ,because this is not the end version from King 2.61xx

But yes also again testing with the new updates with CGE Lang is enjoying

I am now doing a Active Match between the the to CGE brothers

It is a closed match i can tell u ,first impression of the update of Lang Program is good in mine eyes

But we should get a update again from the King Program soon i think

But is very nice that King Richard did work again on the Program ,said already a step forward is mine fist impression

Kr,Hans

Hello, Hans,

ChessGenius Exclusive uses the Cortex M7 from ARM. According to my information, the processor's performance is very comparable to that of the Pentium II 133 MHz. Only in the area of the RAM for the hashtables the device with 256 KB is somewhat limited by the hardware. Do you know if Millenium has any plans to repair this?

best regards

Egbert

Hello Egbert,

Repair this .., well for now Millennium will still go by the 256 KB as with the King 2.61x Version

Maybe next time they will take the CPU with more MB ,i am pretty sure of that

Well nice things are on the roll for future...

Kr,Hans

Hello Hans,

yes, it is very gratifying how Millenium pushes new developments. The King 2.61xx will surely inspire and weaken many chess computer enthusiasts who couldn't afford a TASC 30 at that time. One could then almost call the device TASC 300: -) This will certainly not be the end of the developments and we can look forward to the future!

best regards

Egbert

Good morning, everyone,

so, now I have finally ordered the ChessGenius Exclusive. Actually I wanted to buy the device only with the release of the King Engine, but the ChessGenius Engine's program adaptations by King Richard persuaded me to act faster. In March I am planning a tournament match between the new ChessGenius Engine and the Revelation II Hiarcs 14.1 with 1% speed. Even though I am convinced that it will not be enough to keep the powerful engine of Mark Uniacke in check, the competition will certainly be much more exciting than it was with the ChessGenius Pro. The latter was still mercilessly lost here.

Kind regards

Egbert

Hello Egbert ,

Congrats a good buy i think ,well u could not resist the updated Lang

Well the improvements do work , do not expect that it not make mistakes

Funny is that Richard calls the Program Magic Chess

At this moment the Lang is +- equal to the King 2.61x !

But i think we get at least 2 updates from the King before release

Hiarcs 1% is win no match in active chess ,so 30 sec a move vs both CG

But in 40/120 then i think Hiarcs will come on top

I have not tested that vs Hiarcs with the CG Lang

King have not yet tournament levels but will be there next update when it is good

Kr,Hans

Hello, Hans,

Thank you very much, I think there will be exciting competitions soon: -)

Kind regards

Egbert

Hello everyone,

now I also belong to the circle of lucky owners of a ChessGenius Exclusive.

Below are some personal first impressions, of course subjective and not with the claim to be able to judge it better than others, or even to want to see my preferences as a reference.

- The packaging of the device is visually appealing and functional, as it is very stable.

- The operating instructions are similar to the Mephistos of that time, with Richard Lang as author of the program, very structured and written in an understandable way.

- The board is absolutely flat and I really like it. The LED's of the board are bright, but this really suits my taste. Unlike other reports, I do not find the audio signals disturbing. The board represents a sensible gradation to my Revelation II board in terms of size and quality. The figures are good, of course not to compare with the Ebony figures of Revelation II. This is already prohibited due to the striking price difference. The automatic character recognition works perfectly. The fact that grinding the figures does not work is certainly a flaw for some people, but it doesn't matter to me personally.

- Although the control unit has been visually shaded over time, the quality and design of the control unit is slightly different. Functionally, however, the control unit is very praiseworthy. The menu navigation is absolutely intuitive and reminds of the operation of the Mephisto Almeria and its successors. Very well implemented! Although the operating instructions have been really successful, they are hardly needed.

- An update of the ChessGenius Engine will be available shortly via download. I really don't expect a significant performance leap, if there will be any improvement at all. But who would have expected King Richard to pull himself up again and try to change/improve the engine? I personally think it's great and I'm grateful for it.

- It is fun to play with the device. However, I will not deal with the "old" ChessGenius Engine any more, my need for this was covered sufficiently with the ChessGenius Pro. With the upcoming update, the cards will be reshuffled and I will try to reach for the stars with the new engine and compete against Revelation II, Hiarc's 14.1, % Speed.

- In the middle of the year a further engine with own and qualitatively more high-quality control panel is offered, at a fair price of 199, - € from my point of view. I think I don't lean too far out of the window when I predict that many chess computer freaks, on an international level, are looking forward to the King Engine 2.6xxx by Johan de Konig. The very active and space-saving style of the game was already well known in the past (TASC 30/40). On the hardware of the CGE and the program improvements, however, the whole thing is now on a much higher level.

- The two tools (Update & PGN) are very easy to install and use. The download possibility of the books is well and simply implemented.

- The price-performance ratio is, in my opinion, appropriate, and it will be difficult to blame the manufacturer for wanting to earn money. On the other hand, about 3.500 € for the Revelation II were also appropriate for me. An objective discussion of prices is practically impossible in this area and should not be "instigated".

- The usability of the overall concept is outstanding. Even though I still prefer a chess board with an integrated control panel. It goes without saying that this is obviously accompanied by restrictions on flexibility.

- The Connectivity module should be released in the middle of the year. This could possibly increase the target group of the device considerably.

Conclusion from my point of view:

Very interesting and good device, at a fair price. Ideal for strong self-players and chess computer comparisons in the high-end area. The USB interface provides a certain amount of security for the future and the upcoming connectivity module could provide significantly more combination possibilities with the Millennium Board in the future, although I have to object that this is not necessarily my world so far.

Regardless of that device is, in my view, clearly recommendable.

salutation

Egbert

Hello All,

I can tell u that i received today the final software version of the Chess Genius 23.1

When it is good it will be available on the Millennium server in a couple of days

Kr,Hans