Saitek CAPELLA User Manual
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ENGLISH
6
WHITE
8
BLACK
SETUP
7
NON
AUTO
INFO
6
CHECK
END
4
5
4
3
2
1
ABCDEFGH
GO
STOP
COLOR
NEW
GAME
LEVEL
SOUND
SETUP
NON
AUTO
INFO
TAKE
BACK
PLAY
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1
2
KEYS, LIGHT AND FEATURES KEYS
KEYS
PLAY Execute next move. Pressing this key
when it is your turn causes the computer
to play the next move for you, pressing it
when the computer is thinking interrupts
the thought process.
NEW GAME Press to reset to the start position for a
new game.
LEVEL Press to select level of skill.
STOP Press to turn off the computer. The
current position is saved in memory.
GO Press to switch the computer on. Play is
resumed at the point where the STOP
key was pressed.
TAKE BACK Press to take back last move. Up to 34
individual moves can be retracted.
NON AUTO Used to enter a sequence of moves.
SET UP Enter set up mode to change or enter
positions.
INFO Press to get advice from the computer
and evaluate current board position.
COLOR Used to select color of piece being
verified or set up.
SOUND Press to turn beep on or off.
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LIGHTS
WHITE/BLACK Side to move. When the computer is
thinking the appropriate color lamp
flashes.
CHECK King in check.
END End of game.
SET UP A position is being entered or modified.
NON AUTO The computer acts as a referee and
advisor.
INFO A suggestion is given.
FEATURES
1. Piece keys Use to choose promoted pieces, verify
board position and set up new positions.
2. Sensor chessboard each square has a sensor that
registers piece movement.
3. ACL switch (in base of set).
4. Board lamps the computer uses these lights to
indicate game moves, take back moves, or show you
which move it is considering. They are also used to
verify the board position, to display the level of skill
and to display evaluation of board position.
5. Battery compartment (in base of set).
6. Socket for mains adapter.
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1. INTRODUCTION
Your chess computer is a unique chess par tner. Its
strong program gives you a great game whether you are a
beginner or just want to improve your skill.
1.1 Learning chess the easy way
Your chess computer lets you learn chess and practice
the easy way. As you learn to play better chess, take on
the challenge of higher and higher levels of chess.
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The Chess Rules
Remember, your chess computer knows the rules of
the game - including castling, en passant and stale-
mate. Sometimes it may appear to be playing irregu-
larly when in fact it is obeying the chess rules. In
case you are not very familiar with the game, we
have included a brief overview of the rules (Rules of
Chess). Additional information may be found in your
local library, which is sure to have several books on
the subject.
2. GETTING STARTED
Your chess computer uses advanced single-chip
microcomputer technology and gives you up to 60 hours
of play on 4 AA/R6/AM3 alkaline batteries. Open the
battery compartment and insert the batteries as shown in
fig. 1.
Setup the chess pieces in the opening position and
press GO. The computer is now ready to play a game
against you. If it fails to react properly- sometimes static
discharge causes it to “lock up” - use a pin or other
pointed object to activate ACL switch located in the base
of the set. This clears the memory and resets the computer.
2.1 How to move your pieces
To make a move first press down on the piece you wish
to move. You will hear a short beep. Place the piece on its
destination square and press down again. You will hear a
second beep and the computer begins to compute its
reply.
2.2 How the computer moves
The computer indicates its own moves by sounding a
double beep and turning on two lights on the side of the
chessboard. These lights indicate the horizontal row and
vertical column of the piece the computer wishes to move.
Press this piece down on its square. The computer now
shows you where the piece must go. Move the piece to
the square indicated and press down to complete the
move.
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The computer wants to move the king’s pawn from e7 to
e5. Press it down on e7
It wants to move it to e5. Place it there and press down
2.3 Special moves
When capturing you only have to key in the move of
the capturing piece.
When castling, first move the king. The computer will
remind you to move the rook.
When you promote a pawn the computer will want to
know which piece you choose. Press a piece key (bottom
row) to tell it which piece you want. When the computer
promotes you must press the piece keys to find out which
piece it has chosen.
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In the above position promoting a pawn to a Queen
would be fatal - Black can deliver immediate mate on a6!
So White should promote the pawn to a knight, forking the
black king and queen. This is how to do it: press the pawn
down, move it to the 8th rank, press it down there and
replace it with a knight. Press the Knight key to tell the
computer what you have chosen.
2.4 Capturing “en passant”
Many beginners are not familiar with this rule (which
was introduced into chess in the 15th century). Capturing
“en passant” is when a pawn is on the 5th rank. If an
enemy pawn crosses the 5th rank (because of its ability to
move 2 squares on its first move) then the pawn may act
as if the enemy pawn had only moved one square and
capture it en passant. This can only be done on the very
next move.
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In the above position Black has just tried to avoid the
capture of his pawn by advancing it two squares from e7
to e5
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White can capture the pawn en passant by moving his
pawn from f5 to e6. The computer will always remind you
to remove the captured pawn from the board
2.5 Illegal moves
If you attempt to make a move that is not permitted by
the rules then the computer will refuse to accept it. You
will hear an error beep (high-low) and the board lights will
stay on, showing you where the piece you are trying to
move came from. You may place it on a legal square or
on the original square and move another piece. You will
also hear the error beep if you do not execute a computer
move correctly, or if you press an improper panel key.
2.6 Check, Mate, and Draw
When the computer puts your king in check the
CHECK light will go on. If a game ends in checkmate the
END light will go on as well. The END light alone means
that the game is a draw.
2.7 Taking back moves
To take back a move simply press TAKE BACK when it
is your turn to play. The computer will help you to retract
moves by showing you which pieces were moved and
where they came from. You can take back up to 34 individual moves (17 for each side).
2.8 Changing sides
If at anytime during a game you wish to change sides
with the computer you may do so by pressing PLAY
instead of making your move. The computer will make the
next move for you and you can go on playing for the other
side. You can change sides as often as you like. You can
even press PLAY after every move and make the com-
puter play the entire game against itself.
Playing a game with the black pieces
If you want to play a game with the black pieces, first
set these up at the bottom of the board (the side
nearest to you). Now press NEW GAME, COLOR
and PLAY. The computer will make the first move for
White, moving down from the top of the board.
2.9 New game
To start a new game press NEW GAME and set up the
pieces in the starting position.
2.10 Game memory
You can interrupt a game at any stage (even when the
computer is thinking) simply by pressing STOP. Play is
interrupted and all lights are turned off to conserve battery
power. The computer will “remember” the position for up
to 24 months and be ready to resume play when you turn
it on again by pressing GO. The level and all other parameters will remain unchanged.
3. LEVELS OF SKILL
Your chess computer has a total of 64 skill levels which
include levels for casual play, tour naments, speed chess,
analysis and problem solving. Remember, that just like a
human being the computer becomes stronger when it has
more time to think about its moves.
Any level may be changed at the beginning or at any
time during a game.
How to change levels
When you press LEVEL the lights on the side panel
will display the level currently set. Keep pressing
LEVEL until the level you want is displayed. Press
COLOR to jump 8 levels at a time. For example if
you are in level A3, press LEVEL, then COLOR, to
jump to B3.
3.1 Levels for casual play
These times are averaged over a large number of
moves. In the opening and the endgame, the computer
tends to play faster, but in tactically complicated
middlegame positions, may take considerably longer on
individual moves.
Casual Levels Average Time per move
A1 1 second/move
A2 2 seconds/move
A3 3 seconds/move
A4 5 seconds/move
A5 10 seconds/move
A6 15 seconds/move
A7 20 seconds/move
A8 30 seconds/move
B1 45 seconds/move
B2 60 seconds/move
B3 90 seconds/move
B4 2 minutes/move
B5 3 minutes/move
B6 5 minutes/move
B7 10 minutes/move
B8 Infinite - will search until interrupted
3.2 T ournament levels
On these levels, the computer plays a certain number
of moves in a given amount of time, attempting to meet
the so-called “time controls” at specific points in the
game. This is exactly what happens in human tournaments. At the time control, the arbiter checks to see
whether both players have completed the required number of moves. If one of them hasn’t, that player loses the
game.
Tournament levels
C1 40 moves in 90 minutes
C2 35 moves in 105 minutes
C3 40 moves in 105 minutes
C4 35 rnoves in 90 minutes
C5 40 moves in 120 minutes
C6 45 moves in 150 minutes
C7 50 moves in 120 minutes
C8 40 moves in 180 minutes
3.3 Sudden Death Levels
A tournament form that is rapidly gaining popularity is
one which requires each player to make all his moves in a
certain amount of time, regardless of the number of
moves in a game. If one side runs out of time without
checkmating the opponent, that side loses the game.
These tournaments are sometimes referred to as a sudden death. The game may be terminated if it is a technical
draw (e.g. insufficient material to mate ) or if both players
agree to a draw.
ENGLISH
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