PART 1 • How to beat your chess computer
So there are ways to beat your chess computer at its full strength (these
are just a few). If all you want to do is beat your chess engine, have at it.
But I'm going to move on now and talk about ways to use your program's
engine as an effective sparring partner to help you improve your own
chess
WHEN IT COMES TO COMPUTER CHESS,
“HANDICAP” IS NOT A NASTY WORD
Since your chess engine will likely crush you like a bug on a windshield
when you set it to full strength or even limit its thinking time to a second
or two, how can you use it as a sparring partner?
Any chess playing program worth its salt these days will give you at
least one mode (and usually more) in which you can get a competitive
game without you being smashed up by the machine. Different software
programs use different methods to accomplish this, and we'll look at a
few of the most common. The important thing for you to remember is that
there's no shame at all in playing against a chess engine at a reduced
strength level; in fact, you're foolishly wasting your time if you don't use
these levels.
Back in the day, when a 386 25MHz processor was a miracle of computer
science, you could set a casual time setting of, say, five seconds a move
and stand a reasonable chance of doing well against a chess program;
the engine would look only a move or two ahead during that time. They
were still tough for an average Joe or Jane to beat since they pretty much
saw everything out to that depth (you couldn't surprise 'em), but you at
least had a shot at winning. But those days are long gone; as we learned
earlier, most engines today do a relatively deep search in one second
or less.
When you're trying to get a competitive game with a chess engine without
being killed, the first thing to do is check your program's documentation:
the help files or a physical manual. While paper manuals are becoming
a rarity, many chess programs offer a manual as a .pdf or .doc file
somewhere on the disk; check the disk for a folder called “DOCS” or
“MANUAL”. When all else fails, the F1 key is still the universal computer
“S.O.S.” call; hitting it will usually bring up a help file. Check the help file
or manual for a section on “handicap” modes or reduced strength levels
offered by the software.
These easier play modes usually take one of a number of forms.
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