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Chess Computers

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The Regency Chess Company is proud to offer an outstanding line of chess computers, with a wide variety of models to fit a variety of needs. From our premiere Saitek talking trainer computer, to the Saitek Maestro digital model, to the Saitek travel chess set, The Regency Chess Company offers something for the chess enthusiasts whether at home or on the go. We offer only the finest Saitek brand chess products, as few others have been producing chess computers as long or as well as Saitek. While many other models are little more than glorified video games, Saitek computers uses real chess pieces on top of an actual chessboard with electronic sensors, to give the tactile feel of actually playing a real game of chess. The Regency Chess company stocks all of its chess computers in the UK, ensuring prompt delivery no matter where in Europe you are ordering from.

The Benefits of using a chess computer

The primary reason to employ a chess computer when teaching oneself to play chess is that human opponents may not always be readily available to sit down and play a game. And even when another person should happen to be available, they may not be nearly as good as you, or perhaps the opposite, with you outmatching them quite handily. Sitting down to play a game against a chess computer is like sitting down to play a mirror image of oneself, where you are always guaranteed to be challenged, but never badly outmatched. Not to speak of the fact that they can never get too tired to play.

Another benefit to using one is the vast array of information the computer is able to keep track of. The best example of this is its ability to store saved games in memory, so that players may come back and resume them at a later date. Another spectacular feature is the built in timer, so that players can get used to having to take their turns in a set amount of time. Getting into this habit is great practice for players aspiring to play competitively in tournaments, as this play style is common there.

Using a chess computer to learn chess

Saitek chess computers all come with 64 different playing levels, ensuring that novices and experts alike will have a wide selection of game modes to suit their level of expertise, or lack thereof. Starting with fun and casual modes that will teach the basics of how to play, such as which directions bishops may move, the Saitek chess computers present the information in an easy to understand format that new players will find rewarding and easy to comprehend. Next, players will move on to more advanced difficulties which will teach more in depth concepts such as the strengths and weaknesses of opening moves, the proper situations in which to castle, and the art of the checkmate. And finally, players will graduate to playing game modes that use special rules, such as blitz and tournament mode. These game modes will put players quick thinking and problem solving abilities to the ultimate test, and promote skills that are crucial for competitive tournament play.

How a chess computer can advance your chess playing

Playing a chess computer is quite different from playing a human opponent. Chess computers are able to play at a purely mathematical level, without letting emotions or other outside factors influence their decision making processes. They are also able to plan out their strategies several steps ahead of what most humans are capable of doing. Chess computers are also able to analyze your play style and offer tips and hints as to what you might consider changing to improve.

Another way a chess computer can advance your chess playing is the use of opening moves. In competitive chess, the first piece a player chooses to move can determine how the rest of the game plays out. Since chess is such an ancient game, experts have learned that some opening moves are stronger than others, and have been given official names. For example, starting with a "Spanish Game" opening to bring out the queen's pawn to the middle of the board, with the queen's knight behind it, and queen's bishop deep into enemy territory. This in turn will usually provoke a very specific response from black, called the "Sicilian Defense" in which the player brings out his king's side bishop's pawn in an attempt to wrest control of the middle of the board from white. These standard openings and responses are absolutely essential for players to identify if they wish to compete at high skill levels, because if countered in an improper way, they can quickly lead to a player's defeat. Chess computers also offer "take-backs" on moves, allowing players to go back and correct mistakes they may have made earlier in the match

A bit about ELO ratings

The ELO rating system is a metric used to measure the relative skill levels of participants in two-player games, such as chess. While many sports use a win-loss record to measure player or team progress, the ELO system assigns players an individual numeric value. One of the primary reasons behind this is that the standard win-loss method does not take into account the difficulty of opponents the player has faced. For example, in the win-loss model, there is no way to distinguish between a player who has eight wins and zero losses against easy opponents as opposed to someone who has the same record against the best players in the world.

To solve this problem, the ELO rating system uses a table system to estimate how many games a player is expected to win based on a comparison of his rating to the ratings of his opponents. If a player wins more games than he was expected to win, his rating would be adjusted upward. Similarly, if a player loses a game he is expected to win, his rating is adjusted downward.


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