Yesterday at a local second hand article store I found what I considered a treasure. Berried among heaps of donated second hand articles was a vintage 90s chess computer. For a whole $3.99 Canadian I managed to snag a perfectly working Fidelity Marauder Chess Challenger Model 6121.
Although the external packaging box was damaged the chess computer itself was in an immaculate condition. From the lack of any markings or even dust it looks like it was never used or even opened. The instruction manual was still crisp. I am betting that someone had this machine in their basement for years without ever using it.
After loading the chess marauder with 4 AA batteries and browsing through the user manual I played my first chess game. The Marauder has 8 playing levels with 2 variations between choosing the best move or a random move from a set of best moves. I quickly found that playing the Chess Marauder at level 8 was tedious. It just takes too long. After 20 minutes I had to start a new game at a lower level. Currently I am playing at level 5 and I am finding that the game is enjoyable with a reasonable wait between moves of a minute or two.
To enter moves you press down on the chess piece you want to move, make the move and again press and down on the chess piece in its final position. Each time you press down on the board with your chess piece the Marauder makes a beep accepting move co-ordinates. If your move is invalid you get a different beep signifying and error.
The best feature of this chess computer is that if you turn it off it will remember the game. I find myself making a move or two a day then simply turning it off until I am ready to play again.
Here are some of the facts about the Fidelity Marauder Chess Challenger Model 6121 I found on the internet and on the back of the box:
I found some more information on the Fidelity Marauder at the The Overtom Chess Computer Museum
| If you would like to purchase your own chess computer but are not interested in searching through second hand stores, I would like to suggest this low priced Excalibur ET404 Einstein Touch Chess |
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