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1995-10-13
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DYNAMO DRAUGHTS
-----------------
DEALERS FOR DYNAMO:- UK, USA, EUROPE, REST OF WORLD:-
PC SOLUTIONS, PO BOX 954, BOURNEMOUTH BH7 6YJ, ENGLAND
EMAIL : 100646.3501@compuserve.com
SPAIN, PORTUGAL, SOUTH AMERICA (Spanish language countries):-
Revista Internacional de Damas - Espana
Rio Guadalquivir, 4 - 30130 BENIEL (Murcia), Espana.
Telefono/Fax 968-600540 Internacional: 68-600540
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to DYNAMO DRAUGHTS! DYNAMO is what we call a WINDOS program
- it can run under DOS (and hence Win95, Win3.1,OS/2 etc) and yet
provides a simple an intuitive WINDOWS style interface for the
user.
The aim of this program is to introduce the CONTINENTAL variation
of draughts to the UK/USA, and hopefully get people interested in
this game. DRAUGHTS has always suffered in comparison with CHESS -
this is a great shame, as both the ENGLISH 8 by 8 and the
INTERNATIONAL 10 by 10 are very subtle and complex games
- indeed the 10x10 game aurguably offers more permutations than CHESS,
and is very highly regarded in Europe, with several hundred thousand
players. Please give the SHAREWARE version to your friends - it
is limited to 4 seconds maximum move time, and not as strong as
our PROFESSIONAL version, but you will need to be a good player
to beat it! In a telephone challenge match DYNAMO PRO drew against
the US POOL checkers champion - scoring 1 win,2 draws and 1 loss!
Note how powerful the sweeping kings are in the continental game
- the side that gets an early king usually has a decisive advantage.
One rule that throws beginners is the one that stipulates that you
MUST jump the maximum number of opponents, when given a choice.
This is necessary to enable the winning side to force some of the
endgames - you will get the idea when you are on the recieving end
of the computers shots! If you ever find yourself unable to make
a move, don't blame the program - you are probably trying to make
an illegal move! You can hit F1 to display all possible moves.
DYNAMO can also play the SPANISH and POOLvariants of draughts -
see below for details on these games. The ENGLISH version
of draughts is implemented in our BLITZ and SAGE programs - see our
adverts at the end of this document for details. We now also supply
special PROFESSIONAL editions of DYNAMO, SAGE and DAMA ITALIANA -
this can also play Portugese, Mini-damas and Brazilian variants -
again see the end of this document.
Installing DYNAMO DRAUGHTS on WINDOWS.
--------------------------------------
To install DYNAMO DRAUGHTS to run under windows, follow these steps:-
1) Run windows, and select the GAMES group.
2) Hold the ALT key down, and double-click the mouse at an empty
position where you want DYNAMO DRAUGHTS to appear.
3) The cursor will be in the DESCRIPTION box - type the name of the
program - ie. DYNAMO DRAUGHTS.
4) Now click the cursor on the COMMAND LINE box, and enter the path
for DYNAMO DRAUGHTS - ie. C:\DYNAMO\DYNAMO.EXE - or whatever
the .EXE file is called in the version you have. If in doubt, use
the BROWSE option.
5) Now click on the CHANGE ICON box - you will be asked to select an icon
from the Program Manager. Click OK on that, then enter the path
for DYNAMO DRAUGHTS - ie. C:\DYNAMO\DYNAMO.ICO or use browse again.
6) Click on OK, and you are ready to go!
COMMAND SUMMARY
---------------
Using DYNAMO with the mouse is easy - you can just click the LEFT
button on source (and if required destination) squares to make a move.
If the computer refuses to let you move, you have probably overlooked
something - remember if you can jump YOU MUST! Clicking the RIGHT MOUSE
button will make a pull-down menu appear. The TOOL-BOX button block
at the top right can be used to select a number of functions - when
you click the mouse on the button, a short help-text will appear.
BOTH left and right mouse buttons serve functions on these tool-keys.
If you prefer to use the keyboard, you can hit F9 to enable a cursor,
When playing, move your cursor by using the numbers around the '5' on
the numeric keypad and hit RETURN to select piece. Think of the keypad as
a compass, with the numbers around the central '5' steering you in a given
direction - ie. the '7' key moves you up-left. If the piece you select is
able to move in more than one direction, you will then need to select a
direction key (1,3,7,9). KING moves may require you to select a DESTINATION
square, and hit RETURN.
If you have a MOUSE you can simply click the left button on source and
destination squares. You can use the right mouse-button to get
pull-down menus. To abort the computers thinking, hit the ESC
key ONCE, or hit CTRL-F to force an early move.
Many of the functions below are also available with the mouse through
the TOOL-BOX..
ESC - Abort game, go back to main menu.
-,+ - Step forward/backward through game - use TAPE CONTROLS for
Step +/- 10 and Beginning/end functions.
F1 - Show this HELP file - use cursor/PgUp/PgDn, or mouse buttons.
F2 - Make me take your go - so that you swap sides with computer.
F3 - Auto-play. (Hit ESC to end)
F5 - Toggle Two-player/Setup mode on/off - Allows moves without comp reply.
F6 - Invert board, so that BLACK is at bottom.
F7 - Switch sound on/off.
F9 - Enable/Kill flashing cursor.
F10 - Show moves, ie. all of your movable pieces.
* - Show ordering information.
p - Change colour palettes.
n - Start a new game.
u - Undo a move. (For more navigation, use tape controls in TOOL-BOX)
. - Display board numbering.
l - Load a game file from disk - full version allows you to select
database name first, then browse through the games with
Cursor up/down/PgUp/PgDn. The current game number of the game at
the top of the screen is shown - when you hit LOAD (or RETURN)
that game is loaded. The database is stored in PDN text-format,
and can be altered with a text editor. Comments appear in {}
and the game must end with a "*".
The shareware version is limited to max 30 games in preset
databases DBASE0.PDN,DBASE1.PDN,DBASE2.PDN. - and it cannot
save games to the database.
CTRL-B - Toggles the Computers Best line of play THINK-DISPLAY on/off.
Also shows any comment text when best-line is off.
CTRL-I - Invert square colours.
CTRL-N - Toggle to algebraic CHESS notation, or back to numbers.
CTRL-K - Invert notation, ie. change A1 from bot left to top right.
The above 2 commands are useful because there are so many
different systems for numbering moves worldwide.
(NOTE you may need to select NEW-GAME for last option to
come into effect.)
CTRL-T - Set time-per-move control - shareware version just rotates
through options 1-4 secs, full version allows #secs/move entry.
CTRL-D - Toggle opening book on/off. The shareware version has a small
preset opening book of a few moves to give variety - the PRO
version allows user editing of the database, with large
opening books supplied.
EXTRA commands on the version of DYNAMO on SUPER GAMES PACK
s - Save current game to database. Enter a filename when prompted,
and game and comments is added to selected PDN file.
l - Load a game from database - allows user selection of database,
no size limits. see above..
o - Output game moves to screen or printer.
CTRL-J - Toggles display of full jump-moves on output-game.
CTRL-P - Print a board position. (PRO version)
CTRL-O - Output control codes to printer. (PRO version)
c - Change/Enter Game-comment text - Enter information for
Event, White, Black, Result code ( standard options
1-0,1/2-1/2,0-1,* fow win/draw/loss/no result)
CTRL-Y - Show statistics on current position.
y - Load an old-format DYNAMO game file.
z - SAVE an old-format DYNAMO game file.
The 2 commands above allow the user to swap info with
previous versions of DYNAMO.
POSITION EDIT commands..
x - Exchange side to play for EDIT. (use F2 to swap sides with comp)
& - (SHIFT-7) Clears the whole board. (or use TOOL-BOX)
e,k,w,b,W,B - Set current square to empty/killed/white/black Man/K.
To use the above commands, move the CURSOR to the square you want
to edit, and hit e/k/w/b/W/B. When you KILL a square it becomes
non-playable - ie. for novelty board shapes, etc. NOTE - when
you edit the board, you lose stored moves up to that point -
ie. the board becomes a new START POSITION.
EXTRA commands on DYNAMO PROFESSIONAL..
CTRL-L - Load and use user-edited opening book.
CTRL-X - Toggle problem-solve search mode on/off.
CTRL-E - Infinite search mode - search until CTRL-F hit.
/ - Advanced setting of internal engine parameters.
CTRL-P - Print current board position as diagram.
CTRL-O - Set printer control codes.
v - Quick-View current PDN database.
d - Search book-database for all lines that transpose
into the current position, and show the lines that match.
CTRL-V - Validate current book database.
i - Change IQ (Only used if TIME is zero) WARNING - very high IQ's
can take forever! Generally you should set a target response
time. This can be used to perform a fixed-ply depth search.
Z - Advanced auto-tournement mode - allows user to play one
set of parameters against another over a series of games,
giving a game result. This can help fine tune the strongest
parameters.
DYNAMO PRO also plays RUSSIAN, PORTUGESE, CANADIAN (12x12),
BRAZILIAN and MINI-DAMAS variants of draughts.
More advanced features are available on the PRO version - see you
DYNAMO PRO MANUAL if you are using that version.
DYNAMO can be customised for multiple languages by editing
the DYLANG1.TXT/DSLANG1.TXT file- copy this to DY/DSLANG2.TXT
for language # 2, etc. See the comments in this file for more info.
Similarly translations of this help file, named DYNAMO2.DOC, etc, can
be used to supply multi-language help.
The "STtoolboxtext" and "STtoolboxkeys" can be altered to
customise the functions used by the TOOL-BOX.
Be careful when changing the language files - only the
text in quotes should be altered, and some texts are
critical in length/content.
If you write ary useful translations, please EMAIL them to us below.
PLAYING THE GAME
----------------
+--------------------+ Black side, moving down..
|:: 1:: 2:: 3:: 4:: 5|
| 6:: 7:: 8:: 9::10::|
|::11::12::13::14::15|
|16::17::18::19::20::|
|::21::22::23::24::25|
|26::27::28::29::30::|
|::31::32::33::34::35|
|36::37::38::39::40::|
|::41::42::43::44::45|
|46::47::48::49::50::|
+--------------------+ White side, moving up.
INTERNATIONAL DRAUGHTS is traditionally played on the BLACK squares of a
10 by 10 board - DYNAMO can re-size the board, but for clarity let us
discuss the INTERNATIONAL game. The squares are numbered from 1 (top left)
to 50 (bot right), with black men on squares 1-20 and white on squares
31-50. Men can move diagonally forward 1 step onto empty squares, or
jump over and capture an adjacent opponent's piece IN ANY DIRECTION,
if there's a clear space immediately behind it - Note that men can
leap BACKWARDS, unlike the ENGLISH game. One VERY important rule -
IF YOU CAN JUMP, YOU MUST! If, after jumping, the same piece can make
futher leaps - IT MUST DO SO. Futhermore, if you have an option of
more than one series of jumps, YOU MUST TAKE THE OPTION(S) THAT
CAPTURES THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF PIECES!
When a man reaches the top row of the board, it becomes a KING.
In European draughts, Kings can sweep ANY distance along a diagonal,
rather like BISHOPS in chess. Futhermore they can leap an opponent,
land on ANY space beyond, and then make futher leaps - in a different
direction if necessary. You are still forced to make moves that jump
the MAXIMUM number of opponents! This is critical, since the
One final rule - a man is not crowned until the END of a multijump
sequence - ie. a man can leap into and then backwards out of the KING
ROW without being crowned - it is only crowned if it finally comes
to rest on the king row.
The best way to get to grips with the rules, and get the feel of
the game is to look at some actual play - you can try setting up
and replaying the following games on DYNAMO - either by entering the
position & moves yourself with the F5 keys or position edit functions,
or simply loading the game file - I have left given sample games on the
disk.
To understand the nature of 10x10 draughts, you need to look at the
nature of the pieces. Notice how powerful the kings are in the game
- as a very rough guide, you can say that your first king is worth 3 men,
although this can vary widely, depending on how your opponent is
positioned. For instance, if both sides have a king, subsequent kings are
worth a lot less. It is also important to note that even if one side
is reduced to only 1 king, the opponent will generally need 4 kings
to trap it and force a win - although sometime he can do it with
3. For this reason, it is generally considered important to get the
first king - then, unless you opponent is able to quickly recapture
it or break through himself, he will lose.
This consideration of kings gives us clues on how to play the opening
and mid-game with the men. Your prime objective is to prevent your
opponent breaking through for a king - however, since men can jump
backwards, this does liberate you from having to keep large forces
on the back rank - an advanced man can still prevent the enemy sneaking
around the back of him. On the other hand, it is not desirable to
push pieces to far forward too early - an isolated man that is too far
advanced can often be lost early on. As a rule of thumb, try to keep
your forces centralised in an effective block of pieces, rather than
broken up into scattered men - large blocks of pieces are more immune
to enemy traps and shots, and can be used to engineer your own shots.
The concept of traps and shots is very important in all the variants
of Draughts - the fact that you MUST jump, and jump the MOST, make
these powerful weapons. Even if your enemy doesn't walk directly into
your trap, you can often use a long-standing threat of a trap to
force your opponent into making weak moves.
Let us consider some real play - perhaps first we should look at
some shots - here are some I have encountered when playing DYNAMO
myself. They demonstrate the importance of tactics in this game.
(see sample database DBASE0.PDN to load/replay this game)
Me (white) vs Dynamo PRO version 6.3 (black, 5 seconds a move) Dec 1993
1. 32-28 17-21 2. 37-32 21-26 3. 41-37 19-23
4. 28-19 14-23 5. 33-28 13-19 6. 46-41 10-14
7. 34-30 8-13 8. 30-25 20-24 9. 39-33 2-8
10. 43-39 5-10 11. 49-43 12-17 12. 31-27 17-21
13. 39-34 ... forms diagram position below..
+------------------------------+
|::: x ::: ::: x ::: x ::: | x = Black men moving down.
| x ::: x ::: x ::: x ::: x :::|
|::: x ::: ::: x ::: x ::: x |
| x ::: ::: x ::: x ::: :::|
|::: x ::: ::: x ::: x ::: o |
| x ::: o ::: o ::: ::: :::|
|::: ::: o ::: o ::: o ::: o |
| o ::: o ::: o ::: ::: o :::|
|::: o ::: o ::: o ::: o ::: o |
| ::: o ::: o ::: ::: o :::| o = White men moving up.
+------------------------------+
Consider this position, with Black to move and win - Dynamo
suprised me with this shot!
13. ... 26-31!! 14. 37-17 11-31 15. 36-27 16-21
16. 27-16 18-22 17. 28-17 24-30 18. 35-24 19-46
19. 47-41 46-11 20. 38-33 11-39 21. 43-34
and black has a winning advantage in material.
Here is a game I played against a much earlier version of DYNAMO
running on a humble 386 computer at 3 seconds a move. This shows that
you don't need fancy hardware to get a good game from DYNAMO!
(see sample database DBASE0.PDN to load/replay this game)
Me (white) vs DYNAMO 4.6 (black). Feb 1993.
1. 32-28 17-21 2. 37-32 11-17 3. 34-30 21-26
4. 41-37 6-11 5. 30-25 20-24 6. 31-27 17-21
7. 46-41 18-23 8. 40-34 13-18 9. 34-30 11-17
10. 28-22 17-28 11. 33-13 9-18 12. 38-33 forms this diagram..
+------------------------------+
|::: x ::: x ::: x ::: x ::: x | x = Black
| ::: x ::: x ::: ::: x :::|
|::: ::: x ::: ::: x ::: x |
| x ::: ::: x ::: x ::: :::|
|::: x ::: ::: x ::: x ::: o |
| x ::: o ::: ::: ::: o :::|
|::: ::: o ::: o ::: ::: o |
| o ::: o ::: ::: o ::: :::|
|::: o ::: o ::: o ::: o ::: o |
| ::: o ::: o ::: o ::: o :::| o = White
+------------------------------+
Black to move and win - can you see it?
12 ... 14-20!
13. 25-14 23-28 14. 33-13 26-31 15. 37-17 12-21
16. 14-23 8-46 17. 30-19 46-14 18. 27-22
and DYNAMO has a substantial material advantage.
SPANISH, AMERICAN POOL and RUSSIAN games
----------------------------------------
Ok, having covered the 10x10 INTERNATIONAL draughts game, we shall look
at the other games that can be played by DYNAMO. You select these games
from the TITLE screen of DYNAMO, with the F7 key. Now all these games have
the powerful sweeping kings from the INTERNATIONAL game, so a lot of the
tactics discussed above will also apply to these games, although some of
the rule differences affect strategy. Also the smaller 8x8 board changes
the nature of the game - it is generally necessary to keep some men back
on the back rank as a defensive measure.
The SPANISH game is played on an 8x8 board, with one unusual feature:
the long diagonal runs from bottom right to top left - ie. the board is
'inverted'. While this looks unusual, historically this setup is the
original. The other difference in SPANISH draughts is that men are not
allowed to make backward jumps. In other respects the game is the same
as European (International) Draughts, ie. kings sweep diagonals, and
you are obliged to take the maximum number of pieces.
Just as a little sample, here is a game of SPANISH draughts illustrating
a neat little trap. Note how the 17-13 move forces the advantage - all
captures are compulsory! Once black has that early king, white is
powerless. You can play this game on DYNAMO by using two-player mode
(Hit F5).
10-14, 22-18, 12-15, 23-20, 5-10, 27-22, 1-5, 20-16, 14-19, 21-17,
10-14, 25-21, 5-10, 30-27, 7-12, 16-7, 3-12, 27-23, 12-16?, 17-13!,
10-17, 23-20, 16-23, 24-20, 15-24, 22-15, 11-20, 28-19-10-3=K..
for black win.
The POOL DRAUGHTS game is played on a normal 8x8 board. The game is popular
in the USA, and gets its curious name from POLISH draughts - POOL is a
corruption of this! In this game you are NOT obliged to take the route that
jumps the maximum number of pieces - you have a free choice. However you are
still forced to jump when you can, and kings may NOT pass-up jumps in
a multi-jump sequence by landing on 'quiet' squares - they must take
all opportunities until the sequence is over. This rule is easier to see
than describe - try it out! There is a special opening book supplied with
the PRO version of DYNAMO for pool, see POOLBOOK.DOC on the disk.
The board is numbered in the same way as the ENGLISH game - however the
strategy is rather different. Again, limited space prevents further analysis
of this fine game, but you will find DYNAMO a mean opponent! Here
are a number of demonstration games, showing interesting tactical traps..
(Browse the database DBASE2.PDN)
1>11-16 23-18 16-20 24-19 8-11? A natural looking move, but a loser.
19-15! 10-19 27-24 20-27 31-8 4-11 18-14 9-18 22-8 and White gets a king
and wins.
2>9-14 22-18 6-9 26-22 12-16 24-19? 9-13! 18-9 5-14 19-12 14-17 21-14
10-19 and Black is a piece up.
3>11-15 23-18 8-11 26-23 9-13 23-19 4-8? Beware of moving back men -
you may offer your opponent a king! 19-16! 12-19 18-14 10-26 30-16
11-20 21-17 13-22 25-4 and White wins.
4>11-15 23-19 8-11 22-17 9-14 27-23 15-18 32-27? 12-16! 19-12 10-15 17-19
11-16 23-14 16-32 and Black wins.
5>10-15, 23-18,12-16,21-17,16-19,17-14,8-12? This move loses to this
tactical exchange : 22-17!,15x13,24x8,9x18, 26-22, 4x11,22x8, and now
Black must give a piece to stop the king 7-11,8x15 and White, a piece
up, should win.
6>11-16,24-19,8-11,22-18,10-14,25-22,6-10,29-25,1-6? This fatally
weakens Blacks back rank, allowing a break-through thus :-19-15!,10x19,
22-17,7-10,18-15,11x18,26-22,19x26,22x15,10x19,17x1 & Whites king wins.
7>11-15 23-19 8-11 26-23 9-14 22-17 6-9 17-13 1-6 30-26 4-8 25-22? A
fatal mistake.. 12-16! 19-12 14-18 23-14 10-17 21-14 9-25 29-22 15-19
24-15 11-25 and Black wins.
8>10-15 23-18 12-16 26-23 8-12 24-19 15-24 28-19 7-10 27-24 16-20?
Blacks attack on Whites right flank fails to 31-26! 20-27 18-14 9-18
22-8 27-18 26-22 4-11 22-8 and White wins. Black does have other options,
but all lead to defeat - try them against DYNAMO!
9>11-15 24-20 15-19 23-16 12-19 27-24 10-15 31-27? The evacuation of the back
square 31 is a loser here - whatever path White takes, Blacks deadly
tactical threats win the day.. 9-14! 27-23 8-12 23-16 12-19 32-27 3-8 27-23
8-12 23-16 12-19 22-17 7-11 17-10 11-16 20-18 6-31 and Black wins.
10>11-15 22-18 15-22 26-17 8-11 24-19 11-16 17-13 9-14 25-22 4-8 22-17
8-11 29-25? This loses to this really neat combination.. 14-18! 23-14
16-23 27-18 10-15 25-22 11-16 18-20 6-9 13-6 2-25 and Black wins.
When pulling a shot, you should beware that your opponent does not have
something up his sleeve in reply, or you could be a victim of the BOOMBERANG
shot... (see TRAP01.POL on disk)
White: 12,18,23,24,26,28,30 Black: 2,3,6,7,11,13,21
6-10! A cunning move, that lures White into playing what he thinks is a
winning shot.. 18-14? 10-17 26-22 17-19 24-8 and White thinks he has a
king, and is home and dry, but.. 21-25!! 30-21 13-17 21-14 7-10 14-7 2-4
and Black has the 'move' against Whites men .. 28-24 4-8 24-19 8-11 and
Black wins.
Along similar lines, here is another super shot.. (TRAP02.POL on disk)
White: 17,19,21,22,23,25,27,28,30,31,32 Black: 1,2,3,4,6,10,11,12,14,16,20
3-7! Again, the bait is dangled.. 19-15? 10-26 17-3 26-17 21-14 However
Whites king is short-lived.. 20-24!! 27-20 11-15 20-18 2-7 3-10 6-29 and
White is lost.
By the way, DYNAMO can see & analyse all the above shots, although he
will sometimes play a different line to the main lines given above. The
above games and problems are taken from an excellent book 'Tournement
Checkers', by Vladimir Kaplan, ISBN 0-8008-4205-7 - although I don't know
if it is still in print.
The RUSSIAN DRAUGHTS game (or SHASHKI) is essentially the same as
POOL DRAUGHTS with one difference - a man is crowned INSTANTLY on
entering the king-row, and can then go on to make futher leaps AS A
KING within the same turn. These are called FLYING KINGS.
Well, that's the rules. Confused? This sort of thing is easier to
see than describe, so play some experimental games, or set AUTO-PLAY
and watch the computer play itself!
SHAREWARE VERSION USERS NOTE:-
If you like DYNAMO, please buy the full version on the SUPER GAMES-PACK
which has extra Strength Levels above 4 secs/move, position
Edit, Game Replay/Load/Save/Backtrack, more game variants and more.
It also plays a MUCH stronger, faster game. In addition we are constantly
updating and improving our programs - by the time you get this program,
it is probably already out of date!
Remember SHAREWARE IS NOT, I REPEAT NOT, FREE SOFTWARE - IT IS TRY
BEFORE YOU BUY!!! If you like and use this program you are OBLIGED to
register, after the 30 day trial period. The registered version comes
with full printed documents.
PLEASE support quality shareware like this!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
SUPER-GAMES-PACK
The SUPER GAMES PACK has all the games from our Games-Packs 1,2,3,4
in one good value collection - with many new games and updates..
DYNAMO DRAUGHTS - Play the EUROPEAN 10x10 game, with sweeping KINGS & MEN
jumping backwards! Very Strong player, Full Game edit/replay + more..
Also plays SHASHKI (RUSSIAN), SPANISH and AMERICAN POOL draughts!
Includes tutorial texts on these fascinating games - as played by
hundreds of thousands of players across Europe & America.
For an even more advanced version, see PRO version below..
SAGE-DRAUGHTS-2700 - Probably the worlds strongest draughts program, new
graphics, mouse & many features. Forget those other weak
shareware programs, and learn how to REALLY play!
ADDIX-II - Great educational strategy game - an addictive two player game
(Computer plays one player) also helps with Maths skills.
BLITZ - Innovative Checkers game on Vari-size board- many added functions!
Both DOS and WINDOWS versions supplied here - for even more
advanced versions of SAGE and BLITZ, see the PROFESSIONAL
version below..
DROP-IT - Variant on CONNECT-4 theme, with re-sizeable board & more..
FALLZONE-II - Action - help ERIC battle through a multi-level game..
RANGER - ERIC takes on more aliens.. other great strategy/mind games..
FLIPIT - Very strong REVERSI/OTHELLO game, many features, such as
re-sizeable board, full game store/replay options, and an
extensive tutorial on playing the game. Also includes OCTOTHELLO
- othello on an octagonal board! Forget all those other
weak programs, this one can REALLY play!
CHESSMATE-2600 - A neat little DOS chess program. Has very nice shaded
effect color pieces, plus full game store/replay features, and more..
JAX - Addictive little brain teaser.
RENJU - Fiendish japanese board game - easy to learn, hard to beat.
MINEZONE-II - Neat deduction game - another outing for ERIC.
CASCADE-II - Drop marbles & collect targets in this addictive game!
STELLAR-COMBAT - A neat shoot-em up.
DECODE - Crack the code! + More great games.
CAPTAIN ERIC-II - ERIC has to find his way through a dangerous landscape
with monsters lurking all around, and many problems to solve.
He must also find ammo for his gun, as well as the keys for the next
level. Excellent graphics, fast and furious fun!
ERICS-REVENGE - Further levels for ERIC to beat - many new puzzles to
solve, and many new monsters to beat.
FALL-ZONE-II - Another fine action/strategy game - ERICS out again!
BOMB-RUN - Bomb strategic targets in this super arcade game. (CGA/VGA)
WALL-RUN - Try to out-wall your computer opponent - addictive action!
RACER - Fast Car-racing game... + many more great games..
BLOCKADE - An exciting new OTHELLO-ish board game, many features.
Its a sort of two-player version of LIFE - you play the computer
and try to capture his cells, while generating new ones of your own.
you score points for capturing key areas. A truely innovative game,
invented by PC SOLUTIONS!
CONTAX - Another PC Solutions invention! A fine strategy game (CGA/VGA).
The traditional GOMOKU/RENJU type game, but with a twist - you can only
occupy cells already adjacent to both one of yours and an opponents
piece. This simple rule radically alters the topography of the game,
considerably sharpening tactical play.
SOLO - New twists to SOLITAIRE game... + all our new releases!
The SUPER-GAMES-PACK costs only 17 pounds!! (USA $29)
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X-WORD
For Crossword & Scrabble enthusiasts! Solve complex anagrams, search for
letter patterns, with a dictionary of over 140,000 words and phrases.
X-WORD costs only 9 pounds!! (USA $15)
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PCS PROFESSIONAL EDITIONS - SAGE-4000 & DYNAMO PRO
The PROFESSIONAL versions of SAGE-4000 and DYNAMO take the (already
powerful) versions from our main games pack one stage further, with the
addition of extra playing power, large book databases, database
editing, search and managment functions, advanced analysis tools and
many extra items for the serious checkers player. This package includes
BOTH SAGE-4000 and DYNAMO-PRO.
SAGE-4000 for WINDOWS plays ENGLISH and ITALIAN draughts. It looks
really good, with 256 colour graphics, picture-button controls for
most functions, sprite animation, separate move-list analysis/clock/board
windows (resizable) game comments/annotation, draughts true-type
fonts for board - printing, powerful opening book-database which
can contain set-up positions and auto-find transpositions
(& sides-reversed pos). If you want to improve the book, a simple
add-line-to-book function exists, and the ability to mark each
move ?,<,=,>,! (weak to strong, 5 grades).
It can automatically analyse complete games move-by-move, saving the
results in a text file. It can analyse sets of EPD positions,
again posting the results (best line, eval) to a file.
SAGE supports PDN (Portable Draughts Notation) Database format -
a new way to annotate/store large numbers of games via simple
text files. Analysis (bestline/eval) can be spooled to a txt file
while you play. Tournement style White/Black clocks are give,
together with ability to set play-level in secs/move or x moves
in x time.. Multi-lingual support is built in.
All functions are implemented with a terrific user interface
- most are available with a simple mouse-click on a picture-icon
button.
Playing strength is substantially improved over older versions -
SAGE4000 recently won the SamCohen event, and has a good track
record against the worlds top players - they use it to help with analysis!
SAGE-3100 for DOS - the DOS version of SAGE, with a range of features.
DYNAMO-PRO - This DOS program has a similar extended range of features
to SAGE-4000 - ie. enlarged & user-modifiable book database, enhanced
database search functions, advanced game store/annotation features.
Very well presented with a Windows-style interface, TOOL-BOX picture
buttons, on-line help, easy tape-control navigation of games, and
more besides. DYNAMO PRO plays INTERNATIONAL 10x10, SPANISH, US POOL,
RUSSIAN, PORTUGESE, CANADIAN (12x12), BRAZILIAN and MINI-DAMAS variants
of draughts.
BASIC CHECKERS - is a simple 8x8 english draughts program WITH ITS BASIC
SOURCE CODE - so you can have a go at writing your own program! This
program will run under the QBASIC interpreter supplied with MSDOS
so no other purchase is necessary to use it. The code is heavily
annotated - you do not need a high level of programming skill to
start learning!
The PROFESSIONAL EDITION PACK, with SAGE-4000, DYNAMO-PRO, and most of
the main games from our SUPER-PACK costs 37 pounds (UK) or $59 (US)
fully inclusive.
OUTSIDE THE UK:- Cheques in US dollars or UK pounds as above are
acceptable - price includes air-mail. Personal cheques in other EEC
currencies are also acceptable - add 5 pounds (=42 pounds) for
bank-charges, then convert at current rates.
PC SOLUTIONS, DEPT DYN, PO BOX 954, BOURNEMOUTH BH7 6YJ, ENGLAND
EMAIL: 100646.3501@compuserve.com
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PORTABLE DRAUGHTS NOTATION - A PGN FORMAT FOR CHECKERS
For my new program SAGE 4000 I have implemented a new database format called
PDN - Portable Draughts Notation - based on the Chess Portable Chess
Notation.
I hope this proposal will get round the mess of different formats
between programs - at the moment draughts programs cannot talk
to each other, and there is no easy way for players to EMAIL each other
games which can be readily imported into the users own program, without
tedious re-typing. In the Chess world PGN has revolutionised the
way game-info is used and published - players keep & exchange databases
with thousand of games.
Some simple samples are given below. In essence, after playing a game on
S4000 it can be annotated - either on individual moves, or in the "header"
detailing Players, Year, ELO, Result code, Event/other details -
and then exported to a PDN file - if the file already exists, the new
game is appended to the database. I can then be reloaded later - by
selecting the nth game from the database, or with more sophisticated
DB list/search functions. While playing the game, the PDN info is displayed
in the move-list window.
There are a few differences to the Chess format - moves are given in
standerd numeric notation - multijumps can either be specified
move-by-move (11x18 18x25) or in 1 go (11x25). Moves can be formatted
thus: 11-18, 11x18, 1118 - All legal possibilities. I suppose we
can support c3-e5 later too. Move numbers end in a '.'
to differenciate from game-moves. The 4 standerd result codes
"1-0" "1/2-1/2" "0-1" "*" (game unfinished)
are given from the aspect of the 1st side to move - Black in
english draughts, White in Italian (S4000 plays DAMA ITALIANA too).
The result code MUST appear at the end of the game - this is the
game-terminator. Comments appear in {} brackets.
If a game starts from a set-up position, a FEN header is given
with the position - ie..
[SetUp "1"] [FEN "W:WK4,30:B27,22."]
The FEN format must be "SIDE_TO_MOVE:W(pieces):B(pieces)."
A K indicates a king.
As I said, get the PGNSTD doc for full info on PGN. I welcome
feedback on this issue!
----SAMPLE PDN FORMAT FILE ENGLISH CHECKERS - TEST.PDN -----------------
[Event "Double Corner Dyke"]
[Black "Jordan,A"]
[White "Tesheliet,F"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
1. 9-14 22-17 2. 11-15 25-22 3. 15-19 {Forms the Double Corner Dyke, With
black aiming to occupy sqr 19, attacking white's double corner.} 23x16
4. 12x19 24x15 5. 10x19 17x10 6. 6x15 21-17 7. 5-9 29-25 8. 8-12 25-21
9. 7-10 17-13 10. 1-6 {It seems unwise to abondon the key back row sqr 1,
but it is necessary to prevent 13-9..} 27-24 11. 4-8 32-27 12. 9-14
27-23 13. 3-7 23x16 14. 12x19 22-17 15. 7-11 26-23 16. 19x26 30x23
17. 8-12 24-20 18. 15-18 23-19 19. 11-15 20-16 20. 15x24 28x19 21. 2-7
31-26 22. 18-23 26-22 23. 23-27 16-11 {! a really beautiful escape}
24. 7x23 22-18 1/2-1/2
[Event "Demo Game"]
[Black "Seton,J"]
[White "Wyllie,J"]
[Result "1-0"]
1. 11-15 24-20 2. 8-11 28-24 3. 4-8 23-19 4. 15-18 22x15 5. 11x18 32-28
6. 10-14 26-23 7. 9-13 19-15 8. 7-11 31-26 9. 2-7 26-22 10. 13-17 22x13
11. 6-9 13x6 12. 1x26 30x23 13. 11-15 25-22 14. 18x25 29x22 15. 7-10
23-19 16. 5-9 22-17 17. 9-13 20-16 18. 13x22 16-11 19. 22-26 11x4
20. 26-31 4-8 21. 3-7 8-3 22. 31-26 19-16 23. 12x19 27-23 24. 26-22
23x16 25. 22-18 3-8 {For the benifit of spectators, Wyllie plays out the
nice end shot - can you see it?} 26. 7-11 16x7 27. 15-19 24x6 28. 14-17
21x14 29. 18x4 28-24 30. 4-8 24-19 31. 8-11 19-15 32. 11x18 1-0
[Event "Andersons 1st position trunk"]
[Result "1-0"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "W:WK4,30:B27,22."]
1. 4-8 27-32 2. 8-11 32-27 3. 11-7 27-23 {etc to Black win..} 1-0
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OTHER CONTACTS
ITALIAN DRAUGHTS: Alioto Domenico, Via Don Orione 35, 90142 Palermo, Italy
Dealer for SAGE-4000/DAMA ITALIANA/DYNAMO in Italy.
Contact for italian draughts enthusiasts.
SPAIN, PORTUGAL, SOUTH AMERICA:-
Revista Internacional de Damas - Espana
Rio Guadalquivir, 4 - 30130 BENIEL (Murcia), Espana.
Telefono/Fax 968-600540 Internacional: 68-600540
Dealer for DYNAMO in above contries.
AMERICAN CHECKER FEDERATION:
AL LYMAN, 3328 N.Garfield, KC.MO 64116,USA.
EMAIL 75204.3277@compuserve.com
Publishs excellent ACF magazine for standard checkers.
ACF- POOL & OTHER VARIANTS
C.Walker,Box 365,Petal,MS 39465, U.S.A.
Publishs CHECKERS magazine for all checker variants.
BRITISH DRAUGHTS FEDERATION: G.Miller,384 Wells rd, Bristol BS4 2QP,UK.
Excellent bi-monthly newsletter.
ENGLISH DRAUGHTS ASSOCIATION: E.Welsby,67 West hill,Bristol,BS20 9LC
Excellent newsletter.
POOL CHECKERS: V.KAPLAN 2306 Ocean Av, Apt D,Brooklyn, New York 11229,USA
Author of many excellent books on US pool/brazilian checkers.
Contact for details.
KNDB, Postbus 100,6990 AC Rheden,Holland.
Very active dutch 10x10 association, good newsletter & many members
H.Cordier,156 avenue Jean Jaeres,21000 Dijon,France
French 10x10 fed, good newsletter.