Mephisto Exclusive MM II

I bought this beautiful electronic wood board on ebay, german web site, during year 2010. There are more chess computers available there on german ebay (www.ebay.de).

 

In reality, I made a mistake and bought first the Mephisto Exclusive (which is called "MM I"), believing it was the MM II. I was obliged to resell the MM I in order to buy the MM II. I was not really aware of all the versions.

According to SchachComputer.info, this one has an elo of 1770. It's playing strength is thus equivalent to a good chess club player. The Manufacturer is Hegener & Gleser from Germany, which no longer exists. It was released in 1985 (so it is 27 years old in 2012). The processor is a 65C02 at 3.7 MHz. It's style of play is very pleasant, though I suspect it is very weak in tactical play. The programmer is Ulf Rathsman, a swedish engineer.

 

My tests tend to confirm the rating of this engine. Look for example in my Tournaments section. For example, against the Mephisto Expert Travel Chess. The following game in pgn is a beautiful win by Milady 3.25 :

 

[Date "2012.09.15"]

[Round "1"]
[White "Milady_325"]
[Black "Mephisto MM II"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1770"]
[ECO "C07"]
[Opening "French"]
[Time "15:17:58"]
[Variation "Tarrasch, Open, 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Ngf3 cxd4 6.Bc4"]
[WhiteElo "2100"]
[TimeControl "3600"]
[Termination "normal"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[WhiteType "program"]
[BlackType "program"]

 

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. Ngf3 cxd4 5. exd5 Qxd5 6. Bc4 Qc5 7. Qe2

{(1.Qe2 Nc6 2.Nb3 Qh5 3.Nbxd4 Nxd4 4.Nxd4 Qxe2+ 5.Kxe2 Nf6 6.Nf3 Ne4)
+0.35/12 250} Nc6 8. Ne4 {(1.Ne4 Qe7 2.Bd2 Nf6 3.Bg5 h6 4.Nxf6+ gxf6 5.Bd2
Rg8 6.0-0) +0.30/11 98} Qa5+ 9. Bd2 {(1.Bd2 Qd8 2.0-0 Bd7 3.h3 Qc8 4.Neg5
Bd6 5.Rfd1 f6 6.Bxe6) +0.30/11 63} Qb6 10. O-O-O {(1.0-0-0 Qc7 2.Bg5 h6
3.Bd2 g5 4.Rhe1 g4 5.Ng1) +0.35/9 24} Be7 11. Bf4 {(1.Bf4 Bd7 2.Rhe1 0-0-0
3.Nd6+ Bxd6 4.Bxd6 Nf6 5.Qd2) +0.55/9 25} Nf6 12. Nd6+ {(1.Nd6+ Kf8 2.Ng5
Nd8 3.Nxc8 Rxc8 4.Nf3 Rc6 5.Nxd4 Rc5) +0.90/10 26} Bxd6 13. Bxd6 {(1.Bxd6
Bd7 2.Ne5 Na5 3.Ba3 Rd8 4.Nxd7 Nxd7 5.Bb5 Rg8 6.Bxd7+ Rxd7) +1.10/12 80}
Bd7 14. Ne5 {(1.Ne5 Na5 2.Ba3 Ba4 3.b3 Bd7 4.Qf3 0-0-0 5.Nxd7 Rxd7)
+1.25/10 52} Na5 15. Ba3 {(1.Ba3 Rd8 2.Bd3 Qc7 3.Nxd7 Qxd7 4.Kb1 Nc6 5.Qd2
Qc7 6.Bc4) +0.50/11 87} Ba4 16. Rhe1 {(1.Rhe1 Bd7 2.Bd3 Rc8 3.Nxd7 Nxd7
4.Qg4 g6 5.Qg5 f6 6.Qh4) +1.70/11 158} Rd8 17. Nxf7 {(1.Nxf7 Nxc4 2.Nxd8
Nxa3 3.Nxe6 Nxc2 4.Nxd4+ Ne3 5.Qxe3+ Kf7) +2.80/10 28} Kxf7 18. Bxe6+
{(1.Bxe6+ Kg6 2.h4 h5 3.Qe5 Ng4 4.Qg5+ Kh7 5.Qxh5+ Nh6 6.Bf5+) +3.55/11
196} Kg6 19. Rd3 {(1.Rd3 h5 2.Rg3+ Ng4 3.Bxg4 Qf6 4.Bf5+ Kh6 5.Rg6+ Qxg6)
+7.25/10 71} Qb5 20. Bf7+ {(1.Bf7+ Kxf7 2.Qe7+ Kg6 3.Rg3+ Qg5+ 4.Rxg5+ Kxg5
5.Qxg7+ Kf5) +5.95/10 146} Kxf7 21. Qe7+ {(1.Qe7+ Kg6 2.Rg3+ Qg5+ 3.Rxg5+
Kxg5 4.Qxg7+ Kf5 5.g4+ Nxg4 6.Qf7+) +7.45/11 118} Kg6 22. Rg3+ {(1.Rg3+
Qg5+ 2.Rxg5+ Kxg5 3.Qxg7+ Kf5 4.g4+ Nxg4 5.Qf7+ Nf6) +7.45/10 152} Qg5+ 23.
Rxg5+ {(1.Rxg5+ Kxg5 2.Qxg7+ Kf5 3.g4+ Nxg4 4.Qf7+ Nf6 5.Qe6+ Kg5 6.Rg1+)
+M9/11 163} Kxg5 24. Qxg7+ {(1.Qxg7+ Kf5 2.f3 h5 3.Be7 Rdf8 4.Bxf6 Nb3+
5.axb3) +9.00/9 19} Kf5 25. Be7 {(1.Be7 Rhf8 2.Bxf6 Nb3+ 3.Kd1 Rxf6 4.g4+
Kf4 5.Qxf6+) +M7/9 34} Rhf8 26. Bxf6 {(1.Bxf6 Nb3+ 2.Kd1 Rxf6 3.g4+ Kf4
4.Qxf6+) +M6/7 1} Nb3+ 27. axb3 {(1.axb3 Rxf6 2.g4+ Kf4 3.Qxf6+ Kxg4
4.Rg1+) +M5/7 0} Rxf6 28. g4+ {(1.g4+ Kf4 2.Qxf6+ Kxg4 3.Rg1+ Kh3) +M4/6 0}
Kf4 29. Qxf6+ {(1.Qxf6+ Kxg4 2.Rg1+ Kh3 3.Qh6+ Kxh2) +M3/6 0} Kxg4 30. Rg1+
{(1.Rg1+ Kh5 2.Qg5+ Rd7) +M2/6 0} Kh3 31. Qh6# {(1.Qh6+ Be8) +M1/6 0} 1-0

 

Here you can find all the games between Milady 3.25 and Mephisto MM II in pgn format. The table of the tournament :

 

Total games	21	Mean rating	1935,0	Error Barre (%)	8,7
	Score	Rating	Perf (%)	Rating opponents	Perf (elo)	Error Bar (Elo)	Elostat (Elo)
Milady 3.25	19,0	2100,0	90,5	1770,0	2093,8	69,8	2161,1
Mephisto MMII	2,0	1770,0	9,5	2100,0	1776,2	69,8	1708,9





 

Note that these are just rough estimations. "Rating" column indicates a guess I have done before the tournament.

A match against the Phantom (1 min/ move) gave the following results:

 

Total games	20	Mean rating	1802,5	Error Barre (%)	8,9
	Score	Rating	Perf (%)	Rating opponents	Perf (elo)	Error Bar (Elo)	Elo
Mephisto MMII	7,0	1770,0	35,0	1835,0	1715,0	71,6	1727,5
Fidelity Phantom	13,0	1835,0	65,0	1770,0	1890,0	71,6	1877,5

 

All the games of the match can be downloaded here.

 

 

If we look under the beast, we can see some plastics. It is difficult to build something with only noble materials.

Note that I have replaced the original adapter from H&G, i.e. the famous HGN 5001 adapter, by a generic and universal adapter, and...it works!!! It is much more stable than the original; In case you are interested the reference is ANSMANN APS 300, but I suppose a lot of adapters would do the job. Remind that the + of the voltage outlet must correspond to the internal connector. The original HGN 5001 was over-heating, this one remains always cold. I have seen on other sites than the newer modules are not accepting foreign adapters, but for this older MM II, it is OK.