With Clock Chess'88, the latest version of the chess game that attracted the most of its day came to the floppy drives of our PCWs: 3-D Clock Chess. But now with the name Clock Chess'88.

Those who bought a PCW a few years ago were faced with a discouraging outlook that unfortunately never changed: the lack of software. At that time 3-D Clockchess appeared for this machine, a chess game that surprised many of us with its high level. Later, the Microbyte company brought the latest version of this game, fully translated. Basically the same, but with important new features.

The first thing that stands out is the question it asks us when executing it. In it, it offers the user the possibility of loading their own opening library; If the answer is no, the game will load yours, which has “nothing more” than 44 Kb of opening moves. Forty-four Kilobytes that the player can expand with the openings he deems appropriate (I don't think there are many missing anyway), but be very careful when introducing a move, you must respect the coordinate notation scrupulously, otherwise real catastrophes can happen in the original library.

The graphic presentation is practically identical to the first version. This is, a board in perspective on which the pieces of attractive drawing that respond correctly to the laws of perspective move; to the left of the board, the clock and the moves of both players.

Another great novelty is the possibility of moving the pieces with a cursor arranged for it, and not only by typing in the coordinates. Continuing with the peculiarities, a new way of playing blind totally or partially (without chips or only with one color), the truth is that this is ideal to get used to thinking in coordinates.

Something that certainly should be noted is the amount of gameplay possibilities that Clockchess' 88 offers, all of them related to the time for each play. In the first place you can enter the limit of seconds that the computer can use in each play (the longer the more difficult); If you are a novice, you should press the “E” so that the computer plays without doing birguerias, with the “M” the computer adjusts to the time we invest in each play (that is, our response time marks yours) It is also possible to play against the clock so that the player who exceeds the set time loses the game; As the last time option, there is the infinite time option, with which the computer takes all the time it needs to find the best move. There is an option that allows two human players to play while the computer monitors that cheats are not commented.

The large number of possibilities and the power of the game (it solves very complex problems in times that I had never seen before) make this game a really interesting game with great incentives for chess fans. The best detail is the cursor to indicate the move.

In the following images you can check the original packaging.

• Original cover

Here you have the front of the original cover.

• Retouched cover

Its measurements are: Width: 21.90 cm x Height: 13.20 cm.

A continuación se muestra el manual impreso en papel satinado a doble cara.Sus medidas son Alto: 13,00 cm x largo: 20,70 cm.

Disco original suministrado con Clock Chess'88.

Etiquetas a medida para imprimirlas. Con el paso de los años debido a su uso, las etiquetas se van estropeando y perdiendo su color y calidad. Ahora intentamos adaptar lo más parecido en la medida de nuestras posibilidades, las etiquetas para que se puedan imprimir y sustituir o para aquellos que trabajéis con una copia del programa y preservar el disco original. Medida en 3“ alto: 7,00 cm - ancho: 7,10 cm. La primera imagen corresponde a la etiqueta original del juego, la segunda es la misma etiqueta modificada para poder sustituir la rota y la tercera y cuarta imagen es para los discos de 3.5“.

Publicidad

Algunos anuncios del juego en revistas de gran tirada de la época.

Juego

Las imágenes de disco, se han obtenido de la versión original de Clockchess 88, han sido grabadas y verificadas.

• Clock Chess'88 v4.52 (Español) (Archivo .DSK comprimido en formato ZIP)
• Clock Chess'88 v4.50 (Inglés) (Archivo .DSK comprimido en formato ZIP)

Manual

A continuación puede descargar el manual del juego Clock Chess'88 o verlo en línea. La hoja del manual mide: Ancho 10,30 cm x Alto 13,00 cm.

• Manual Clock Chess'88 (Archivo PDF)