Excalibur GM vs Radio Shack 2200X

I just got an Excalibur Grandmaster computer off Ebay and decided to play a few games against the Radio Shack 2200X which I have had for a long time and found that on fast times controls of 30 seconds or less Radio Shack wipes the floor with Grandmaster.  I don't believe GM would win one game out of 20 at those time controls.  However, the first game I played at 1 minute/move GM came out on top. 

The first game here was at 30 sec/move and is typical of how GM lost at speed chess.  The second game is 1 minute/move and although it is the only game so far at that time control I want to play a few more at even slower times and see how much difference it makes in the play.  Some programs are much better at slower times than others and vice versa.

I played in my first chess tournament in 18 years a month ago and went 3-1 so I wanted to get a full size auto-sensory chess computer to prepare for more tournaments and I must say that to me the Excalibur Grandmaster fits the bill for a club player like me.  I'm only a class C player so unless you are a master or above it would be hard to beat for a dedicated unit.

[Event "30 sec/move"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.07.04"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Excalibur Grandmaster"]
[Black "Radio Shack 2200X"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B22"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. d4 e5 5. dxe5 Qxe5+ 6. Be2 Nf6 7. Nf3 Qc7 8.
O-O Nc6 9. Bc4 Be7 10. Re1 O-O 11. Bg5 Rd8 12. Qb3 Na5 13. Qb5 Bd7 14. Bxf6
Bxb5 15. Bxf7+ Kxf7 16. Bxe7 Re8 17. Na3 Ba6 18. Bh4 Nc6 19. Rxe8 Rxe8 20. Re1
Rxe1+ 21. Nxe1 Qf4 22. Bg3 Qc1 23. f3 Qxb2 24. Nac2 Qxa2 25. Ne3 Qd2 26. Bf2
Qxc3 27. N1c2 Nd4 28. Ne1 b5 29. Nd5 Qc1 30. Nc7 Bb7 31. Kf1 b4 32. h3 b3 33.
Bxd4 cxd4 34. Nb5 b2 35. Na3 d3 36. g3 d2 37. Nac2 d1=Q 38. Kf2 Qdxc2+ 39.
Nxc2 Qd2+ 40. Kg1 b1=Q+ 41. Ne1 Qbxe1+  0-1

[Event "60 sec/move"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.07.04"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Excalibur Grandmaster"]
[Black "Radio Shack 2200X"]
[Result "1-0"]

[ECO "B19"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5
Bh7 9. Bd3 e6 10. O-O Ngf6 11. Re1 Bd6 12. Bxh7 Bxg3 13. Bd3 Bc7 14. Ne5 Nxe5
15. dxe5 Nd5 16. Qg4 Kf8 17. Bd2 Qe7 18. c4 Nb6 19. Rad1 Rd8 20. Qf3 Na4 21.
Bc1 Nc5 22. Bc2 Rxd1 23. Qxd1 Nd7 24. Bf4 Kg8 25. Qd4 Bb6 26. Qd2 Bc7 27. a4
b6 28. Qd4 a6 29. Rd1 Nb8 30. Be4 c5 31. Qd2 Qh4 32. g3 Qe7 33. b3 Qf8 34. Bf3
Qe8 35. Bg2 Qc8 36. Bh1 Qf8 37. Be4 Qc8 38. Be3 Qe8 39. f4 Qe7 40. Kh2 f6 41.
exf6 gxf6 42. Qe2 Nd7 43. Qg4+ Kf8 44. Qg6 f5 45. Bf3 Nf6 46. a5 Ne8 47. axb6
Bxb6 48. Bd2 Rh7 49. Bc3 Qf7 50. Bc6 Bc7 51. Ra1 Bd6 52. Rxa6 Nc7 53. Ra7 Qxg6
54. hxg6 Rg7 55. Bxg7+ Kxg7 56. b4 cxb4 57. c5 Bxc5 58. Rxc7+ Kf8 59. Rf7+ Kg8
60. Bd7 Bd4 61. Bxe6 Bc3 62. Rb7+ Kf8 63. Bxf5 b3 64. Rxb3 Bg7 65. Rb8+ Ke7
66. Rb7+ Kf8 67. Be6 Bf6 68. Rf7+ Kg8 69. Rxf6+ Kg7 70. Rf7+ Kxg6 71. Bd5 h5
72. Kh3 h4 73. gxh4 Kh6 74. Be4 Kh5 75. Rh7+  1-0

the problem i find with my excalibur qrand master is if you play a game and write it down and play another game on the same level making the same moves it will play the whole game exactly the same every time . no randomness at al like my novags and scysis mephistos have .

Your criticism is true in the lack of diversity in play at the same levels.  The main reason I bought GM Excalibur is the auto sensory feature and size of the board.  It's a joy to play on and I use it when playing at home against a friend.

I use the "monitor" mode to reach certain positions in various openings and then start the play from there.  From what I have read on the internet the actual playing strength is in the Class A category which is plenty strong enough for me. 

I sold my Radio Shack 2200X because after going auto sensory and tournament size the smaller computers are no fun to play on.

The GM Excalibur is pretty flimsy feeling when picking it up so I glued a piece of plyboard on the bottom of it but cut out a section around the battery compartment to allow the replacement of batteries.  It feels much more sturdy now.  Overall, I am very happy with it.

hi premio53 . we are both coming from the same place . i love the size of the GM excalibur and i also use the monitor mode to play openings i'm studying .  i like that you don't need to press down with little pieces . i wish it wasn't so flimsy , but it's lasted many years . it's a battery eater so i use an adapter .

Please -I have the Radio Shack Master 2200x chess computer

and have lost the manual for this Item - anyone know where 

I can find a copy

thank you

I know nothing about it, but by googling, I've found this:

http://alain.zanchetta.free.fr/docs/Misc/RadioShack_Master_2200X_US.pdf


Does it help, or you are looking for something else?

That is it 

Thank you very, very, much

You're welcome. I'm glad I could help.