that a player can claim a draw.
If you wish, you can ignore the
message and continue the
game. When a stalemate is
reached, the display will read
STALE
.
Game-ending Messages
Alexandra will announce
mate in two (
MATE2
) and mate
in three (
MATE3
). It will also
display “+MATE” when exe-
cuting a checkmate or when
you checkmate Alexandra.
When you want to claim a win,
draw, or want to resign—press
the
NEW GAME
key.
Screen Symbols
When a “+” appears on the
screen, it is a reminder that you
are in check. When an “O”
appears on the screen, the game
you are playing can be rated.
When an “=” appears, it indi-
cates you are in two human
player mode. And lastly, when
an “!” appears on the screen,
you are being warned that one
of your pieces is threatened
with capture. (This is similar to
the friendly “en garde” warning
sometimes used by human
players when they are attacking
an opponent’s queen.)
Special Situations
Starting Play
with the Black Pieces
When you want to play the
Black pieces (to let Alexandra
move first), press the
MOVE
key before you make your first
move as White. Set the Black
pieces up at your end.
Castling
Remember, you must always
move the king first when
castling! First press your king
down on its
FROM
square (if
castling, E1). Then move and
press your king down on its
TO
square (if castling kingside,
G1). Alexandra recognizes
castling maneuvers after the
king is moved two squares. She
then reminds you to complete
castling by moving the rook.
Move the rook in the routine
11
GAME
before the game is
completed. If the score is
greater than 9.0, you can claim
a victory with the
NEW
GAME
key.
CLRBR:
Use this option to
clear the chessboard for easier
problem setup. Pressing the
SETUP
key will enter setup
mode with the chess board
cleared of all pieces. You must
place a White king and a Black
king on the board to exit setup
mode.
VOICE:
Use this option to
change the language Alexandra
speaks. Also use it to turn most
of the speech off. Some warn-
ings such as “Check” and “Are
You sure?” will still be heard
however. 1—English, 2—
French, 3—German, and 4—
none.
SNDEF:
Use this option to
turn the sound effects off.
ANNC:
Use this option to
turn the move announcements
off.
COACH:
Turn this option
on to hear a warning message if
one of your pieces is under
attack. The threat warning “!”
will be enabled when
COACH
option is on.
SOUND:
Use this option to
turn the sound on or off.
SLEEP:
Adjust the automat-
ic shut off time with this option.
Setting it to “0” will disable
auto shut-off altogether.
SPEED:
Adjust the dot-
matrix scroll speed with this
option. Setting it to “0” will
disable scrolling altogether.
Special Displays
Draw Messages
During the game, Alexandra
will display the word “
DRAW
”
if a three-time repetition of
position occurs, or if there has
been no pawn moved and no
exchanges for 50 moves. When
either of these situations takes
place, the rules of chess state
10
ENGLISH
ENGLISH
