When the program has loaded the screen will clear and the following 9 options will appear.

Any of these options can be selected by pressing the initial letter of the option required. You can also select whether you require Player Versus Player, Player Versus Computer or Computer Versus Computer by entering 0, 1 or 2.

You are first asked if you wish to recall a position; only type 'Y' if a position is already set up for analysis. If you type 'N', the board is displayed and each square is now 'blinked' in turn. You can insert a piece at the current square by entering the initial of that piece (use 'N' for Knight), the colour (b or w) and a number 0 or 1 to indicate that the piece has not been moved previously. Press the space bar if you wish the space to be empty. The DELETE key moves the cursor back.

When the board is set up as required, press the '.' key. You can save this position and store it on tape if required (see the section headed 'Save'). Now select your colour, the level of play and the side to move first.

In this option you are allowed a fixed time limit to make your move, otherwise you forfeit your go. The limit can be set at 10, 20 or 30 seconds by replying 1, 2 or 3 to the question 'Level?'.

Used to continue a game after it has been reloaded from tape.

Allows you to modify the display colours. Enter a logical colour (0-7) for each of the following: 'black' pieces, 'black' squares, 'white' squares, 'white' pieces. An invalid entry returns the display colours to their default values.

Load a game position from cassette.

First select your colour and the level of play (0-9). On even levels, the computer uses a shortened move list and randomises its selection. On odd levels, it uses the full move list and selects the best move from this list. The response times vary but the following times give you some indication of what you can expect:
Level 1 - 10 secs; Level 3 - 1 min; Level 5 - 5 mins; Level 7 - 30 mins; Level 9 - 2 hours.

Now the chess board will be displayed. Clock displays at opposing ends of the board indicate the time taken so far by that player. Enter your move by typing the co-ordinates of the piece you want to move followed by those of the square you want to move it to.

For example, to make the opening move 'Pawn to King 4' (P-K4) enter e2-e4; there is no need to enter the hyphen - this will be inserted automatically. The computer will reject all illegal moves. If you make a bad move, wait until the computer has replied, then press DELETE. This will return the board to the position before the 'mistake', then you can try again. You can also resign by pressing ESCAPE; this will return you to the options menu.

To castle; move the King to the necessary square and the rook will move automatically, providing that you are in a position where castling is legal. For example, a white queen's side castle is entered as e1-c1.

To capture en passent, move your pawn to the appropriate square and your opponent's pawn will be taken, if en passent capture is legal.

Thus, to capture a black pawn on e5 with a white pawn on f5 enter e5-e4. If your pawn reaches the 8th rank you can promote it to the piece of your choice by entering b, n, r or a.

Returns you to BASIC. To play Chess again, type OLD (RETURN) followed by RUN (RETURN).

Re-runs the moves played in the previous game. Press the space bar to advance to the next move. Each move is listed to the left of the display. On reaching the end, the program returns to the options menu; by selecting 'Analyse' you can choose your colour and level, and continue the game where it was terminated.

Allows you to save a game onto cassette with a filename of 10 characters or less.