OSIWeb.org wish list :-)

[dave]

Mark, that's just super!

I put this on the list because I do have one of these boards. I'll see about taking some decent quality photos for your catalog.

Thank you!

Dave

[bxdanny]

One thing I'd like to add to the wish list is an assembler called A/65. Not to be confused with the a65 cross-assembler for Windows, this was from Pegasus Software, makers of FBASIC, and functioned in much the same way: it took a source file on disk (8") and produced an object file, also on disk. It came on a disk with a copy of 65D that was modified to replace the AS command with an A/ command that invoked A/65, but I had a copy (on that disk whose loss I have previously bemoaned) in a regular 65D file. with a short block-move routine pre-pended to move it down to its proper address and run it there. A/65 is the assembler that was used to assemble WP6502, at least in its later versions.

Speaking of WP6502, one more thing I'd like to see is a copy of version 1.3a of that program. That "a" is significant, there were notable changes from 1.3 to 1.3a. In particular, there was the "Executive" program for file handling (in the 65U version), which acted very much like the similar "File Clerk" in the 65D version, even though it was (transparently to the user) written in BASIC. I was the author of the Executive program (WPEXEC), and you'll find my name in the REMark on line 5. File Clerk was a version of DQ Secretary, and was written by its author, Mike Cohen.

[Mark]

On the OSIWeb Software page under Games are the instructions for OSI Chess with a "would be nice to have the software" note from Dave.

I recovered the original OSIChess on an old cassette, and after rediscovering the instructions on osiweb, I back ported the C4P version to the C1P and OSI400. (As the instructions indicated, the C1P screen crops the left edge of the chessboard.)

OSI Chess C2 original

OSIChess.gif (2.62 KiB) Viewed 19935 times

ASCII for OSI440 6 Bit video ?

OSI Chess 440 video

Chess400.gif (2.9 KiB) Viewed 19935 times

Then I came across a modified version for the UK101 with 2K screen which had a more graphical chess board.

OSI Chess UK101

ChessUK101.gif (11.68 KiB) Viewed 19935 times

The screen drawing code fit nicely into the existing source, and was in fact a bit smaller. So I created an assembler source from that version and set screen constants up to create versions for all platforms with just a minor source change. This version differs from the found UK101 version in that the default board sides have been moved back to the OSI original, which also restores the canned starting moves. The program difficulty/speed has been changed back to "normal" [up to 1-2 minutes per move] from "superfast" listed in the instructions

OSI Chess C2/C4P

OSIChessV2.gif (3.64 KiB) Viewed 19935 times

I also created audio files for cassette users. The program loads slightly faster as it is stored in a binary loader format instead of hexadecimal OSI65V monitor load format and is half as long.

Although you may be tempted to relocate or change the code, there are a few fixed addresses in the code which have not been identified relating to the opening moves table at the end of the program.

This chess program fits in 4K. It doesn't enforce legal moves, but does play chess! Some of the more advanced features expect you to modify values in memory.... the instructions cover the details. The board is reset by pressing 'C', force the computer to take a turn by pressing ':' Move pieces by entering row & column of the piece, then its target location, then press 'F', swap board sides with 'E', exit to monitor with 'D' (restart at $0263).

Attached is the archive with all the variations, assembler source, and the PDF file uploaded by Stephan on the Software page. The files are also available on my games page
Cheers,
-Mark

[stm]

Hi Mark,

thanks for the Chess program, this is great! I had owned that game, but I had lost the cassette.

Finally a chess program that I can beat again

Stephan

[dave]

Mark, that is awesome, thanks for sharing!