Mephisto Phoenix chess computer (2025)

In 14 days a new dedicated chess computer by Mephisto comes on the market .
Its called Mephisto Phoenix.

Mephisto is the company that began in 1980 with mephisto 1.

I remember how i bought the first dedicated chess computer from Mephisto.
I was very young and had not much money but i bought the mephisto machine.

1982 Mephisto 2 came on the market.
1983 Mephisto 3 came on the market.

And these Nitsche/Henne machines were really a breakthrough.

Since mephisto Phoenix uses a Rasberry Pi and UCI format for engines there is plenty of possibilities.

E.g. it seems it will be the first dedicated chess computer coming with 5 pieces endgame tablebases in the next update.
Many engines can qualify for the machine.

40 years after i bought my first dedicated chess computer,
another Mephisto comes on the market and will be a succes IMO.

Mclane wrote:

In 14 days a new dedicated chess computer by Mephisto comes on the market .
Its called Mephisto Phoenix.

Mephisto is the company that began in 1980 with mephisto 1.

I remember how i bought the first dedicated chess computer from Mephisto.
I was very young and had not much money but i bought the mephisto machine.

1982 Mephisto 2 came on the market.
1983 Mephisto 3 came on the market.

And these Nitsche/Henne machines were really a breakthrough.

My first dedicaded computer in the same year was the weak Fidelity Mini Sensory Chess. But the last was the rock solid Mephisto Roma 68000 bought after that my boss organized the WMCC 87 under the Vittoriano at Venice Square (Piazza Venezia)in Rome :-)

Alex-Microsmeta wrote:

My first dedicated computer in the same year was the weak Fidelity Mini Sensory Chess.

Snap!

It wasn't weak by my standards, and from playing it I learned a valuable skill - to push pawns!

I didn't know until decades later that it ran a Ron Nelson program (link) - I had always assumed it was the Spracklens.

Here is my new mephisto Phoenix running Mephisto Glasgow by Thomas Nitsche and Elmar Henne as Emulation

As you can see it gives a huge display for showing information such as evals, depths, main-line.

On the bottom my old mephisto II from 1982.
On top you see Mephisto Phoenix from 2022.
40 years of development between these two dedicated chess computers.
The new machine has no real buttons but the big touch display can generate all kinds of „buttons“.

Mephisto II had a cool and for the time big LCD display.

here a game of Mephisto III S Glasgow on the new Mephisto Phoenix dedicated chess computer.
Glasgow runs as Emulation in full speed.

You also get many Ed Schroeder emulation engines such as Gideon, MM4/5/Nigel Short and Polgar.

Also native UCI engines such as the new shredder 13.5 with neural net and Hiarcs14.2, Komodo and Stockfish.

One good feature is that you can reduce the engines speed. E.g. run Hiarcs14.2 with only 1% speed.
Or give precise ELO numbers to limit its playing strength. E.g. giving Hiarcs14.2 2100 ELO.
and it will NOT compute immediality without thinking, that would spoil the complete fun.
no it computes like a normal human beeing.

But here Thomas Nitsche and Elmar Hennes Mephisto IIIS Glasgow Phoenix
against my Fidelity Elite A/S with v6 hardware (68020) and the spracklen engine:

[Event "40/120 mephisto_phoenix"]
[Site "SCW"]
[Date "2022.12.19"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Mephisto IIIS Glasgow Phoenix"]
[Black "Fidelity Elite A/S v6"]
[ECO "A21"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 d6 4. d4 {"} Bg4 5. d5 Nce7
6. e4 Ng6 7. Be3 Nh4 {"} 8. Rg1 Nxf3+ 9. gxf3 Bd7 10. Qb3
b6 11. O-O-O c6 12. dxc6 Bxc6 13. Nb5 g6 14. c5 bxc5
15. Bxc5 Rc8 16. Qc3 Bd7 17. Nxd6+ Bxd6 18. Rxd6 Qe7
19. Rd5 f6 20. Ba6 Rxc5 21. Rxc5 Qe6 22. Bc8 Ne7 23. Bxd7+
Kxd7 24. Rc7+ Ke8 25. Rd1 Kf7 26. Rdd7 Re8 27. Rxa7 h6
28. Qc5 f5 29. exf5 gxf5 30. Rd5 Qf6 31. Rxe5 Qh4 32. Qd5+
Kg6 33. Qe6+ Qf6 1-0

So this machine offers really big screens for computerchess. An exclusive shredder 13. NNUE version, the first time Hiarcs is included in a dedicated chess computer, and also Komodo in a dedicated chess computer.

I still think computerchess history would have changed if eric winkler would have decided to buy hiarcs from mark Uniacke. At the championship in munich hiarcs got the title amateur champion with his sun sparc version. And the saitek sparc was running a Spracklen engine, the successor of the 68000 Fidelity software, transferred to the sparc cpu. IMO hiarcs on the same module would have scored better , they only had to buy a license and exchange the eproms.

Saitek would have had a stronger engine with a championship title in 1993.

The big greek on Rebel 5.0 on Phoenix in max speed:

And vs. Polgar on Phoenix:

Mephisto Phoenix dedicated chess computer emulation Sphinx40 (Levy/Taylor) max speed vs. GM Petrosian Amsterdam engine with 25 mhz.
This means Richard running like 2x faster instead of 12 mhz with wait states speed up to 25 mhz without wait states = at least 2x faster or 68020 instead of 68000.

Mephisto Phoenix emulator by Millennium Company speeds up the original emulation of the 68000/8 mhz Sphinx 40 engine by Levy / Taylor by a huge factor.

In 1987 they met in rome in the commercial area
https://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/index.php?title=7._WMCCC_Rom_1987

Ed Schröder was also in rome in software area with a 6502 mm4 version running at 18 mhz. So this was Schaetzle+Bsteh Turbokit.

Here a game between GM Petrosian 25 mhz running Amsterdam engine versus CXG Sphinx 40 Phoenix with max speed:
And this is the game. Amsterdam engine by Richard Lang was running on 25 mhz. That is as fast as running on 68020.

https://lichess1.org/game/export/gif/EmhwwkBC.gif

The sphinx by Levy/taylor is running in an emulation on the mephisto phoenix hardware while richard Langs 1985 Amsterdam runs on 25 mhz 68000 hardware , that is at least 2x the speed of the original amsterdam module, that was running with waitstates, while gm Petrosian is not having waitstates.
So amsterdam from 1985 runs overall with 8 mhz while petrosian runs with sharp 25 mhz.

GM Petrosian is a hardware by gerardo berger, spanish harware guru
See
https://sites.google.com/view/berger-projects

I do sent all my broken dedicated chess computers to him.

In the "Mephisto Phoenix" the emulator of the dedicated chess computers is the major clue for us dedicated chess computer lovers.

At the championship in Rome the Levy / Taylor machine had to play Richard Langs beasts and was completely blown away by Richard Langs machine and software.
Levy / Taylor lost 0:9 !!!

When later CXG came out with the wooden Sphinx40/50 computers (either as a 40 or 50 mm per square edition, similar to Mephistos Exclusive and Munich boards) that had 8 mhz Motorola 68000 hardware (Richard Langs commercial versions were normally sold with 12 mhz 68000 or even 68020 CPU with 14 mhz), the software could not make much out of it. The program was too slow for playing accurate enough.

even worse later Frans Morsch 8 Bit machines (CXG Dominator) also sold by CXG were stronger then this 68000 Hardware.

But today we can speed up the hardware.

And suddenly this way too slow engine can show its strength.

In the first 2 games the overclocked machine had to fight the
Novag Beluga:

[pgn]
[Event "40/120 sphinx"]
[Site "SCW"]
[Date "2023.10.20"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Novag Beluga"]
[Black "CXG Sphinx Phoenix full"]
[ECO "A03"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1. f4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 Bg4 4. Be2 {"} e6 5. d4 Nc6 {"}
6. Nbd2 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. h3 Bf5 9. c3 Nd7 10. Ne5 Ndxe5
11. fxe5 Be7 12. Qb3 Rb8 13. c4 dxc4 14. Qxc4 Nb4 15. e4
Bg6 16. Bf3 b5 17. Qc3 Rb6 18. Nb3 Rc6 19. Qd2 Ra6 20. a3
Nc6 21. Qc3 Rb6 22. Be3 b4 23. axb4 Bxb4 24. Qc2 Be7 25. d5
Qb8 26. Bxb6 Qxb6+ 27. Qf2 exd5 28. Qxb6 axb6 29. exd5 Nxe5
30. Rfc1 Bd6 31. Ra7 Re8 32. Nd2 Nd3 33. Rb1 b5 34. Raa1
Bf4 35. Nf1 Be5 36. Ra5 Nxb2 37. Rba1 Nd3 38. Ra8 Kf8
39. Rxe8+ Kxe8 40. Ra8+ Ke7 41. Nd2 Bd4+ 42. Kh2 b4 43. Rb8
Be5+ 44. Kg1 Bc3 45. Nb3 Ne5 46. Kf2 Bc2 47. Na5 Bd4+
48. Ke2 Bb6 49. Kd2 Ba4 50. Nc6+ Bxc6 51. dxc6 g6 52. Kc2
1/2-1/2

[Event "40/120 sphinx"]
[Site "SCW"]
[Date "2023.10.21"]
[Round "2"]
[White "CXG Sphinx40 Phoenix max"]
[Black "Novag Beluga"]
[ECO "C84"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Nc3
b5 {"} 7. Bb3 O-O 8. Nd5 Na5 9. Nxe5 Nxb3 10. axb3 {"} Bb7
11. Qf3 Nxd5 12. exd5 d6 13. Nc6 Bxc6 14. dxc6 Bf6 15. c4
bxc4 16. bxc4 Re8 17. Ra3 Re6 18. b4 Qe8 19. d3 Re2 20. b5
a5 21. Be3 Rb2 22. Rfa1 Qd8 23. Qf4 g5 24. Qg4 d5 25. h4
dxc4 26. Qxc4 gxh4 27. Qg4+ Kh8 28. Rxa5 Rxa5 29. Rxa5 Be5
30. Ra1 Rxb5 31. Qc4 Bxa1 32. Qxb5 Bd4 33. Qg5 Bf6 34. Qf5
Qe7 35. Bf4 Bd4 36. Qc8+ Kg7 37. Qg4+ Kh8 38. Qh5 Qe1+
39. Kh2 Qe7 40. f3 f6 41. Qf5 Be5 42. Bxe5 fxe5 43. Qg4 h6
44. Kh3 Qg5 45. Qxg5 hxg5 46. Kg4 Kg7 47. Kxg5 Kf7 48. Kf5
Ke8 49. Kxe5 Kf7 50. f4 Ke7 51. f5 1-0[/pgn]

The next opponent was Ed Schroeders Rebel 5,0 module:

[pgn]

[Event "40/120 sphinx"]
[Site "SCW"]
[Date "2023.10.22"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Mephisto Rebell 5,0"]
[Black "CXG Sphinx40 Phoenix Max"]
[ECO "D38"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Bg5 Bb4+ {"} 5. Nc3 Nc6
6. Ne5 {"} O-O 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. c5 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Ba6 10. e3
Bxf1 11. Rxf1 h6 12. Bf4 Qc8 13. Qa4 Qb7 14. c4 Ne4 15. Rc1
Qb2 16. Qc2 Rfb8 17. cxd5 Qb4+ 18. Kd1 exd5 19. f3 Ng5
20. Bxc7 Rb7 21. Bf4 Ne6 22. g3 Nxf4 23. gxf4 Qa3 24. Re1
Rb2 25. Qc3 Qa4+ 26. Rc2 Rxa2 27. Kc1 Rb8 28. Kd2 Ra3
29. Rec1 Rxc3 30. Rxc3 Qa6 31. Ke1 Rb2 32. R3c2 Qa5+
33. Kf1 Qa2 34. Rxb2 Qxb2 35. Re1 Qxh2 36. Re2 Qg3 37. Rf2
h5 38. e4 dxe4 39. fxe4 h4 40. Ke2 h3 41. f5 h2 42. Rxh2
Qxh2+ 0-1[/pgn]

The next opponent was the Novag Ruby:

[pgn]

[Event "40/120 sphinx"]
[Site "SCW"]
[Date "2023.10.24"]
[Round "1"]
[White "CXG Sphinx40 Phoenix Max"]
[Black "Novag Ruby"]
[ECO "C68"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d4 exd4
6. Qxd4 Qxd4 7. Nxd4 Bd7 8. Nc3 {"} Bb4 {"} 9. Bf4 Bxc3+
10. bxc3 O-O-O 11. O-O-O b6 12. Rhe1 Ne7 13. Nf3 Ng6
14. Bg3 f6 15. e5 Nxe5 16. Nxe5 fxe5 17. Bxe5 Rhf8 18. f3
g5 19. Bg7 Rf7 20. Bd4 g4 21. fxg4 Bxg4 22. Rd3 Kb7 23. Re5
Rdf8 24. Kb2 Bf5 25. Rf3 c5 26. Be3 Bd7 27. Rg3 Bb5 28. Rg4
Bd7 29. Rg3 Kc6 30. c4 Rf5 31. Re7 R8f7 32. Rxf7 Rxf7
33. Kc3 Bf5 34. Rf3 h5 35. h3 Be6 36. Rxf7 Bxf7 37. g4 hxg4
38. hxg4 Bg6 39. g5 Kd6 40. Bf4+ Kd7 41. Bh2 Be4 42. a4 Kc6
43. Kb3 Bf5 44. Be5 Be4 45. Bf4 Kd7 46. Bh2 c6 47. Bb8 Bf5
48. Bf4 Ke6 49. Kc3 Be4 50. Kb2 1/2-1/2

[Event "40/120 sphinx40"]
[Site "SCW"]
[Date "2023.10.25"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Novag Ruby"]
[Black "CXG Sphinx40 Phoenix max"]
[ECO "B35"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3
Nf6 7. Bc4 O-O 8. Bb3 d6 9. Nxc6 {"} bxc6 {"} 10. O-O Ng4
11. Bd2 Bd4 12. Rb1 Qb6 13. Qf3 Rb8 14. Qg3 Rd8 15. h3 Nf6
16. Rfe1 Qc7 17. Qd3 Qb6 18. Be3 Bxe3 19. Qxe3 Qxe3
20. Rxe3 Nh5 21. e5 d5 22. Ne2 c5 23. Rd1 d4 24. c3 Ba6
25. cxd4 c4 26. Ba4 Rxb2 27. a3 Bb7 28. Rc1 Rc8 29. Bd1 Ng7
30. Rc2 Rb1 31. Rd2 Nf5 32. Rc3 e6 33. Kh2 Be4 34. g3 Bb7
35. Nf4 Ne7 36. a4 g5 37. Nh5 Nd5 38. Nf6+ Nxf6 39. exf6
Kf8 40. f3 h6 41. Be2 Rb4 42. Rdc2 Bd5 43. a5 Ke8 44. g4
Kd7 45. Kg3 Rb3 46. Rc1 Rc7 47. h4 Kd6 48. hxg5 hxg5
49. R3c2 Rc8 50. Rh1 e5 51. dxe5+ Kxe5 52. Rh6 Ra3 53. Bd1
Rxa5 54. Re2+ Kd4 55. Rd2+ Kc3 56. Rc2+ Kd3 57. Re2 Rc6
58. Re1 c3 59. Be2+ Kd2 60. Rd1+ Kc2 61. Re1 Kb2 62. Bd3 c2
63. Rh2 Rc3 64. Rxc2+ Rxc2 65. Bxc2 Kxc2 66. Re5 Rb5
67. Rxg5 a5 68. Rh5 a4 69. Rh2+ Kd3 70. Rh1 a3 71. Kf4 a2
0-1
[/pgn]