Hello,


Could someone tell me where I might get a KSO Module. I have just purchased the Turbostar 432. I am pretty sure it does not have the module. But is there any way of testing to see if the module is present. I did a search on this but I don't read German and the translator didn't help.

Do I really need the module? Is the TurboStar a lesser machine with out it.
I know the module contains the Kasparov Selected Openings, I just don't understand what the advantages are having these installed.

If the turbostar does not recognize an opening, why is this a disadvantage.

Thanks in advance.
Steve

Hi Steve,

you can look for the KSO ROM easily:

Open the cover on the left for the figures.
Then you can open (slide to side) the cover over the red letters Turbostar 432, in the Wiki are some pictures.
Under the cover is a socket for the KSO ROM, if the socket is filled then you have KSO, if not you can try to get a ROM and put it in.

The difference ist not so important, maybe 15-20 Elos for better openings.
In most cases the normal opening book is good enough...

Regards,
Achim

Hi Steve,

i fully agree to Achim's advise. At some machines the KSO ROM cover is hard to remove - so does mine.

As Achim said, the advantage of KSO isn't much in the mean of ELO. The machine "knows" much more openings, if KSO is present and therefore it might earn a slight advantage of time, as it can play some more moves out of the bigger book. On the other hand some people mentioned, the KSO opening lines seem not designed for the playing style of Turbo Star - means, the KSO lines often lead to positions the machine don't understand. I don't have that much experiences with this computer and can neither agree, nor disagree. But if it is true that the KSO often lead to such positions, it might even drop down the machines playing strength. I can imagine, it also depends on its opponent (human or computer) whether the KSO will lead to an advantage or disadvantage.

Regards, Wilfried

Thanks to both for your excellent advise and help. I apologize for the late reply but I am having issues PC access issues with this forum and can't access my own posts. (I had to manually change the URL the server gave me to access this.

Thanks again.
Kind Regards
Steve H.