ABOUT PROGRAM

NERO is programmed with TURBO PASCAL 6.0. It has 170 different OPENING LINES. 
So it makes good moves in the beginning of a game. But don't be afraid! 
After you have made one move that is not included in these lines, it starts
computing. 

Program is quite ASCETIC. You can neither take moves back nor save your 
games. Also it is impossible to see any search information. On the other 
hand this is good. (I think that one learns chess better without these.)

NERO's "strategy" is very simple - to move its pieces towards your king.
I suppose that novices will rather be improved in chess tactics and 
protecting their pieces when playing against NERO. 

If you think that Neros moves are not funny at all, I hope that you will 
still find its sounds and animations enjoyable.

Level 5 could be even strong. It is only too slow for todays computers.
(If you don't work in Meteorological Office.)



TIMED GAME

If you want to play timed game, you must do some experiments to find
suitable times and suitable level for NERO. It plays all the time same
level, except when it has very few time it changes automatically to lower 
level. When either side has less than one minute, its time is shown in
red colour. (You will see the clocks also when NOT playing timed game.)



FLIPPING THE BOARD

Unfortunately it's impossible to turn the board. White is always at bottom.
If you want to play with black pieces, it's more difficult. (Maybe someone
can learn something about thinking of the opponent this way. Usually
people choose white colour anyway. If you necessarily want to have black
pieces, you can always turn your monitor upside down.)



THE NAME OF THE PROGRAM

The word 'Nero' has in finnish language two meanings: it means both roman 
emperor Nero and Genius.



FEEDBACK

If you want to give me any feedback, you can send it to my address below.
I am interested in ideas about selecting good move in a short time. (I plan
to program NERO version 2 some time. It is going to beat Gary Kasparov.)

Jari Huikari
Vaasankatu 12 B 18
40100  JYVASKYLA
FINLAND
EUROPE
