The Star Sapphire has the same program, processor, ROM, RAM and opening book as the Novag Star Diamond. That machine is included in my Strong Group Two. You can find a webpage about it here (link), including some background about both machine’s three year delay getting to market. I did intend to include the Star Sapphire with the Star Diamond in Strong Group Two. One is a conventional tabletop press sensory chess computer with chesspieces and the other a pocket sized portable with touch screen, so there is sufficient difference between them to make playing both against the other machines of interest. However the Star Sapphire stopped working at the time I was making up the groups so was left out. It is working perfectly now, but too late unless another chess computer drops out.
I will not repeat the three year delay story here, but that delay and the associated production decisions had a more profound effect on the Star Sapphire than they did on the Star Diamond. Below is Eric Hallsworth’s description of the Star Sapphire when it was first announced in Spring 2000. Remember, this was before mobile phones had colour or touch screens. His enthusiasm for the large bright touch screen with clear chess graphics, that Novag apparently intended, comes across loud and clear, and it is the reason that many of his readers will have decided to buy one.
Star Sapphire (£269-289?) - new super-strong portable, pictured below. That’s right! There’s an on-screen playing board and you use a soft-touch pen to select features etc. and move pieces on-screen! The Star Ruby and Star Sapphire share this much sought-after and superb feature, and these will be the portables of the future! Measurements are 11.5 x 9 cms and the body is anodized metal. Opening book 200,000, fast processor, hash tables and the strongest Novag ever. The Star Sapphire will also have a facility for attaching it to Novag’s two new boards.
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