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Subject: Re: Chess Challengers, old SciSys, Novags and Mephistos

Author: Steven Schwartz

Date: 05:22:48 04/17/98

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On April 17, 1998 at 01:34:13, Christophe Theron wrote:

>On April 16, 1998 at 22:10:26, Fernando Villegas wrote:
>
>>On April 16, 1998 at 20:11:45, Karsten Bauermeister wrote:
>>
>>>Hi to all.
>>>
>>>Really nice to hear, that there are some people, who are in the time of
>>>300 MHz-PCs still interested in old chess computers.
>>>I am proud owner of more than 200 chess computers, about 140 old ones
>>>from the first ones to them of 1984. Most of them I bought in last six
>>>years second hand. Some of them were damaged, but most were ok when
>>>buying. I know storys of 80 percent out of order units, when getting
>>>them new (Chess Machine, some Fidelity models) and of really crazy
>>>collectors (like me too!?) and customers. People, who gave there last
>>>money for the computer, which is newest, oldest or rarest one.
>>>
>>>I am happy, that there are stil people, who have problems in playing
>>>with there lovely "toys" and that there are storys, which must be
>>>public.
>>>
>>>A special thanks to Fernando, who presents the story of "Organizing the
>>>first chess computer tournament". In Germany there was one very similar
>>>to that. A architect from Hamburg was the first one in Germany, who let
>>>play three computers against each other: Boris, Chess Challenger 3 or 10
>>>and Compuchess. He wrote an article in the German Chess Magazin ROCHADE
>>>EUROPA in 1978. Later he began to collect chess computers and opened a
>>>privat chess computer museum in Hamburg. Perhaps that is something, I
>>>will do in the future, too! -)
>>>
>>>I would be very interested in knowing, if there is any website to the
>>>theme "old chess computers". There was a try some years before of some
>>>German guy, I don't know (!), but it wasn't proceded ...
>>
>>But Karsten, for Heaven sake, what are you waiting for? You are the man
>>to organize such site. I know you have the largest collection in
>>Germany.I have -I guess- the largest in Chile. Sure there are people
>>elsewhere with more machine san histories to tell.
>>
>>Fernando
>>>Karsten
>
>Maximum respect to both of you.
>
>I was a kid when the first chess computers appeared. I could only stare
>at them in the stores, but never had the money to buy one myself (at
>this time).
>
>I remember playing once in a store against a Scisys model which had a
>mechanical arm. It was maybe christmas 1981 or 1982? It moved the pieces
>itself! The program was Sargon 2.5 I think. People from the store had to
>throw me out every evening!


If it had a robotic arm, it was the Robot Adversary by Novag,
programmed by Dave Kittinger.
-Steve






>I don't understand why I'm so in love with those old computers. There
>was something magical about them. I should talk about this with a
>psychanalyst... :)
>
>
>    Christophe



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