Author: Roy Eassa
Date: 09:41:55 08/16/01
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On August 16, 2001 at 04:46:04, John Alfred wrote: >On August 15, 2001 at 15:22:31, Roy Eassa wrote: > >>On August 15, 2001 at 04:52:01, John Alfred wrote: >> >>>On August 14, 2001 at 13:01:13, Roy Eassa wrote: >>> >>>>On August 14, 2001 at 07:40:47, John Alfred wrote: >>>> >>>>>Do you know of any attempts by anyone at a chess coprocessor daughterboard? >>>>>(apart from anything to do with Deep Blue) >>>>> >>>> >>>>There was a device called "The Chess Machine" that was sold as an ISA card for >>>>the PC. You ran a special app and this card "took over", essentially replacing >>>>your main CPU for the duration of your chess play/study. It had a nice >>>>mouse-based GUI and loads of features, and played quite well for its time (back >>>>in the DOS days). Its claim to fame was that it could turn a slow PC (e.g., >>>>PC-XT) into a strong chess program, and it lived up to that. As PC CPUs got >>>>faster, the Chess Machine lost its market and got quite cheap. >>>> >>>>I'm sure that's not exactly what you asked, but I wonder if somebody could pull >>>>the same (or similar -- true coprocessor?) trick off today, in a world with 1.5+ >>>>GHz main CPUs. >>> >>>Hi Roy, >>> >>>Thats interesting to hear! Any idea what processor it used and what the Elo >>>rating was? >>> >> >>I honestly don't recall the CPU. I do recall that it was amazingly strong for >>its time. And the GUI was unequaled. They touted it as about USCF 2450, I >>think, but all ratings of that time period have since been reduced. They >>actually had two models -- a later, more expensive one was double the speed, and >>thus higher rated, but caused heat problems. I had the "normal" one (which I >>actually still own if you know anybody who's interested in buying it!). > >Hi Roy, > >Why not put a price on it now? Who knows where it may lead to! > I figure somebody will pop in and tell me what they go for these days. It was originally $500+, I think, then when it fell to like $200 I bought it. I don't know whether it has "antique" value like some old computers, or whether I'd be lucky to get $50. (Below that, it wouldn't be worth the trouble.)
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