Author: Mike Byrne
Date: 07:15:19 07/04/03
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On July 04, 2003 at 10:12:38, Mike Byrne wrote: >On July 04, 2003 at 08:44:42, ludicrous wrote: > >>If a super strong program like Ruffian was taken back in the early 80's in the >>form of a 3.0 Ghz PC, with a chessbase interface, about how much would a chess >>fanatic back then be willing to pay (including the PC) for it? >> >>Just a thought. > >Many Chess Programs were much more expensive in thes early 90's - PC Chess >programs were not really available in the early 80's other than the Sargon >series for the VIC20 etc. In mid 80;s is when the first PC chess programs >started coming available. Back then the strongest Chess machines available to >purchase were dedicated chess units with some costing as much as $5000 and more. > I remebered one unit was nearly $10,000. Some casual chess players have a lot >of wealth. It was not really until the early 90's (92/93) when the first >pentium machine came out that PC's programs took over. > >I have a flyer from the 90's that I am looking at right now. Here are the >prices: > >Hiarcs 2.1 Pro $149.95 >Socrates 3.0 $129.95 >MChess Pro 3.5 $149.95 >Genius 2.0 $149.95 >Gideon Pro $149.95 > >RexChess 2.3 $19.95 -"Best Buy" ;>) > >So for all those that complain aboyt Fritz or Junior for about $50 - you now get >a program that is 100x better for 1/3 the cost. All those programs were DOS >programs with aome butr limited non chess playing capabilities (database, saving >games etc,). All engine matches back then were done by hand. > >oh ..to answer your question - if Ruffian was available and was near the top (it >would have to be DOS since Windows was not a common platform) and it had its >own GUI - perhaps $149.95 would have been the price. I just realized I misread your question totally. I have yet to have a cup of coffee yet this morning. So I'm answering the question you did not ask. :>)
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