Author: Bob Durrett
Date: 07:56:25 01/25/04
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On January 25, 2004 at 10:30:16, steven blincoe wrote: >hi Bob >> >>What do you suppose was the very first publicly >>available dedicated chess-playing machine? I'm not asking about the >>experimental vacuum tube machines but instead about the toys sold in stores. > > >the Fidelity Chess Challenger was the very first dedicated chess computer ever >released for sale >it was released in the fall of 1977 >it had one level and a mistaken reversal of the ranks and files >the notational input system was therfore also in reverse >Fidelity soon released a Chess Challenger 3 which corrected the error and >offered 3 levels of play >they also allowed all owners of the CC1 to upgrade to the corrected CC3 for a >small fee > >very soon after the CC1 was released, several companies released dedicated units >of their own > >a popular unit sold in the US at this time(1978) was a Novag computer sold under >the name of JS&A Computer Chess >this computer was made out of plastic and much smaller then the CC1 >it cost $100 and was endorsed by the then World Champion Karpov > >Memory Lane Regards >Steve Perhaps you're right about that being the first one. My memory is not very good except for remembering speicific unusual events. I do remember an interesting event related to this. I had sent a very long letter to Fidelity [I don't think email was an option then] in which I pointed out certain problems and made a number of suggestions for improvements. A few days later, I received a phone call from several guys at Fidelity [I think they were in Florida, USA] and they wanted me to serve as a consultant. I declined, of course, being only a beginner chessplayer. In the discussion, it came out that they had never heard of the United States Chess Federation, USCF, and so I recommended they contact USCF and gave them the mailing address. I suggested that they solicit USCF's help in identifying a chess master who would consult for them. I never heard from them again but subsequent events suggest that they followed my advice. Bob D.
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