Author: Robert Hyatt
Date: 11:20:29 07/06/04
Go up one level in this thread
On July 06, 2004 at 11:28:57, steven blincoe wrote: >>The 1980-85 period was the darkest time in microcomputer chess. ICCA decided >>that commercial companies would pay big bucks every year for a crack at the >>title. They were correct. These same commercial companies even entered 4 >>copies into the Swiss event. And with expected pairings, they even contrived to >>have their "highest scoring entry" win against their own lower-scoring entries. >> >>IM Mike Valvo used to relay the horror stories at the ACM and WCCC events. :) >> >>The concept was stupid, allowing one company to enter the _same_ program four >>times. :) > >perhaps from a competitive standpoint this was unfair.. >but from a consumers perspective the mid-80's was the "Golden Age" for dedicated >chess computers >almost on a weekly basis new computers were released from many manufacturers > Yes. But I am talking about the explicit rule that said "Up to four copies of a program may be entered". I think it used to cost about $2,000 or $2,500 US to enter one program in the "commercial section." This was obviously all about the money and not about the title. :) And there were several cases of misbehavior. :) >compare this to the sad almost non-existant state of affairs today >collectors like me must wait months if not years for the few remaining companies >to squeak out a dedicated unit >and even when they do release one its almost always in cheap plastic >beautiful wooden,tournament sized computer are rarely if ever offered > >in addition, the title of World Champion was pretty much owned by Mephisto since >1985,and therefore, never really played an important role in whether or not i >purchased the computer > >once you mainframe guys started focusing on the PC you pushed my beloved hobby >into oblivian >:)) >Steve
This page took 0 seconds to execute
Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700
Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.