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Subject: Collector's Corner..The Four Voices Of The Fidelity Voice Challenger

Author: Steve B

Date: 03:28:24 01/08/05


In 1979 Fidelity released the very first chess computer to use a Voice Chip..
unlike todays  chatty computers ,the Voice Challenger only spoke the moves ,
announced check and acknowledged victory or defeat.
it was rated at about 1325 Elo and programmed by Ron Nelson.
it was sold in a briefcase:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/cpaa2@sbcglobal.net/detail?.dir=3353&.dnm=9b6f.jpg&.src=ph


soon after Fidelity released the ADVANCED Voice Challenger.
Rated at about 1350,the program was improved slightly and contained the
additional feature of being able to see the move currently under consideration
by the computer.:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/cpaa2@sbcglobal.net/detail?.dir=3353&.dnm=a32d.jpg&.src=ph

in 1980 and released only in Germany ,Fidelity incorporated the Advanced Voice
program into a huge tournament sized wooden  board.
the Grandmaster Voice contained the same exact program as the AV.
although the board and pieces are magnificent, the owner still had to key in all
of the moves via the key board.
the board itself is just a regular chess board and cannot be used to register
moves:

the GM Voice is an extremely rare computer and highly sought after by
Collector's:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/cpaa2@sbcglobal.net/detail?.dir=3353&.dnm=222c.jpg&.src=ph


Finally in 1981 Fidelity released for the North American market the Decorator
Challenger
same program as the AV and almost identical to the GM Voice except now 4 legs
were added to the board
sometimes known as the "Breakfast Tray Challenger" ,the board also could not
register any moves

the Decorator is highly prized by collector's as well:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/cpaa2@sbcglobal.net/detail?.dir=3353&.dnm=e7dd.jpg&.src=ph

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/cpaa2@sbcglobal.net/detail?.dir=3353&.dnm=b4a2.jpg&.src=ph


Sore Throat Regards
Steve



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