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Subject: A Computer That Plays Chess!!... Some Early Reminisces

Author: Steve B

Date: 09:30:17 03/01/05


i think it might be of interest to all Members to perhaps share their very first
experience with a chess playing machine or even a PC program

after all..  all members here started somewhere with their very first program or
dedicated computer..

a point in time i think that many of us recall with a certain amount of
nostalgia and fondness

for me of course the beginning was way back in 1978
the first chess playing computer i owned was the JS&A Computer Chess Computer
endorsed by the then World Champion Karpov

it was a small unit,with no chess board attached
you keyed in your move and the display showed the computers reply
it sold for $100
the only other machine at the time was the Fidelity Chess Challenger but it was
more expensive..i recall it sold for about $400,so i went for the cheaper
machine

i can recall exactly where i was and the time of day when i played my first game

i was renting a house with 3 college buddies(we had just graduated) and it about
8pm in the evening

i opened with D4 and after only 2 or 3 moves the computer was out of book

i remember the computer making a quiet developing move ,moving the Q to D7 to
clear the way to Castle Queen side

i was simply amazed

here i was sitting in my house,playing a game of chess with a machine no bigger
then a small book and weighing less then 1 LB and all this for 100 bucks

it soon became apparent that the program was weak but i was hooked for life
i knew right then and there i would collect and play as many of them as i could
possibly afford

the next day i shelled out the money for the Chess Challenger

still have both computers and they still work fine(and still after all of these
years,play god awful chess)

Best
Steve



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