Author: Mark Ryan
Date: 16:51:48 03/01/05
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I don't know why, but the idea of computer chess has always fascinated me. When I was a university student in the early 1970s (taking a side course in computer science) I had a notion to write a chess program. I never followed through, partly because I dropped out of school. In the mid 1970s, the annual Pacific National Exhibition in Vancouver announced that there would be a chess-playing computer that visitors could challenge. On the first day of the Exhibition, I arrived fifteen minutes before opening time so that I would be first in line to play the computer. Absolutely nobody else was there early. I played slowly and carefully, writing down the moves, my heart pounding as I began to realize that I had winning chances. The machine was not terrible, but it was not strong. After about one hour, I delivered checkmate. At that point, I realized that a small audience had gathered. There were around a dozen spectators. Here's the funny part. They were all looking at me as though I was Bobby Fischer ... I had beaten a COMPUTER at chess ... like I was a grandmaster or something. If they only knew, I'm an absolute patzer. I should have offered to sign autographs at $5 a shot. Mark :)
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