Author: Martin Slowik
Date: 14:12:29 11/12/05
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Steve, >i am collecting from the beginning in 1977..and have continued to this day >while there might be collectors with better collections then mine Well, not many as far as I can tell... ;) >i bought my CC3 when it was FIRST released in 1978 > >then even having a computer that could play the moves was amazing > >now these old computers have some value and interest because they were the first >and serve an historical purpose >its like collecting anything such as stamps or books It's not that I don't understand it. On the other hand this doesn't mean that I would follow that path... I don't want to - and couldn't anyway. Whatsoever... Right at the moment I have an old chess book open... It's printed 1980 and says (I translate only roughly) "Everything started with him. He doesn't know all chess rules, has only one level with a depth of one ply, can play only black and the files and rows are exchanged. This is awkward in particular for experienced players when typing in the moves (...) The CHESS CHALLENGER 1 has been built only in a very low number of units and is therefore a coveted rarity." Even 1980, funny isn't it? About CC3 the Author writes "The CHESS CHALLENGER 3 is neither strong nor easy to operate but he's also today very popular or even beloved." (Liebhaberstück - maybe the right translation is "collector's item"). Was the first one which appeared in Germany. Nevertheless, I don't believe he'll become a permanent guest in my house... :) >however in sharp contrast to a CC3 these Millenium computers are junk and have >no historical significance and are a sad result of what happened to the >dedicated computer market once the PC programs became stronger This is sad indeed. It's strange that the market is now fueled only by ebay and it's beyond me that no company is able to build a nice wooden computer with a sufficient strenth for a decent price... (The Senator doesn't count for me). >i know of no collectors interested in these computers with one exception being >Karsten as i think he will try to collect every computer ever released and also >including modified,prototypes etc etc His collection is amazing. This is something, honestly, I cannot fully understand. :) >i realize its hard for someone new to the hobby(by "new" i mean someone actively >collecting for less then 5 years) too look backwards and see all of the >computers that were made and try to collect these I started playing chess more "seriously" in the early 80's and played my first tournament (human of course) in 1984. My first computer opponents (if I remember right) were Mephisto III and Sensory 9. I couldn't beat them but my learning curve was in those ole' days steeper than the one of the chess computer market... My appetite grew. I followed all computer world championships and my greatest wish was a Mephisto in a wooden board (I remember the Dallas version they had on display in our shopping mall with a label saying "Original Weltmeister, Dallas 1986"). One year later in the same mall I won my first game against a world champion (it was a Roma 68020). 1989 I bought the Exclusive Portorose you can see on my pics which I upgraded to Lyon one year later. It was clear from the beginning on that I wouldn't sell this one. Ever. (One reason was of course that I knew that the shapes of the strength curves, mine and of my purchase, would probably remain the same in the years to come...). ;) With the rise of PC programs for training purposes I switched to Rebel and Fritz but always used the dedicated unit to occasionally play games. A couple of years ago I started to watch out for the Dallas and the other modules for my Exclusive. Also the R30 which was too expensive in the past, got into my reach... I don't know when I was starting to "collect" the computers. Maybe it was 1989 - or it isn't the case even today. Not important at all. The fact is that I enjoy the beeping guys anyway, some of them at least. So you see, I'm coming from different space-time coordinates and maybe therefore actually follow a different path than you or Karsten... :) >and for MOST of my collection i paid the brand new just released price >which is far greater then what they will be worth today I understand well that there are computers one has a special relationship with. The above mentioned do it in my case. From my point of perpective it's reasonable to restrict myself to the most interesting playable units of the mentioned years... :) >1977 Regards >Steve 1980-1995 Regards, Martin
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