Chess Computer Vintage (Hardware and Software)

Discussion of anything and everything relating to chess playing software and machines.

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Albert Silver
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Re: Chess Computer Vintage (Hardware and Software)

Post by Albert Silver »

Jouni wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 8:33 pm My first computer was SciSys Explorer with full 256 bytes RAM! http://www.chesscomputeruk.com/html/explorer_chess.html. Next Novag Constellation. It was really strong and good looking. And last either Novag Forte B or Mephisto Mondial don't remember sure. From 1990 only PC software.
I only owned one: the Fidelity Excel 68000. It wasn't as strong as the Mach II, its more expensive sibling, but it still contained the first example of hashtables in a standalone (together with the Mach II). It was a fun machine.
"Tactics are the bricks and sticks that make up a game, but positional play is the architectural blueprint."
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towforce
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Re: Chess Computer Vintage (Hardware and Software)

Post by towforce »

Albert Silver wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 1:10 am
AdminX wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 9:22 pm
towforce wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 9:00 pm
AlexChess wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 7:23 pm
towforce wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 6:05 pm This thread has inspired an article in Chessbase - link. :D
I hope that they don't want to sell this incredible open source virtual machine as their next own new product, too :lol:

:lol:
Really people! Just wait for Fritz 18, I am sure it should have all these ROMS playable from their new drop down menu with no installation required at a price of $99 USD. :D
You guys are a class act.

These remarks are jokes with smileys. Your misfortune is that they are good jokes, which are actually quite funny!
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AlexChess
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Re: Chess Computer Vintage (Hardware and Software)

Post by AlexChess »

towforce wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 3:37 pm
Albert Silver wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 1:10 am
AdminX wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 9:22 pm
towforce wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 9:00 pm
AlexChess wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 7:23 pm
towforce wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 6:05 pm This thread has inspired an article in Chessbase - link. :D
I hope that they don't want to sell this incredible open source virtual machine as their next own new product, too :lol: and

:lol:
Really people! Just wait for Fritz 18, I am sure it should have all these ROMS playable from their new drop down menu with no installation required at a price of $99 USD. :D
You guys are a class act.

These remarks are jokes with smileys. Your misfortune is that they are good jokes, which are actually quite funny!
I've found a lot of interesting people and memories thanks to this topic, starting from Ed Shroeder (once a time I was a Rebel customer and reseller, too :wink: ) ...and this is priceless :lol:
Chess engines and dedicated chess computers fan since 1981 :D Mac mini M1 8GB-256GB, Windows 11 & Ubuntu ARM64.
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AlexChess
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Re: Chess Computer Vintage (Hardware and Software)

Post by AlexChess »

Jouni wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 8:33 pm My first computer was SciSys Explorer with full 256 bytes RAM! http://www.chesscomputeruk.com/html/explorer_chess.html. Next Novag Constellation. It was really strong and good looking. And last either Novag Forte B or Mephisto Mondial don't remember sure. From 1990 only PC software. Novag Forte B was very strong and Super VIP, too!
I haven't never seen it before, but it's very similar to Kasparov Travel Champion 2080 that was one of my preferred, and quite strong!

OT: Jouni, on my updated crosstable Stockfish-dev is still number 1, but with Omar Khalid now supporting SugaR, ShashChess and BrainLearn will be hard to keep the leadership :) forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=78112&p=904428#p904904
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AlexChess
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Re: Chess Computer Vintage (Hardware and Software)

Post by AlexChess »

Image

Psion chess by Richard Lang was my first 1800 ELO program :)
Last edited by AlexChess on Fri Sep 17, 2021 9:55 am, edited 3 times in total.
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AlexChess
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Re: Chess Computer Vintage (Hardware and Software)

Post by AlexChess »

Image

Cyrus Chess 16K (no room for opening) for ZX Spectrum in 1982 was 1400 ELO strong!
Last edited by AlexChess on Fri Sep 17, 2021 9:57 am, edited 3 times in total.
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AlexChess
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Re: Chess Computer Vintage (Hardware and Software)

Post by AlexChess »

Image

That's incredible that was possible to write 1K chess program for this 1981 home computer!
Last edited by AlexChess on Fri Sep 17, 2021 9:58 am, edited 3 times in total.
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AlexChess
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Re: Chess Computer Vintage (Hardware and Software)

Post by AlexChess »

Sir Clive Sinclair died yesterday :cry:

Why I remember him here? Because was strictly related to my chess player experience.

Home computers ZX81, ZX Spectrum and Sinclair QL opened chess programs availability to the masses!

Image

Image
https://worldofspectrum.org/archive/sof ... search-ltd by Richard Lang :)

Image
https://www.chessprogramming.org/Psion always by Richard Lang!![/img]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU_VUN9 ... x=1&t=249s
Last edited by AlexChess on Fri Sep 17, 2021 9:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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AlexChess
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Re: Chess Computer Vintage (Hardware and Software)

Post by AlexChess »

Chess engines and dedicated chess computers fan since 1981 :D Mac mini M1 8GB-256GB, Windows 11 & Ubuntu ARM64.
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towforce
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Re: Chess Computer Vintage (Hardware and Software)

Post by towforce »

AlexChess wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 10:46 am Thank you Mr Clive Sinclair!

RIP

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... es-aged-81

Image

At the time, he was a national hero!

Former Sinclair employee, Chris Curry, formed Acorn, another successful British computer company, and "Acorn" is the "A" in ARM - the world's best selling CPU, which Acorn created.

RIP Sir Clive.
Writing is the antidote to confusion.
It's not "how smart you are", it's "how are you smart".
Your brain doesn't work the way you want, so train it!