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Vintage Chess Computers of the 80s
March 1, 2019
Did you own a dedicated chess computer in the 80s and play against it? Is that set now in a box in the basement?
There is an article (with photos) in PC Magazine listing some of them:
https://www.pcmag.com/feature/366452...ss-computers/1
Benj Edwards writes:
If you're like me, you have an older brother who loves chess. As you were growing up in the 1980s, you watched him play game after game in the back seat of a Dodge minivan against tiny electronic chess computer boards made by Radio Shack.
Thirty years later, you grew up, became a professional journalist who wrote features for PCMag and wondered: What other cool chess computers are out there?
Well, my friend, you've come to the right place. In my travels on the internet over the last few years, I have been collecting examples of some of the most interesting and weird vintage chess computer devices ever made. We're going way beyond Tandy and Radio Shack and getting into machines that move pieces by themselves (whether by arm or "ghost"), strange video game consoles, and even tiny Disney Castles.
And he goes on to list these:
1 Novag Robotic Adversary (1982)
2 Mattel Computer Chess (1980)
3 Videomaster Star Chess (1979)
4 Commodore Chessmate (1978)
5 Boris the Talking Chess Computer (1977)
6 Disney Magic Castle (1988)
7 Milton-Bradley Grandmaster (1983)
He says this of the Novag Robot: Chess computer manufacturer Novag introduced one of the industry's most novel variations in the Robotic Adversary, an electronic chess board with a robotic arm that could move the computer player's pieces. Unfortunately, the complex mechanical nature of the device backfired, and they are known to break down easily. With only 2,500 units produced, the Adversary is one of the most sought-after chess computers, and it fetches a high price—if you can find one.
__________
As a student I couldn’t afford one but on occasion played against one on display at the old Simpson’s downtown store on Queen Street.
There was one reply to the article from Jack Tomak:
I sort of remember the Robotic Arm game, but was out of my price range at the time. Instead I got the Vintage 1980 Fidelity Electronics Sensory Chess Challenger 8, my first. I loved playing that machine and eventually sold it for 30 bucks, while looking to get my next upgrade. I think the Challengers 8 ELO was somewhere around 1400, but I could be wrong though. But it was definitely one of the first electronic chess games out there that had the pieces you could actually move. Subsequently I got the Vintage 1992 Radio Shack Chess Champion 2150-L with the linked LCD chessboard endorsed by Garry Kasparov. I believe the Challenger 8 when new ran about 100 dollars, the Chess Champion 2150 L new set me back 200 dollars but well worth it. I still have the 9v 300mA adaptor, all the pieces, and its user manual. Basically it's in good shape! Then came Fritz as well as all the other newer ones that followed. Unbelievably, I saw one game go for $3.597 - The DGT Revelation II -Electronic Chess, PC... definitely over budget!!! However, while I am no computer buff, I did come across an interesting post on chess.com where the guy (CLARSON) was looking for programmers or code to JavaScript for the chess challenger. Here is his post
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/gen...mputer-program
Thanks for writing up this article on some cool vintage computer chess games. Great job!
March 1, 2019
Did you own a dedicated chess computer in the 80s and play against it? Is that set now in a box in the basement?
There is an article (with photos) in PC Magazine listing some of them:
https://www.pcmag.com/feature/366452...ss-computers/1
Benj Edwards writes:
If you're like me, you have an older brother who loves chess. As you were growing up in the 1980s, you watched him play game after game in the back seat of a Dodge minivan against tiny electronic chess computer boards made by Radio Shack.
Thirty years later, you grew up, became a professional journalist who wrote features for PCMag and wondered: What other cool chess computers are out there?
Well, my friend, you've come to the right place. In my travels on the internet over the last few years, I have been collecting examples of some of the most interesting and weird vintage chess computer devices ever made. We're going way beyond Tandy and Radio Shack and getting into machines that move pieces by themselves (whether by arm or "ghost"), strange video game consoles, and even tiny Disney Castles.
And he goes on to list these:
1 Novag Robotic Adversary (1982)
2 Mattel Computer Chess (1980)
3 Videomaster Star Chess (1979)
4 Commodore Chessmate (1978)
5 Boris the Talking Chess Computer (1977)
6 Disney Magic Castle (1988)
7 Milton-Bradley Grandmaster (1983)
He says this of the Novag Robot: Chess computer manufacturer Novag introduced one of the industry's most novel variations in the Robotic Adversary, an electronic chess board with a robotic arm that could move the computer player's pieces. Unfortunately, the complex mechanical nature of the device backfired, and they are known to break down easily. With only 2,500 units produced, the Adversary is one of the most sought-after chess computers, and it fetches a high price—if you can find one.
__________
As a student I couldn’t afford one but on occasion played against one on display at the old Simpson’s downtown store on Queen Street.
There was one reply to the article from Jack Tomak:
I sort of remember the Robotic Arm game, but was out of my price range at the time. Instead I got the Vintage 1980 Fidelity Electronics Sensory Chess Challenger 8, my first. I loved playing that machine and eventually sold it for 30 bucks, while looking to get my next upgrade. I think the Challengers 8 ELO was somewhere around 1400, but I could be wrong though. But it was definitely one of the first electronic chess games out there that had the pieces you could actually move. Subsequently I got the Vintage 1992 Radio Shack Chess Champion 2150-L with the linked LCD chessboard endorsed by Garry Kasparov. I believe the Challenger 8 when new ran about 100 dollars, the Chess Champion 2150 L new set me back 200 dollars but well worth it. I still have the 9v 300mA adaptor, all the pieces, and its user manual. Basically it's in good shape! Then came Fritz as well as all the other newer ones that followed. Unbelievably, I saw one game go for $3.597 - The DGT Revelation II -Electronic Chess, PC... definitely over budget!!! However, while I am no computer buff, I did come across an interesting post on chess.com where the guy (CLARSON) was looking for programmers or code to JavaScript for the chess challenger. Here is his post
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/gen...mputer-program
Thanks for writing up this article on some cool vintage computer chess games. Great job!