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The first electronic version of Chess I ever saw was Video Chess<\/b>, released for the Atari 2600 in 1979. It still amazes me that the code to Video Chess program was 4 kilobytes in size — that’s less characters than this post contains, and that includes all the graphics and eight difficulty levels contained within the cartridge. On the easiest setting, the console was limited to ten seconds of thinking between moves. On the most difficult level, the Atari could spend up to ten hours<\/i> between moves. You could almost smell the smoke at that point.<\/p>\n

As computers began invading people’s homes in the 1980s, hundreds of programmers tried their hand at creating electronic versions of classic games such as checkers, backgammon, and chess. As computers gained speed and memory, chess programs also became better, as their ability to weigh moves and their outcomes (to “think” — or at least simulate it) could be processed more quickly.<\/p>\n

Sargon<\/b>, originally released in 1979 for the TRS-80 and quickly ported to the Apple II, set the new standard for computers by playing a quick and challenging game of Chess. The next groundbreaking computer-based Chess game was Chessmaster 2000<\/b>, released in 1986 by Software Toolworks.<\/p>\n

As computer graphics improved, so did the graphics of chess programs. The first major breakthrough was Battle Chess<\/b>. For the first time, chess pieces came alive and actually battled one another for position. The rules of chess remained the same (unlike games like Archon<\/b>, in which players took control of pieces and physically battled for position), but new animations, sound and music introduced the world to what I refer to as “animated chess.”<\/p>\n