On Ultra Rare Chess Computers..

[mhull]

Here is a rare Bird seldomly seen
released in 1984 it was the very first Auto Sensory chess computer to contain no distracting leds or lights on the playing board itself
released decades before ..it was the Father of the DGT board and Tasc Smart Boards

moves were indicated by a system of leds and on the display screen in the attached display unit
the engine was by the Husband and Wife Spracklen programming team

the Unusually Rare Fidelity Elite Private Line:



Private Parts Regards
Steve

Now that's a beauty! Did the private line use just one program and/or which one(s)?

[Steve B]

Now that's a beauty! Did the private line use just one program and/or which one(s)?

Yes indeed a real looker the Private Line
so much so that i am thinking of competing with it in the upcoming Paris Dedicated Chess Computer Tournament:
http://www.zanchetta.net/echecs/Paris2009/Default.aspx

it used only one program Matt
it was basically the same program as seen in the more common Fidelity Elite A/S computer but with a larger book and running 10% faster(3.5 Mhz)
rated at about 1750-1800

Looking For Private Ryan Regards(ok..ok.. i know its a stretch)
Steve

[Steve B]

Unless you were a card carrying member of the United States Chess Federation in the late 1980's you could not even buy this rare chess computer

the Fidelity USCF Chess Challenger was a Special Edition release only offered to USCF members
it came bundled with a chess printer to print moves and diagrams

notice the green and white squares for the chess board which was to simulate the colors of the typical vynil roll up tournament boards used at many of the USCF tournaments even to this day:



Regards From the now defunct USCF Computer Chess Rating Agency
Steve

[Steve B]

Of Course when we speak of the Ultra Rare ..no thread would be complete without a mention of the Tasc R40
one of only two chess computers ever released for sale with a piece recognition board
The program was written by Johann de Koinig
(of Chess Master Fame)
it remains today one of the strongest dedicated chess computers ever released for sale even though released more then 15 years ago
what made the R40 so rare is that it ran at a blistering fast 40 Mhz while the more commonly seen R30 ran at a mere 30 Mhz
legend has it that not more then 20 were ever made and only about 10 were actually sold

for the technology at the time ..40 Mhz was impossibly fast and ran very hot and so there were concerns about the motherboard overheating and deep frying..
to get around this problem ... cooling fans were inserted on the mother board and air vents were carved out of the back of the burled wooden housing to cool the mother board
the normal ..run-o-the-mill R30 ..did not have the fans or air vents:



the R40 Unit :


the computer sold for about $3000 as new but today Collectors would eagerly pay several multiples of that..

Up To The Tasc Regards
Steve

[Steve B]

When discussing the world of the Ultra Rare ..sometimes strange anomalies occur

take for example the strange case of the Fidelity Robots
Fidelity released three versions of their Phantom Robot(all rated 2100 USCF)
the normal Phantom
the Chesster Phantom
the Eyeball Chesster Phantom

the normal Phantom could move the pieces and the Eyeball Chesster could also speak and had a motion detector to determine if the player was sitting in front of the computer
it could greet the player and make rude comments if the player walked away(perhaps to go to the bathroom to cheat with a PC engine on his cell phone)

now the Chesster Phantom could only speak and could not see
the Normal and Eyeball Phantoms appear on Ebay almost on a daily basis

and yet it is the Chesster Phantom that is the most rare,hard to find and sought after by collectors worldwide





See No Evil Regards
Steve

[Spock]

Of Course when we speak of the Ultra Rare ..no thread would be complete without a mention of the Tasc R40

And you have one of these in your collection Steve ?

[Steve B]

Of Course when we speak of the Ultra Rare ..no thread would be complete without a mention of the Tasc R40

And you have one of these in your collection Steve ?

Hi Ray
yes Sir
all of the computers i speak of here in this thread i own personally
the photos i post are of the exact computer i own

A Thankless Tasc Regards
Steve