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Microchess
''Microchess'', by Peter R Jennings, Peter R. Jennings, was the first commercially successful chess program for microcomputers. Originally designed for the MOS Technology KIM-1 it was released on December 18, 1976. ''Microchess'', as small as it was in terms of program size, could still play passable chess on the KIM-1 with its MOS Technology 6502, 6502 microprocessor, 1 kilobyte of memory, simple hex keyboard, and seven-segment display. Selling it at a price of US$10, Jennings refused to sell the rights of the program to Chuck Peddle (president of MOS Technology) for $1000. It was the first software package to sell 50,000 copies. Jennings founded Personal Software to publish ''Microchess'' to the nascent microcomputer market. Money made from ''Microchess'' and other software projects allowed Jennings, together with Dan Fylstra, to launch VisiCorp company, and underwrite the development of VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet. ''Microchess'' was later expanded into a more fully fea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter R Jennings
Peter R. Jennings (born 1950) is a Canadian physicist, scientist, inventor, software developer, computer chess programmer, and entrepreneur. He is best known for creating Microchess, MicroChess, the first microcomputer game to be sold commercially in 1976. Biography Early life Jennings was born in Bedford, England, in 1950. In the 1960s his family moved to Ontario, Canada. He received an MA in physics from Stony Brook University, SUNY Stony Brook University in 1972, and an MBA in finance and marketing from McMaster University in 1974. ''Microchess'' Jennings developed ''Microchess'' shortly after leaving graduate school in New York; the code was sold on paper, so buyers had to manually enter the program using a keyboard. ''Microchess'' was the first software to sell over 10,000 copies. Later versions, on the Apple II and the TRS-80, sold millions of copies. It was also available on the Commodore PET and Atari 8-bit family, Atari 400/800 platforms. ChessMate Jennings also d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Personal Software
VisiCorp was an early personal computer software publisher. Its most famous products were Microchess, Visi On and VisiCalc. It was founded in 1976 by Dan Fylstra and Peter R. Jennings as Personal Software, and first published Jennings' Microchess program for the MOS Technology KIM-1 computer, and later Commodore PET, Apple II, TRS-80 and Atari 8-bit. In 1979 it released VisiCalc, which would be so successful that in 1982 the company was renamed VisiCorp Personal Software, Inc.. :* VisiCalc was the first electronic spreadsheet for personal computers, developed by Software Arts and published by VisiCorp. :* Visi On was the first GUI for the IBM PC. Bill Gates came to see Visi On at a trade show, and this seems what inspired him to create a windowed GUI for Microsoft. VisiCorp was larger than Microsoft at the time, and the two companies entered negotiations to merge, but could not agree on who would sit on the board of directors. Microsoft Windows when it was released included a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
VisiCorp
VisiCorp was an early personal computer software publisher. Its most famous products were Microchess, Visi On and VisiCalc. It was founded in 1976 by Dan Fylstra and Peter R. Jennings as Personal Software, and first published Jennings' Microchess program for the MOS Technology KIM-1 computer, and later Commodore PET, Apple II, TRS-80 and Atari 8-bit. In 1979 it released VisiCalc, which would be so successful that in 1982 the company was renamed VisiCorp Personal Software, Inc.. :* VisiCalc was the first electronic spreadsheet for personal computers, developed by Software Arts and published by VisiCorp. :* Visi On was the first GUI for the IBM PC. Bill Gates came to see Visi On at a trade show, and this seems what inspired him to create a windowed GUI for Microsoft. VisiCorp was larger than Microsoft at the time, and the two companies entered negotiations to merge, but could not agree on who would sit on the board of directors. Microsoft Windows when it was released included ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TRS-80
The TRS-80 Micro Computer System (TRS-80, later renamed the Model I to distinguish it from successors) is a desktop microcomputer launched in 1977 and sold by Tandy Corporation through their Radio Shack stores. The name is an abbreviation of ''Tandy Radio Shack, Z80 icroprocessor'. It is one of the earliest mass-produced and mass-marketed retail home computers. The TRS-80 has a full-stroke QWERTY keyboard, the Zilog Z80 processor, 4 KB dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) standard memory, small size and desk area, floating-point Level I BASIC language interpreter in read-only memory (ROM), 64-character per line video monitor, and a starting price of US$600 (equivalent to US$ in ). A cassette tape drive for program storage was included in the original package. While the software environment was stable, the cassette load/save process combined with keyboard bounce issues and a troublesome Expansion Interface contributed to the Model I's reputation as not well-suited to serious ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1K ZX Chess
''1K ZX Chess'' is a 1982 chess program for the unexpanded Sinclair ZX81. Description ''1K ZX Chesss code takes up only 672 bytes in memory, but implements chess rules except for castling, promotion, and en passant, including a computer opponent. It was the smallest implementation of chess on any computer, although today that title is held by ChesSkelet with 269 bytes (less than half the size of ''1K ZX Chess''). Developer David Horne discussed ''1K ZX Chess'' and published the full source code as a type-in program in a series of articles in '' Your Computer'' in 1982 and 1983. Reception ''Popular Computing Weekly'' in 1982 called ''1K ZX Chess'' "one of the most interesting ZX tapes to pass through our office in recent weeks". It approved of the computer displaying moves while considering them and noted "the skills which went into writing a chess program in 1K of machine code. Is there anyone reading this who could even contemplate doing the same?" The magazine concluded, "Despit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
KIM-1
The KIM-1, short for ''Keyboard Input Monitor'', is a small 6502-based single-board computer developed and produced by MOS Technology, Inc. and launched in 1976. It was very successful in that period, due to its low price (thanks to the inexpensive 6502 microprocessor) and easy-access expandability. History MOS Technology's first processor, the 6501, could be plugged into existing motherboards that used the Motorola 6800, allowing potential users (i.e. engineers and hobbyists) to get a development system up and running very easily using existing hardware. Motorola immediately sued, forcing MOS to pull the 6501 from the market. Changing the pin layout produced the "lawsuit-friendly" 6502. Otherwise identical to the 6501, it nevertheless had the disadvantage of having no machine in which new users could quickly start playing with the CPU. Chuck Peddle, leader of the 650x group at MOS (and former member of Motorola's 6800 team), designed the KIM-1 in order to fill this need. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spreadsheet
A spreadsheet is a computer application for computation, organization, analysis and storage of data in tabular form. Spreadsheets were developed as computerized analogs of paper accounting worksheets. The program operates on data entered in cells of a table. Each cell may contain either numeric or text data, or the results of formulas that automatically calculate and display a value based on the contents of other cells. The term ''spreadsheet'' may also refer to one such electronic document. Spreadsheet users can adjust any stored value and observe the effects on calculated values. This makes the spreadsheet useful for "what-if" analysis since many cases can be rapidly investigated without manual recalculation. Modern spreadsheet software can have multiple interacting sheets and can display data either as text and numerals or in graphical form. Besides performing basic arithmetic and mathematical functions, modern spreadsheets provide built-in functions for common financial a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atari 8-bit Family Games
Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc., founded in Sunnyvale, California, in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, was a pioneer in arcade games, home video game consoles and home computers. The company's products, such as ''Pong'' and the Atari 2600, helped define the electronic entertainment industry from the 1970s to the mid-1980s. In 1984, as a result of the video game crash of 1983, the home console and computer divisions of the original Atari Inc. were sold off, and the company was renamed Atari Games Inc. Atari Games received the rights to use the logo and brand name with appended text "Games" on arcade games, as well as the derivative coin-operated arcade rights to the original 1972–1984 arcade hardware properties. The Atari Consumer Electronics Division properties were in turn sold to Jack ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apple II Games
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ''Malus sieversii'', is still found today. Apples have been grown for thousands of years in Asia and Europe and were brought to North America by European colonization of the Americas, European colonists. Apples have Religion, religious and mythology, mythological significance in many cultures, including Norse mythology, Norse, Greek mythology, Greek, and Christianity in Europe, European Christian tradition. Apples grown from seed tend to be very different from those of their parents, and the resultant fruit frequently lacks desired characteristics. Generally, apple cultivars are propagated by clonal grafting onto rootstocks. Apple trees grown without rootstocks tend to be larger and much slower to fruit after plantin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chess Software
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to distinguish it from related games, such as xiangqi (Chinese chess) and shogi (Japanese chess). The recorded history of chess goes back at least to the emergence of a similar game, chaturanga, in seventh-century India. The rules of chess as we know them today emerged in Europe at the end of the 15th century, with standardization and universal acceptance by the end of the 19th century. Today, chess is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide. Chess is an abstract strategy game that involves no hidden information and no use of dice or cards. It is played on a chessboard with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. At the start, each player controls sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1976 Video Games
Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Philadelphia Flyers–Red Army game results in a 4–1 victory for the National Hockey League's Philadelphia Flyers over HC CSKA Moscow of the Soviet Union. * January 16 – The trial against jailed members of the Red Army Faction (the West German extreme-left militant Baader–Meinhof Group) begins in Stuttgart. * January 18 ** Full diplomatic relations are established between Bangladesh and Pakistan 5 years after the Bangladesh Liberation War. ** The Scottish Labour Party is formed as a breakaway from the UK-wide party. ** Super Bowl X in American football: The Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Dallas Cowboys, 21–17, in Miami. * January 21 – First commercial Concorde flight, from London to Bahrain. * January 27 ** The United States vetoes a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sargon (chess)
''Sargon'' (or ''SARGON'') is a line of chess-playing software for personal computers. The original ''SARGON'' from 1978 was written in assembly language by Dan and Kathleen "Kathe" Spracklen for the Z80-based Wavemate Jupiter III. History ''SARGON'' was introduced at the 1978 West Coast Computer Faire where it won the first computer chess tournament held strictly for microcomputers, with a score of 5–0. This success encouraged the authors to seek financial income by selling the program directly to customers. Since magnetic media were not widely available at the time, the authors placed an advert in ''Byte'' magazine selling for $15 photocopied listings that would work in any Z80-based microcomputer. Availability of the source code allowed porting to other machines. For example, the March–April 1979 issue of '' Recreational Computing'' describes a project that converted Sargon to an 8080 program by using macros. Later the Spracklens were contacted by Hayden Books and a boo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
