en computerschaak
I was given this original VHS videotape many years ago as a gift from a large German collector of chess computers. It appears to be a television commercial of Fidelity Electronics Ltd. which was recorded on June 5, 1982.
Luuk Hofman converted these recordings to DVD in 2024 to ensure quality. We were somewhat surprised that this old VHS videotape is still reasonably good to run after 42 years, and so we can now present this very short video to you.
In this commercial we are told the following:
"A Russian chess computer costing over 6 million rubles, teaches young Russians to become champions. Fidelity Mini Sensory Chess Challenger cost under $60, teaches young Americans how to… checkmate! The Fidelity Chess Challenger so good, it can beat the Russians at their own game."
Actually a very playful advertisement that I grinned at. Because Fidelity is making a witty fool of Russian technology as far as computer chess is concerned with this!
But is the ad actually true, and was the difference in development in the 1980s between the USA and the USSR really that great? No I must conclude! Because the first micro chess computer from the Soviet Union, the Elektronika IM - 01 entered the commercial market in 1986 and was a lot stronger than Fidelity's Mini Sensory Chess Challenger! Of course it is true that almost no chess computers were produced in the Soviet Union, but to ridicule an entire country in this way is going too far as far as I am concerned!
For more information on the Elektronika IM - 01, see:
Elektronika IM - 01 (Leningrad)
And here is a short video in Russian language about the Elektronika IM - 01, see:
Elektronika IM - 01
For more information on the Mini Sensory Chess Challenger, see:
Fidelity_Mini_Sensory_Chess_Challenger
For another video about the Mini Sensory Chess Challenger, see:
Mini Sensory Chess Challenger
Luuk Hofman played 3 chess games against the Mini Sensory Chess Challenger, see:
Fidelity
With kind regards from historiker,
Hein Veldhuis from the Netherlands, dated 4 November 2024