en computerschaak
I made this video recording as a gift to chess programmer Ed Schröder 11 years ago. So the video is already on YouTube, but now the time has come to include this short recording in my database. The video recording is German-speaking and probably aired on German television at some point? I am happy to give the German spoken language in the video (translated to your own understanding) into the English language.
Three monitors, two chess computers and a professional computer video controller. The games between Karpov and Kasparov were replayed daily in Amsterdam during the fifth World Microcomputer Chess Championships. A tribute to the two world champions in faraway Moscow. A nice pastime for the spectators, and of course also for the participants during the tournament. Sometimes the duel on the monitor attracted more entrants than the match between the 16 computer teams. The world championships took place at the recently opened World Trade Centre. For nine days the title was at stake and 16 teams competed with their programs. Games were played from early afternoon until late at night. Some teams finished at 6:30 p.m. and others as late as 10:45 p.m. From the beginning, the toppers of this microcomputer tournament were the Mephisto team players from Germany. With their three programs called Amsterdam 1, 2 and 3, they consistently collected points. According to the organizers, the atmosphere during the tournament was friendly, and there were no conflicts or inconsistencies. The only game-free day was spent by the computer freaks playing chess. Or were you expecting something else?
Dutch grandmaster Gennadi Sosonko (2550 Elo rating), participated in a computer simultanance. Sosonko was born in Russia and has lived in the Netherlands for more than 15 years. 31 computers were his opponents, some from the tournament and others purchased commercially from the department stores around the corner. Sosonko played too slowly and occasionally squeezed his eyes shut on the monitors on which the Karpov-Kasparov duel was being played. This sometimes caused some frustration among the seance participants. Whether it was this distraction or the sight of the only blond young lady participating? By the end around 3:30 in the morning, he had beaten exactly 27 of the 31 microcomputers. Four computer programs did not surrender to the grandmaster.
Back to the actual competition. Two days before the awards ceremony, the match between Plymate and Mephisto 1 took center stage. The 29-year-old Richard Lang waited for the final battle with Ulf Rathsman. His opponent finally gives up after 17 minutes. Lang cannot be caught up and congratulations come from all sides. He is now the unofficial world champion. 16.5 points for the programs of the Munich manufacturer of chess computers, and is thus by far the number 1. Three more were added on Saturday, September 14, and on Sunday, September 15, the last day of the competition, it is already clear at noon: gold, silver and bronze for the Mephisto team. All three also receive the prize for best team. Not cash, by the way, but beautiful hand-painted plates from the Netherlands.
And now for some video footage that we don't want to withhold from the viewer. An operator takes his disk with his precious program back to the hotel. Maybe he keeps it under his pillow? The cabling also goes into the travel bag because it might as well be stolen. The electronic chessboard ends up in the plastic bag and the next day everything is reassembled. There is one condition, however, that all accessories are still there and that all components are still operational.
So much for the images from the tournament in Amsterdam. Then we see the well-known German grandmaster and author Helmut Pfleger in the picture asking a question to Zsuzsa Polgár. Zsuzsa, do you ever play with chess computers? Yes, sometimes I do is the short answer. The rest of Helmut's talk is irrelevant.
External Links
WMCCC_1985
5. WMCCC_Amsterdam_1985
5. Mikro-Schach-WM 1985
Schakend Nederland, Jaap v.d. Herik, Mephisto Microwereldkampioen
Rochade, G. Hertneck, 5. Computerschach-WM 1985
Rochade, H.-P. Ketterling, Die Mikro-Schach-WM 1985
Mephisto - Computer Video Controller
With kind regards from historiker,
Hein Veldhuis from the Netherlands, dated 21 November 2024