The Modern Era of Computer Chess

Abstract

Beginning in mid-November 1966, a chess program was developed on a PDP-6 computer at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at M.I.T. The program was written primarily by Richard Greenblatt, then an undergraduate student, with the assistance of Donald E. Eastlake III. The program was written quickly—by February 1967 it was ready to play in a local tournament where it lost four games and drew one to achieve a rating of 1243 on the United States Chess Federation scale. In March 1967 it played in another tournament, winning one game and losing four. Its performance rating for that event was 1360 and its overall rating went up to 1330. One month later it scored two wins and two losses for a performance rating of 1640. The program was named Mac Hack VI and it was made an honorary member of both the U.S.C.F. and the Massachusets Chess Association.

‘I think that the problem can be solved only by chess specialists using their creative experience’.

Botvinnik