Collectors Corner.. Chafitz Chess Computers..The Early Years

[Steve B]

It is a very strange feeling you have when readi8ng these threads that are 6,7 years old and looks like written yesterday.

Yes this has to be a NEW forum record for replying to an old post..

71/2 Years ago Regards
Steve

[klute]

Yes this has to be a NEW forum record for replying to an old post..

71/2 Years ago

Yay!

You really don't want one of those first Blue Diplomats with ill-fitting lid though Steve - terrible things - they fell off almost just by breathing on them!

[klute]

It is a very strange feeling you have when readi8ng these threads that are 6,7 years old and looks like written yesterday.
I wonder what happened next with this Chafitz gentleman that appeared, told things and then he went....

It might be an old thread, but an interesting one. I've always felt it was a pity Applied Concepts / Chafitz / Destiny left the chess computer market so relatively early.

They pioneered some intriguing and desirable machines, but I can understand why the non-sensory modular models dated quickly and didn't sell well after only a few years.

[Steve B]

It is a very strange feeling you have when readi8ng these threads that are 6,7 years old and looks like written yesterday.
I wonder what happened next with this Chafitz gentleman that appeared, told things and then he went....

It might be an old thread, but an interesting one. I've always felt it was a pity Applied Concepts / Chafitz / Destiny left the chess computer market so relatively early.

They pioneered some intriguing and desirable machines, but I can understand why the non-sensory modular models dated quickly and didn't sell well after only a few years.

they did leave too early
just as they went belly up they were planning on releasing the "Laser Chess"
a Prodigy type of portable computer with a touch screen
also left on the drawing table was a 4 Mhz GGM ..(called the Mega)
never released for sale although some collectors claim to own one..undoubtedly a modified 2 Mhz GGM
and last but not least lets not forget the

Boris Handroid Regards
Steve

[klute]

just as they went belly up they were planning on releasing the "Laser Chess" a Prodigy type of portable computer with a touch screen

Yes, although the Laser Chess likely would have turned out to be as reliable as a...

...Novag Savant Regards

[bataais]

so now we know there are actually three Diplomat versions

There are indeed! (without counting the ill-fitting cover ones)

Two different blue's, one dark and one light blue.


There are early dark blue versions without the position dots on the display:


my early dark blue has no dots, no Chafitz on the back label, SN: J09845
my light blue one has dots, Chafitz on the back label, SN: J22281
my brown one has dots, Applied Concepts on the back label, SN: 015039

Diplomatic Regards,
Michael

[bataais]

Sorry for the oversized pics, they are not mine.
Here are better ones:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KEyiVr ... sp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q_asLU ... sp=sharing

[Tibono2]

Hello Michael,

TMHO, worth counting 4 versions: there was a dark blue BD-II.


(from ebay)
Best,
Eric

[joemonk64]

Hello!

I can confirm that the programmer for the Original BORIS was David Lindsay. David immigrated to the US from England.

He and his wife went to my church, we sang in choir together, and David was a personal friend.

I was over to his house many times. I saw the BORIS program in development. Many people dont know this, but the chess computer has a 20ma TTL current loop to which can be attached a teletype machine! The computer in BORIS is based on an F8 development kit that was obtained from MOSTEK.

The machine was unusual in that it had 2K of STATIC RAM.That's why there is a "Reset" switch, to kill the power and reset the RAM. Having Static RAM greatly simplified the design, as unlike DRAM, there is no refresh circuitry required.

The original BORIS program was developed on a system that stored the program on paper tape. It had a DEBUG monitor, which is what it booted into (Very common for microcomputers in the late '70s). Then you read in the paper tape, and told the monitor to jump to a memory location, and you were off to the races!

The original BORIS (in the walnut case) is unique for its time because it had 16 segment LED displays. This is due to the fact that the computer had to play either side and allow for a two person game with move entry, so it had to be universal in its interactions.

[mclane]

Many thanks for the details.

Tell us more about david Lindsay. Please.

I have also both units here. One plastic diplomat and boris in walnut case.

[Clark Barr]

What I remember most about the original Boris were the scrolling comments "HAVE YOU PLAYED BEFORE?'" "I OVERLOOKED THAT MOVE!" "OOPS!" and a couple other phrases that would get Dad and I to laugh while playing with it.

[Steve B]

I have also both units here. One plastic diplomat and boris in walnut case.

Boris was also sold in Limited Editions of Stone and Onyx Cases

i have the Incolay Stone Case


Stoned Regards
Steve

[mclane]

I was so much fascinated by the written comments in boris, that the first thing i implemented in capa, was this comment feature,