Vanquish mentioned the The Phantom computer in another thread.

I ran a games/chess shop in Ednburgh during the 80's and
ordered one of these. Then it was not very strong but it was brilliant
to see in action.

I had it on display in my shop window playing itself at a high setting
so it moved once every 7/8 minutes.

My shop was by a bus stop and people would argue outside.

"I tell you I saw it move... I did...I did."

I had reports of the late night drunks ( I left it on all night).
waiting for the late bus home asking people if that chess board
was moving by itself or were they really drunk.

At the end of each game it would actually reset all the pieces.
I fantastci sight.

Then one day some guy came in and bought it.

One other minor fact from those days.

And this is 100% true.

I recall a student coming into my shop in the mid 80's and
telling me how he could store games inside his computer and
keep a record of them that way.

I said something like... "sound OK but I keep mine in score books.
why bother keying them all into a computer?"

Then the most common comp was a ZX Spectrum, Comm 64 and
I think Atari. PC's (286's) were out but few had them.

The guy who invented DATABASE was a student in Edinburgh at the time.

It must have been him.

What would things be like if I had convinced him he was wasting
his time? True story.

Ha,nice story!

Originally posted by greenpawn34
I had reports of the late night drunks ( I left it on all night).
waiting for the late bus home asking people if that chess board
was moving by itself or were they really drunk.

Originally posted by greenpawn34
Vanquish mentioned the [b] The Phantom computer in another thread.

I ran a games/chess shop in Ednburgh during the 80's and
ordered one of these. Then it was not very strong but it was brilliant
to see in action.

I had it on display in my shop window playing itself at a high setting
so it moved once every 7/8 minutes.

My shop was by a bus ...[text shortened]...
What would things be like if I had convinced him he was wasting
his time? True story.[/b]

Found one I had at museum of old chess computers.

There are video's of this one playing.
I could not see vids (at work - firewall and all that stuff).

Saw the one I had here are the stats.

Model: MB Phantom Chess Computer
Manufacturer: Milton Bradley
Year: 1983
Est. ELO rating: 1450
Levels of play: 12
Type: Pressure sensory - robotic arm under the board

by the way accidently type in Red Hot Pan this morning.
It's a cooking site for very hot currys. Try it.

i used to see those things all the time, can't imagine what the price tag was.