Microchess

Microchess is a game developed by for the Apple-1 and Apple II series, as well as many other early personal computer systems. It is believed to be the first commercially-available game for personal computers.
==History==
Jennings first developed Microchess for the , a demonstration computer released in 1976 by to promote its 6502 microprocessor. It displayed the game status through a very limited set of LEDs. The game was written over 6 months of Jennings' spare time. The source code was originally distributed on paper and managed to fit within 1 kilobyte of RAM.Early Microcomputer Chess, Computer History Museum. Accessed 2022-10-21.Microchess by Peter Jennings, Benlo Park. Accessed 2022-10-21. As the Apple-1 kit computer also used a 6502 processor, but with 4 kilobytes of RAM, Jennings permitted early owner Larry Nelson to adapt the code for it. The chessboard was displayed in the form of ASCII text characters on an ordinary television display. When Microchess version 1.5 was ported to the microprocessor and released for the in 1978, Nelson had it play against the Apple-1 and the result was a draw.Microchess for the Apple I by iceandfire, Applefritter. 2005-03-19.The Apple-1: Experiences Of Users, Apple II History. Accessed 2022-10-21. Daryl Rictor later adapted a version that could be played over a serial terminal connection.MicroChess source for the Apple-1, by Peter Jennings and Daryl Rictor. 2002-08.
Version 2.0 was released in 1978 by Personal Software in cooperation with Apple Computer for the more capable Apple II personal computer, taking advantage of its higher memory configuration options (16 KB was required), its high resolution graphics (for the time), and the ability to distribute the software on cassette tape.Apple Cassettes Tapes: Apple Computer, Inc., Brutal Deluxe Software. Accessed 2022-10-21. Microchess became the first computer game to sell over 50,000 copies.Retro Computer Chess part 3: Bringing it home by BenRedic, Chess.com Blogs. 2016-03-20.
==Videos==
Microchess - (1977) - Apple 1 - gameplay
Microchess 2 - (1978) - Apple II - gameplay win
==References==
==See also==
*Chess, a version for macOS presently maintained by Apple.
==External links==
*Microchess Manual (PDF) by Peter Jennings (1976)
*Microchess 2.0 Manual (PDF) by Peter Jennings (1978)
*Microchess at MobyGames
*MicroChess at the Chess Programming Wiki
* at Wikipeda
Category:Apple software
Category:Apple II games
Category:1976 introductions