ACM+1978


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 * [[image:Marriott_Wardman_Park_by_Matthew_Bisanz.jpg link="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marriott_Wardman_Park_by_Matthew_Bisanz.jpg"]] ||~  || The ACM's **Ninth North American Computer Chess Championship** (NACCC) was held from December 4 to 6, 1978 at the [|Sheraton Park Hotel], [|Washington, D.C.], USA.

Several [|celebrities] from the world of chess and from the computing field were attending the ACM 1978 computer chess tournament, notably [|Edward Lasker], [|Robert Byrne], and ACM president [|Daniel D. McCracken], who presented trophies to the three prizewinners. Two remarkable incidents appeared in two games of the new American Champion Belle - in round 2 versus Chess 4.7, when Chess missed the win with 21... Nxd3, and in round 4 versus Blitz 6.5, which according to David Levy produced the most beautiful combination ever played by a computer program so far. || toc =Final Standing=
 * Sheraton Park Hotel ||~  ||^   ||
 * ~ # ||~ Program ||~ CC ||~ 1 ||~ 2 ||~ 3 ||~ 4 ||~ P ||~ SOS ||~ SoDOS ||
 * ~ 1 || Belle ||~ US ||= 8b1 ||= 2w1 ||= 3b1 ||= 4b1 ||~ 4 ||= 9½ ||= 9½ ||
 * ~ 2 || Chess 4.7 ||~ US ||= 9w1 ||= 1b0 ||= 6w1 ||= 7b1 ||~ 3 ||= 9½ ||= 5½ ||
 * ~ 3 || CHAOS ||~ US ||= 5w1 ||= 7b1 ||= 1w0 ||= 6b½ ||~ 2½ ||= 10½ ||= 5½ ||
 * ~ 4 || Blitz 6.5 ||~ US ||= 10w1 ||= 6b½ ||= 11b1 ||= 1w0 ||~ 2½ ||= 8½ ||= 3½ ||
 * ~ 5 || Sargon 2 ||~ US ||= 3b0 ||= 12w1 ||= 8b½ ||= 11w1 ||~ 2½ ||= 5 ||= 1¾ ||
 * ~ 6 || Duchess ||~ US ||= 11b1 ||= 4w½ ||= 2b0 ||= 3w½ ||~ 2 ||= 9 ||= 3½ ||
 * ~ 7 || Ostrich 4 ||~ CA ||= 12b1 ||= 3w0 ||= 9b1 ||= 2w0 ||~ 2 ||= 7 ||= 1½ ||
 * ~ 8 || Mike ||~ GB ||= 1w0 ||= 9b½ ||= 5w½ ||= 10b½ ||~ 1½ ||= 9½ ||= 2¾ ||
 * ~ 9 || Black Knight ||~ US ||= 2b0 ||= 8w½ ||= 7w0 ||= 12b1 ||~ 1½ ||= 6½ ||= ¾ ||
 * ~ 10 || Bs'66'76 ||~ NL ||= 4b0 ||= 11w0 ||= 12b1 ||= 8w½ ||~ 1½ ||= 5 ||= ¾ ||
 * ~ 11 || Awit ||~ CA ||= 6w0 ||= 10b1 ||= 4w0 ||= 5b0 ||~ 1 ||= 8½ ||= 1½ ||
 * ~ 12 || Brute Force ||~ CA ||= 7w0 ||= 5b0 ||= 10w0 ||= 9w0 ||~ 0 ||= 7½ ||= 0 ||
 * [|CC Country Codes]
 * SOS: [|Sum of Opponent Scores]
 * SoDOS: [|Sum of Defeated Opponent Scores]

=Participants= Lonny Lebahn || UNIVAC 1100 || Fortran || Victor Berman, William Toikka, Joe Winograd || AMDAHL 470V/6 || Fortran || David Cahlander || CDC Cyber || COMPASS ||
 * ~ Program ||~ CC ||~ Team ||~ Hardware ||~ Language ||
 * Awit ||~ CA || Tony Marsland || AMDAHL 470V/6 || ALGOL-W ||
 * Belle ||~ US || Ken Thompson, Joe Condon || PDP-11/23 || C, Assembly ||
 * Black Knight ||~ US || Fred Prouse, Kenn Sogge, Gary Maltzen,
 * Blitz 6.5 ||~ US || Robert Hyatt, Albert Gower || UNIVAC 1100 || Fortran ||
 * Brute Force ||~ CA || Louis Kessler || IBM 370/168 || Fortran ||
 * Bs'66'76 ||~ NL || Barend Swets || IBM 370/168 || Fortran ||
 * CHAOS ||~ US || Fred Swartz, Mike Alexander, Tom McBride,
 * Chess 4.7 ||~ US || Larry Atkin, David Slate, Keith Gorlen,
 * Duchess ||~ US || Tom Truscott, Eric Jensen, Bruce Wright || IBM 370/165 || Assembly ||
 * Mike ||~ GB || Mike Johnson || 6800 System || Assembly ||
 * Ostrich 4 ||~ CA || Monroe Newborn, Ilan Vardi || Nova 3 || Assembly ||
 * Sargon 2 ||~ US || Dan Spracklen, Kathe Spracklen || Z80, [|Wavemate Jupiter III] || Assembly ||
 * [|CC Country Codes]

=Photos=
 * [[image:SargonSpracklens1978.jpg width="580" height="407" link="http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-431f4cc14ba4b"]] ||
 * Kathe and Dan Spracklen ||
 * [[image:Mike_Johnson_1_40_x_40.JPG width="580" height="597" link="http://www.chesscomputeruk.com/html/chess_computers_-_the_uk_story.html"]] ||
 * Kathe Spracklen and Mike Johnson, Mike vs. Sargon 2 ½ - ½ ||
 * [[image:Cahlender.CDC_Chess_46.ACM_1978.jpg width="580" height="736" link="http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-430b9bbdb49fc"]] ||
 * David Cahlander, Chess 4.7 and dedicated Chesstor user interface ||
 * [[image:Cahlender.CDC_Chess_46.ACM_1978.jpg width="580" height="736" link="http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-430b9bbdb49fc"]] ||
 * David Cahlander, Chess 4.7 and dedicated Chesstor user interface ||

=Selected Games= In round 2, Belle - Chess 4.7, Chess 4.7 played the inferior 21... Nxd3+, according to David Levy because it considered the position after 21... Nxd3+ 22.Qxd3 dxc3 23.Qg6 cxd2+ 24.Nxd2 to be quiescent. code [Event "ACM 1978"] [Site "Washington USA"] [Date "1978.12.03"] [Round "2"] [White "Belle"] [Black "Chess 4.7"] [Result "1-0"]

1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 e6 4.Nf3 Bb4 5.e5 Nge7 6.Bd2 Nf5 7.Ne2 Be7 8.c3 O-O 9.Nf4 f6 10.Bd3 fxe5 11.dxe5 g5 12.g4 Ng7 13.Ng2 b6 14.Qe2 Bb7 15.Rg1 a5 16.a4 Kh8 17.h3 Kg8 18.Rh1 h6 19.h4 d4 20.hxg5 Nb4 21.gxh6 Nxd3+ 22.Qxd3 dxc3 23.Qg6 cxd2+ 24.Nxd2 Rf7 25.hxg7 Rxg7 26.Qxe6+ Rf7 27.Qh6 Rg7 28.Qh8+ Kf7 29.e6+ Kxe6 30.Qxg7 Bxg2 31.Rh6+ Kd7 32.O-O-O Bd5 33.Ne4 Kc8 34.Rh8 Bxe4 35.Rdxd8+ Bxd8 36.Qe7 Kb7 37.Qxe4+ Ka7 38.Rg8 Rb8 39.g5 Be7 40.Rxb8 Bxg5+ 41.f4 Bxf4+ 42.Qxf4 Kxb8 43.Kd2 Kb7 44.Kd3 Kc8 45.b4 axb4 46.Qxb4 Kd7 47.Qb5+ Kd8 48.Ke4 1-0 code Game and short analyze on Lichess.org : []

=Further Games=
 * Blitz 6.5 - Belle, Round 4
 * Mike - Sargon 2, Round 3
 * Sargon - Awit, Round 4

=Quotes=

Louis Kessler
Louis Kessler with Brute Force suffered from a "bug" twice, assumed already been fixed - he could not enter the en passant moves by Ostrich 4 and Bs6676 in rounds 1 and 3 :

Spracklens
Quote by Dan and Kathe Spracklen on ACM 1978 from their oral history :

||

=Reports=
 * David Levy (**1978**). //ACM '78//. ICCA Newsletter, Vol. 1, No. 1
 * [|Pech für den Weltmeister?], February 02, 1979, Computerwoche 5/1979 (German)
 * Harry Shershow (**1979**). //Computer Chess//. Personal Computing, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 38
 * Harry Shershow (**1979**). //The 9th Annual ACM Chess Tournament in Washington, D.C.// Personal Computing, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 58
 * Harry Shershow (**1979**). //A Little Bit is a Little Better//. Personal Computing, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 61 » Sargon - Awit
 * Harry Shershow (**1979**). //Playing for the Title//. Personal Computing, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 63 » Belle
 * Editor (**1979**). //Will Blitz be next year's champ?// Personal Computing, Vol. 3, No. 7, pp. 80 » Blitz 6.5 - Belle, Round 4
 * Editor (**1979**). //Scuffle in a Corner//. Personal Computing, Vol. 3, No. 8, pp. 76 » BB-1, Sargon
 * Monroe Newborn (**1979**). //Ostrich IV meets the Black Knight//. Personal Computing, Vol. 3, No. 10, pp. 74 » Ostrich, Black Knight

=External Links= include page="ACM Include" =References= =What links here?= include component="backlinks" page="ACM 1978" limit="40"
 * [|ACM 1978] CSVN site
 * [|A Memorial to BRUTE FORCE] by Louis Kessler
 * [|QUEEN vs. ROOK] by [|Warren Stenberg] and Edware J. Conway, reprinted from the January, 1979 issue of the Minnesota Chess Journal, The Usenet Oldnews Archive, Compilation Copyright (C) 1981, 1996 Bruce Jones, Henry Spencer, David Wiseman » Belle, Endgame Tablebases, [|Walter Browne]
 * Up one level**