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		The ACM's Tenth North American Computer Chess Championship (NACCC) was held from October 28 to 31, 1979 at the Detroit Plaza Hotel in the Renaissance Center, Detroit, Michigan, USA [1] .In attendance at the tournament as guests of ACM were John McCarthy of Stanford University, George Koltanowski, former president of the United States Chess Federation and the world's most famous blindfold chess player, and Max Euwe, former president of FIDE and former World Champion from 1935-1937 [2] . David Levy, International Master from London, served as Tournament Director. John McCarthy awarded the trophies at a conference luncheon on Wednesday, October 31, and called for placing greater stress on the experimental aspects of the tournament. He encouraged the tournament organizers to require programs to print out more of the important information leading up to their choice of moves. This would permit a clearer understanding of why the computers play as they do. Koltanowski and Euwe mixed with the participants and from time to time came to the stage to assist David Levy. They commented on the games and dipped into their large reservoir of chess related stories and jokes. The tournament was organized by Ira Purchis of the Burroughs Corporation, Ben Mittman, and Monroe Newborn. IBM, Burroughs, Anderson-Jacobson, General Motors, and Ford provided partial support of the tournament [3] .
Plaza Hotel, the central tower of Detroit's RenCen [4]

Final Standing

^[5]

#	Program	CC	1	2	3	4	P	SOS	SoDOS
1	Chess 4.9	US	8w1	9b1	3w1	2b½	3½	8½	7
2	Belle	US	5b1	6w½	7b1	1w½	3	10	7
3	Duchess	US	10b1	7w1	1b0	6w1	3	9	5½
4	MyChess	US	7b0	10w1	11b1	5w½	2½	7	4¼
5	L'Excentrique	CA	2w0	12b1	8w1	4b½	2½	7	2¾
6	CHAOS [6]	US	12w1	2b½	9w1	3b0	2½	7	2½
7	Sargon 2.5	US	4w1	3b0	2w0	9b½	1½	9½	3
8	Ostrich 80	CA	1b0	11w1	5b0	10w½	1½	9	2¼
9	Blitz 6.9	US	11b1	1w0	6b0	7w½	1½	8½	1¼
10	Awit	CA	3w0	4b0	12w1	8b½	1½	7	¾
11	Bs'66'76	NL	9w0	8b0	4w0	12b1	1	5½	¾
12	Rufus	US	6b0	5w0	10b0	11w0	0	8	0

• CC Country Codes
• SOS: Sum of Opponent Scores
• SoDOS: Sum of Defeated Opponent Scores

Participants

^[7]

Program	CC	Team	Hardware	Language
Awit	CA	Tony Marsland	AMDAHL 470V/7	ALGOL-W
Belle	US	Ken Thompson, Joe Condon	PDP-11/70, LSI-11 with custom boards	C
Blitz 6.9	US	Robert Hyatt, Albert Gower	UNIVAC 1100/80	Fortran
Bs'66'76	NL	Barend Swets	IBM 370/168	Fortran
CHAOS	US	Mike Alexander, Fred Swartz, Jack O’Keefe, Victor Berman	AMDAHL 470V/6	Fortran
Chess 4.9	US	Larry Atkin, David Slate, David Cahlander	CDC Cyber 176	COMPASS
Duchess	US	Tom Truscott, Bruce Wright, Eric Jensen	IBM 370/168	Assembly
L'Excentrique	CA	Claude Jarry	AMDAHL 470V/7	Assembly
MyChess	US	David Kittinger	Z80 Cromemco T-2D	Assembly
Ostrich 80	CA	Monroe Newborn	Nova 3	Assembly
Rufus	US	Charles Sullivan	6502 Apple II
Sargon 2.5	US	Dan Spracklen, Kathe Spracklen	6502 based System	Assembly

Photos

Tournament room, Monroe Newborn [8]		Fred Swartz, CHAOS
Larry Atkin and David Slate, Chess 4.9 [9]		Monroe Newborn, David Levy, Ben Mittman

Claude Jarry with L'Excentrique
Kathe Spracklen and Dan Spracklen, Sargon 2.5

Photos & Games

Tournament room, Round 4

Belle - Chess 4.9

[Event "ACM 1979"]
[Site "Detroit USA"]
[Date "1979.10.30"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Belle"]
[Black "Chess 4.9"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
 
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Be2 O-O
9.O-O Re8 10.Nd2 Na6 11.f3 Nc7 12.a4 b6 13.Nc4 Ba6 14.Bg5 h6 15.Bh4 g5
16.Bf2 Nh5 17.Ne3 Bc8 18.Qc2 Nf4 19.Bc4 Bd7 20.Rfd1 Qf6 21.Bg3 Nh5 22.Be1
Nf4 23.Kh1 a6 24.Bg3 b5 25.axb5 axb5 26.Rxa8 Rxa8 27.Bf1 b4 28.Ne2 b3 29.Qb1
Nh5 30.Bf2 Nf4 31.Nc4 Nxe2 32.Bxe2 Bb5 33.Bg3 Ra4 34.Qc1 Bf8 35.Rd2 Qd8
36.Qf1 h5 37.Kg1 h4 38.Bf2 Bg7 39.Ne3 Bxe2 40.Qxe2 Ra1+ 41.Rd1 Ra2 42.Qd3
Rxb2 43.Nc4 Rc2 44.e5 Bxe5 45.Nxe5 dxe5 46.Qxb3 Re2 47.Kf1 c4 48.Qb7 Ra2
49.Bb6 h3 50.Qxc7 Qf6 51.Qd8+ Qxd8 52.Bxd8 Rxg2 53.Re1 c3 54.Rxe5 c2 55.Re8+
Kg7 56.Bxg5 Rxg5 57.Rc8 Rg2 58.d6 Rxh2 59.d7 Rd2 60.Kg1 Rxd7 61.Rxc2 Rd3
62.Rf2 Kf6 63.Kh2 1/2-1/2

Game and short analyze on Lichess.org : https://en.lichess.org/PTMZcETv

Ostrich 80 - Awit

[Event "ACM 1979"]
[Site "Detroit USA"]
[Date "1979.10.30"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Ostrich 80"]
[Black "Awit"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
 
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nc6 4.O-O Bd7 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.d4 a6 7.Bxc6 Bxc6 8.Be3 Qb6
9.b3 Nxe4 10.Nxe4 Bxe4 11.c3 Qc6 12.Qe2 O-O-O 13.Ng5 Bg6 14.Nf3 Bh5 15.Bg5 Kd7
16.Rad1 Bxf3 17.gxf3 cxd4 18.cxd4 Qd5 19.f4 h6 20.Bh4 g5 21.fxg5 hxg5 22.Bg3 Rc8
23.Rd3 Bg7 24.Rfd1 e6 25.Qe3 b5 26.f4 f6 27.fxg5 Rc2 28.R1d2 Rc1+ 29.Be1 Qxg5+
30.Qxg5 fxg5 31.Re3 Ke7 32.Kg2 g4 33.Ree2 Bf6 34.Bg3 Bg5 35.Rd3 d5 36.a4 bxa4
37.bxa4 Ra1 38.Be5 Rg8 39.Kg3 Bh6 40.Kh4 Rxa4 41.Rg2 a5 42.Rxg4 Rf8 43.Kh5 Bc1
44.Rg7+ Rf7 45.Bd6+ Kxd6 46.Rxf7 Rc4 47.Kg6 Rc2 48.h4 a4 49.Rff3 a3 50.Rb3 a2
51.Rb6+ Kc7 52.Ra6 Kb7 53.Ra4 Kb6 54.Rf6 Kb5 55.Ra8 Be3 56.Rxe6 Bxd4 57.Rb8+ Ka5
58.Ra8+ Kb5 59.Rb8+ Kc4 60.Rc6+ Kd3 61.Rb3+ Bc3 62.Ra6 Rg2+ 63.Kh5 Kc4 64.Rba3
a1=Q 65.R6a4+ Kd3 66.Rxa1 Bxa1 67.Rxa1 Rg8 68.Rd1+ Ke4 69.Re1+ Kf5 70.Rf1+ Ke4
71.Re1+ Kf4 72.Rd1 Ke5 73.Re1+ Kd6 74.Rd1 Ke5 75.Re1+ Kd6 76.Rd1 Ke5 1/2-1/2

CHAOS vs. Duchess, David Cahlander (Chess 4.9), William Toikka, Fred Swartz and Tom Truscott

[Event "ACM 1979"]
[Site "Detroit USA"]
[Date "1979.10.30"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Duchess"]
[Black "CHAOS"]
[Result "1-0"]
 
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 e6 4.Nf3 d5 5.exd5 exd5 6.d4 Bg4 7.Be2 Nf6 8.Bg5 Bxf3
9.Bxf3 Qe7+ 10.Kf1 cxd4 11.Nxd5 Qd8 12.Qe2+ Kd7 13.Qb5 Rb8 14.Nxf6+ gxf6 15.Qf5+
Kc7 16.Bxf6 Be7 17.Bxh8 Qxh8 18.Qxf7 Qg8 19.Qxg8 Rxg8 20.Be4 Rh8 21.f4 Na5 22.Ke2
Nc4 23.Rhb1 Bf6 24.Kd3 Nb6 25.Re1 Kb8 26.Rab1 Na4 27.Bf5 h5 28.Bg6 Nc5+ 29.Kc4 Nd7
30.Re8+ Rxe8 31.Bxe8 Nb6+ 32.Kc5 h4 33.gxh4 Kc8 34.h5 Kd8 35.Bb5 Kc7 36.h6 a6
37.Bd3 Bh8 38.Bf5 Na4+ 39.Kb4 b5 40.Ka5 Kb7 41.Be4+ Ka7 42.h7 Nb6 43.h4 Nc4+ 44.Kb4
Kb6 45.c3 a5+ 46.Kb3 dxc3 47.Rd1 Nd2+ 48.Rxd2 cxd2 49.Kc2 b4 50.h5 Kc5 51.Kxd2 Bxb2
52.h6 Bh8 53.Ke3 Kc4 54.Bc2 Kd5 55.Bb3+ Kc5 56.Ke4 Kd6 57.Kf5 Kd7 58.Kg6 Ke7 59.f5
Be5 60.Bc2 Bf6 61.Be4 Bh8 62.Bf3 Be5 63.Bc6 Bf6 64.Be8 Be5 65.Bb5 Bh8 66.Bc4 a4
67.Bg8 Bf6 68.Bd5 Be5 69.Kg5 Bf6+ 70.Kf4 Kf8 71.Ke4 Ke7 72.Be6 a3 73.Kd3 Bh8 74.Kc4
Bc3 75.Kc5 Kd8 76.Kd6 Ke8 77.Bb3 Bb2 78.Ke6 Bh8 79.Ba4+ Kf8 80.Bd1 Ke8 81.f6 Kf8
82.Bb3 Ke8 83.Ba4+ Kf8 84.Bd1 Ke8 85.Bb3 Kf8 86.Bc4 Ke8 87.Bb5+ Kf8 88.Ba4 b3
89.Bxb3 Ke8 90.Bc2 Kf8 91.Bd3 Ke8 92.Bb5+ Kf8 93.Ba6 Ke8 94.Bd3 Kf8 95.Be2 Ke8
96.Bh5+ Kf8 97.Bg4 Ke8 98.Bf3 Kf8 99.Be4 Ke8 100.Bg6+ Kf8 101.Bf5 Ke8 102.Be4 Kf8
103.Bb1 Ke8 104.Bf5 Kf8 105.Bc2 Ke8 106.Ba4+ Kf8 107.Bd1 Ke8 108.Be2 Kf8 109.Bf3
Ke8 110.Bc6+ Kf8 111.Bd5 1-0

Game and short analyze on Lichess.org : https://en.lichess.org/78UavmG5

Exhibition Game

In addition to the chess tournament, ACM 79 was the scene of a most unusual event on October 27, 1979. At the suggestion of ACM president Daniel D. McCracken, an exhibition chess game was held between David Levy and a unique team consisting of Chess 4.9 and David Slate. Levy mated advanced Slate in 50 moves ^[10] .

[Event "ACM 1979 Exhibition Game"]
[Site "Detroit USA"]
[Date "1979.10.27"]
[Round "1"]
[White "David Slate & Chess 4.9"]
[Black "David Levy"]
[Result "0-1"]
 
1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 Bg4 4.b3 Nbd7 5.Bb2 c6 6.Be2 Bxf3 7.Bxf3 Qc7 8.Nc3 e5
9.fxe5 Nxe5 10.Qe2 Bd6 11.g3 Qe7 12.O-O-O O-O 13.Bg2 Ba3 14.Kb1 Bxb2 15.Kxb2
b5 16.Rdf1 Nfd7 17.d4 Nc4+ 18.bxc4 Qb4+ 19.Kc1 Qxc3 20.cxb5 cxb5 21.Bxd5 Nb6
22.Bb3 Nc4 23.Bxc4 bxc4 24.Qe1 Qa3+ 25.Kd2 Rab8 26.Ke2 Rb2 27.Qd2 Rxa2 28.Rb1
Qe7 29.Ra1 Qe4 30.Rhc1 Rxa1 31.Rxa1 Qg2+ 32.Kd1 Qh1+ 33.Qe1 Qb7 34.Ke2 Rb8
35.Ra4 Rc8 36.Ra5 Qe4 37.Rxa7 Qxc2+ 38.Qd2 Qe4 39.Qe1 c3 40.Kf2 h5 41.Ra5 h4
42.Ra1 h3 43.Qh1 Qc2+ 44.Kf3 Rc6 45.Qb1 Rf6+ 46.Kg4 Qe2+ 47.Kh4 Rh6+ 48.Kg5
Qh5+ 49.Kf4 Rf6+ 50.Ke4 Qf5# 0-1

Game and short analyze on Lichess.org : https://en.lichess.org/YZpY2cqR

Tournament Director

• David Levy

Reports

• David Slate (1979). Tenth Annual ACM North American Computer Chess Championship. ICCA Newletter, Vol. 2, No. 2
• Theodore H. Ehara (1980). The 1980 North American Computer Chess Championship. Creative Computing, Vol. 6, No. 4, hosted by the Internet Archive (wrong title)
• Ben Mittman, Monroe Newborn (1980). Computer chess at ACM 79: the tournament and the man vs. man and machine match. Communications of the ACM, Vol. 23, Issue 1, pdf from The Computer History Museum

External Links

• ACM 1979 CSVN site
• Chess Notes 7949. Max Euwe – Sargon 2.5 by Edward Winter
• Computer vs. computer: Duel on the Chessboard, Boca Raton News - November 27. 1979 from Google News
• Chess players are experiencing CHAOS, Lakeland Ledger - November 29, 1979 from Google News

• North American Computer-Chess Championships, complete History of Tournament Results by Theo van der Storm
• Important games hosted by Ed Schröder
• ACM COMPUTER CHESS by Bill Wall

References

1. ^ David Slate (1979). Tenth Annual ACM North American Computer Chess Championship. ICCA Newletter, Vol. 2, No. 2
2. ^ Chess Notes 7949. Max Euwe – Sargon 2.5 by Edward Winter
3. ^ Excerpt from Ben Mittman, Monroe Newborn (1980). Computer chess at ACM 79: the tournament and the man vs. man and machine match. Communications of the ACM, Vol. 23, Issue 1, pdf from The Computer History Museum
4. ^ Detroit's Renaissance Center designed by John Portman, owned by General Motors along the International Riverfront, as seen from Windsor, Ontario, the southernmost city in Canada. The Plaza Hotel, later the Westin, today the Marriot, is the central hotel tower, Photo by Yavno, May 31, 2008, Wikimedia Commons, Renaissance Center from Wikipedia
5. ^ ACM 1979 CSVN site
6. ^ Chess players are experiencing CHAOS, Lakeland Ledger - November 29, 1979 from Google News on ACM 1979
7. ^ Ben Mittman, Monroe Newborn (1980). Computer chess at ACM 79: the tournament and the man vs. man and machine match. Communications of the ACM, Vol. 23, Issue 1, pdf from The Computer History Museum
8. ^ Two Photos by Gavin Eadie from UM People - Jeff Ogden - Picasa Web Albums
9. ^ Photos gift by Monroe Newborn from The Computer History Museum
10. ^ David Slate (1979). Tenth Annual ACM North American Computer Chess Championship - Man and Computer vs. Man. ICCA Newletter, Vol. 2, No. 2

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