Alex Bell

**[[Home]] * [[People]] * Alex Bell**
|| [[image:AlexMargaretBell1965.jpg link="http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/acl/associates/permanent/bell.htm"]] ||~   || **Alex G. Bell**,
a British computer scientist and early computer chess and [[Games|game]] programmer from [[University of Manchester|Manchester University]] and [[Atlas Computer Laboratory]]. Bell started chess and games programming in the early 60s, initially working for [[Nils Barricelli]] and his chess program for [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_algorithm|symbio-organisms]] research. He also wrote his own programs for [[Kalah]] and Chess, which was called [[Atlas]].

Alex Bell published various papers about those topics, his 1972 book //Games Playing with Computers// is a real quarry and covers a broad range of basic AI-algorithms and games. Fortunately, thanks to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutherford_Appleton_Laboratory|Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL)]] archive, it is available online <ref>[[http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/acl/literature/books/gamesplaying/overview.htm|Games Playing with Computers]]</ref>, as well as other valuable resources quoted here in the chess programming wiki.

In the 70s Atlas evolved to [[Master]] in collaboration with [[Peter Kent]], [[John Birmingham]] and chess expert [[John Waldron]]. Alex Bell was further involved to establish [[Conferences|computer chess conferences]] . ||
|| Alex and Margaret Bell 1965 <ref>[[http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/acl/associates/permanent/bell.htm|Alex Bell]] from [[Atlas Computer Laboratory]], hosted by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutherford_Appleton_Laboratory|Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL)]]</ref> ||~   ||^   ||
[[toc]]
=Photos= 
|| [[image:MasterTeam.JPG link="http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/gallery/ral/slide28.htm"]] ||
|| [[Master|Chess]] on the [[IBM 360|360/195]]. Alex Bell, Geoff Lambert, [[Peter Kent]], [[John Birmingham]] and [[John Waldron]] <ref>[[http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/gallery/ral/slide28.htm|Slide 28: 23.08.74 to 01.11.74]] from [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutherford_Appleton_Laboratory|Rutherford's]] Photographic Section for the [[Atlas Computer Laboratory]]</ref> ||

=Atlas= 
In 1962, when Bell was at [[University of Manchester|Manchester University]], [[Nils Barricelli]] arrived there with the intention to write a chess program for the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_Computer_%28Manchester%29|Atlas Computer]], which would be used to study certain theories of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution|evolution]]. Alex Bell was hired by [[Atlas Computer Laboratory]] at [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilton,_Oxfordshire|Chilton site, Oxfordshire]] for the purpose to write a list legal moves generator for Barricelli's project. Bell later reproduced the Barricelli chess program in [[Algol]] with quite a good user interface.

=Master= 
When Alex Bell left Atlas Laboratory in 1969, his fellow [[Peter Kent]] took over his code. In 1973 after Alex' return, he joined forces with Peter and [[John Birmingham]] from [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_Energy_Research_Establishment|Harwell]] to work on the chess playing program [[Master]] (**M**inimax **a**lgorithm Te**ster**), which competed at the [[WCCC 1974|First World Computer Chess Championship 1974]] in Stockholm <ref>[[Alex Bell]] (**1978**). //[[http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/acl/applications/cocoa/p008.htm|MASTER at IFIPS]]//. from [[Atlas Computer Laboratory]], hosted by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutherford_Appleton_Laboratory|Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL)]], excerpt from Alex Bell (**1978**). //The Machine Plays Chess//. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pergamon_Press|Pergamon Press]], from [[http://www.amazon.com/Machine-Plays-Chess-Pergamon/dp/0080212220|amazon]]</ref>. Alex left Chilton a second time and moved to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSIRO|CSIRO]] in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canberra|Canberra]] in 1975, and [[Master]] played the following [[World Computer Chess Championship|World Computer Chess Championships]], [[WCCC 1977]] and [[WCCC 1980]] with Peter Kent and John Birmingham as sole authors <ref>[[http://www.game-ai-forum.org/icga-tournaments/program.php?id=46|Master's ICGA Tournaments]]</ref>.

=Computer Chess Conferences= 
Alex Bell was initiator and co-organizer of the two first computer chess conferences in 1973 and 1975, while the latter became the [[Advances in Computer Chess 1]] conference <ref>[[http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/acl/literature/news/1975.htm|1975 Press Releases - Techniques for playing the end game]] from [[Atlas Computer Laboratory]], hosted by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutherford_Appleton_Laboratory|Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL)]]</ref>.

=Selected Publications= 
<ref>[[http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/acl/literature/books/gamesplaying/references.htm|Games Playing with Computers - References]]</ref>
* [[Alex Bell]] (**1968**). //[[http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/acl/literature/reports/p003.htm|Kalah on Atlas]]//. [[http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/acl/literature/reports/overview.htm|Literature: Reports]] hosted by [[Atlas Computer Laboratory]]
* [[Alex Bell]] (**1970**). //How to program a computer to play legal chess//, [[http://comjnl.oxfordjournals.org/|The Computer Journal]], May 1970
* [[Alex Bell]] (**1970**). //[[http://comjnl.oxfordjournals.org/content/13/3/278.abstract|Partitioning Integers in N dimensions]]//, [[http://comjnl.oxfordjournals.org/content/13/3.toc|The Computer Journal, Vol. 13, No. 3]], pp. 278-83
* [[Alex Bell]] (**1972**). //[[http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/acl/literature/books/gamesplaying/overview.htm|Games Playing with Computers]]//. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_%26_Unwin|Allen & Unwin]], [[http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/acl/literature/books/gamesplaying/index.htm|index]]
* [[Alex Bell]] (**1973**). //[[http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/acl/literature/reports/p010.htm|Himmelbett]]//. [[http://comjnl.oxfordjournals.org/content/16/3.toc|The Computer Journal, Vol. 16, No. 3]], [[http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/acl/literature/reports/overview.htm|Literature: Reports]] hosted by [[Atlas Computer Laboratory]]
* [[Alex Bell]] (ed.) (**1973**). //Computer Chess//. Proceedings [[Advances in Computer Chess 1|May 1973 Meeting on chess playing by computer]]. Science Research Council, [[Atlas Computer Laboratory]]
* [[Alex Bell]] (**1978**). //The Machine Plays Chess//. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pergamon_Press|Pergamon Press]], from [[http://www.amazon.com/Machine-Plays-Chess-Pergamon/dp/0080212220|amazon]]
[[image:TheMachinePlaysChess.jpg link="http://www.amazon.com/Machine-Plays-Chess-Pergamon/dp/0080212220"]]
* [[Alex Bell]], N. Jacobi (**1979**). //[[http://comjnl.oxfordjournals.org/content/22/1/71.abstract|How to read, make and store chess moves]]//. [[http://comjnl.oxfordjournals.org/content/22/1.toc|The Computer Journal Vol. 22, No. 1]], 71-75
* [[Alex Bell]] (**1983**). //[[http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/themicrouser/issues/01-10/chess.htm|Chess for three gives the White Knight a winning gambit]]//. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Micro_User|The Micro User Magazine]], December 1983 » [[White Knight]]

=External Links=
* [[http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/acl/associates/permanent/bell.htm|Alex Bell]] from [[Atlas Computer Laboratory]], hosted by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutherford_Appleton_Laboratory|Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL)]]

=References= 
<references />
=What links here?= 
[[include page="Alex Bell" component="backlinks" limit="100" ]]
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