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Superstar 36K ¹

Superstar, (Superstar X, SciSys Superstar)
a series of dedicated chess computers manufactured by SciSys, released in 1983 and 1984. The computer with a Sensory Board had a 6502 compatible CMOS processor, and ran programs developed by Julio Kaplan, Heuristic Software, persistent in 24 or 32 KiB of ROM, using 4 KiB of RAM. Kaplan programs were notable for their chess knowledge and a relatively human-like playing style rather than formidable look-ahead ¹. Superstar played the WMCCC 1983 in Budapest.

Selected Games

Mephisto

WMCCC 1983, round 1, Superstar X - Mephisto Y ²

[Event "WMCCC 1983"]
[Site "Budapest, Hungary"]
[Date "1983.10.13"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Superstar X"]
[Black "Mephisto Y"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 a6 4.e4 b5 5.a4 Bb7 6.axb5 axb5 7.Rxa8 Bxa8 8.Nc3 c6 
9.Be2 e6 10.O-O Nf6 11.Bg5 Be7 12.Qc2 O-O 13.Ra1 Nbd7 14.Ra7 h6 15.Bh4 Re8 
16.h3 Qb8 17.Ra6 b4 18.Na4 Bb7 19.Bg3 b3 20.Qb1 Bxa6 21.Bxb8 Rxb8 22.Nc3 Bb4 
23.Qf1 Bxc3 24.Qa1 Bxb2 25.Qxa6 Bc3 26.Qxc4 b2 27.Bd3 b1=Q+ 28.Bxb1 Rxb1+ 
29.Kh2 Nxe4 30.Qxc6 Ndf6 31.Qc8+ Kh7 32.Qc7 Rf1 33.Qxf7 Rxf2 34.Qxe6 Re2 
35.Qc4 Rb2 36.Qc8 Rf2 37.d5 Bb4 38.Qa6 Nxd5 39.Qa8 Ndc3 40.Ne5 Bd6 41.Qe8 Nf6 
42.Qg6+ Kg8 43.Kg1 Ra2 44.Qf7+ Kh8 45.Ng6+ Kh7 46.Nf8+ Bxf8 47.Qxf8 Ne2+ 48.Kf1 
Ng3+ 49.Ke1 Nfe4 50.Qf3 Ra1+ 51.Qd1 Rxd1+ 52.Kxd1 0-1 

Chess-Master

WMCCC 1983, round 3, Superstar X - Chess-Master ³

[Event "WMCCC 1983"]
[Site "Budapest, Hungary"]
[Date "1983.10.15"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Superstar X"]
[Black "Chess-Master"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.dxe5 Nxe4 5.Bd3 d5 6.Qe2 Bf5 7.Nd4 Bg6 8.O-O Bc5
9.Nb3 Nd7 10.Nxc5 Ndxc5 11.Bxe4 Bxe4 12.Nc3 f6 13.Qb5+ Nd7 14.e6 c6 15.Qxb7 Ne5 
16.f4 Rb8 17.Qxa7 Ra8 18.Qxg7 Qb6+ 19.Rf2 Rf8 20.Nxe4 dxe4 21.e7 Rf7 22.Qg8+ Kxe7 
23.Qxa8 Nc4 24.b3 e3 25.Re2 Rf8 26.Qa4 Nd6 27.Bxe3 Qb5 28.Qa7+ Ke6 29.Rae1 Rf7 
30.c4 Nxc4 31.bxc4 Qxc4 32.Qb6 Kd5 33.Bf2 Qc3 34.Rd1+ Kc4 35.Qc5# 1-0 

See also

• President Chess
• Turbostar

Publications

• Michael Ciraolo (1985). Computer CHESS Programming. Antic Vol. 4, No. 3
• SciSys – Superstar 28K (pdf) hosted by Hein Veldhuis
• SciSys - Superstar 36K (pdf) hosted by Hein Veldhuis

Hans-Peter Ketterling (1985). Neues aus Nürnberg. Europa-Rochade, 03-1985 (German)

Jan Louwman (1985). SciSys Superstar 36K. Computerschaak, No. 3, 06-1985 (Dutch)

• Gute Taktiker, schlechte Strategen, Der Spiegel 25/1985, June 17, 1985 (German)

Forum Posts

• Change in Saitek Programming by Jerome Tarshis, rgcc, November 14, 1996

External Links

Superstar Chess Computer

• Superstar's ICGA Tournaments
• Superstar 28K from Chess Computer UK by Mike Watters
• Superstar 36K from Chess Computer UK by Mike Watters
• SciSys Superstar 28K Electronic Chess Computer, The Spacious Mind
• SciSys Superstar 36K Electronic Chess Computer, The Spacious Mind
• SciSys Superstar 28K from Schachcomputer.info - Wiki (German)
• SciSys Superstar 36K from Schachcomputer.info - Wiki (German)

Super & Star Misc

• Superstar (disambiguation) from Wikipedia
• Superstar from Wikipedia
• Supernova from Wikipedia
• Super (disambiguation) from Wikipedia
• Star (disambiguation) from Wikipedia

Star from Wikipedia

• super- - Wiktionary
• star - Wiktionary
• Queenadreena - Ascending Stars, The Butcher and the Butterfly (2005), YouTube Video

Watch on YouTube

References