Peter Jennings

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Peter R. Jennings, a Canadian (born in England) physicist, interdiscipline scientist, inventor, software developer, computer chess programmer, businessman, and paraglider. He studied mathematics, physics, fine art, philosophy, psychology, finance and marketing, and received a MA in physics from SUNY Stony Brook University in 1972, and a MBA in finance and marketing McMaster University in 1974.

=Chess= Peter Jennings is author of the first commercially successful chess program for microcomputers in 1976, MicroChess for the KIM-1 6502-based microcomputer. In 1977 MicroChess was ported to 8080/Z80-based microcomputers, such as the TRS-80. Based on MicroChess 1.5, Jennings further created the programs for the dedicated 6504 based Commodore ChessMate (1978) and Novag Chess Champion MK II (1979).

=VisiCalc= In 1976, Peter Jennings co-founded Personal Software which became VisiCorp, and was involved in the creation of VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet program. Notably, MicroChess sales helped to finance the development of VisiCalc.

=See also=
 * MicroChess
 * Chess Champion MK II
 * Commodore Chessmate

=Publications=
 * Peter Jennings (1976). MicroChess, a Chess playing program for the 6502 Microcomputer. pdf, Courtesy of Peter Jennings, The Computer History Museum
 * Peter Jennings (1977). MicroChess, a Chess playing program for the 8080 Microcomputer. pdf, Courtesy of Peter Jennings, The Computer History Museum
 * Peter Jennings (1978). The Second World Computer Chess Championships. BYTE, Vol. 3, No. 1 » WCCC 1977
 * Peter Jennings (1978). Microchess 1.5 Versus Dark Horse. BYTE, Vol. 3, No. 3 » MicroChess, Dark Horse
 * Sellam Ismail (2005). Oral History of Peter Jennings. pdf and Video from The Computer History Museum

=External Links=
 * Benlo Park - Peter’s personal web site
 * Are you the Peter Jennings I know?
 * Microchess
 * Peter's Paragliding Nomadness


 * DigiBarn: Peter Jennings and his MicroChess, Kim-1, and other wondrous artifacts
 * DigiBarn Games: MicroChess 1.5 on the TRS-80 Model 1

=References=

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