Novag

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Novag Industries Ltd. is a designer and manufacturer of dedicated chess computers founded in 1978 by Peter Auge and Eric Winkler, located in Hong Kong, one of two special administrative regions (SARs) of the People's Republic of China and at that time (until 1997) under British administration.

=The First Clone= Novag's first chess computer, the Chess Champion MK I appeared in September 1978. It had a Fairchild F8 8-Bit processor running with 1.78 MHz, 2 KB ROM, and 256 bytes RAM. The program was a clone of the Data Cash Systems Inc. CompuChess program, which was developed by David B. Goodrich & Associates, while other sources assume David Levy was involved in the development. The Mk I was sold in the USA by Joseph Sugarman's company JS&A, and in 1979 Data Cash Systems took legal action against JS&A for breach of copyright , which failed because it transpired that the copyright had not been adequately protected in terms of USA law.

=The SciSys Split= The Novag Chess Champion MK II in 1979 had a 6502 compatible 6504 CPU with a program by Peter Jennings. Novag's third computer, the Chess Champion Super System III with a 6502 CPU and a program developed by Mike Johnson and David Levy was already manufactured by SciSys-W Ltd. Despite commercial success, Winkler and Auge decided to part company in late 1979. Winkler had already founded SciSys, and Auge continued with Novag, both first sharing their products, for instance Chess Partner 2000 acknowledged to "programmer" David Levy was delivered in different boxes.

=Kittinger= In 1981, Peter Auge hired David Kittinger and his MyChess program which went into the Novag Micro Chess, Super Sensor IV and Savant all in 1981. In the following years the Robot Adversary, Constellation and most notably the Super Constellation appeared. Their cooperation continued over 20 year, despite reissue of his programs in new models, Kittinger made a last update for the Novag Star Diamond in 2003. In 2009, Novag was sold to a company called Solar Wide Industrial Ltd, but continued to manufacture chess computers.

=Novag Best-Publication Award=

=Publications=
 * Schachcomputer: Markt und Müll, Der Spiegel 49/1979, December 03, 1979, (German) pdf
 * Schachcomputer: Tricks und Trug, Der Spiegel 50/1980, December 08, 1980, (German) pdf
 * Schachcomputer: Lästig, nicht lustig, Der Spiegel 49/1982, December 06, 1982, (German) pdf
 * Tony Harrington (1983). Inter~Galactic Moves. Personal Computer World, October 1983
 * Interview with Peter Auge (pdf), Erwerbsquelle: 10-1985, Zeitschrift Schachcomputer (Herausgeber Florian Piel) hosted by Hein Veldhuis (German)
 * 100,000 Chess Computers a year Peter Auge says his HK product can only be beaten by masters and grand masters, The Bulletin, May 1986, pdf hosted by Chess Computer UK

=Computers and Programs=
 * Blitz Monster
 * Chess Champion MK I
 * Chess Champion MK II
 * Chess Champion Pocket Chess
 * Chess Champion Super System III
 * Chess Partner 2000
 * Constellation
 * Novag Citrine
 * Novag Diamond
 * Novag Expert
 * Novag Forte
 * Novag Micro Chess
 * Novag Sapphire
 * Novag Star Diamond
 * Novag X
 * Robot Adversary
 * Savant
 * Super Constellation
 * Super Sensor IV

=Forum Posts=
 * Novag - Sold by Bryan Whitby, CCC, May 19, 2009

=External Links=
 * NOVAG - Trademark by Novag Industries Ltd. Kowloon
 * Scisys and Novag : The Early Years from Chess Computer UK by Mike Watters
 * Novag from Chess Computer UK by Mike Watters
 * Novag | Photo collection by Chewbanta
 * Novag from Schachcomputer.info - Wiki
 * Novag Schaakcomputers by Hein Veldhuis
 * Novag Computers by Tom Luif
 * David Kittinger - Interview by Bryan Whitby, 2008

=References=

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