25,161
edits
Changes
Created page with "'''Home * People * Dan Spracklen''' FILE:DanSpracklen1978.JPG|border|right|thumb|170px|link=http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-4..."
'''[[Main Page|Home]] * [[People]] * Dan Spracklen'''
[[FILE:DanSpracklen1978.JPG|border|right|thumb|170px|link=http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-431f4cc14ba4b| Dan Spracklen, [[ACM 1978]] <ref>[http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-431f4cc14ba4b Kathe and Dan Spracklen at the 9th ACM North American Computer Chess Championship, Washington, DC] by [[Monroe Newborn]] from [[The Computer History Museum]]</ref> ]]
'''Dan Spracklen''',<br/>
an American computer scientist and microcomputer chess pioneer. Along with his wife [[Kathe Spracklen|Kathe]], Dan started chess programming in 1977 on a [[Z80|Z-80]] based ''Wavemate Jupiter III'' <ref>[http://www.computermuseum.li/Testpage/JupiterII-1975.htm Jupiter II-1975]</ref> in [[Assembly|assembly language]]. Their first program, [[Sargon]] <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargon_%28chess%29 Sargon from Wikipedia]</ref> had a one or two [[Ply|ply]] [[Search|search]] without [[Quiescence Search|quiescence]] but [[Static Exchange Evaluation|exchange evaluation]] <ref>[http://www.andreadrian.de/schach/sargon.asm Sargon Z80 assembly listing] by Dan and [[Kathe Spracklen]], hosted by [[Andre Adrian]]</ref>. After the success at [[MCCT 1978|The Second West Coast Computer Faire MCCT]] in March 1978, and the shared third place at [[ACM 1978]], the Spracklens became professional computer chess programmers. Sargon II was ported to various early home computers, for instance [[TRS-80]] and [[6502]] based [[Apple II]] <ref>[http://www.c64-wiki.de/index.php/Sargon_II Sargon II] from [http://www.c64-wiki.de/index.php/Hauptseite C64-Wiki] (German)</ref>, as well as [[Dedicated Chess Computers|dedicated units]] as [[Chafitz ARB Sargon 2.5]] <ref>[http://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/index.php/Chafitz_ARB_Sargon_2.5 Chafitz ARB Sargon 2.5]</ref>.
=Photos=
[[FILE:SargonSpracklens1978.jpg|none|border|text-bottom|640px|link=http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-431f4cc14ba4b]]
[[Kathe Spracklen|Kathe]] and Dan Spracklen, [[ACM 1978]] <ref>[http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-431f4cc14ba4b Kathe and Dan Spracklen at the 9th ACM North American Computer Chess Championship, Washington, DC] by [[Monroe Newborn]] from [[The Computer History Museum]]</ref>
[[FILE:KittingerDanSpracklen1983.JPG|none|border|text-bottom|640px]]
[[David Kittinger]] and Dan Spracklen at [[WMCCC 1983]] <ref>[[László Lindner]], A SZÁMÍTÓGÉPES SAKK KÉPEKBEN című melléklete - The pictures of the Beginning of Chess Computers</ref>
=Fidelity=
After civil proceedings between manufacturer [[Applied Concepts]] and their sales company [[Chafitz]], who first marketed their Sargon 2.5 program, the Spracklens began their long term collaboration with [[Sidney Samole]] and [[Fidelity Electronics]] in the 80s. Beside other successes, their computers won the first four [[World Microcomputer Chess Championship|World Microcomputer Chess Championships]], [[Chess Challenger]] the [[WMCCC 1980]], [[Fidelity|Fidelity X]] the [[WMCCC 1981]], [[Elite|Elite Auto Sensory]] the [[WMCCC 1983]] and [[Elite|Fidelity Elite X]] the [[WMCCC 1984]] (shared).
=Saitek=
In 1989 or 1990, soon after Samole sold Fidelity to [[Hegener & Glaser]], Kathe and Dan Spracklen started to work for [[Eric Winkler]] and [[Saitek]], and developed a program for [[Sparc]] processors. The loss of [[Kasparov Sparc]] against [[Ed Schroder|Ed Schröder's]] [[ChessMachine]] <ref>[https://www.game-ai-forum.org/icga-tournaments/round.php?tournament=58&round=5&id=7 Madrid 1992, Chess, Round 5, Game 7] from the [[ICGA]] [https://www.game-ai-forum.org/icga-tournaments/ Tournament Database]</ref> in [[WCCC 1992|Madrid 1992]], almost ended their involvement in computer chess when they didn't win that world title <ref>[http://www.computerhistory.org/trustee/gardner-hendrie Gardner Hendrie] ('''2005'''). ''Oral History of Kathe and Dan Spracklen''. [http://archive.computerhistory.org/projects/chess/related_materials/oral-history/spacklen.oral_history.2005.102630821/spracklen.oral_history_transcript.2005.102630821.pdf pdf] from [[The Computer History Museum]]</ref>.
=Oral History=
Excerpt from their ''Oral History'' <ref>[http://www.computerhistory.org/trustee/gardner-hendrie Gardner Hendrie] ('''2005'''). ''Oral History of Kathe and Dan Spracklen''. [http://archive.computerhistory.org/projects/chess/related_materials/oral-history/spacklen.oral_history.2005.102630821/spracklen.oral_history_transcript.2005.102630821.pdf pdf] from [[The Computer History Museum]]</ref>:
==How it started==
'''Danny Spracklen''':
Yes, the first time I saw Kathleen, she was hunched over a chess program, or a chessboard, in the cafeteria, studying a chess position. And I go, wow, that’s interesting. The young lady likes chess.
'''Kathleen Spracklen''':
And it should be noted that Dan and I have played- as opponents in chess, we’ve played two games of chess. I won one and he won one, and we said, okay, good enough.
'''Danny Spracklen''':
Well, I majored in math. And then when I got out of college, I looked for a job. And McDonald-Douglas in Santa Monica, offered me a position there, as a beginning computer programmer. So I moved up there and started learning how to program in [[Fortran]]. And I worked for them for three years.
==The Last WCCC==
Q:
Well, what bet you? What was it? What program ended up beating you and not making it?
'''Danny Spracklen''':
I think it was... the [[Ed Schroder|Schroeder]] program, [[Rebel]], or - I believe it was.
And he's still selling his program today, I think.
That was the end of it, yeah. That was our last big effort. We didn't make it and Sci Tech lost interest in us and - so we figured, well, it's been a good run, you know, let's do something else <laughter>
=See also=
* [[Fidelity Electronics#SpracklensAppleICE|Spracklens debugging with Apple II ICE]]
=Selected Publications=
* [[Dan Spracklen]], [[Kathe Spracklen]] ('''1978'''). ''SARGON: A Computer Chess Program''. Hayden Bk.Co. ISBN: 978-0810451551, [http://www.amazon.com/Sargon-Computer-Program-Dan-Spracklen/dp/0810451557 amazon.com]
* [[Dan Spracklen]], [[Kathe Spracklen]] ('''1978'''). ''First Steps in Computer Chess Programming''. [[Byte Magazine#BYTE310|BYTE, Vol. 3, No. 10]], [http://archive.computerhistory.org/projects/chess/related_materials/text/4-4.First_Steps.Byte_Magazine/First_Steps_in_Computer_Chess_Programing.Spracklen-Dan_Kathe.Byte_Magazine.Oct-1978.062303035.sm.pdf pdf] from [[The Computer History Museum]]
* [[Dan Spracklen]], [[Kathe Spracklen]] ('''1978'''). ''An Exchange Evaluator for Computer Chess''. [[Byte Magazine#BYTE311|BYTE, Vol. 3, No. 11]]
* [http://www.computerhistory.org/trustee/gardner-hendrie Gardner Hendrie] ('''2005'''). ''Oral History of Kathe and Dan Spracklen''. [http://archive.computerhistory.org/projects/chess/related_materials/oral-history/spacklen.oral_history.2005.102630821/spracklen.oral_history_transcript.2005.102630821.pdf pdf] from [[The Computer History Museum]]
=External Links=
* [https://www.game-ai-forum.org/icga-tournaments/person.php?id=210 Dan Spracklen's ICGA Tournaments]
* [http://www.ismenio.com/spracklen.html Dan and Kathe Spracklen] from [http://www.ismenio.com/chess_computers.html ChessComputers.org]
* [http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/search/?q=Spracklen Search the Mastering the Game exhibition and on-line collection] from [[The Computer History Museum]]
* [http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/orl-43343fb422232/ Oral History of Kathleen and Danny Spracklen], March 2, 2005 by [http://www.computerhistory.org/trustee/gardner-hendrie Gardner Hendrie], [[The Computer History Museum]]
* [http://members.home.nl/matador/chess820.htm Historic Pictures] by [[Ed Schroder|Ed Schröder]]
* [http://www.atariarchives.org/deli/computer_chess.php Computer Chess] by Dan and [[Kathe Spracklen]] from [http://www.atariarchives.org/ AtariArchives.org - archiving vintage computer books, information, and software]
=References=
<references />
'''[[People|Up one level]]'''
[[FILE:DanSpracklen1978.JPG|border|right|thumb|170px|link=http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-431f4cc14ba4b| Dan Spracklen, [[ACM 1978]] <ref>[http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-431f4cc14ba4b Kathe and Dan Spracklen at the 9th ACM North American Computer Chess Championship, Washington, DC] by [[Monroe Newborn]] from [[The Computer History Museum]]</ref> ]]
'''Dan Spracklen''',<br/>
an American computer scientist and microcomputer chess pioneer. Along with his wife [[Kathe Spracklen|Kathe]], Dan started chess programming in 1977 on a [[Z80|Z-80]] based ''Wavemate Jupiter III'' <ref>[http://www.computermuseum.li/Testpage/JupiterII-1975.htm Jupiter II-1975]</ref> in [[Assembly|assembly language]]. Their first program, [[Sargon]] <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargon_%28chess%29 Sargon from Wikipedia]</ref> had a one or two [[Ply|ply]] [[Search|search]] without [[Quiescence Search|quiescence]] but [[Static Exchange Evaluation|exchange evaluation]] <ref>[http://www.andreadrian.de/schach/sargon.asm Sargon Z80 assembly listing] by Dan and [[Kathe Spracklen]], hosted by [[Andre Adrian]]</ref>. After the success at [[MCCT 1978|The Second West Coast Computer Faire MCCT]] in March 1978, and the shared third place at [[ACM 1978]], the Spracklens became professional computer chess programmers. Sargon II was ported to various early home computers, for instance [[TRS-80]] and [[6502]] based [[Apple II]] <ref>[http://www.c64-wiki.de/index.php/Sargon_II Sargon II] from [http://www.c64-wiki.de/index.php/Hauptseite C64-Wiki] (German)</ref>, as well as [[Dedicated Chess Computers|dedicated units]] as [[Chafitz ARB Sargon 2.5]] <ref>[http://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/index.php/Chafitz_ARB_Sargon_2.5 Chafitz ARB Sargon 2.5]</ref>.
=Photos=
[[FILE:SargonSpracklens1978.jpg|none|border|text-bottom|640px|link=http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-431f4cc14ba4b]]
[[Kathe Spracklen|Kathe]] and Dan Spracklen, [[ACM 1978]] <ref>[http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-431f4cc14ba4b Kathe and Dan Spracklen at the 9th ACM North American Computer Chess Championship, Washington, DC] by [[Monroe Newborn]] from [[The Computer History Museum]]</ref>
[[FILE:KittingerDanSpracklen1983.JPG|none|border|text-bottom|640px]]
[[David Kittinger]] and Dan Spracklen at [[WMCCC 1983]] <ref>[[László Lindner]], A SZÁMÍTÓGÉPES SAKK KÉPEKBEN című melléklete - The pictures of the Beginning of Chess Computers</ref>
=Fidelity=
After civil proceedings between manufacturer [[Applied Concepts]] and their sales company [[Chafitz]], who first marketed their Sargon 2.5 program, the Spracklens began their long term collaboration with [[Sidney Samole]] and [[Fidelity Electronics]] in the 80s. Beside other successes, their computers won the first four [[World Microcomputer Chess Championship|World Microcomputer Chess Championships]], [[Chess Challenger]] the [[WMCCC 1980]], [[Fidelity|Fidelity X]] the [[WMCCC 1981]], [[Elite|Elite Auto Sensory]] the [[WMCCC 1983]] and [[Elite|Fidelity Elite X]] the [[WMCCC 1984]] (shared).
=Saitek=
In 1989 or 1990, soon after Samole sold Fidelity to [[Hegener & Glaser]], Kathe and Dan Spracklen started to work for [[Eric Winkler]] and [[Saitek]], and developed a program for [[Sparc]] processors. The loss of [[Kasparov Sparc]] against [[Ed Schroder|Ed Schröder's]] [[ChessMachine]] <ref>[https://www.game-ai-forum.org/icga-tournaments/round.php?tournament=58&round=5&id=7 Madrid 1992, Chess, Round 5, Game 7] from the [[ICGA]] [https://www.game-ai-forum.org/icga-tournaments/ Tournament Database]</ref> in [[WCCC 1992|Madrid 1992]], almost ended their involvement in computer chess when they didn't win that world title <ref>[http://www.computerhistory.org/trustee/gardner-hendrie Gardner Hendrie] ('''2005'''). ''Oral History of Kathe and Dan Spracklen''. [http://archive.computerhistory.org/projects/chess/related_materials/oral-history/spacklen.oral_history.2005.102630821/spracklen.oral_history_transcript.2005.102630821.pdf pdf] from [[The Computer History Museum]]</ref>.
=Oral History=
Excerpt from their ''Oral History'' <ref>[http://www.computerhistory.org/trustee/gardner-hendrie Gardner Hendrie] ('''2005'''). ''Oral History of Kathe and Dan Spracklen''. [http://archive.computerhistory.org/projects/chess/related_materials/oral-history/spacklen.oral_history.2005.102630821/spracklen.oral_history_transcript.2005.102630821.pdf pdf] from [[The Computer History Museum]]</ref>:
==How it started==
'''Danny Spracklen''':
Yes, the first time I saw Kathleen, she was hunched over a chess program, or a chessboard, in the cafeteria, studying a chess position. And I go, wow, that’s interesting. The young lady likes chess.
'''Kathleen Spracklen''':
And it should be noted that Dan and I have played- as opponents in chess, we’ve played two games of chess. I won one and he won one, and we said, okay, good enough.
'''Danny Spracklen''':
Well, I majored in math. And then when I got out of college, I looked for a job. And McDonald-Douglas in Santa Monica, offered me a position there, as a beginning computer programmer. So I moved up there and started learning how to program in [[Fortran]]. And I worked for them for three years.
==The Last WCCC==
Q:
Well, what bet you? What was it? What program ended up beating you and not making it?
'''Danny Spracklen''':
I think it was... the [[Ed Schroder|Schroeder]] program, [[Rebel]], or - I believe it was.
And he's still selling his program today, I think.
That was the end of it, yeah. That was our last big effort. We didn't make it and Sci Tech lost interest in us and - so we figured, well, it's been a good run, you know, let's do something else <laughter>
=See also=
* [[Fidelity Electronics#SpracklensAppleICE|Spracklens debugging with Apple II ICE]]
=Selected Publications=
* [[Dan Spracklen]], [[Kathe Spracklen]] ('''1978'''). ''SARGON: A Computer Chess Program''. Hayden Bk.Co. ISBN: 978-0810451551, [http://www.amazon.com/Sargon-Computer-Program-Dan-Spracklen/dp/0810451557 amazon.com]
* [[Dan Spracklen]], [[Kathe Spracklen]] ('''1978'''). ''First Steps in Computer Chess Programming''. [[Byte Magazine#BYTE310|BYTE, Vol. 3, No. 10]], [http://archive.computerhistory.org/projects/chess/related_materials/text/4-4.First_Steps.Byte_Magazine/First_Steps_in_Computer_Chess_Programing.Spracklen-Dan_Kathe.Byte_Magazine.Oct-1978.062303035.sm.pdf pdf] from [[The Computer History Museum]]
* [[Dan Spracklen]], [[Kathe Spracklen]] ('''1978'''). ''An Exchange Evaluator for Computer Chess''. [[Byte Magazine#BYTE311|BYTE, Vol. 3, No. 11]]
* [http://www.computerhistory.org/trustee/gardner-hendrie Gardner Hendrie] ('''2005'''). ''Oral History of Kathe and Dan Spracklen''. [http://archive.computerhistory.org/projects/chess/related_materials/oral-history/spacklen.oral_history.2005.102630821/spracklen.oral_history_transcript.2005.102630821.pdf pdf] from [[The Computer History Museum]]
=External Links=
* [https://www.game-ai-forum.org/icga-tournaments/person.php?id=210 Dan Spracklen's ICGA Tournaments]
* [http://www.ismenio.com/spracklen.html Dan and Kathe Spracklen] from [http://www.ismenio.com/chess_computers.html ChessComputers.org]
* [http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/search/?q=Spracklen Search the Mastering the Game exhibition and on-line collection] from [[The Computer History Museum]]
* [http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/orl-43343fb422232/ Oral History of Kathleen and Danny Spracklen], March 2, 2005 by [http://www.computerhistory.org/trustee/gardner-hendrie Gardner Hendrie], [[The Computer History Museum]]
* [http://members.home.nl/matador/chess820.htm Historic Pictures] by [[Ed Schroder|Ed Schröder]]
* [http://www.atariarchives.org/deli/computer_chess.php Computer Chess] by Dan and [[Kathe Spracklen]] from [http://www.atariarchives.org/ AtariArchives.org - archiving vintage computer books, information, and software]
=References=
<references />
'''[[People|Up one level]]'''
