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Created page with "'''Home * People * Ken Thompson''' FILE:Ken Thompson 02.jpg|border|right|thumb|Ken Thompson <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Thompson Ken Thompson..."
'''[[Main Page|Home]] * [[People]] * Ken Thompson'''
[[FILE:Ken Thompson 02.jpg|border|right|thumb|Ken Thompson <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Thompson Ken Thompson from Wikipedia]</ref> ]]
'''Kenneth Lane (Ken) Thompson''',<br/>
an American computer scientist and pioneer. Beside other things, best known for his contributions at the [[Bell Laboratories]] in creating the [[Unix]] operating system together with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Ritchie Dennis Ritchie], in 2011 awarded with the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Prize Japan Prize] for their contribution <ref>[[Hiroyuki Iida]] ('''2011'''). ''The 2011 Japan Prize Awarded to Unix Pioneers''. [[ICGA Journal#34_1|ICGA Journal, Vol. 34, No. 1]]</ref><ref>[http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6970 Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie win Japan 'Nobel' Prize], [[ChessBase|ChessBase News]], January 26, 2011</ref>.
Along with [[Joe Condon]], Ken Thompson was creator of the chess entity [[Belle]], the winner of the [[WCCC 1980|3rd World Computer Chess Championship]] 1980 in Linz <ref>[https://www.game-ai-forum.org/icga-tournaments/person.php?id=355 Ken Thompson's ICGA Tournaments]</ref>. From the mid 70s until 2000, Ken Thompson worked on creating [[Thompson's Databases|Endgame Databases]] of up to six pieces <ref>[http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/ken/chesseg.html 6-Piece Database Statistics] by [[Ken Thompson]], 2000</ref>.
=Photos=
[[FILE:Chess_Pioneers_Mittman_Newborn_Marsland_Slate_Levy_Shannon_Thompson_Truscott.c1980.102665753.lg.jpg|none|border|text-bottom|640px|link=http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/accession/102665753]]
Chess pioneers in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Sacher Sacher Hotel Vienna], Austria 1980: [[Ben Mittman]], [[Monroe Newborn|Monty Newborn]], [[Tony Marsland]], <br/>[[David Slate|Dave Slate]], [[David Levy]], [[Claude Shannon]], [[Ken Thompson]], Betty Shannon, [[Tom Truscott]] <ref>[http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/accession/102665753 Chess pioneers in Sacher Hotel Vienna, Austria], Gift of [[Ben Mittman|Benjamin Mittman]], [[The Computer History Museum]]</ref>
[[FILE:Valvo_Mitman_Newborn_Thompson_Hyatt.Dallas.1982.jpg|none|border|text-bottom|640px|link=http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-430b9bbdcd092]]
[[Ben Mittman|Mittman]], [[Monroe Newborn|Newborn]], Thompson and [[Robert Hyatt|Hyatt]] (right) at [[ACM 1982]] in Dallas, Texas, 1982 <ref>[http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-430b9bbdcd092 Photo] from [[The Computer History Museum]]</ref>
[[FILE:Beal_Thompson_Newborn_Botvinnik_WCCC_New_York_1983.jpg|none|border|text-bottom|640px|link=http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-430b9bbe3f6f0]]
[[Don Beal|Beal]], Thompson, [[Monroe Newborn|Newborn]], and [[Mikhail Botvinnik|Botvinnik]] at [[WCCC 1983|4th WCCC 1983]] in New York City <ref>[http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-430b9bbe3f6f0 Photo] Gift of [[Monroe Newborn]] from [[The Computer History Museum]]</ref>
[[FILE:Lazarov_Thompson_Donskoy_KAISSA_team.Montreal.jpg|none|border|text-bottom|640px|link=http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-430b9bbd75253]]
[[Vladimir Arlazarov]], Ken Thompson and [[Mikhail Donskoy]] 1992 <ref>[http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-430b9bbd75253 Photo] Gift of [[Monroe Newborn]] from [[The Computer History Museum]]</ref>
=Education=
Ken Thompson, born 1943 in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans New Orleans] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana Louisiana], received a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_of_Science Bachelor of Science] in 1965 and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master%27s_degree Masters degree] in 1966, both in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EECS Electrical Engineering and Computer Science], from the [[University of California, Berkeley]]. Thompson's Masters thesis advisor was [[Elwyn Berlekamp]] <ref>[http://math.berkeley.edu/%7Eberlek/students.html Elwyn Berlekamp's Home Page - Thesis Students]</ref>.
=Bell Labs=
Along with Dennis Ritchie, Ken worked on the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multics Multics] operating system before they joined [[Bell Laboratories|Bell Labs]], where Ken remained about a quarter of a century and realized all the mentioned achievements in computer science.
==Further Contributions==
Beside his contributions to Unix and computer chess at the Bell Labs, Thompson developed the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_%28programming_language%29 B programming language], a precursor to Ritchie's [[C]], and in 1992 together with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Pike Rob Pike] the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTF-8 UTF-8], a variable length character encoding for [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode Unicode].
==Retirement==
As of December 1, 2000, Ken Thompson retired from Bell Labs to pursue flight instructing full time <ref>[http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/ken/chesseg.html 6-Piece Database Statistics] by [[Ken Thompson]], 2000</ref>, which achieved honorable attention in the computer chess scene:
Quote by [[Jaap van den Herik]] in 2000 ''From Cognition to Perception'' <ref>[[Jaap van den Herik]] ('''2000'''). ''[http://ilk.uvt.nl/icga/journal/contents/content23-4.htm#FROM%20COGNITION From Cognition to Perception]'', [[ICGA Journal#23_4|ICGA Journal, Vol. 23, No. 4]]</ref>:
This issue also records changes in the Board of [[ICCA]]. [[Don Beal]] stepped down as a Secretary-Treasurer after many years of outstanding service. He is succeeded by [[Hiroyuki Iida]], who is expected to realise an effective broadening of our scope. Besides Don's stepping down we saw the retirement of Ken Thompson. He left Bell Laboratories after more than a quarter of a century of research and will now spend his time on his hobby, teaching amateur pilots. We thank him for the outstanding contributions he made to the world of computer chess and will pay more attention to his many merits in a next (special) issue <ref>[[Guy Haworth]], [[Ernst A. Heinz]] ('''2001'''). ''[http://ilk.uvt.nl/icga/journal/contents/content24-2.htm#Ken Ken]''. [[ICGA Journal#24_2|ICGA Journal, Vol. 24, No. 2]]</ref> <ref>[[Jonathan Schaeffer]] ('''2001'''). ''[http://ilk.uvt.nl/icga/journal/contents/content24-2.htm#KEN%20THOMPSON Ken Thompson's Influence on Computer Games Research]''. [[ICGA Journal#24_2|ICGA Journal, Vol. 24, No. 2]]</ref> <ref>[[Jaap van den Herik]] ('''2001'''). ''[http://ilk.uvt.nl/icga/journal/contents/content24-2.htm#THE%20BELL%20CAPTAIN The Bell Captain]''. [[ICGA Journal#24_2|ICGA Journal, Vol. 24, No. 2]]</ref>.
=Google=
Since 2006 Ken Thompson has worked at [[Google|Google Inc.]] in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_View,_California Mountain View, California] as a Distinguished Engineer, and co-created Google's programming language [[Go (Programming Language)|Go]] <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Thompson Ken Thompson from Wikipedia]</ref>.
=See also=
* [[Belle]]
* [[Kasparov versus Deep Thought 1989#Video|Kasparov versus Deep Thought 1989 documentary]]
* [[Algebraic Chess Notation#ReadingChess|Reading Chess]]
* [[Thompson's Databases]]
=Selected Publications=
<ref>[http://ilk.uvt.nl/icga/journal/docs/References.pdf ICGA Reference Database] (pdf)</ref>
==1970 ...==
* [[Ken Thompson]], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Ritchie Dennis Ritchie] ('''1971'''). ''[http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/dmr/1stEdman.html UNIX Programmer's Manual]''. [[Bell Laboratories|Bell Telephone Laboratories]], [http://www.vector.comm.sfu.ca/pups/PDP-11/Distributions/research/Dennis_v5/v5man.pdf 5th Edition 1974 as pdf], [http://plan9.bell-labs.com/7thEdMan/index.html 7th Edition 1979]
==1980 ...==
* [[Ben Mittman]], [[Tony Marsland]], [[Monroe Newborn]], [[Kathe Spracklen]], [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1981'''). ''[http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=809845&dl=GUIDE&coll=GUIDE&CFID=85837222&CFTOKEN=72556238 Computer chess: Master level play in 1981?]'' ACM 81: Proceedings of the ACM '81 conference
* [[Ben Mittman]], [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1981'''). ''[[WMCCC 1981|Second World Microcomputer Chess Championship]], Travemünde and Hamburg, West Germany''. [[ICGA Journal#4_2|ICCA Newsletter, Vol. 4, No. 2]]
* [[Joe Condon]], [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1982'''). ''Belle Chess Hardware'', [[Advances in Computer Chess 3]], Reprinted ('''1988''') in [[Computer Chess Compendium]]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1982'''). ''Computer Chess Strength''. [[Advances in Computer Chess 3]]
* [[Joe Condon]], [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1983'''). ''BELLE''. [[Chess Skill in Man and Machine]] (ed. [[Peter W. Frey|P.W. Frey]]), 2nd edition, pp. 201-210 (of 82-118). Springer-Verlag, New York. ISBN 0 387-90790 4 / 3-540-90790-4.
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1983'''). ''4th World Computer Chess Championship''. [[ICGA Journal#6_4|ICCA Journal, Vol. 6, No. 4]] » [[WCCC 1983]]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1984'''). ''[http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/ken/trust.html Reflections on Trusting Trust]'', [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_of_the_ACM Communications of the ACM], Vol. 27, No. 8, [[ACM]] Classic by Ken Thompson, also appears in ''[http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=27609 ACM Turing Award Lectures: The First Twenty Years 1965-1985]'' Copyright © 1987 by the ACM press and ''[http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=102616 Computers Under Attack: Intruders, Worms, and Viruses]'' Copyright © 1990 by the ACM press
* [[John Roycroft]], [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1986'''). ''Queen and Pawn on a2 against Queen''. Chess Endgame Consultants and Publishers, London
* [[John Roycroft]], [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1986'''). ''Queen and Pawn on a6 against Queen''. Chess Endgame Consultants and Publishers, London
* [[John Roycroft]], [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1986'''). ''Queen and Pawn on b7 against Queen''. Chess Endgame Consultants and Publishers, London
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1986'''). ''Retrograde Analysis of Certain Endgames''. [[ICGA Journal#9_3|ICCA Journal, Vol. 9, No. 3]], [http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/~rsc/thompson86endgame.pdf pdf]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1986'''). ''An Example of QPvQ''. [[ICGA Journal#9_4|ICCA Journal, Vol. 9, No. 4]]
* [[Garth Courtois Jr.]], [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1987'''). ''ACM's 18th North American Computer-Chess Championship (NACCC). Dallas, Texas, October 25-27, 1987''. [[ICGA Journal#10_4|ICCA Journal, Vol. 10, No. 4]] » [[ACM 1987]]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1989'''). ''Results and Games - The 20th North American Computer-Chess Championship''. [[ICGA Journal#12_4|ICCA Journal, Vol. 12, No. 4]] » [[ACM 1989]]
==1990 ...==
* [[Mathematician#HSBaird|Henry S. Baird]], [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1990'''). ''[http://doc.cat-v.org/bell_labs/reading_chess/ Reading Chess]''. [[IEEE#TPAMI|IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence]], Vol. 12, No. 6, 552-559, [http://doc.cat-v.org/bell_labs/reading_chess/reading_chess.pdf pdf]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1990'''). ''KQPKQ and KRPKR Endings''. [[ICGA Journal#13_4|ICCA Journal, Vol. 13, No. 4]]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1990'''). ''Results and Games - The ACM 21st North American Computer-Chess Championship.'' [[ICGA Journal#13_4|ICCA Journal, Vol. 13, No. 4]] » [[ACM 1990]]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1991'''). ''Chess Endgames Vol. 1.'' [[ICGA Journal#14_1|ICCA Journal, Vol. 14, No. 1]]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1991'''). ''New Results for KNPKB and KNPKN Endgames''. [[ICGA Journal#14_1|ICCA Journal, Vol. 14, No. 1]]
* [[Ken Thompson]], [[Jonathan Schaeffer]] ('''1995'''). ''Tributes to Tony Scherzer''. [[ICGA Journal#18_1|ICCA Journal, Vol. 18, No. 1]] » [[Tony Scherzer]]
* [[Jaap van den Herik]] ('''1996'''). ''Two Interviews with Ken Thompson''. [[ICGA Journal#19_3|ICCA Journal, Vol. 19, No. 3]] » [[Advances in Computer Chess 8]]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1996'''). ''6-Piece Endgames''. [[ICGA Journal#19_4|ICCA Journal, Vol. 19, No. 4]]
* [[Wil Sparreboom]], [[Hans Kuijf]], [[Ken Thompson]] et al. ('''1996'''). ''[http://www.worldcat.org/title/tascbase/oclc/71522348&referer=brief_results TascBase]''. [[TASC|Rotterdam : Tasc B.V.]]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1997'''). ''6-Piece Endgames''. [[Advances in Computer Chess 8]]
==2000 ...==
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''2000'''). ''The Longest: KRNKNN in 262''. [[ICGA Journal#23_1|ICGA Journal, Vol. 23, No. 1]]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''2001'''). ''[http://ilk.uvt.nl/icga/journal/contents/content24-1.htm#CLAUDE%20SHANNON CLAUDE SHANNON (1916-2001): FUNDAMENTAL CONTRIBUTIONS]''. [[ICGA Journal#24_1|ICGA Journal, Vol. 24, No. 1]] » [[Claude Shannon]]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Ritchie Dennis Ritchie] ('''2001'''). ''[http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/who/dmr/ken-games.html Ken, Unix, and Games]''. [[ICGA Journal#24_2|ICGA Journal, Vol. 24. No. 2]]
* [[Guy Haworth]], [[Ernst A. Heinz]] ('''2001'''). ''[http://ilk.uvt.nl/icga/journal/contents/content24-2.htm#Ken Ken]''. [[ICGA Journal#24_2|ICGA Journal, Vol. 24, No. 2]]
* [[Jonathan Schaeffer]] ('''2001'''). ''[http://ilk.uvt.nl/icga/journal/contents/content24-2.htm#KEN%20THOMPSON Ken Thompson's Influence on Computer Games Research]''. [[ICGA Journal#24_2|ICGA Journal, Vol. 24, No. 2]]
* [[Jaap van den Herik]] ('''2001'''). ''[http://ilk.uvt.nl/icga/journal/contents/content24-2.htm#THE%20BELL%20CAPTAIN The Bell Captain]''. [[ICGA Journal#24_2|ICGA Journal, Vol. 24, No. 2]]
* [[Feng-hsiung Hsu]] ('''2001'''). ''Ken Thompson and DEEP BLUE''. [[ICGA Journal#24_2|ICGA Journal, Vol. 24, No. 2]]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''2004'''). ''Obituary: Michael Joseph Valvo (1942-2004)''. [[ICGA Journal#27_4|ICGA Journal, Vol. 27, No. 4]] » [[Michael Valvo]]
=External Links=
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Thompson Ken Thompson from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kenneth_Thompson Kenneth Thompson - Wikiquote]
* [https://www.game-ai-forum.org/icga-tournaments/person.php?id=355 Ken Thompson's ICGA Tournaments]
* [http://genius.cat-v.org/ken-thompson/ Kenneth Lane Thompson] from [http://genius.cat-v.org/ Hotel Genius]
* [http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/orl-4334429546c27/ Oral History of Kenneth Thompson], March 7, 2005 Video © 2005 [[The Computer History Museum]], as [http://archive.computerhistory.org/projects/chess/related_materials/oral-history/thompson.oral_history.2005.102630661/thompson.oral_history_transcript.2005.102630661.pdf pdf]
* [http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/orl-4334446157d96/ Highlights Kenneth Thompson Oral History], March 7, 2005 Video © 2005 [[The Computer History Museum]]
* [http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/thm-42f15c52333a3/ Middle Game: Computer Chess Comes of Age - Brute Force vs Knowledge] from [[The Computer History Museum]]
* [http://www.codethinked.com/the-programmer-dress-code The Programmer Dress Code | CodeThinked] by [http://www.codethinked.com/ Justin Etheredge], December 6, 2007
* [http://en.chessbase.com/post/thompson-leave-the-k-factor-alone- Leave the K-factor alone!] by [[Ken Thompson]], [[ChessBase|ChessBase News]], May 7, 2009
* [http://www.computer.org/portal/web/awards/cp-thompson Kenneth L. Thompson | 1994 Computer Pioneer Award] from [[IEEE#Awards|IEEE Computer Society Awards]]
* [http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6970 Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie win Japan 'Nobel' Prize], [[ChessBase|ChessBase News]], January 26, 2011
* [http://www.i-programmer.info/history/people/547-ritchie-a-thompson.html?start=2 Ritchie & Thompson - Belle for Chess] from [http://www.i-programmer.info/ I Programmer - programming, reviews and projects], January 26, 2011
=References=
<references />
'''[[People|Up one level]]'''
[[FILE:Ken Thompson 02.jpg|border|right|thumb|Ken Thompson <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Thompson Ken Thompson from Wikipedia]</ref> ]]
'''Kenneth Lane (Ken) Thompson''',<br/>
an American computer scientist and pioneer. Beside other things, best known for his contributions at the [[Bell Laboratories]] in creating the [[Unix]] operating system together with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Ritchie Dennis Ritchie], in 2011 awarded with the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Prize Japan Prize] for their contribution <ref>[[Hiroyuki Iida]] ('''2011'''). ''The 2011 Japan Prize Awarded to Unix Pioneers''. [[ICGA Journal#34_1|ICGA Journal, Vol. 34, No. 1]]</ref><ref>[http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6970 Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie win Japan 'Nobel' Prize], [[ChessBase|ChessBase News]], January 26, 2011</ref>.
Along with [[Joe Condon]], Ken Thompson was creator of the chess entity [[Belle]], the winner of the [[WCCC 1980|3rd World Computer Chess Championship]] 1980 in Linz <ref>[https://www.game-ai-forum.org/icga-tournaments/person.php?id=355 Ken Thompson's ICGA Tournaments]</ref>. From the mid 70s until 2000, Ken Thompson worked on creating [[Thompson's Databases|Endgame Databases]] of up to six pieces <ref>[http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/ken/chesseg.html 6-Piece Database Statistics] by [[Ken Thompson]], 2000</ref>.
=Photos=
[[FILE:Chess_Pioneers_Mittman_Newborn_Marsland_Slate_Levy_Shannon_Thompson_Truscott.c1980.102665753.lg.jpg|none|border|text-bottom|640px|link=http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/accession/102665753]]
Chess pioneers in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Sacher Sacher Hotel Vienna], Austria 1980: [[Ben Mittman]], [[Monroe Newborn|Monty Newborn]], [[Tony Marsland]], <br/>[[David Slate|Dave Slate]], [[David Levy]], [[Claude Shannon]], [[Ken Thompson]], Betty Shannon, [[Tom Truscott]] <ref>[http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/accession/102665753 Chess pioneers in Sacher Hotel Vienna, Austria], Gift of [[Ben Mittman|Benjamin Mittman]], [[The Computer History Museum]]</ref>
[[FILE:Valvo_Mitman_Newborn_Thompson_Hyatt.Dallas.1982.jpg|none|border|text-bottom|640px|link=http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-430b9bbdcd092]]
[[Ben Mittman|Mittman]], [[Monroe Newborn|Newborn]], Thompson and [[Robert Hyatt|Hyatt]] (right) at [[ACM 1982]] in Dallas, Texas, 1982 <ref>[http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-430b9bbdcd092 Photo] from [[The Computer History Museum]]</ref>
[[FILE:Beal_Thompson_Newborn_Botvinnik_WCCC_New_York_1983.jpg|none|border|text-bottom|640px|link=http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-430b9bbe3f6f0]]
[[Don Beal|Beal]], Thompson, [[Monroe Newborn|Newborn]], and [[Mikhail Botvinnik|Botvinnik]] at [[WCCC 1983|4th WCCC 1983]] in New York City <ref>[http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-430b9bbe3f6f0 Photo] Gift of [[Monroe Newborn]] from [[The Computer History Museum]]</ref>
[[FILE:Lazarov_Thompson_Donskoy_KAISSA_team.Montreal.jpg|none|border|text-bottom|640px|link=http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-430b9bbd75253]]
[[Vladimir Arlazarov]], Ken Thompson and [[Mikhail Donskoy]] 1992 <ref>[http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-430b9bbd75253 Photo] Gift of [[Monroe Newborn]] from [[The Computer History Museum]]</ref>
=Education=
Ken Thompson, born 1943 in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans New Orleans] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana Louisiana], received a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_of_Science Bachelor of Science] in 1965 and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master%27s_degree Masters degree] in 1966, both in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EECS Electrical Engineering and Computer Science], from the [[University of California, Berkeley]]. Thompson's Masters thesis advisor was [[Elwyn Berlekamp]] <ref>[http://math.berkeley.edu/%7Eberlek/students.html Elwyn Berlekamp's Home Page - Thesis Students]</ref>.
=Bell Labs=
Along with Dennis Ritchie, Ken worked on the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multics Multics] operating system before they joined [[Bell Laboratories|Bell Labs]], where Ken remained about a quarter of a century and realized all the mentioned achievements in computer science.
==Further Contributions==
Beside his contributions to Unix and computer chess at the Bell Labs, Thompson developed the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_%28programming_language%29 B programming language], a precursor to Ritchie's [[C]], and in 1992 together with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Pike Rob Pike] the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTF-8 UTF-8], a variable length character encoding for [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode Unicode].
==Retirement==
As of December 1, 2000, Ken Thompson retired from Bell Labs to pursue flight instructing full time <ref>[http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/ken/chesseg.html 6-Piece Database Statistics] by [[Ken Thompson]], 2000</ref>, which achieved honorable attention in the computer chess scene:
Quote by [[Jaap van den Herik]] in 2000 ''From Cognition to Perception'' <ref>[[Jaap van den Herik]] ('''2000'''). ''[http://ilk.uvt.nl/icga/journal/contents/content23-4.htm#FROM%20COGNITION From Cognition to Perception]'', [[ICGA Journal#23_4|ICGA Journal, Vol. 23, No. 4]]</ref>:
This issue also records changes in the Board of [[ICCA]]. [[Don Beal]] stepped down as a Secretary-Treasurer after many years of outstanding service. He is succeeded by [[Hiroyuki Iida]], who is expected to realise an effective broadening of our scope. Besides Don's stepping down we saw the retirement of Ken Thompson. He left Bell Laboratories after more than a quarter of a century of research and will now spend his time on his hobby, teaching amateur pilots. We thank him for the outstanding contributions he made to the world of computer chess and will pay more attention to his many merits in a next (special) issue <ref>[[Guy Haworth]], [[Ernst A. Heinz]] ('''2001'''). ''[http://ilk.uvt.nl/icga/journal/contents/content24-2.htm#Ken Ken]''. [[ICGA Journal#24_2|ICGA Journal, Vol. 24, No. 2]]</ref> <ref>[[Jonathan Schaeffer]] ('''2001'''). ''[http://ilk.uvt.nl/icga/journal/contents/content24-2.htm#KEN%20THOMPSON Ken Thompson's Influence on Computer Games Research]''. [[ICGA Journal#24_2|ICGA Journal, Vol. 24, No. 2]]</ref> <ref>[[Jaap van den Herik]] ('''2001'''). ''[http://ilk.uvt.nl/icga/journal/contents/content24-2.htm#THE%20BELL%20CAPTAIN The Bell Captain]''. [[ICGA Journal#24_2|ICGA Journal, Vol. 24, No. 2]]</ref>.
=Google=
Since 2006 Ken Thompson has worked at [[Google|Google Inc.]] in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_View,_California Mountain View, California] as a Distinguished Engineer, and co-created Google's programming language [[Go (Programming Language)|Go]] <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Thompson Ken Thompson from Wikipedia]</ref>.
=See also=
* [[Belle]]
* [[Kasparov versus Deep Thought 1989#Video|Kasparov versus Deep Thought 1989 documentary]]
* [[Algebraic Chess Notation#ReadingChess|Reading Chess]]
* [[Thompson's Databases]]
=Selected Publications=
<ref>[http://ilk.uvt.nl/icga/journal/docs/References.pdf ICGA Reference Database] (pdf)</ref>
==1970 ...==
* [[Ken Thompson]], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Ritchie Dennis Ritchie] ('''1971'''). ''[http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/dmr/1stEdman.html UNIX Programmer's Manual]''. [[Bell Laboratories|Bell Telephone Laboratories]], [http://www.vector.comm.sfu.ca/pups/PDP-11/Distributions/research/Dennis_v5/v5man.pdf 5th Edition 1974 as pdf], [http://plan9.bell-labs.com/7thEdMan/index.html 7th Edition 1979]
==1980 ...==
* [[Ben Mittman]], [[Tony Marsland]], [[Monroe Newborn]], [[Kathe Spracklen]], [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1981'''). ''[http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=809845&dl=GUIDE&coll=GUIDE&CFID=85837222&CFTOKEN=72556238 Computer chess: Master level play in 1981?]'' ACM 81: Proceedings of the ACM '81 conference
* [[Ben Mittman]], [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1981'''). ''[[WMCCC 1981|Second World Microcomputer Chess Championship]], Travemünde and Hamburg, West Germany''. [[ICGA Journal#4_2|ICCA Newsletter, Vol. 4, No. 2]]
* [[Joe Condon]], [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1982'''). ''Belle Chess Hardware'', [[Advances in Computer Chess 3]], Reprinted ('''1988''') in [[Computer Chess Compendium]]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1982'''). ''Computer Chess Strength''. [[Advances in Computer Chess 3]]
* [[Joe Condon]], [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1983'''). ''BELLE''. [[Chess Skill in Man and Machine]] (ed. [[Peter W. Frey|P.W. Frey]]), 2nd edition, pp. 201-210 (of 82-118). Springer-Verlag, New York. ISBN 0 387-90790 4 / 3-540-90790-4.
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1983'''). ''4th World Computer Chess Championship''. [[ICGA Journal#6_4|ICCA Journal, Vol. 6, No. 4]] » [[WCCC 1983]]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1984'''). ''[http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/ken/trust.html Reflections on Trusting Trust]'', [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_of_the_ACM Communications of the ACM], Vol. 27, No. 8, [[ACM]] Classic by Ken Thompson, also appears in ''[http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=27609 ACM Turing Award Lectures: The First Twenty Years 1965-1985]'' Copyright © 1987 by the ACM press and ''[http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=102616 Computers Under Attack: Intruders, Worms, and Viruses]'' Copyright © 1990 by the ACM press
* [[John Roycroft]], [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1986'''). ''Queen and Pawn on a2 against Queen''. Chess Endgame Consultants and Publishers, London
* [[John Roycroft]], [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1986'''). ''Queen and Pawn on a6 against Queen''. Chess Endgame Consultants and Publishers, London
* [[John Roycroft]], [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1986'''). ''Queen and Pawn on b7 against Queen''. Chess Endgame Consultants and Publishers, London
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1986'''). ''Retrograde Analysis of Certain Endgames''. [[ICGA Journal#9_3|ICCA Journal, Vol. 9, No. 3]], [http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/~rsc/thompson86endgame.pdf pdf]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1986'''). ''An Example of QPvQ''. [[ICGA Journal#9_4|ICCA Journal, Vol. 9, No. 4]]
* [[Garth Courtois Jr.]], [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1987'''). ''ACM's 18th North American Computer-Chess Championship (NACCC). Dallas, Texas, October 25-27, 1987''. [[ICGA Journal#10_4|ICCA Journal, Vol. 10, No. 4]] » [[ACM 1987]]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1989'''). ''Results and Games - The 20th North American Computer-Chess Championship''. [[ICGA Journal#12_4|ICCA Journal, Vol. 12, No. 4]] » [[ACM 1989]]
==1990 ...==
* [[Mathematician#HSBaird|Henry S. Baird]], [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1990'''). ''[http://doc.cat-v.org/bell_labs/reading_chess/ Reading Chess]''. [[IEEE#TPAMI|IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence]], Vol. 12, No. 6, 552-559, [http://doc.cat-v.org/bell_labs/reading_chess/reading_chess.pdf pdf]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1990'''). ''KQPKQ and KRPKR Endings''. [[ICGA Journal#13_4|ICCA Journal, Vol. 13, No. 4]]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1990'''). ''Results and Games - The ACM 21st North American Computer-Chess Championship.'' [[ICGA Journal#13_4|ICCA Journal, Vol. 13, No. 4]] » [[ACM 1990]]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1991'''). ''Chess Endgames Vol. 1.'' [[ICGA Journal#14_1|ICCA Journal, Vol. 14, No. 1]]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1991'''). ''New Results for KNPKB and KNPKN Endgames''. [[ICGA Journal#14_1|ICCA Journal, Vol. 14, No. 1]]
* [[Ken Thompson]], [[Jonathan Schaeffer]] ('''1995'''). ''Tributes to Tony Scherzer''. [[ICGA Journal#18_1|ICCA Journal, Vol. 18, No. 1]] » [[Tony Scherzer]]
* [[Jaap van den Herik]] ('''1996'''). ''Two Interviews with Ken Thompson''. [[ICGA Journal#19_3|ICCA Journal, Vol. 19, No. 3]] » [[Advances in Computer Chess 8]]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1996'''). ''6-Piece Endgames''. [[ICGA Journal#19_4|ICCA Journal, Vol. 19, No. 4]]
* [[Wil Sparreboom]], [[Hans Kuijf]], [[Ken Thompson]] et al. ('''1996'''). ''[http://www.worldcat.org/title/tascbase/oclc/71522348&referer=brief_results TascBase]''. [[TASC|Rotterdam : Tasc B.V.]]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''1997'''). ''6-Piece Endgames''. [[Advances in Computer Chess 8]]
==2000 ...==
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''2000'''). ''The Longest: KRNKNN in 262''. [[ICGA Journal#23_1|ICGA Journal, Vol. 23, No. 1]]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''2001'''). ''[http://ilk.uvt.nl/icga/journal/contents/content24-1.htm#CLAUDE%20SHANNON CLAUDE SHANNON (1916-2001): FUNDAMENTAL CONTRIBUTIONS]''. [[ICGA Journal#24_1|ICGA Journal, Vol. 24, No. 1]] » [[Claude Shannon]]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Ritchie Dennis Ritchie] ('''2001'''). ''[http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/who/dmr/ken-games.html Ken, Unix, and Games]''. [[ICGA Journal#24_2|ICGA Journal, Vol. 24. No. 2]]
* [[Guy Haworth]], [[Ernst A. Heinz]] ('''2001'''). ''[http://ilk.uvt.nl/icga/journal/contents/content24-2.htm#Ken Ken]''. [[ICGA Journal#24_2|ICGA Journal, Vol. 24, No. 2]]
* [[Jonathan Schaeffer]] ('''2001'''). ''[http://ilk.uvt.nl/icga/journal/contents/content24-2.htm#KEN%20THOMPSON Ken Thompson's Influence on Computer Games Research]''. [[ICGA Journal#24_2|ICGA Journal, Vol. 24, No. 2]]
* [[Jaap van den Herik]] ('''2001'''). ''[http://ilk.uvt.nl/icga/journal/contents/content24-2.htm#THE%20BELL%20CAPTAIN The Bell Captain]''. [[ICGA Journal#24_2|ICGA Journal, Vol. 24, No. 2]]
* [[Feng-hsiung Hsu]] ('''2001'''). ''Ken Thompson and DEEP BLUE''. [[ICGA Journal#24_2|ICGA Journal, Vol. 24, No. 2]]
* [[Ken Thompson]] ('''2004'''). ''Obituary: Michael Joseph Valvo (1942-2004)''. [[ICGA Journal#27_4|ICGA Journal, Vol. 27, No. 4]] » [[Michael Valvo]]
=External Links=
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Thompson Ken Thompson from Wikipedia]
* [https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kenneth_Thompson Kenneth Thompson - Wikiquote]
* [https://www.game-ai-forum.org/icga-tournaments/person.php?id=355 Ken Thompson's ICGA Tournaments]
* [http://genius.cat-v.org/ken-thompson/ Kenneth Lane Thompson] from [http://genius.cat-v.org/ Hotel Genius]
* [http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/orl-4334429546c27/ Oral History of Kenneth Thompson], March 7, 2005 Video © 2005 [[The Computer History Museum]], as [http://archive.computerhistory.org/projects/chess/related_materials/oral-history/thompson.oral_history.2005.102630661/thompson.oral_history_transcript.2005.102630661.pdf pdf]
* [http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/orl-4334446157d96/ Highlights Kenneth Thompson Oral History], March 7, 2005 Video © 2005 [[The Computer History Museum]]
* [http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/thm-42f15c52333a3/ Middle Game: Computer Chess Comes of Age - Brute Force vs Knowledge] from [[The Computer History Museum]]
* [http://www.codethinked.com/the-programmer-dress-code The Programmer Dress Code | CodeThinked] by [http://www.codethinked.com/ Justin Etheredge], December 6, 2007
* [http://en.chessbase.com/post/thompson-leave-the-k-factor-alone- Leave the K-factor alone!] by [[Ken Thompson]], [[ChessBase|ChessBase News]], May 7, 2009
* [http://www.computer.org/portal/web/awards/cp-thompson Kenneth L. Thompson | 1994 Computer Pioneer Award] from [[IEEE#Awards|IEEE Computer Society Awards]]
* [http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6970 Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie win Japan 'Nobel' Prize], [[ChessBase|ChessBase News]], January 26, 2011
* [http://www.i-programmer.info/history/people/547-ritchie-a-thompson.html?start=2 Ritchie & Thompson - Belle for Chess] from [http://www.i-programmer.info/ I Programmer - programming, reviews and projects], January 26, 2011
=References=
<references />
'''[[People|Up one level]]'''
