#MicroChess
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damiano.bsky.social
How much more retro you can get than the 1976 release of Microchess, originally released for the Commodore PET, TRS-80, and Kim-1? Not much.
As far as I'm aware this is the first commercially released game for home computers.
Microchess 2.0 release for PET the Microchess 1.5 release for TRS-80
March 20, 2025 at 8:53 AM
loudscotsbloke.bsky.social
The only way to play computer chess!!!! 😎👍 #kim1 #microchess
September 4, 2024 at 9:17 PM
jfroholt.bsky.social
I must admit that I never had the patience to actually play a full game against Microchess, but I'm pretty sure it can beat me.
April 14, 2025 at 8:17 AM
vintagecomputer.ca
Happy 50th anniversary to the MOS 6502! Could Microchess for the KIM-1 be the first commercially available game for the 6502? The yellow booklet of the left is version 1.0. You typed it in yourself but there was an optional cassette. Let me know your thoughts. #vintagecomputer #retrocomputer
September 17, 2025 at 11:30 PM
kim-6502.bsky.social
The 6502.org source code library is a goldmine. MicroChess, Tiny BASIC, floating point routines - all in 6502 assembly, all free. Why write your own SBC monitor from scratch when someone already did it better?

https://6502.org/source/
May 9, 2026 at 1:01 PM
taylor.town
Microchess for the KIM-1
https://permacomputer.solarpunk.au/?p=227
September 9, 2026 at 3:34 PM
hackaday-feed.bsky.social
Microchess Remembered
Microchess Remembered
Playing chess has always been a bellwether for computers. The game isn’t trivial, but the rules are managably simple. However, the game is too complex to be easily solved entirely, …read more
hackaday.com
December 8, 2024 at 12:30 AM
kim-6502.bsky.social
Peter Jennings. Microchess. KIM-1. 1976. Playable chess in 1K of RAM.
June 5, 2026 at 4:23 PM
jfroholt.bsky.social
I just published my article on Microchess for the KIM-1. A commercial home computer game from 1976. To get the full story, I talked with Peter Jennings, who created it. It took a long time to do this one, so I hope you like it. :)
Interview with Microchess creator Peter Jennings
Join us as we discover the story of Microchess for the KIM-1, one of the first commercial home computer games ever published.
spillhistorie.no
December 6, 2024 at 12:59 PM
katewillaert.bsky.social
I noticed Wikipedia's History Of Video Games says that Microchess is "possibly the first computer game to be sold commercially," which if you've read my writing you know it's not. Or do you? Suddenly I realized I forgot to include the ad in my article about Galaxy...
May 26, 2024 at 5:09 PM
retrogamingpappa.bsky.social
Check out this new article by @jfroholt.bsky.social about the first commercial computer game - Microchess

spillhistorie.no/interview-wi...
Interview with Microchess creator Peter Jennings
Join us as we discover the story of Microchess for the KIM-1, one of the first commercial home computer games ever published.
spillhistorie.no
December 8, 2024 at 5:42 PM
spillhistorie.no
Er dere interessert i spillhistorie? Ordentlig spillhistorie? Les vår feature om Microchess fra 1976, som av og til omtales som det første kommersielle hjemmedataspillet noensinne. Vi har fått hele historien fra mannen som skapte det, Peter Jennings.
Et av tidenes første kommersielle dataspill
Her er historien om Microchess, fortalt av mannen som skapte spillet.
spillhistorie.no
December 6, 2024 at 1:08 PM
kim-6502.bsky.social
Microchess, Tiny BASIC, a D&D dice simulator, HexPawn, even a text adventure called KIM Venture - all on a machine with 1K of RAM and a hex keypad. The KIM-1 software library is deeper than you'd think.

http://retro.hansotten.nl/6502-sbc/kim-1-manuals-and-software/kim-1-software/
April 29, 2026 at 1:04 PM
playhistory.bsky.social
At the end of the 1970s there was a boom in standalone chess-playing machines.

These tie in with the emergence of the microcomputers in an interesting way! Check out this article on Commodore's own Chessmate:

benlo.com/microchess/c...
Chessmate at the 1979 Summer CES. Flanked by a pamphlet on the show and a chess board.
August 17, 2024 at 6:13 PM
kim-6502.bsky.social
Commodore's Peter Jennings wrote Microchess for the KIM-1 in 1976. A complete chess program in 924 bytes. Not kilobytes. Bytes. Today a web page cookie is bigger than an entire chess engine.
April 6, 2026 at 1:00 PM
scidata.bsky.social
A harbinger of #EdgeComputing.
The inventor of Microchess for the KIM-1 used every scrap of RAM, storage, and automation he could scrounge. It was brilliant. Leave no transistor unused.

#8-bit #Computing #GOFAI #Chess
March 10, 2026 at 1:10 PM
jdyer.bsky.social
Speakeasy Software was 1978, and were in the same circle as Peter Jennings (of Microchess and later Visicalc).

gue.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/in...
GUE - Software
gue.cgwmuseum.org
March 11, 2025 at 3:02 AM
nitrotolueno.bsky.social
Este programa siempre me ha parecido alucinante. Un ajedrez completo (casi, leed el artículo) ¡en 1 kB! ¡Un QR almacena más información!

"La historia de Microchess, el juego de ajedrez en 1K que resultó ser el primer software comercial de la historia…"

microsiervos.com/archivo/orde...
Microchess, el juego de ajedrez en 1 KB que resultó ser el primer software comercial de la historia (probablemente)
Peter Jennings cuenta en primera persona la Historia de Microchess para el Kim-1, un programa de ajedrez de 1976 que ocupaba 1 KB y fue probablemente* el primer software comercial de la historia. ...
microsiervos.com
August 16, 2024 at 8:37 PM
wildeny.bsky.social
benlo.com/microchess/i...
March 23, 2024 at 2:44 AM
theoasisbbs.bsky.social
X16 Talking Chess v2 Brings Speech and Cleaner Play
#CommanderX16 #X16TalkingChess #MicroChess #RetroComputing #ChessGame #8BitComputing #VintageComputing

theoasisbbs.com/x16-talking-...
X16 Talking Chess v2 Brings Speech and Cleaner Play - The Oasis BBS
X16 Talking Chess v2 updates the Commander X16 chess port with speech, corrected board layout, and brown/cream colors for a clearer match.
theoasisbbs.com
June 2, 2026 at 12:49 PM
hansotten.bsky.social
But reading a tape from another user was always a time consuming challenge. Even tapes bought with Microsoft Basic KB9 or Microchess and MICRO ADE took several hours to get it right.
April 5, 2026 at 8:43 AM
malkyne.com
128x48.
A TRS-80 Model 1, displaying Microchess 1.5.
April 13, 2026 at 8:09 PM
zeen.bsky.social
다 만들고 나면 의미없다고 생각할 것이 뻔하지만, 그럼에도 불구하고 저렇게 주소넣고 데이터 입력하고 하는 식의 컴퓨터에 대한 로망이 아직 남아 있다.

www.benlo.com/microchess/i...
History of Microchess - Peter Jennings
The Early History of Microchess
www.benlo.com
April 2, 2024 at 5:03 AM
binarydinosaurs.co.uk
Post-RetroFest tidying continues, and we dig out the Commodore CHESSmate complete with crimes against plug wiring. I need another bag of 3A fuses now.

History of the CHESSmate is here, from the designer himself. benlo.com/microchess/c...
An CHESSmate, earlier. Originally a program written for the MOS KIM-1, the creator Peter Jennings later designed a hardware version for commodore after being invited to by none other than Chuck Peddle himself. Innards of the CHESSmate, the 6530 CPU is on the left. Lovely brown board with no solder mask, this was 1979 after all. Crimes against plug wiring. The only thing not wrong in this photo is the colours are correct. CHESSmate running and doing… something. Playing chess I’d guess. Is displaying a 9 for ‘time white’ but It’s not incrementing.
November 23, 2025 at 11:42 AM
permacomputer.retro.social.ap.brid.gy
full assembly listing here.

#retrocomputing #6502 #asm
the type in hex dump of microchess for the kim-1 computer.
August 28, 2026 at 7:53 AM