Mephisto was a line of

chess computers In computer chess, a chess engine is a computer program that analyzes chess or List of chess variants, chess variant positions, and generates a move or list of moves that it regards as strongest. A chess software engine, engine is usually a Front ...

sold by Hegener & Glaser (H+G). In addition to integrated travel and sensory computers, they also sold a line of modular electronic autosensory boards (Modular, Exclusive, München, and Bavaria) which could accept different program, processor, and display modules. Its strongest software was written by Richard Lang, who later ported it to personal computers as ''Psion'' and ChessGenius. Lang's Mephisto programs won six

World Computer Chess Championship World Computer Chess Championship (WCCC) was an event held periodically from 1974 to 2024 where computer chess engines compete against each other. The event is organized by the ''International Computer Games Association'' (ICGA, until 2002 ICCA). I ...

s (WCCC) from 1984 to 1990. H&G also sold engines licensed from Johan de Koning, Ed Schröder, and Frans Morsch. Different models used different

8-bit In computer architecture, 8-bit integers or other data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) architectures are those that are based on registers or data bu ...

16-bit 16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors. A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two ...

and

32-bit In computer architecture, 32-bit computing refers to computer systems with a processor, memory, and other major system components that operate on data in a maximum of 32- bit units. Compared to smaller bit widths, 32-bit computers can perform la ...

processors Processor may refer to: Computing Hardware * Processor (computing) ** Central processing unit (CPU), the hardware within a computer that executes a program *** Microprocessor, a central processing unit contained on a single integrated circuit ( ...

, including

MOS Technology 6502 The MOS Technology 6502 (typically pronounced "sixty-five-oh-two" or "six-five-oh-two") William Mensch and the moderator both pronounce the 6502 microprocessor as ''"sixty-five-oh-two"''. is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit microprocessor that was desi ...

Motorola 68HC05 The 68HC05 (also abbreviated as HC05) is a broad family of 8-bit microcontrollers from Motorola, Motorola Semiconductor (later Freescale Semiconductor, Freescale then NXP Semiconductors, NXP). Like all Motorola processors that share lineage from ...

Motorola 68000 The Motorola 68000 (sometimes shortened to Motorola 68k or m68k and usually pronounced "sixty-eight-thousand") is a 16/32-bit complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessor, introduced in 1979 by Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector ...

and others. Hegener & Glaser and its Mephisto brand were bought in 1994 by Saitek. Their computers currently sold under the Mephisto brand use programs written by Frans Morsch.

Hegener & Glaser (Mephisto)

* 1969 established in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

by Manfred Hegener and Florian Glaser for the production of

semiconductors A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Its conductivity can be modified by adding impurities (" doping") to its crystal structure. When two regions with different doping levels ...

* 1978 the programmers Thomas Nitsche and Elmar Henne came into contact with H+G Thomas Nitsche and Elmar Henne * 1980 the "Mephisto" Tradename was created, nicknamed ''Brikett'' (German for

briquette A briquette (; also spelled briquet) is a compressed block of coal dust or other combustible biomass material (e.g. charcoal, sawdust, wood chips, peat, or paper) used for fuel and kindling to start a combustion, fire. The term is a diminutive der ...

) — the first German Chess Computer — programmed by Thomas Nietsche and Elmar Henne, appeared in stores. * 1983 Introduction of the Modular system, with the Mobil, Modular, and Exclusive boards and MM I module. * 1984 with Richard Lang and his Psion chess (Winner of

World Microcomputer Chess Championship World Computer Chess Championship (WCCC) was an event held periodically from 1974 to 2024 where computer chess engines compete against each other. The event is organized by the ''International Computer Games Association'' (ICGA, until 2002 ICCA). I ...

1984 in Glasgow) began a long series of World Championship successes. * 1985 introduction of Lang's first Mephisto module, the Amsterdam 68000 * 1989 over 90% of all chess computers sold in Germany were Mephistos * 1989 H+G buys "Fidelity Electronics Inc." for ~ 7 Million US $ * 1990 the market for high-priced chess computers collapses. The cause is the growth of high-performance 486 PCs and the availability of newly developed low-cost strong

chess software Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

for PCs. * 1992 H+G shows losses of 28 Million DM * 1992 Ed Schröder wins with

Gideon Gideon (; ) also named Jerubbaal and Jerubbesheth, was a military leader, judge and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites is recounted in of the Book of Judges in both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible. Gideon was th ...

3.1 (later sold as Mephisto Risc 2) the open 7. WCCC — ahead of large

mainframe computer A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise ...

s and special hardware machines * 1994 H+G is bought by Saitek for ~ 7 Million DM * 1994 Richard Lang's Genius (Mephisto London) beats

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess Elo rating system, ra ...

in the Intel World Chess Grand Prix Turnier in London on a

Pentium Pentium is a series of x86 architecture-compatible microprocessors produced by Intel from 1993 to 2023. The Pentium (original), original Pentium was Intel's fifth generation processor, succeeding the i486; Pentium was Intel's flagship proce ...

Processor * 1997 Manfred Hegener and Ossi Weiner form the company "Millennium 2000 GmbH Hegener & Weiner" and produce the "Millennium Schachpartner 2000", sold at 99 DM * 2005 Phoenix Chess Systems releases the Resurrection module for existing Mephisto modular boards. The hardware uses a 200 MHz

ARM processor ARM (stylised in lowercase as arm, formerly an acronym for Advanced RISC Machines and originally Acorn RISC Machine) is a family of RISC instruction set architectures (ISAs) for computer processors. Arm Holdings develops the ISAs and licen ...

to run modern

chess engines Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves no hidden information and no elements of chance. It is played on a square board consisting of 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid. The players, referred to ...

, resulting in the strongest dedicated chess computer ever created. * 2007 Phoenix Chess Systems releases an updated module set, the Resurrection II, with a faster 500 MHz

XScale XScale is a microarchitecture for central processing units initially designed by Intel implementing the ARM architecture (version 5) instruction set. XScale comprises several distinct families: IXP, IXC, IOP, PXA and CE (see more below), with some ...

processor.

Mephisto Modular System

Boards: * Mephisto Mobil (folding magnetic board) * Mephisto Modular (plastic autosensory board) * Mephisto Exclusive (40x40 cm wooden autosensory board) * Mephisto München (50x50 cm wooden autosensory board) * Mephisto Bavaria (50x50 cm wooden piece recognition board) Modules: Mephisto Marco Polo * Mephisto Almeria 68000 * Mephisto Almeria 68020 * Mephisto Amsterdam * Mephisto B&P * Mephisto Dallas 68000 * Mephisto Dallas 68020 * Mephisto Genius 68030 * Mephisto III-S Glasgow * Mephisto London 68000 * Mephisto London 68020 * Mephisto London 68030 * Mephisto Lyon 68000 * Mephisto Lyon 68020 * Mephisto Magellan * Mephisto Mirage * Mephisto MM I * Mephisto MM II * Mephisto MM IV * Mephisto MM V * Mephisto MM VI * Mephisto MM VI Schröder - was never distributed * Mephisto Mystery Modul * Mephisto PC Modul * Mephisto Polgar * Mephisto Polgar 10 MHz Beware: modified Exclusive Board * Mephisto Portorose 68000 * Mephisto Portorose 68020 * Mephisto Rebell 5.0 * Mephisto Risc 1MB * Mephisto Risc 2 * Mephisto Roma 68000 * Mephisto Roma 68020 * Mephisto Roma II * Mephisto Senator * Mephisto Vancouver 68000 * Mephisto Vancouver 68020

Tournament machines

Mephisto sold limited edition versions of Lang's championship winning programs in dedicated boards with upgraded processors, cooling, and memory, similar to the hardware used in the championship tournaments. * Mephisto TM Roma (68020, 25 MHz) * Mephisto TM Almeria (68020, 30 MHz) * Mephisto TM Portorose (68030, 36 MHz) * Mephisto TM Lyon (68030, 36 MHz) * Mephisto TM Vancouver (68030, 36 MHz) * Mephisto TM London (68030, 36 MHz) * Mephisto Wundermaschine (80486, 66 MHz)

Other chess computers from the manufacturer Hegener & Glaser

* Mephisto Academy * Mephisto Advanced Travel Chess Computer * Mephisto Alaska * Mephisto America * Mephisto America II * Mephisto Atlanta * Mephisto Avanti * Mephisto Beach * Mephisto Berlin 68000 * Mephisto Berlin Professional * Mephisto Bistro * Mephisto Champion * Mephisto Chessbook * Mephisto Chess Challenger * Mephisto Chess Explorer * Mephisto Chess Trainer * Mephisto College * Mephisto ESB 6000 * Mephisto Europa * Mephisto Europa A * Mephisto Excalibur * Mephisto Excalibur Glasgow * Mephisto Expert Travel Chess * Mephisto Explorer Pro * Mephisto HG 170 * Mephisto HG 240 * Mephisto HG 440 * Mephisto HG 550 * Mephisto I * Mephisto II * Mephisto III * Mephisto Junior (Sensor) * Mephisto Junior (Tasten) * Mephisto Junior Master Chess Computer * Mephisto Madison * Mephisto Maestro Travel Chess Computer * Mephisto Manhattan * Mephisto Marco Polo * Mephisto Master Chess * Mephisto Mega IV * Mein erster Mephisto * Mephisto Merlin 16K * Mephisto MeXs * Mephisto Miami * Mephisto Micro Travel Chess Computer * Mephisto Milano * Mephisto Milano Pro * Mephisto Mini * Mephisto Modena * Mephisto Monaco * Mephisto Mondial * Mephisto Mondial II * Mephisto Mondial 68000XL * Mephisto Montana * Mephisto Monte Carlo * Mephisto Monte Carlo IV * Mephisto Monte Carlo IV LE * Mephisto Montreal 68000 * Mephisto Montreux (Johan de Koning) * Mephisto Mystery * Mephisto Mythos * Mephisto

Nigel Short Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, columnist, coach and commentator who has been the FIDE Director for Chess Development since September 2022. Short earned the title of grandmaster at the ...

* Mephisto PC Schachbrett (Electronic chess board connected to a PC) * Mephisto Phantom * Mephisto Schachakademie * Mephisto Schachschule * Mephisto Schachschule II * Mephisto Super Mondial * Mephisto Super Mondial II * Mephisto Supermini * Mephisto Talking Chess Trainer * Mephisto Talking Chess Academy * Mephisto Travel Chess * Russian made chess computer ″ШК-1″ (ShK-1 for ″shakhmatniy kompyuter″ – Chess Computer) using "Mephisto H&G OEM chip"Chess Computer-1
/ref>

References

External links