Peter R. Jennings
Born1950 (age 73–74)
Bedford, England, United Kingdom
NationalityCanadian
Alma materSUNY Stony Brook University (MA in physics)
McMaster University (MBA)
Years active1970 - Present
Known forMicroChess
Notable workMicroChess
ChessMate
VisiCorp

Peter R. Jennings (born 1950) is a British-Canadian physicist, scientist, inventor, software developer, computer chess programmer, and entrepreneur. He is most notable for creating MicroChess, the first microcomputer game to be sold commercially.[1]

Biography

Early life

Peter Jennings was born in Bedford, England in 1950. In the 1960s his family moved to Ontario, Canada.[2] He received his Master of Arts (MA) degree in physics from SUNY Stony Brook University in 1972 and his Master of Business Administration (MBA) in finance and marketing from McMaster University in 1974.[2]

MicroChess and ChessMate

Jennings developed MicroChess shortly after leaving graduate school in New York. It was the first software to ever sell over 10,000 copies.[3] The code was sold on paper and users had to manually enter the program using a keyboard.[4]

The program was later available on Apple II, TRS-80, Commodore PET, and Atari 400/800 platforms, where it sold millions of copies.[4][5][6][7] Jennings also developed the first model of the ChessMate while working for Commodore in 1977.[8]

The Commodore ChessMate, developed by Peter R Jennings in 1977.
The Commodore ChessMate, developed by Peter R. Jennings in 1977.

Later years

In 1976, along with Dan Fylstra, Jennings co-founded the corporation Personal Software, which later became VisiCorp. Proceeds from MicroChess sales helped finance the development of VisiCalc, the first-ever spreadsheet program.[9][10][11]

Publications

  • January 1978: "The Second World Computer Chess Championships". BYTE. p. 108.
  • March 1978: "Microchess 1.5 vs. Dark Horse". BYTE. p. 166.
  • 1979: "Revolution in Personal Computing". Wharton Magazine.[12]
  • No date: "A Good, Long Read (for 18 Years)". Foundation RISC User Online. RISCOS Ltd.

References

  1. ↑ "6502.org: Source: MicroChess". 6502.org. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
  2. 1 2 VE3SUN. "Peter Jennings". www.benlo.com. Retrieved 2016-01-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ "We've mentioned Peter Jennings' ground-breaking Microchess before - the first…". plus.google.com. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
  4. 1 2 "Computer History Museum - Chess For Everyone - Early Microcomputer Chess". www.computerhistory.org. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
  5. ↑ (www.maddogproductions.com/creative), Mad Dog Productions. "IT History Society". www.ithistory.org. Archived from the original on 2013-10-04. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
  6. ↑ Chess (Tandy Radio Shack Color Computer) (1980), 1980-01-01, retrieved 2016-01-29
  7. ↑ "Scisys and Novag : The Early Years". www.chesscomputeruk.com. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
  8. ↑ "Secret Weapons of Commodore: The Commodore CHESSmate". www.floodgap.com. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
  9. ↑ Bolton, Syd. "A brief history of computer chess". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
  10. ↑ Chess (Tandy Radio Shack Color Computer) (1980), 1980-01-01, retrieved 2016-01-29
  11. ↑ Szewczyk, Roman; Kaštelan, Ivan; Temerinac, Miodrag; Barak, Moshe; Sruk, Vlado (2016-01-19). Embedded Engineering Education. Springer. ISBN 9783319275406.
  12. ↑ Jennings, Peter R (1979). "A Revolution in Personal Computing". Wharton Magazine.
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