The console

A reader of our blog has sent us some photos of the chess computer he dug out at his home: made in late 1980s, this was the game to play.

The game had no chess figurines included

The game, named Intellect 02, was one of the many made in the USSR for sole chess games. The simple software worked by enumerating  the possible moves and the wait time for the computer to respond was up to 30 seconds. In late 198o it cost about 160 rubles, which was half an average monthly salary. After six months of active use, it was reported to have software problems. However, those who had them remember it with great fondness.

This is the real computer. It has a 16-bit based CPU, memory, and it supports input-output devices.

Made in 1991

Share / Email / Bookmark

Related posts:

1. Summer in Gorky Park, Moscow of late 1960s
2. Soft Kitty, Small Kitty, Little Ball of Fur
3. Soviet Sightseeings and Trivia Game

Warm kitty, Sleepy Kitty, Purr Purr Purr.

For those of you who found the previous post a tad too serious (and we always welcome you feedback!), here’s a set of illustrations for a childrens’ book Look At These Kittens! by Georgy Karlov. Please retweet and stay tuned! Cheers

Cowardy

Look At These Kittens! The cover

1

Greedy

Bully

Thiefy

Scruffy

Crybaby

Lazybones

Grumpy

Kids, surely you are not like some of these kittens, are you?

The end

Share / Email / Bookmark

Related posts:

1. Summer in Gorky Park, Moscow of late 1960s
2. Check? Mate! A Chess Computer
3. Funtime with Soviet Playthings

Screenshot of the game

It took us almost two weeks to get this done, but finally it’s here for you — the geography darts “How well you know the USSR”? The trivia would range from what the capital of the USSR was to the place which was called “the ice curtain” on the border of the US and Russia. There are 36 questions altogether, they vary in difficulty and pop in random order. You get to save your high score and compare it with other players including the USSR team. We had a trial run yesterday and so far the map has been viewed more than 17 000 times, and it’s still early!

Do switch to the FULL SCREEN MODE by clicking the square icon and then drag around — Russia is a big country, it helps a lot.

Re-tweet, let us know what you think — and thanks for being such a wonderful crowd. More to come — stay tuned!

Share / Email / Bookmark

Related posts:

1. Soviet Union Administrative Division
2. A Glance at the Soviet Lifestyle, Captured by Marc Riboud.
3. Signboards of Soviet Stores