Editing HiTech (section)

==History==
===Development and specs===
It was designed by [[Carl Ebeling]], a student, from 1986 to 1988, under professor [[Hans Berliner]] at [[Carnegie Mellon University]].<ref name="A:A"/> Members of the team working on HiTech included Berliner, [[Murray Campbell]], [[Carl Ebeling]], Gordon Goetsch, Andy Palay, and Larry Slomer.<ref name="A:J"/>

Berliner had also created a computer program to play backgammon called BKG 9.8, which beat [[Luigi Villa]] in 1979, and in the process became "the first computer program to beat a world champion in any game." According to the ''New York Times,'' "this research led, in 1984, to a chess program called HiTech."<ref name="A:K">{{Citation |last=Alder |first=Phillip |date=November 4, 2006 |title=The Chess/Bridge Divide, and One Who Crossed Over |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/04/crosswords/bridge/the-chessbridge-divide-and-one-who-crossed-over.html}}</ref> The computer used an algorithm developed by Berliner to narrow the choices when selecting a move, called B*, or B-star. The algorithm would evaluate decision trees and assign nodes with an "optimistic" or "pessimistic" score, with the aim of finding a path that was sufficient to solve the problem, rather than perfect.<ref name="A:I">{{Citation |last=Spice |first=Bryan |date=January 19, 2017 |title=Hans Berliner Was a Pioneer in Computer Chess |publisher=Carnegie Mellon University |url=https://www.cmu.edu/piper/news/archives/2017/january/hans-berliner-obituary.html}}</ref>

HiTech's name refers to a chess-playing program called TECH that was developed at Carnegie Mellon.<ref name="A:J"/>  The team combined a [[Sun Microsystems|Sun]] computer equipped with a custom processor called "the searcher" by Berlin. It runs three programs: a user interface, a task controller, and an "oracle," with the latter consisting of a large catalogue of chess openings and variations. The searcher component contains a microprocessor and a number of hardware modules to perform tasks such as generating and evaluating moves. These activities are coordinated by the microprocessor. The move generator<ref name="A:J"/> consisted of 64 [[VLSI]] chips, with one for each square on the chessboard.<ref name="A:J">{{Citation |last=Dewdney |first=A. K. |date=February 1986 |title=Computer Recreations |publisher=[[Scientific American]] |url=https://d1yx3ys82bpsa0.cloudfront.net/chess/computer-recreations.dewdney-ak.scientific-american.feb-1986.062303022.pdf}}</ref><ref name="A:I"/> In 1988, Hitech could scan 165,000 positions a second.<ref name="A:G"/>

The hardware, which was custom, could analyze over 200,000 moves per second.<ref name="A:A"/> The computer has a nearly six-foot-tall mainframe.<ref name="A:C"/> HiTech was one of two competing [[chess]] projects at Carnegie Mellon; the other was [[ChipTest]].<ref name="atkinson"/> ChipTest became the predecessor of IBM's [[Deep Thought (chess computer)|Deep Thought]] and [[Deep Blue (chess computer)|Deep Blue]]).<ref>{{Cite book
|last=Hsu|first=Feng-hsiung|author-link=Feng-hsiung Hsu
|year=2002
|title=Behind Deep Blue: Building the Computer that Defeated the World Chess Champion
|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]
|isbn=0-691-09065-3
}}</ref>

===Early matches===
HiTech won the 1985 and 1989 editions of the [[North American Computer Chess Championship]].<ref name="A:G"/> From September 1985 to July 1988, it used the same hardware, while its standing in the US chess community rose from being in the top 2% to the top .5%. Berliner described this change as a result of "using better management of the resources that have been available."<ref name="A:C">{{Citation |last=Berliner |first=H.  |title=International Workshop on Industrial Applications of Machine Intelligence and Vision |date=10–12 April 1989  |chapter=Hitech chess: from master to senior master with no hardware change |pages=12–21 |publisher=[[IEEE]] |doi=10.1109/MIV.1989.40515 |chapter-url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/40515 }}</ref> In November 1985, the [[Associated Press]] reported that over five months of play, it had earned the rank of master and achieved the highest rating ever given a chess machine. At that time, its developers argued it was 50% faster than any other chess-playing computer systems.<ref name="A:P">{{Citation |last= |first= |date=November 24, 1985 |title=Computer Knows the Right Moves, Is Master at Game of Chess |work=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-11-24-mn-1654-story.html}}</ref> The computer began competing on the chess circuit, only going against humans, in 1986.<ref name="A:H"/> By 1987, the computer ranked 190th in the United States, and was the only computer among the top 1,000 chess players.<ref name="A:I"/>

ChipTest was invited to play in the 1987 American Open, but the team did not enter due to an objection by the HiTech team, also from Carnegie Mellon University. HiTech and ChipTest shared some code, and Hitech was already playing in the tournament. The two teams became rivals.<ref name="atkinson">{{cite book|last=Atkinson|first=George|title=Chess and Machine Intuition|year=1998|publisher=Intellect Books|isbn=0893919012|pages=175}}</ref>

HiTech was the first computer to be rated over 2400 in chess,<ref name="A:A"/> which is the senior master [[U.S. Chess Federation#Ratings|USCF rating]] level.<ref>{{cite journal |title=HITECH Becomes First Computer Senior Master |author=Hans Berliner |journal=AI Magazine |volume=9 |number=3 |date=Fall 1988 |pages=85–87 |url=https://ojs.aaai.org//index.php/aimagazine/article/view/946}}</ref>

===Championships===
In 1987, it won the [[Pennsylvania State Chess Federation|Pennsylvania State Chess Championship]], scoring 4.5 points out of 5 after a four-way tie. HiTech had an overall performance score of 2559, considered a high Senior Master rating. However, an interpretation of the rules denied HiTech the money prize, the State Title, and trophy, as only a resident could earn the title.<ref name="A:F">{{Citation |last=Berliner |first=Hans |year=1987 |title=HITECH Wins Chess Tourney |journal=AI Magazine |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=101 |publisher=AI Magazine Volume 8 |doi=10.1609/aimag.v8i4.628 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1609/aimag.v8i4.628}}</ref>  Hitech won the Pennsylvania State Chess Championship twice, winning again in July 1988. It won with a score of 4.5 - 0.5, beating international master [[Edward Formanek]] in the process. Rules had changed since 1987, allowing a computer to win the title, but not the trophy or prize money. However, Professor Formanek gave Hitech the trophy he had been awarded as the highest human competitor.<ref name="A:M">{{Citation |last=Berliner |first=Hans |date=June 1988 |title=ITech Again WIns Pennsylvania Chess Championship: Becomes First Computer Senior Master |publisher=ICCA Journal |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428112712id_/https://content.iospress.com/download/icga-journal/icg11-2-3-28?id=icga-journal%2Ficg11-2-3-28}}</ref>

In May 1988, Hitech was described by ''[[TIME (magazine)|TIME]]'' as being able to compete in hotel competitions remotely. The main computer remained at Pittsburgh, while a contraption ''TIME'' called "an ungainly-looking brute," would be operated by Berliner and Carl Ebeling at the tournament. The remote Hitech relied on its phone line connection to Pittsburgh to communicate moves. This meant that whenever the hotel would use their phone line, the computer would need to be relinked via a phone call.<ref name="A:H">{{Citation |last=Nash |first=J. Madeleine |date=May 16, 1988 |title=In Chicago: Playing Hitech Computer Chess |publisher=[[TIME (magazine)|TIME]] |url=https://time.com/archive/6712237/in-chicago-playing-hitech-computer-chess/}}</ref>

In 1988 HiTech defeated [[International Grandmaster|GM]] [[Arnold Denker]] 3½-½ in a match<ref name="A:G">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/26/nyregion/for-first-time-a-chess-computer-outwits-grandmaster-in-tournament.html|title=For First Time, a Chess Computer Outwits Grandmaster in Tournament|newspaper=The New York Times|date=26 September 1988|last1=Schonberg|first1=Harold C.}}</ref> in [[New York City]].<ref name="A:O">{{Citation|date=September 26, 1988 |title=COMPUTER BLITZES CHESS GRANDMASTER LAUDERDALE CHAMPION HELD IN CHECK |publisher=[[The Sun Sentinel]] |url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/1988/09/26/computer-blitzes-chess-grandmaster-lauderdale-champion-held-in-check/}}</ref> Hitech won the four-game match, the first a draw and the last three wins, marking the first time a grandmaster was beaten by a chess program. According to the ''New York Times'' at the time, most experts agreed Denker, however, was "badly off form," as a largely retired individual at 74 years old. Denker called Hitech's play an impressive achievement.<ref name="A:G"/>

===Retirement===

In 1988, Berliner stated that he and his associates at Carnegie-Mellon were working on an improved model of Hitech, with three years of work projected before it debuted. At the time, Hitech could scan 165,000 positions a second. Berliner stated that "speed alone is not the most important thing. Hitech scans in a dumb sort of way. It has to go through every possible position. A smarter machine might operate only on 100,000 scans a second, but it will confine those scans to positions germane to the situation. That is what we call a smart scan."<ref name="A:G"/>

HiTech has been included in exhibits by the [[Computer History Museum]].<ref name="A:A">{{Citation |year=1988 |title=HiTech Chess Machine |publisher=[[Computer History Museum]] |url=https://www.computerhistory.org/chess/art-431f4cc17c77f/}}</ref> The Carnegie Mellon University Libraries began holding the computer in 2022, as part of the university's [[Robotics Institute|Robotics Project]]. It was donated from the collection of [[Chris Atkeson]].<ref name="A:D">{{Citation |last=Bender |first=Sarah |year=2022 |title=Robotics Project Acquires HiTech Chess Machine |publisher= |url=https://www.library.cmu.edu/about/news/2022-10/hitech-chess-machine }}</ref>