Editing Computer chess (section)

=== Knowledge versus search (processor speed) ===
In the 1970s, most chess programs ran on super computers like Control Data Cyber 176s or Cray-1s, indicative that during that developmental period for computer chess, processing power was the limiting factor in performance.  Most chess programs struggled to search to a depth greater than 3 ply.  It was not until the hardware chess machines of the 1980s, that a relationship between processor speed and knowledge encoded in the evaluation function became apparent.

It has been estimated that doubling the computer speed gains approximately fifty to seventy [[Elo rating system|Elo]] points in playing strength {{harvcol|Levy|Newborn|1991|p=192}}.