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Mac Hack is a computer chess program written by Richard D. Greenblatt. Also known as Mac Hac and The Greenblatt Chess Program, it was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mac Hack VI was the first chess program to play in human tournament conditions, the first to be granted a chess rating, and the first to win against a person in tournament play. A pseudocode for the program is given in Figure 11.16 of.^[1]

Its name comes from Project MAC ("Multi-Level Access Computer" or "Machine-Aided Cognition"^[2]) a large sponsored research program located at MIT. The number VI refers to the PDP-6 machine for which it was written.

Development

Greenblatt was inspired to write Mac Hack upon reading MIT Artificial Intelligence Memo 41,^[3] or a similar document describing Kotok-McCarthy, which he saw while visiting Stanford University in 1965. A good chess player, he was inspired to make improvements at MIT in 1965 and 1966.^[4]

In about 2004, he had an opportunity to tell Alan Kotok that searching the 7 best moves at each of the first two plies, and limiting the search depth to two would have done better than the default widths of "4 3 2 2 1 1 1 1", attempting eight plies in Kotok-McCarthy's REPLYS subroutine which generated each player's next plausible moves.^[5]

Greenblatt added fifty heuristics that reflected his knowledge of chess. Mac Hack was written in MIDAS macro assembly language on the PDP-6 computer DEC donated to MIT (the first working PDP-6, serial number 2). Many versions may exist. During this period the program was compiled about two hundred times.

Tournament play

By the time it was published in 1969 Mac Hack had played in eighteen tournaments and hundreds of complete games. The PDP-6 became an honorary member of the Massachusetts State Chess Association and the United States Chess Federation,^[6] a requirement for playing tournaments. In 1966 the program was rated 1243 when it lost in the Massachusetts Amateur Championship. In 1967, the program played in four tournaments, winning three games, losing twelve, and drawing three. In 1967 Mac Hack VI defeated Ben Landy with a USCF rating of 1510 in game 3, tournament 2 of the Massachusetts State Championship.^[4]^[7]

Greenblatt published the program with Donald E. Eastlake III and Stephen D. Crocker in MIT Artificial Intelligence Memo 174 and recorded some games there.^[8]

Influence

Mac Hack played by teletype, was ported to the PDP-10 and was the first computer chess program to be widely distributed.^[9] Mac Hack was the first chess computer to use a transposition table, which is a vital optimization in game tree search. Greenblatt and Tom Knight went on to advance artificial intelligence and build the Lisp machine in 1973.^[10]

References

^ Newell, Allen; Simon, Herbert Alexander (2019). Human problem solving. Brattleboro, Vermont: Echo Point Books & Media. ISBN 978-1-63561-792-4.
^ Snover, Janet and Bill Litant (n.d.). "Acronyms and Abbreviations Used at MIT". Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 29 December 2006.
^ *Kotok, Alan (n.d.). "A Chess Playing Program (AIM-41 - PDF)" (PDF). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 July 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2006.
^ ^a ^b Greenblatt, Richard D. (12 January 2005). "Oral History of Richard Greenblatt" (PDF). Computer History Museum. Retrieved 1 July 2006. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ Hendrie, Gardner (12 January 2005). "Oral History of Richard Greenblatt" (PDF). Computer History Museum. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
^ LEVY, D. (29 June 2013). Computer Chess Compendium. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9781475719680.
^ Levy, David N. L. (6 December 2012). Computer Games I. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9781461387169.
^ "The Greenblatt Chess Program" (PDF). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Richard Greenblatt, Donald Eastlake III, Stephen Crocker. April 1969. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
^ "A history of computer chess - from the "Mechanical Turk" to "Deep Blue" - High Tech History". Retrieved 6 April 2016.
^ "Richard Greenblatt and Thomas Knight with the CADR LISP Machine at MIT". computerhistory.org. Retrieved 6 April 2016.

Bibliography

Photo: Richard Greenblatt and Thomas Knight with the CADR LISP Machine at MIT, Unknown photographer. Courtesy of MIT. (1978). "Computer History Museum accession number L02645385". Retrieved 29 December 2006.
Pearson Education, Addison-Wesley Professional (2006). "Donald E. Eastlake". Retrieved 26 December 2006.
Computer History Museum (n.d.). "Opening Moves: Origins of Computer Chess: 2.4 Getting Going".

[:0-1] Newell, Allen; Simon, Herbert Alexander (2019). Human problem solving. Brattleboro, Vermont: Echo Point Books & Media. ISBN 978-1-63561-792-4.

[JSBL-2] Snover, Janet and Bill Litant (n.d.). "Acronyms and Abbreviations Used at MIT". Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 29 December 2006.

[AIM-41-3] *Kotok, Alan (n.d.). "A Chess Playing Program (AIM-41 - PDF)" (PDF). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 July 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2006.

[Greenblatt-4] Greenblatt, Richard D. (12 January 2005). "Oral History of Richard Greenblatt" (PDF). Computer History Museum. Retrieved 1 July 2006. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

[5] Hendrie, Gardner (12 January 2005). "Oral History of Richard Greenblatt" (PDF). Computer History Museum. Retrieved 6 April 2016.

[6] LEVY, D. (29 June 2013). Computer Chess Compendium. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9781475719680.

[7] Levy, David N. L. (6 December 2012). Computer Games I. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9781461387169.

[8] "The Greenblatt Chess Program" (PDF). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Richard Greenblatt, Donald Eastlake III, Stephen Crocker. April 1969. Retrieved 6 April 2016.

[9] "A history of computer chess - from the "Mechanical Turk" to "Deep Blue" - High Tech History". Retrieved 6 April 2016.

[10] "Richard Greenblatt and Thomas Knight with the CADR LISP Machine at MIT". computerhistory.org. Retrieved 6 April 2016.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{about|the computer chess program|the Macintosh software developers conference|MacHack}}
 {{More footnotes|date=April 2010}}
+{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
+'''Mac Hack''' is a [[computer chess]] program written by [[Richard Greenblatt (programmer)|Richard D. Greenblatt]]. Also known as '''Mac Hac''' and '''The Greenblatt Chess Program''', it was developed at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]. Mac Hack VI was the first [[chess]] program to play in human tournament conditions, the first to be granted a [[chess rating]], and the first to win against a person in tournament play. A pseudocode for the program is given in Figure 11.16 of.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Newell |first=Allen |title=Human problem solving |last2=Simon |first2=Herbert Alexander |date=2019 |publisher=Echo Point Books & Media |isbn=978-1-63561-792-4 |location=Brattleboro, Vermont}}</ref>
-{| class="infobox bordered" style="width:308px; float:right; background:#eee; color:#000;"
-| colspan="3" style="padding:0.2em; font-size:100%; text-align:center; font-size:110%; background:#8890a0; color:#fff;" | '''Early Chess Programs at MIT'''<!-- needs a nicer table, maybe to include Bernstein and NSS -->
-|-
-! style="padding:0.4em; font-weight:normal;" | 1957–1958
-| style="padding:0.4em;" | routines by [[John McCarthy (computer scientist)|John McCarthy]] and Paul W. Abrahams<ref name=LISP>{{cite web | title=LISP prehistory - Summer 1956 through Summer 1958 | author=McCarthy, John | year=1996 | url=http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/history/lisp/node2.html | accessdate=2006-12-09}}</ref>
-| style="padding:0.4em;" | [[IBM 704]]
-|-
-! style="padding:0.4em; font-weight:normal;" | 1959–1962
-| style="padding:0.4em;" | [[Kotok-McCarthy]]
-| style="padding:0.4em;" | [[IBM 7090]]
-|-
-! style="padding:0.4em; font-weight:normal; background:#fff; color:#000" | 1965–1967
-| style="padding:0.4em; background:#fff; color:#000" | The [[Richard Greenblatt (programmer)|Greenblatt]] program (Mac Hack)
-| style="padding:0.4em; background:#fff; color:#000" | [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[PDP-6]]
-|}
-'''Mac Hack''' is a [[computer chess]] program written by [[Richard Greenblatt (programmer)|Richard D. Greenblatt]]. Also known as '''Mac Hac''' and '''[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/6176 The Greenblatt Chess Program]''', it was developed at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]. Mac Hack VI was the first [[chess]] program to play in human tournament conditions, the first to be granted a [[chess rating]], and the first to win against a person in tournament play.
 Its name comes from [[Project MAC]] ("Multi-Level Access Computer" or "Machine-Aided Cognition"<ref name=JSBL>{{cite web
@@ Line 24: / Line 9: @@
  | author=Snover, Janet and Bill Litant
  | publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- | date=undated
+ | date=n.d.
  | url=http://web.mit.edu/acronym/
  | accessdate=2006-12-29<!-- from local copy of XHTML -->
-}}</ref>) a large sponsored research program located at MIT. Over time, it became a hack in the sense of ''[[Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution]]'',<ref name=Levybook>{{cite book
+}}</ref>) a large sponsored research program located at MIT. The number VI refers to the [[PDP-6]] machine for which it was written.
- | last = Levy
- | first = Steven
- | title = Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution
- | url =
- | date = Updated 2 January 2001
- | publisher = Penguin (Non-Classics)
- | isbn = 0-14-100051-1
-}}:*{{gutenberg
- | no=729
- | name=Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution by Steven Levy
-}}</ref> a book by [[Steven Levy]] in which Greenblatt appears. The number VI refers to the [[PDP-6]] machine for which it was written.
 ==Development==
@@ Line 45: / Line 19: @@
 | author=Kotok, Alan
 | publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology
-| date=undated
+| date=n.d.
 | url=ftp://publications.ai.mit.edu/ai-publications/pdf/AIM-041.pdf
+| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706114810/ftp://publications.ai.mit.edu/ai-publications/pdf/AIM-041.pdf
+| url-status=dead
+| archive-date=2017-07-06
 | accessdate=2006-12-26
 }}</ref> or a similar document describing [[Kotok-McCarthy]], which he saw while visiting [[Stanford University]] in 1965. A good chess player, he was inspired to make improvements at MIT in 1965 and 1966.<ref name=Greenblatt>{{cite journal | author=Greenblatt, Richard D. | title=Oral History of Richard Greenblatt | publisher=Computer History Museum | date=12 January 2005 | url=http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/Oral_History/Greenblatt_Richard/greenblatt.oral_history_transcript.2005.102657935.pdf | accessdate=2006-07-01 | authorlink=Richard Greenblatt (programmer)}}</ref>
-In about 2004, he had an opportunity to tell [[Alan Kotok]] that "7 7" would have done better than "4 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 0" in Kotok-McCarthy's <code>REPLYS</code> subroutine which generated each player's next plausible moves.{{Clarify|date=February 2009}}
+In about 2004, he had an opportunity to tell [[Alan Kotok]] that searching the 7 best moves at each of the first two plies, and limiting the search depth to two would have done better than the default widths of "4 3 2 2 1 1 1 1", attempting eight plies in Kotok-McCarthy's <code>REPLYS</code> subroutine which generated each player's next plausible moves.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/Oral_History/Greenblatt_Richard/greenblatt.oral_history_transcript.2005.102657935.pdf|title=Oral History of Richard Greenblatt|last=Hendrie|first=Gardner|date=12 January 2005|website=Computer History Museum|access-date=6 April 2016}}</ref>
 Greenblatt added fifty [[heuristic]]s that reflected his knowledge of chess. Mac Hack was written in MIDAS macro [[assembly language]] on the [[PDP-6]] computer [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] donated to MIT (the first working PDP-6, serial number 2). Many versions may exist. During this period the program was [[compiler|compiled]] about two hundred times.
 ==Tournament play==
+By the time it was published in 1969 Mac Hack had played in eighteen tournaments and hundreds of complete games. The PDP-6 became an honorary member of the Massachusetts State Chess Association and the [[United States Chess Federation]],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vwbkBwAAQBAJ|title=Computer Chess Compendium|last=LEVY|first=D.|date=2013-06-29|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9781475719680|language=en}}</ref> a requirement for playing tournaments. In 1966 the program was rated 1243 when it lost in the [[Massachusetts]] Amateur Championship. In 1967, the program played in four tournaments, winning three games, losing twelve, and [[draw (chess)|drawing]] three. In 1967 Mac Hack VI defeated Ben Landy with a [[U.S. Chess Federation|USCF]] [[Elo rating system|rating]] of 1510 in game 3, tournament 2 of the Massachusetts State Championship.<ref name="Greenblatt" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nvUGCAAAQBAJ|title=Computer Games I|last=Levy|first=David N. L.|date=2012-12-06|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9781461387169|language=en}}</ref>
-By the time it was published in 1969 Mac Hack had played in eighteen tournaments and hundreds of complete games. The PDP-6 became an honorary member of the Massachusetts State Chess Association<ref name=AIM-174>{{cite web
- | author = Greenblatt, Richard D., Eastlake, Donald E. III, and Crocker, Stephen D.
- | title=The Greenblatt Chess Program (AIM-174)
- | publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- | date=1 April 1969
- | id={{hdl|1721.1/6176}}}}</ref> and the [[United States Chess Federation]],{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}} a requirement for playing tournaments. In 1966 the program was rated 1243 when it lost in the [[Massachusetts]] Amateur Championship. In 1967, the program played in four tournaments, winning three games, losing twelve, and [[draw (chess)|drawing]] three. In 1967 Mac Hack VI defeated a person with a [[U.S. Chess Federation|USCF]] [[ELO rating system|rating]] of 1510 in game 3, tournament 2 of the Massachusetts State Championship.{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}}{{Who|date=June 2011}}
-Greenblatt published the program with Donald E. Eastlake III and [[Stephen D. Crocker]] in MIT Artificial Intelligence Memo 174 and recorded some games there.
+Greenblatt published the program with Donald E. Eastlake III and [[Stephen D. Crocker]] in MIT Artificial Intelligence Memo 174 and recorded some games there.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream//1721.1/6176/2/AIM-174.pdf|title=The Greenblatt Chess Program|date=April 1969|website=Massachusetts Institute of Technology|publisher=Richard Greenblatt, Donald Eastlake III, Stephen Crocker|access-date=6 April 2016}}</ref>
 ==Influence==
+Mac Hack played by [[teleprinter|teletype]], was ported to the [[PDP-10]] and was the first computer chess program to be widely distributed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://hightechhistory.com/2011/04/21/a-history-of-computer-chess-%25E2%2580%2593-from-the-mechanical-turk-to-%25E2%2580%259Cdeep-blue%25E2%2580%259D/|title=A history of computer chess - from the "Mechanical Turk" to "Deep Blue" - High Tech History|access-date=2016-04-06}}</ref> Mac Hack was the first chess computer to use a [[transposition table]], which is a vital optimization in game tree search. Greenblatt and [[Tom Knight (scientist)|Tom Knight]] went on to advance [[artificial intelligence]] and build the [[Lisp machine]] in 1973.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-431614f64ea3e|title=Richard Greenblatt and Thomas Knight with the CADR LISP Machine at MIT|website=computerhistory.org|access-date=2016-04-06}}</ref>
-{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2010}}
-Mac Hack played by [[teleprinter|teletype]], was ported to the [[PDP-10]] and was the first computer chess program to be widely distributed. Greenblatt and [[Tom Knight (scientist)|Tom Knight]] went on to advance [[artificial intelligence]] and build the [[Lisp machine]] in 1973.
-==See also==
+==References==
-{{Portal|Chess}}
-*[[Richard Greenblatt (programmer)|Richard Greenblatt]]
-==Notes==
 {{Reflist}}
-==References==
+===Bibliography===
-*{{cite web
- | author = Greenblatt, Richard D., Eastlake, Donald E. III, and Crocker, Stephen D.
- | title=The Greenblatt Chess Program (AIM-174)
- | publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- | date=1 April 1969
- | id={{hdl|1721.1/6176}}}}
-*{{cite web
-| title=The Greenblatt Chess Program (AIM-174)
-| author=MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL)
-| publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology, CSAIL Digital Archive - Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Series
-| date=April 1969
-| url=http://www.ai.mit.edu/research/publications/browse/0100browse.shtml
-}}
-:* AIM-174 [ftp://publications.ai.mit.edu/ai-publications/0-499/AIM-174.ps PostScript]. Retrieved on 27 December 2006.
-:* AIM-174 [ftp://publications.ai.mit.edu/ai-publications/pdf/AIM-174.pdf PDF]. Retrieved on 27 December 2006.
 * Photo: ''Richard Greenblatt and Thomas Knight with the CADR LISP Machine at MIT'', {{cite web
  | title=Computer History Museum accession number L02645385
@@ Line 108: / Line 60: @@
  | author=Computer History Museum
  | title=Opening Moves: Origins of Computer Chess: 2.4 Getting Going
- | date=undated
+ | date=n.d.
  | url= http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/main.php?sec=thm-42b86c2029762&sel=thm-42b86c7bdbaf1
 }}
+{{Portal|Chess}}
-*{{cite web
- | author=Computer History Museum Oral History Program
- | title=Richard Greenblatt interview by Gardner Hendrie 12 January 2005, PDF and video excerpt retrieved on 27 December 2006
-| date=ongoing
-| url= http://archive.computerhistory.org/search/oh/oral_history.php
-}}
 <!-- http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/Oral_History/Greenblatt_Richard/greenblatt.oral_history_transcript.2005.102657935.pdf -->
 <!-- http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/related_materials/oral-history/greenblatt.oral_history.2005.102634500/index.php?iid=orl-433440f03cfe1 -->
-*{{cite web
- | title=Computer Chess History by Bill Wall
- | year=2006 | url=http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/comphis.htm
- | accessdate=2006-12-27
-|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070820054627/http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/comphis.htm|archivedate=2007-08-20}}
-{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2011}}
-[[Category:Chess engines]]
+[[Category:Chess software]]
 [[Category:History of chess]]
-[[de:MacHack]]
-[[ja:マックハック]]