Tasc B. V. was a Dutch company based in Rotterdam that specialized in the development of electronic chess board and chess related products.  They produced a small range of computer chess systems and SmartBoards that could be connected to a Personal Computer in order play chess software from a PC onto an auto sensory chessboard which they named Smartboard.

They also produced the chess R30 module and the more expensive and much rarer R40 module. Both were dedicated chess computer modules that were connected to the auto sensory SmartBoard chessboards instead of using a PC, making this a powerful independent and completely dedicated chess computer game playing system. This system was considered state-of-the-art by chess players in the early 90’s and still is today one of the nicest chess computer systems ever made.

The first product developed by TASC B.V. that could be considered a dedicated chess computer was “The Final Chess Card” which came out in 1989 for the Commodore 64/128 computers and for the PC.  The PC version was installed into the internal ISA slot of your PC, whereas the Commodore version slid into the external cartridge slot of a Commodore 64/128. The card’s built in 5 MHz chess program would play independent of the CPU power of your PC or Commodore.

Several additional internal and external Chess Cards were later sold for the PC 16 Bit processors running at  14 MHz, 15 MHz and 16 MHz as well as internal Chess Cards with 32 Bit processors running at 30 MHz and 32 MHz called ChessMachine. These were internal cards that also used an ISA slot of a PC. External cards running at 15 and 16 MHz were also sold by TASC B.V. . These were connected via a serial cable to your PC. An external 16 MHz Commodore Amiga card was also developed and sold.

It was in fact one of these “ChessMachine” cards that ended Richard Lang’s and Mephisto’s long reign as World Microcomputer Champion in the 1991 Tournament in Vancouver.  The winning chess program was written by Ed Schroder and named “Gideon”. His “Gideon” program beat a field that was predominately made up of PC chess programs in order to become World Champion.

The chess programs sold for the ChessMachine cards were various progressively improved versions of Ed Schroeder’s “Gideon” chess programs and also Johann de Koning’s King programs. The versions King 2.2 and King 2.54 were also used for the R30 and R40 chess modules.

Johann de Koning of course later became extremely successful worldwide with his Chessmaster series of chess software, while Ed Schroeder enjoyed world fame and success with his “Rebell” PC chess software.

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About Tasc B. V. Chess System and Electronic Chess Computers
Tasc B. V. Electronic Chess Computer Collection

 

1994

1993

SB 20

SB 30 Version I

Tasc B. V. Model SB 20 Smartboard (1994) Electronic Auto Sensory Chess Board
Tasc B. V. Model SB 30 Version I Smartboard (1993) Electronic Auto Sensory Chess Board

Auto Sensory Chess Board

Auto Sensory Chess Board

1995

SB 30 Version II

Tasc B. V. Model SB 30 Version II Smartboard (1995) Electronic Auto Sensory Chess Board

Auto Sensory Chess Board

Tasc B. V. Auto Sensory SmartBoard Collection
Tasc B. V. Electronic Chess Computer Modules Collection

2012

R30 Gideon

Tasc B. V. Model R30 Gideon (2012) ARM6 32 Bit Chess Computer Module for Electronic SmartBoard SB30 Version I

ARM6 32 Bit Module

1993

R30 King 2.20

Tasc B. V. Model R30 King 2.20 (1993) ARM6 32 Bit Chess Computer Module for Electronic SmartBoard SB30 Version I

ARM6 32 Bit Module

2013

R30 King 2.23

Tasc B. V. Model R30 King 2.23 (2013) ARM6 32 Bit Chess Computer Module for Electronic SmartBoard SB30 Version I

ARM6 32 Bit Module

1995

King 2.5

Tasc B. V. Model R30 King 2.5 (1995) ARM6 32 Bit Chess Computer Module for Electronic SmartBoard

ARM6 32 Bit Module

1991

PC 1024 KB ChessMachine

Tasc B. V. for PC ChessMachine ARM Processor 32 Bit 1024 KB 14 MHz External Electronic Chess Computer Card (1991)

ARM 32 Bit 14 MHz External

Tasc B. V. Internal and External Electronic Chess Computer Card Collection for PC, Commodore 64 and Commodore Amiga Collection

1989

C64 The Final ChessCard

Tasc B. V. for Commodore 64 The Final ChessCard 6502 Processor 8 Bit 5 MHz External Electronic Chess Computer Card (1989)

6502 8 Bit 5 MHz External

1992

Amiga 1024KB ChessMachine

Tasc B. V. for Commodore Amiga ChessMachine ARM Processor 32 Bit 1024 KB 14 MHz External Electronic Chess Computer Card (1992)

ARM 32 Bit 14 MHz External

1991

PC 1024 KB ChessMachine V1

Tasc B. V. for PC ChessMachine ARM Processor 32 Bit 1024 KB 14 MHz Internal Version 1 Electronic Chess Computer Card (1991)

ARM 32 Bit 14 MHz Internal

1992

PC 1024 KB ChessMachine V2

Tasc B. V. for PC ChessMachine ARM Processor 32 Bit 1024 KB 14 MHz Internal Version 2 Electronic Chess Computer Card (1992)

ARM 32 Bit 14 MHz Internal

1994

PC 512 KB ChessMachine

Tasc B. V. for PC ChessMachine ARM Processor 32 Bit 512 KB 30 MHz Internal Electronic Chess Computer Card (1994)

ARM 32 Bit 30 MHz Internal

1993

PC 128 KB ChessMachine

Tasc B. V. for PC ChessMachine ARM Processor 32 Bit 128 KB 30 MHz Internal Electronic Chess Computer Card (1993)

ARM 32 Bit 30 MHz Internal

1995

PC 512 KB ChessMachine

Tasc B. V. for PC ChessMachine ARM20 Processor 32 Bit 512 KB 32 MHz Internal Electronic Chess Computer Card (1995)

ARM20 32 Bit 32 MHz Internal

Tasc B. V. Chess Software Programs for ChessMachine Electronic Chess Computer Collection

October 19th, 1991

September 14th, 1992

December 11th, 1992

February 22nd, 1991

May 29th, 1991

Gideon 2.1

Gideon 3.0

Gideon 3.1 Madrid

Rebel 1.3

Rebel 1.7

Tasc B. V. Gideon 2.1 Chess Program by Ed Schroeder for ChessMachine Electronic Chess Computer (1991)
Tasc B. V. Gideon 3.0 Chess Program by Ed Schroeder for ChessMachine Electronic Chess Computer (1992)
Tasc B. V. Gideon 3.1 Madrid Chess Program by Ed Schroeder for ChessMachine Electronic Chess Computer (1992)
Tasc B. V. Rebel 1.3 Chess Program by Ed Schroeder for ChessMachine Electronic Chess Computer (1991)

Table Top

Table Top

Table Top

Table Top

Table Top

Tasc B. V. Rebel 1.7 Chess Program by Ed Schroeder for ChessMachine Electronic Chess Computer (1991)

July 2nd, 1991

October 1st, 1991

November 16th, 1992

April 23rd, 1993

December 3rd, 1995

The King 0.5

The King 1.0

The King 2.0

The King 2.20

The King 2.54

Tasc B. V. The King 0.5 Chess Program by Johan de Koning for ChessMachine Electronic Chess Computer (1991)
Tasc B. V. The King 1.0 Chess Program by Johan de Koning for ChessMachine Electronic Chess Computer (1991)
Tasc B. V. The King 2.0 Chess Program by Johan de Koning for ChessMachine Electronic Chess Computer (1992)
Tasc B. V. The King 2.20 Chess Program by Johan de Koning for ChessMachine Electronic Chess Computer (1993)

Table Top

Table Top

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Tasc B. V. The King 2.54 Chess Program by Johan de Koning for ChessMachine Electronic Chess Computer (1995)
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