ADINFER-ChessEVAL © Dedicated Ch

Robot Chess Computers

Milton Bradley Milton
First edited | 03/01/2014 | by MMO
Last edited | 08/23/2015 |
Additional Information: original photos are from the ChessEval collection © MMO 2014 -
Other Information: ChessComputerUK; Schachcomputer.info; US Patent

The Milton Bradley Robot was sold In America and in Europe under different names:
- Milton Bradley Grand Master in North America;
- Milton Bradley Phantom in Great Britain;
- Milton Bradley Milton in Germany, Netherlands and France.

Two Milton Bradley "Milton" are part of the ChessEval Collection:
- one is the Milton sold in France: box, documentation and instructions are in French;
- one is the Milton sold in Germany. This one could be considered as a prototype of the evolution of Milton Bradley toward Fidelity.

A Milton Bradley for the French Market

This original computer is functional and complete: box, instructions, adapter, dust cover, chessmen.

Milton Bradley Milton

- 1981
- ELO rating: 1300
- microprocessor 6502A, 8 Bit, 2MHz
- RAM: 2KB
- ROM: 16KB
- program by Mark Taylor
- 12 levels of play
- Movements: pressure sensory for the recording, motorized magnet under the board

This computer is fully functional. It includes chessmen, manual and Plexiglas dust cover.

A Second Milton Bradley: Prototype of the Fidelity Phantom?

This second Milton is fully working. It has box, instructions, adapter, chessmen.
However, this computer is special by its design.

This particular model is intriguing for several reasons:
1) - the origin of this computer is the Netherlands: Hans Mierlo gave me as a gift this computer.
The box is from Milton Bradley and the name of the computer in the pictures on the box is Milton.
2) - inside the box, I found a computer with the central label saying Phantom.
This central label was glued on another label with Milton written on it.
3) - on the left side, like for a Fidelity Phantom, there is a display, but located on the right border, while for the original Phantom, the display is on the left border. The "display" was only a picture and was included in the plastic label of the left side.
4) - on the right side, the Fidelity logo is represented, when it should be the Milton Bradley logo.
5) - the hardware inside the computer is similar to the Milton Bradley hardware, not the one of the Fidelity.

I didn't find any documentation for these design modifications and who was doing them.

Technical Specificity

The "Phantom" label

The hidden "Milton" label

The computer in its original shape

Epilogue

The Phantom label is original.
The sham display is professionally manufactured, but the buttons are on the left side of the display.
A lot of efforts was made to see the effect of the buttons on the left side of the display rather than on the right side like in the Fidelity Phantom: these buttons are fully functional ! Moving the commands was not an easy task: the work is professionally done .

Out of this "curiosity" (the buttons on the left side of the display), this Milton Bradley Milton is original on all its other parts.
Its value is didactic: it is remembering us the origins of the Fidelity Phantom... and how the History of the Chess Robots was going through Milton Bradley as a pioneer in the field, opening to the success of the Fidelity "Phantom"

Milton Bradley Milton

This computer is fully functional. It includes chessmen, manual and Plexiglas dust cover.

Chess Robots

- Novag Robot Adversary

- Novag 2 Robot Companion

- Excalibur Phantom Force

- Fidelity Phantom

- Fidelity Phantom EyeBall

- Milton Bradley Milton

- Milton Bradley - Fidelity Prototype

- Mephisto Phantom

- etc...

WARNING

THIS SITE IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Photos, Texts and Lists have to be done, corrected and completed.
Thank you for your patience and understanding...

All the computers presented in this website (with the exception of the ChessEval Journal) are pieces of my collection and the photos are representing them and only them unless otherwise specified.