Mercedes-Benz Chess Computer Number 1
The first of the three prototypes. Collection documentation states that it remained at the Sindelfingen facility until 2010.
Open Prototype No. 1 →Three prototypes, not three copies.
Collection documentation records three prototypes built as a related project. All three share a high-gloss varnished wooden-board appearance. Their construction, internal electronics, circuit boards and Hegener & Glaser modules differ, so each is maintained as its own canonical Museum record and physical specimen.
Mercedes-Benz Chess Computer Number 2
The second prototype. Collection documentation states that it was later presented to another Mercedes-Benz executive.
Open Prototype No. 2 →Mercedes-Benz Chess Computer Number 3
The third and final prototype in the documented sequence, presented as a retirement gift to a Daimler executive.
Open Prototype No. 3 →Shared visual identity.
High-gloss wood and exposed engineering
The series is visually linked by a luxurious polished wooden board. Prototype No. 3 is extensively documented photographically, including the plexiglass electronics drawer and internal module construction.
Each prototype is different
The three machines are not duplicates. Their internal electronics, PCB solutions, mechanical construction and Hegener & Glaser modules differ. Machine-specific specifications are therefore recorded separately rather than generalized across the series.
Prototype No. 3: documented electronics.
The best-documented prototype currently shows a 65C02-family processor running at approximately 7.4 MHz, two EPROMs, a board dated 1988 and a module architecture related to contemporary Hegener & Glaser designs. The EPROM marking “RT” has led to a possible Ulf Rathsman / MM III interpretation, but the exact program identity remains unresolved and is not presented as established fact.
Provenance policy. This series is documented from collection records, the preserved ChessEval forum archive and private acquisition correspondence. Private correspondents are not identified publicly; only object-related provenance facts are used.
Original ChessEval photographic record.
Two additional views preserved from the original Daimler-Benz Board page. These archival photographs are presented with the series documentation.
Source: Maurice M. Ohayon, Daimler-Benz Board, original ChessEval website. First edited 26 January 2014; last edited 12 July 2016. Photographs © MMO 2014.