Martin Bryant (programmer)
Encyclopedia
Martin Bryant is a British computer programmer known as the author of Colossus Chess
, a 1980s commercial chess-playing program, and Colossus Draughts, gold medal winner at the 2nd Computer Olympiad
in 1990.
and Acorn Electron
in the early 1980s. White Knight featured a then-novel display of principal variation — called "Best line" — that would become commonplace in computer chess
.
Bryant used White Knight as a basis for development of Colossus Chess
(1983), a chess-playing program that was published for a large number of home computer
platforms in the 1980s, and was later ported to Atari ST
, Amiga
and IBM PC
as Colossus Chess X. Colossus Chess sold well and was well-received, being described by the Zzap!64
magazine in 1985 as "THE best chess implementation yet to hit the 64
, and indeed possibly any home micro".
. His program, Colossus Draughts, won the West of England championship in June 1990, thus becoming the first draughts program to win a human tournament. In August of the same year it won the gold medal at the 2nd Computer Olympiad
, beating Chinook
, a strong Canadian program, into second place.
Chinook' s developers, headed by Jonathan Schaeffer
, recognized Colossus' opening book as its major strength; it contained 40,000 positions compared to Chinooks 4,500, and relied on Bryant's research that had found flaws in the established draughts literature. In 1993, an agreement was made to trade Colossus' opening book for the Chinook' s six-piece databases; Bryant also accepted the offer to join the Chinook development team. In August 1994, Chinook played a match against World Champion Marion Tinsley
and world number two Don Lafferty
(after Tinsley's withdrawal due to illness), earning the title of Man-Machine World Champion.
Bryant continued work on Colossus Draughts in the early 1990s, and in 1995 released an updated commercial version called Colossus '95, as well as draughts database programs DraughtsBase and DraughtsBase 2.
Bryant currently lives in the Manchester
area and works as a computer contractor.
Colossus Chess
Colossus Chess is a series of chess-playing computer programs developed by Martin Bryant, commercially available for various home computers in the 1980s.- Colossus Chess :...
, a 1980s commercial chess-playing program, and Colossus Draughts, gold medal winner at the 2nd Computer Olympiad
2nd Computer Olympiad
The 2nd Computer Olympiad took place in London, UK from 15 August 1990 to 21 August 1990. As with each year's Computer Olympiad, computer programs competed against each other at a variety of games, including Awari, Backgammon, Bridge, Checkers, Chess, Chinese Chess, Go, Go-Moku, Othello, Qubic,...
in 1990.
Computer chess
Bryant started developing his first chess program — later named White Knight — in 1976. This program won the European Microcomputer Chess Championship in 1983, and was commercially released, in two versions ( and ) for the BBC MicroBBC Micro
The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation...
and Acorn Electron
Acorn Electron
The Acorn Electron is a budget version of the BBC Micro educational/home computer made by Acorn Computers Ltd. It has 32 kilobytes of RAM, and its ROM includes BBC BASIC along with its operating system....
in the early 1980s. White Knight featured a then-novel display of principal variation — called "Best line" — that would become commonplace in computer chess
Computer chess
Computer chess is computer architecture encompassing hardware and software capable of playing chess autonomously without human guidance. Computer chess acts as solo entertainment , as aids to chess analysis, for computer chess competitions, and as research to provide insights into human...
.
Bryant used White Knight as a basis for development of Colossus Chess
Colossus Chess
Colossus Chess is a series of chess-playing computer programs developed by Martin Bryant, commercially available for various home computers in the 1980s.- Colossus Chess :...
(1983), a chess-playing program that was published for a large number of home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
platforms in the 1980s, and was later ported to Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
, Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
and IBM PC
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...
as Colossus Chess X. Colossus Chess sold well and was well-received, being described by the Zzap!64
Zzap!64
Zzap!64 was a computer games magazine covering games on the Commodore International series of computers, especially the Commodore 64 . It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact....
magazine in 1985 as "THE best chess implementation yet to hit the 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, and indeed possibly any home micro".
Computer draughts
After chess, Bryant's interests turned to computer draughtsDraughts
Draughts is a group of abstract strategy board games between two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over the enemy's pieces. Draughts developed from alquerque...
. His program, Colossus Draughts, won the West of England championship in June 1990, thus becoming the first draughts program to win a human tournament. In August of the same year it won the gold medal at the 2nd Computer Olympiad
2nd Computer Olympiad
The 2nd Computer Olympiad took place in London, UK from 15 August 1990 to 21 August 1990. As with each year's Computer Olympiad, computer programs competed against each other at a variety of games, including Awari, Backgammon, Bridge, Checkers, Chess, Chinese Chess, Go, Go-Moku, Othello, Qubic,...
, beating Chinook
Chinook (draughts player)
Chinook is a computer program that plays English draughts , developed around 1989 at the University of Alberta, led by Jonathan Schaeffer. Other developers are Rob Lake, Paul Lu, Martin Bryant, and Norman Treloar. In July 2007, Chinook's developers announced that the program has been improved to...
, a strong Canadian program, into second place.
Chinook
Jonathan Schaeffer
Jonathan Herbert Schaeffer is a Canadian researcher and professor at the University of Alberta and the Canada Research Chair in Artificial Intelligence....
, recognized Colossus
Marion Tinsley
Marion Tinsley is considered the greatest checkers player who ever lived. He was world champion from 1955–1958 and 1975–1991. Tinsley never lost a World Championship match, and lost only seven games in his entire 45 year career...
and world number two Don Lafferty
Don Lafferty
Don Lafferty was a Grandmaster checkers player. In 1982 he defeated Derek Oldbury for the World GAYP championship with a score of 1-0-23. He was challenged for the championship in 1984 by Paul Davis, winning easily 5-0-15...
(after Tinsley's withdrawal due to illness), earning the title of Man-Machine World Champion.
Bryant continued work on Colossus Draughts in the early 1990s, and in 1995 released an updated commercial version called Colossus '95, as well as draughts database programs DraughtsBase and DraughtsBase 2.
Bryant currently lives in the Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
area and works as a computer contractor.