<s>
Video	B-Application
Chess	I-Application
is	O
a	O
chess	B-Application
game	O
for	O
the	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
VCS	I-General_Concept
(	O
renamed	O
to	O
the	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
2600	I-General_Concept
in	O
1982	O
)	O
programmed	O
by	O
Larry	O
Wagner	O
and	O
Bob	O
Whitehead	O
and	O
released	O
by	O
Atari	O
in	O
1979	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
player	O
uses	O
an	O
"	O
x	O
"	O
cursor	O
to	O
select	O
and	O
move	O
pieces	O
,	O
rather	O
than	O
using	O
chess	B-Application
notation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
left	O
switch	O
,	O
selecting	O
A	O
allows	O
the	O
board	O
to	O
be	O
set	O
as	O
the	O
player	O
pleases	O
,	O
whereas	O
selecting	O
B	O
sets	O
up	O
the	O
board	O
for	O
a	O
regulation	O
chess	B-Application
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
the	O
manual	O
that	O
came	O
with	O
Video	B-Application
Chess	I-Application
,	O
these	O
were	O
the	O
average	O
amount	O
of	O
time	O
it	O
would	O
take	O
at	O
each	O
level	O
for	O
the	O
game	O
to	O
determine	O
its	O
move	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
box	O
art	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
production	O
run	O
of	O
the	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
Video	I-General_Concept
Computer	I-General_Concept
System	I-General_Concept
featured	O
a	O
chess	B-Application
piece	O
,	O
even	O
though	O
Atari	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
was	O
not	O
contemplating	O
designing	O
a	O
chess	B-Application
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
man	O
from	O
Florida	O
supposedly	O
sued	O
Atari	O
over	O
the	O
box	O
art	O
;	O
however	O
,	O
in	O
an	O
interview	O
,	O
Video	B-Application
Chess	I-Application
programmer	O
Bob	O
Whitehead	O
said	O
he	O
was	O
not	O
aware	O
of	O
such	O
a	O
lawsuit	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
first	O
,	O
the	O
idea	O
of	O
chess	B-Application
on	O
the	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
VCS	I-General_Concept
was	O
considered	O
to	O
be	O
impossible	O
because	O
of	O
technological	O
limitations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
hardware	O
can	O
only	O
display	O
three	O
sprites	O
in	O
a	O
row	O
,	O
or	O
six	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
in	O
Space	B-Application
Invaders	I-Application
)	O
with	O
the	O
right	O
programming	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
eight-piece-wide	O
chess	B-Application
board	O
exceeds	O
this	O
limitation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Whitehead	O
developed	O
a	O
technique	O
known	O
as	O
"	O
Venetian	O
blinds	O
"	O
where	O
the	O
position	O
of	O
each	O
sprite	O
changes	O
every	O
scan	B-Algorithm
line	I-Algorithm
;	O
this	O
allows	O
for	O
eight	O
or	O
more	O
sprites	O
in	O
a	O
row	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Atari	O
developed	O
a	O
bank	B-General_Concept
switching	I-General_Concept
ROM	B-Device
cartridge	O
for	O
prototypes	O
of	O
Video	B-Application
Chess	I-Application
that	O
were	O
larger	O
than	O
four	O
kilobytes	O
in	O
size	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
released	O
version	O
ended	O
up	O
fitting	O
the	O
standard	O
4K	O
size	O
,	O
but	O
this	O
technology	O
was	O
later	O
used	O
for	O
other	O
Atari	B-General_Concept
VCS	I-General_Concept
titles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Video	B-Application
Chess	I-Application
was	O
reviewed	O
by	O
Video	O
magazine	O
in	O
its	O
"	O
Arcade	O
Alley	O
"	O
column	O
where	O
it	O
was	O
praised	O
as	O
"	O
a	O
reward	O
for	O
Atari	O
owners	O
"	O
and	O
a	O
game	O
that	O
even	O
basic	O
chess	B-Application
players	O
"	O
should	O
find	O
rewarding	O
for	O
many	O
hours	O
of	O
enjoyment.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
reviewers	O
expressed	O
surprise	O
that	O
the	O
gameplay	O
was	O
limited	O
to	O
a	O
single	O
player	O
,	O
and	O
they	O
made	O
note	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
high	O
retail	O
price-tag	O
of	O
,	O
but	O
they	O
praised	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
coding	O
which	O
made	O
checks	O
to	O
prevent	O
illegal	O
moves	O
,	O
and	O
which	O
included	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
more	O
advanced	O
Chess	B-Application
concepts	O
like	O
castling	O
and	O
en	O
passant	O
capturing	O
which	O
had	O
n't	O
yet	O
become	O
standard	O
in	O
all	O
chess	B-Application
video	I-Application
games	I-Application
.	O
</s>
