Video Chess

The box art of the first production run of the Atari Video Computer System features a chess piece, though Atari was not yet contemplating designing a chess game. A man from Florida supposedly sued Atari on the grounds a chess game was not available for the platform yet the box art suggested so.{{cite web | url=https://www.atariage.com/software_page.php?SoftwareID=1429 | title=Video Chess (Atari) | publisher=AtariAge | access-date=April 28, 2024}} ''Video Chess'' programmer [[Bob Whitehead]] said he was not aware of such a lawsuit.{{cite web | url=https://www.digitpress.com/library/interviews/interview_bob_whitehead.html | title=DP Interviews Bob Whitehead | publisher=Digital Press | access-date=August 28, 2007}}

The box art of the first production run of the Atari Video Computer System features a chess piece, though Atari was not yet contemplating designing a chess game. A man from Florida supposedly sued Atari on the grounds a chess game was not available for the platform yet the box art suggested so.{{cite web | url=https://www.atariage.com/software_page.php?SoftwareID=1429 | title=Video Chess (Atari) | publisher=AtariAge | access-date=April 28, 2024}} ''Video Chess'' programmer [[Bob Whitehead]] said he was not aware of such a lawsuit.{{cite web | url=https://www.digitpress.com/library/interviews/interview_bob_whitehead.html | title=DP Interviews Bob Whitehead | publisher=Digital Press | access-date=August 28, 2007}}

At first, the console's strict hardware limitations seemed to preclude it hosting a chess program. The console's [[Television Interface Adaptor]] chip can only display three [[Sprite (computer graphics)|sprites]] in each [[scanline]], or six (such as in ''[[Space Invaders (Atari 2600 video game)|Space Invaders]]'') with the right programming. The eight-piece-wide chess board exceeds this limitation. Whitehead developed a technique he called [[Venetian blinds]], in which a sprite's horizontal position is alternated between two values at every scanline, while the hardware outputs video signal. This results in one sprite being displayed as two objects, each composed of horizontal stripes. This technique made it possible to display eight chess pieces in each row while using only four sprites.

At first, the console's strict hardware limitations seemed to preclude it hosting a chess program. The console's [[Television Interface Adaptor]] chip can only display three [[Sprite (computer graphics)|sprites]] in each [[scanline]], or six (such as in ''[[Space Invaders (Atari 2600 video game)|Space Invaders]]'') with the right programming. The eight-piece-wide chess board exceeds this limitation. Whitehead developed a technique he called [[Venetian Blinds (video game)#Development|Venetian blinds]], in which a sprite's horizontal position is alternated between two values at every scanline, while the hardware outputs video signal. This results in one sprite being displayed as two objects, each composed of horizontal stripes. This technique made it possible to display eight chess pieces in each row while using only four sprites.

Atari developed a [[bank switching]] [[Read-only memory|ROM]] cartridge to allow ''Video Chess'' prototypes to exceed four [[kilobyte]]s, the maximum without bank switching. The released version is 4KB at a time when most games were 2KB,{{cite web |url=https://forums.atariage.com/topic/97812-info-on-ks/#comment-1185744 |title=Info on "K"s |author= |date=November 30, 2006 |website=atariage.com |access-date=October 2, 2023}} and the bank switching technology from the prototype was later used for other Atari VCS games. It was one of six games labeled as "Special Edition" on the box,{{cite web |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/atari2600/916365-atari-2600/faqs/9482 |title=The Giant List of 2600 Label Variations: Version 6.0 |last=Earney |first=John |date=1997 |website=gamespot.com |access-date=2024-04-01}} and some speculate that this designation on these games refers to a combination of the 4KB ROM size and other factors.{{cite web |url=https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310705-special-edition-carts-whats-so-special/#comment-4620528 |title=Special Edition carts - What's so special? |last=Are |first=Jay |date=2020-08-29 |website=atariage.com |access-date=2024-04-01}}

Atari developed a [[bank switching]] [[Read-only memory|ROM]] cartridge to allow ''Video Chess'' prototypes to exceed four [[kilobyte]]s, the maximum without bank switching. The released version is 4KB at a time when most games were 2KB,{{cite web |url=https://forums.atariage.com/topic/97812-info-on-ks/#comment-1185744 |title=Info on "K"s |author= |date=November 30, 2006 |website=atariage.com |access-date=October 2, 2023}} and the bank switching technology from the prototype was later used for other Atari VCS games. It was one of six games labeled as "Special Edition" on the box,{{cite web |url=https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/atari2600/916365-atari-2600/faqs/9482 |title=The Giant List of 2600 Label Variations: Version 6.0 |last=Earney |first=John |date=1997 |website=gamespot.com |access-date=2024-04-01}} and some speculate that this designation on these games refers to a combination of the 4KB ROM size and other factors.{{cite web |url=https://forums.atariage.com/topic/310705-special-edition-carts-whats-so-special/#comment-4620528 |title=Special Edition carts - What's so special? |last=Are |first=Jay |date=2020-08-29 |website=atariage.com |access-date=2024-04-01}}