The Scisys Chess Champion Super System IV had been on sale for only a period of two or three months when it was effectively superceded by the Mark V. With the Mark V winning the World Microcomputer Chess Championship in September 1981, Scisys decided to take immediate commercial advantage of this success by releasing the Mark V for the Christmas market. Undoubtedly a correct decision in the rapidly moving chess computer market at that time.  As a consequence of this short sales period the Super System IV is a rare chess computer today.

The Super System IV made an appearance at the Chess Programs World Tournament held in Paris on the 28th - 31st May 1981. It scored 3 out of 7 beating  Chess Partner 2000, Chess Challenger Sensory 8 and also the Novag Microchess, which insisted on castling illegally and was therefore disqualified. It lost to the Morphy Encore, Mephisto Experimental
(Mephisto II) and the Boris Diplomat. In the seventh and final round it failed to arrive for its game and therefore lost by default. It had been stolen !!

The results confirm that the Super System IV is a relatively weak chess computer. The differences between the Super System III and Super System IV are mainly cosmetic. There is a 12K program Rom, compared with the 8K Rom of the Super System III, the difference mainly due to inclusion of an opening book of 660 moves.
 

The Super System IV computer unit was designed to accept an LCD Chessboard and Printer; one on either side as in the Super System III. Unlike the Super System III it was also designed to be modular, with chess and other game modules planned. In the event the only module produced was “The Moor” a strong Othello/Reversi program written by the chess Grandmaster, Michael Stean. My machine has a module in place which I take to be the standard chess program. The LCD Chessboard and the Printer shown in advertising leaflets were not produced. The pictures on the left show the side port for the LCD Chessboard and the rear expansion bay where the modules are inserted.
The Super System IV was sold with a chess board and pieces, and with no mention of the LCD Chessboard and Printer on the box.