It is no doubt fanciful but I like to think that the Conchess Escorter you see here is the last new Conchess to be bought anywhere. In the early 1980s 50,000 Conchess chess computers were made as a consequence of some over optimistic market research. Despite a nice program and technically successful upgrades, which had good tournament results it proved difficult to shift so much stock. So the Irish company that made Conchess machines, Waltham Electronics went into liquidation. Matters would not have been helped by poor build quality leading to various defects.

Anyway this particular Conchess Escorter must have spent more than 20 years on a retailers shelf, perhaps occasionally shown to prospective buyers. Through 2004 and 2005 I noticed the Escorter in Chess magazine month after month, included in the column of mainly secondhand chess computers for sale. ‘As new £79 including adaptor’ it said. Then it dropped to £69, and in the September 2005 edition - ‘Only one left, £49’. So I phoned Eric Hallsworth and bought it.

It is a beautiful little machine, perhaps too flashy for some tastes, but I like it.

The Ambassador and Monarch are the Conchess machines that get all of the attention. In particular the Monarch is a tournament size board in attractive veneer which catches the eye. Most sales on Ebay are of Ambassadors or Monarchs. In 1983 the prices were £249 for the Monarch, £199 for the Ambassador and £159 for the Escorter, whether in silver and copper, as here, or in silver and black.

The Escorter is arguably the rarest of the three, which all share the same electronics. Even so the Escorter would not justify a place in this feature without the additional program modules.

Shown in the Escorter, labelled with a P is the Princhess (or Glasgow) module. Also known as the A1 in the UK. The second module in the Escorter, shown with a A0 sticker, is a modified standard program module. This had to be sent back to the factory for modification so that the A0 and auxiliary module A1 could work together. The document below explains that this program won the World Microcomputer Chess Championships at Glasgow in 1984. Of course it does not mention that the Princhess program was only in a tie with Fidelity and Mephisto programs and Richard Lang’s Psion (link to tournament table).

Next to them is a module with an A 5.5 sticker. The other document (bottom right) indicates that this is an A2 (in the UK) module.This has the Plymate (or Amsterdam) program from 1985 running at 5.5 MHz. The module was available in 1985 in 2 MHz, 4 MHz and 6 MHz (actually 5.5 MHz) versions. The fastest version costing a whopping £374.99. Approaching £1000 at todays prices ! A clue as to why they are rare today despite the fall in price to £129.99 in the 1990s.

The other photo (right) shows the standard program cassette, which has the same serial number as the Escorter. The module serial numbers starting with an E were sold with an Escorter, A with an Ambassador and M with a Monarch. However regardless of whether the module is an E, A or M, it contains the same standard program.