Fidelity Elite Premiere
Fidelity Elite Premiere  1  40 x 40

My favourite chess computer.

As a tribute to their acquisition of Fidelity, Hegener and Glaser, the makers of Mephistos, produced a machine with both a strong Fidelity program and a strong Mephisto program. They called it the Elite Premiere.

At the push of a switch you can use either the Fidelity 2265 program of Dan & Kathe Spracklen, or the Mephisto Vancouver 68000 program of Richard Lang on stronger hardware than the original chess computer with that program (Elo 15 pts stronger in quick play according to Computer Chess Reports 1991-92).

It is said that about 500 Elite Premieres were manufactured.

This Elite Premiere was bought from an individual in the USA who contacted me. It is in beautiful condition in all respects.

Amongst the joys of having an Elite Premiere is the huge range of options and features explained in great detail by the manual.

 

Fidelity Elite Premiere  10  25 x 25
Fidelity Elite Premiere  2  20 x 20 Fidelity Elite Premiere  3  20 x 20
Fidelity Elite Premiere  5  20 x 20
Fidelity Elite Premiere  4  20 x 20
Fidelity Elite Premiere  6  20 x 20
Fidelity Elite Premiere  7  20 x 20
Fidelity Elite Premiere  8  20 x 20
Fidelity Elite Premiere  9  20 x 20

The two photos below are mainly included because they show one of my rare wins over a strong chess computer. In this case the (weaker) 2265 program. Trying to avoid losing a pawn the Elite Premiere ends up losing a piece.

So the photos show a double rarity !

 

Fidelity Elite Premiere  13  20 x 20
Fidelity Elite Premiere  14  20 x 20
Fidelity Elite Premiere 2 15 x 15

Another rare sight (left). Two Fidelity Elite Premieres play each other. One has Lang’s Vancouver 68000 program loaded. The other is running Fidelity’s 2265 program. Serial Number 50664 on the left and Serial Number 50628 on the right.

All three of the Elite Premieres I have owned have been original Elite Premieres, but it was possible to send an Elite Avant Garde back to the Fidelity factory in USA and get an upgrade to Elite Premiere specification. At least three such upgrades have been seen on Ebay in recent years.

 

 

Mephisto Vancouver program

Programmer

Richard Lang

Elo Rating

2107+

Processor

68000   16 bit   12 MHz

Memory

256 KB ROM    512 Kb RAM

Opening Book

150,000 ply (17,000 variations) + 1,000 ply programmable

Book Choice

Random/Tournament  + Normal - Human/Gambit/Classic/Modern/Blitz

Mode Choice

Active, Solid, Risky + 7 different levels of Selective Search

Problem Solving

Mate in 16

Power

9V  1.5A  two prong Fidelity connector

Dimensions

48.3 x 46.0 x 5.5 cm

Chessboard

36.0 x 36.0 cm

King Height

8.3 cm

 

Fidelity Mach III 2265 program

Programmer

Dan & Kathe Spracklen

Elo Rating

1983

Processor

68000   16 bit  16 MHz

Memory

64 KB ROM   64 Kb RAM

Opening Book

> 28,000 ply

Book Choice

Tournament/All

Mode Choice

Easy mode stops thinking on opponents time.

Problem Solving

Mate in 8

free counters