ChatGPT Just Got 'Absolutely Wrecked' at Chess, Losing to a 1970s-Era Atari 2600

CNET ^ | June 12,2025 | Omar Gallaga

[sopo]

I'll bet it's been a while since Atari was a keyword here

[Scarlett156]

LOOOOOOL

[janetjanet998]

Did they try a Pong match?

[dljordan]

Hilarious!!!!

[dfwgator]

Well it sure beats “Global Thermonuclear War”.

[tumblindice]

Challenge the computer to Chess-Boxing?

[FatherofFive]

I’ve used ChatGpt to write VBA code for Excel. It’s fast, but never gets anything right the first time. Some things it never gets right

[jacknhoo]

AI is like all software programs, crap in crap out.

It only know what you feed it, you feed it only crap and it only knows crap.

[SaveFerris]

Now have ChatGPT go up against
E.T. the Extraterrestrial 👽 game

[sopo]

The engineer could have been a little biased, considering the disclaimer at the bottom. But it does sound consistent with AI getting lost going around detours despite extensive knowledge of road networks.

[LastDayz]

Or Yar’s Revenge

[mowowie]

“Now have ChatGPT go up against
E.T. the Extraterrestrial 👽 game”

Sounds like a Kirk maneuver...

[the_Watchman]

Nonsense article! Does not specify the chess engine running on the Atari!

The best engine from the 1990’s was Fritz. I believe it came out of Germany.

I was a high school chess coach in the late 1990’s. Using email, I pointed out to the Fritz developers that their engine could be improved by changing the numerical assessment of the current position. Formerly, if the next move was forced, then Fritz would report a nonsense number. I wanted to use Fritz to input games after my players were finished. But the nonsense numbers ruined the overall game assessment.

The Fritz developers agreed with me, fixed it, and then provided me with a free update.

[SaveFerris]

😀😃😄😅🤣🤪

[Right Brother]

Yar’s Revenge. Wow, that just brought back memories! How about Demon Attack? Amazing graphics for a 2600 game.

[Leaning Right]

Meanwhile, I lost a chess match to my cat, 3 games to 1. I suspect she cheated. But I can’t prove it… not until after I review all the tapes.

[sopo]

Good experience as chess coach? (I mean worthwhile?)

[Kleon]

I regularly beat computer chess. Computation power can’t match human intuition.

[KarlInOhio]

Now have ChatGPT go up against
E.T. the Extraterrestrial 👽 game

The only winning move is not to play. On the other hand, in a game of Global Thermonuclear War against ChatGPT, the only winning move may be to play it right now.

[iamgalt]

Actually the 2600 chess game was pretty good. It even had a difficulty setting. At the highest it would take forever between moves but it was very hard to beat it. Considering the available tech it is amazing how good it was