This is the second chess computer added to my collection.  I found it in a charity estate sale in Arizona for a $1.10 US. 

When I first purchased the Tandy Computerized Chess I was not quite sure if it worked since there were no batteries in it.  However several hours later my Tandy Computerized Chess greeted me with its welcome message right after I gave it 6 AA batteries.

At first I thought the computer was broken, since the welcome message itself is confusing.  When you first power on the Tandy Computerized Chess displays some odd characters on its LCD screen.   It almost looked like a portion of the LCD was burned out.  I later learned that this message is how the computer greets you every time you turn it on.

The keypad has a New Game button.  I pressed it.  The display changed, it looked like it wanted some input.  Tandy computerized chess input is done via 8 keys.   Each key has a label for a column A-H, as well as a second label for row 1-8. 

Once you enter a move, the computer starts thinking.  You know this because the LCD screen displays the word "Computing". 

When the chess computer is finished choosing a move, the LCD screen will display that move's position.

Tandy computerized chess is designed to be portable.  Hence the chess pieces are pegged.  The chess board has a single hole on each square.  This way chess pieces do not move around when the game is tilted.  The game also comes with a cover so that the chess pieces are not disturbed during travel.

Tandy computerized chess has 9 levels of play.  At the 9th level you may have to wait a day to get a response.  I found level 6 to be fairly responsive but not very smart. 

Tandy computerized chess was manufactured from 1980.  I am not sure how old my model, I am assuming early 1980s.  Being an older example of electronic chess, I will have to forgive its poorer playing skill.  Its value to me is based on its age and unique design related to portability.

The one shortcoming that I cannot forgive is the lack of save capability.  I very rarely want to play a full game of chess at once, I like to save my game and come back to it later.  Unfortunately Tandy Computerized Chess does not seem to support saving.  You can enter a position manually, but you would have to enter every single chess piece position, a tedious task at best.

The one additional piece of information I would like to mention is that this chess computer was originally manufactured by SciSys and sold under the name of Chess Traveler.  Other companies such as Tandy, Acetronic and Prinztronic licensed the game under their own brands.

Here are some interesting stats on Tandy Computerized Chess:

Manufacturer: SciSys
Dates From: 1980
Dimensions: 20.5 x 13.7 x 4.5 cm.
Power Supply: 6 AA batteries
Processor: Fairchild 3870
Memory: 320 bytes RAM, 2KB ROM

Manual: Tandy60-2175.pdf

If you would like to purchase your own chess computer but are not interested in searching through second hand stores, I would like to suggest this low priced Excalibur ET404 Einstein Touch Chess