7/28/2019 – 41 years ago Wolfram Runkel, (1937-2019) wrote a piece in the prestegious Hamburg weekly "Die Zeit". It was the first major article on computer chess in a German broadsheet. A young science journalist, Frederic Friedel, read it and, with Runkel's help, produced two science documentaries on the subject. And he went on to co-found the chess software company ChessBase. Today, with kind permission of Die Zeit, we bring you the historic article that set everything off.

7/24/2019 – Wolfram Runkel (1937-2019) was a journalist and writer of the prestigious Hamburg weekly "Die Zeit". In this role he was the founder of the tradition of chess reporting in a mainstream outlet. He was also a pioneer in bringing the subject of computer chess to the attention of the German public and, notably, of a young journalist who went on to co-found a large chess software company. Runkel died last Friday after a long illness. Read Frederic Friedel's personal eulogy. | Photo: Hans Walter Schmitt