This video shows genuine footage of the first computer chess cheating ever, taking place in 1980. This was part of an experiment and documentary by Frederic Friedel, who kindly gave the footage for publication, with the help of world-renowned computer scientist Ken Thompson, the author of Unix.

The 'victim' was GM Helmut Pfleger, who was told of the deception after, and even though it was only a simul, he became the first grandmaster to lose to a machine, though hardly the last. The machine used was Belle, the first chess machine to receive a master title by the US Chess Federation, and which also won the 1980 World Computer Chess Championship, also seen in the video at the end.

Enjoy!

Credits:

Photo of Ken Thompson is from personal archives of Ken Thompson from his Unix creation days and published with kind permission.

The footage is from a 1980 documentary on national German television in a series called 'Bilder der Wissenschaft'. It was produced by Albrecht Fölsing and Frederic Friedel.