Monday, May 04, 2009

Gaming by Wire


Via the Cliopatria weblog, a New Scientist article on the first chess game played by telegraph. This match took place in England just one year after the invention of the electromagnetic telegraph, and while it ended in a draw it also started a fashion; intercity telegraphic chess games spread as quickly as the telegraph lines that carried them. By the early twentieth century there were even some clubs that held telegraphic bowling and billiards matches. The article does not mention, however, whether or not there were any Victorian-era equivalents of World of Warcraft addiction.

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