Saberhagen knew of Donald Michie's [1] MENACE [2] .. and this linked article tells of matchbox driven noughts and crosses engines and other variations for similarly simple games.
This was recently broadcast with discussion on the UK panel show QI (Quite Interesting) which may point to why this has hit the HN zeitgeist.
Saberhagen knew of Donald Michie's [1] MENACE [2] .. and this linked article tells of matchbox driven noughts and crosses engines and other variations for similarly simple games.
This was recently broadcast with discussion on the UK panel show QI (Quite Interesting) which may point to why this has hit the HN zeitgeist.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Michie
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matchbox_Educable_Noughts_and_...