Help Identifying Vintage 'Chess Computer' from late 1970s

Hopefully this is the correct forum.

I'm looking for help identifying a chess computer I once had circa 1978-80 or so... I have no recollection of the make or model however.

Basically it was a black plastic box with a 4 character red LED to display moves. You had to have your own board and pieces to play against the computer. There were 2 rows of 8 large plastic buttons or keys. E.g. you entered something like say "E2E4" <enter> then it (eventually) displayed its move and so on while you tracked the moves on your own board (or in your head).

I seem to recall it had 5 or 7 levels of play. 

I've poked around occasionally on auction websites and such but haven't seen one quite like it. Must not have been one of the more popular computer chess devices of that era.

Does this ring any bells with anyone?

Thanks

Maybe Novag Chess Champion MK I (also branded as Videomaster Chess Champion in UK)

From 1978, essentially black box (silver outlay for the keyboard), red LEDs, 4x4 big red keys (but organized in two halfs, one for light pieces, one for dark ones - maybe this fits the "two rows" you have in mind), 6 levels of play. Just google for images.

Or: Novag Delta-1, 1980, indeed two rows for keyboard & red LEDs, but more brownish than black - and level is set entering the enabled number of seconds for the computer to think.

Do you mean this pocket chess computer. This was my first chess computer. And it still works today.
https://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/index.php?title=CXG_Pocket_Chess

Another idea... check the Conic Master-1... 6 levels, dark box (if not black), red LEDs, 2 rows of big keys, year 1979.

Guys, I think it is no use suggesting LCD display chess computers. Red LEDs are red LEDs

@kiwimotard - that's it! Thanks everyone and thank you kiwimotard.

www.spacious-mind.com/html/computer_chess1.html

Pretty much just as I remembered. 2 rows of keys - black and white. I didn't remember the chrome trim. The site above shows it had a suggested price of $199 - that's shocking to me as I doubt my parents could have readily afforded that. Maybe the actual prices were lower.

As a kid, I experimented around and figured out it had an undocumented higher level or 2. But really I recall it was pretty un-playable at the upper levels - took much too long to respond. It was also pretty weak at level 1. In fact I figured out how to beat it in my head w/o a board at that level. The middle levels may have been OK but it's been so long I just don't remember that well.

A year or 2 later we got a Commodore Vic20 computer. Eventually we got a Sargon cartridge game. That was good - I could barely play it at the lowest levels. And eventually I played them against each other. It was no contest - Sargon easily (and quickly) won. 

I suppose that Conic I had was discarded at some point after that.

Thanks again - I enjoyed reading up on it. Was even able to find one image of a page of the manual. Long shot but anybody know of more images of the pages of the manual?

Here you are (low quality scan )

Thanks on the manual!