 In 1951 , using the Ferranti Mark 1 machine of the University of Manchester , Christopher Strachey wrote a checkers program and <unk> <unk> wrote one for chess . Arthur Samuel 's checkers program , developed in the middle 50s and early 60s , eventually achieved sufficient skill to challenge a respectable amateur . Game AI would continue to be used as a measure of progress in AI throughout its history . 
