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Peter R. Jennings is a Canadian physicist, scientist, inventor, software developer, computer chess programmer, and entrepreneur. He is best known for creating MicroChess, the first commercially successful chess program for microcomputers, in 1976.
Jennings was born in Bedford, England, in 1950. In the 1960s his family moved to Ontario, Canada. He developed MicroChess shortly after leaving graduate school in New York; the code was sold on paper, so buyers had to type in the code to activate the program. MicroChess was the first software to sell over 10,000 copies.
Later versions, on the Apple II and the TRS-80, sold millions of copies. It was also available on the Commodore PET and Atari 400/800 platforms.
In 1976, along with Dan Fylstra, he co-founded the corporation Personal Software, which became VisiCorp, and was involved in the creation of VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet program. MicroChess sales helped to finance the development of VisiCalc.
Jennings also developed the first model of the ChessMate, working for Commodore in 1977.
He received an MA in physics from SUNY Stony Brook University in 1972, and a MBA in finance and marketing from McMaster University in 1974.