Spectrum #19: Order these games by when a computer beat the best humans — the solution
The Spectrum puzzle from September 2, 2026: six things on one hidden scale, earliest to latest, with every figure and where the checks were best spent.
The puzzle
Order these games by when a computer beat the best humans, earliest at the top and latest at the bottom. The board opened in this order:
- Go
- Backgammon
- Jeopardy!
- Checkers solved
- Chess
- Heads-up poker
Heads-up poker was already in place; Go opened 4 places from home.
The walkthrough
The ends first. Backgammon is the earliest of the six at 1979 and Heads-up poker the latest at 2017. Anchor those and the middle four are what is left to place.
Where the scale splits. The widest gap is between Backgammon (1979) and Chess (1997) — 18 years apart. Everything above that line belongs on the earliest side and everything below it on the latest side, so sorting the six into those two groups is most of the puzzle.
The closest call. Go (2016) and Heads-up poker (2017) are only 1 year apart — the pair that is a coin flip without the figures, and the place to spend a check: a check locks whatever is already right and leaves only the wrong tiles to swap.
The answer
| # | Earliest to Latest | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Backgammon | 1979 |
| 2 | Chess | 1997 |
| 3 | Checkers solved | 2007 |
| 4 | Jeopardy! | 2011 |
| 5 | Go | 2016 |
| 6 | Heads-up poker | 2017 |
Previous: Spectrum #18 (Tue, Sep 1) · Next: Spectrum #20 (Thu, Sep 3)
About Spectrum
Spectrum is Noggin’s daily ordering puzzle: six things, one hidden scale, three checks. Tiles in the right place lock green; the figures turn over when the board is done. How to play Spectrum, or play today’s.