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GNU Chess appeared earlier than 1990, but the only DOS version I've found was 3.0 and 3.1 (from 1989 and 1990), and version 3.1 offered a slightly polished textmode board...

If you're curious about the (compiled) DOS version, see "related link" below.
Btw. look at D2 or G1 - GnuChess 3.1 does not "repair" the traces of your movements (so it's programmed faulty in the display section).

A really beautiful chess display is offered in 1990 by Colossus X.
Looks a bit ugly in CGA...

But classes better in EGA:


Chessmaster 2100 can use EGA and looks in 1991 much better than every other chess game.


In the same year (1991), Fritz 1 was published, really a STRONG chess partner already !

This shows the EGA display. It runs surprisingly also in graphics mode on Hercules cards.

In the year 1993, Fritz 2 was published, now it has already reached an ELO number, I have to resign always ! Can be used with a VGA display, like the predecessor too.

It runs surprisingly in graphics mode on Hercules cards, too.

All following MS-DOS chess games which were published after 1993 can only be used with a VGA or SVGA card. So if you own a vintage PC with just a CGA, Hercules or EGA card, don't look for newer chess software.