Just a couple of comments.

First of all, the goal of the competition was to show what this processor was capable of. Elektor magazine has such competetions approximately once a year. The chess computer was quite an unusual design, and one could argue about the fact wether or not the microcontroller itself was THE misplaced component here. Nevertheless, it obviously was so much different from the other 'designs' that it received the first prize. Take into account that over the past years we have seen all the stuff that one can think of (including the obvious robots, ligth-controls, component testers, logic analizers: you name it). In any case: the design IS original.

Secondly, Elektor is a magazine that is intended for hobbyists interested in electronics in general. A lot, but not all, the designs presented in the magazine nowadays include microcontrollers, obviously with the aim to use it on a hobbyist level AND because the devices we see today are much easier to implement (with all the on-board memory) than a plain microprocessor with external memory and I/O. Price and complexity are important here, too, if the aim is to produce 'doable' projects for as many people as possible.

So keep this in the right perspective and base ones judgement on the aim of the project.