Here’s one example from 1951:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Strachey

There also was a checkers program for the IBM 701 in 1952 (https://history-computer.com/arthur-samuel-biography-history...)

That wasn’t a video game, though. The 701 didn’t have a CRT until 1954, and that was used in a printer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_740)

So, did they ever play each other? Or do we have the programs so that we could let them play each other?

You're correct, that's likely a mistake. They should have said sixty.

Checkers from 1952 so... 70 years

I forgot about analog, I was thinking of Spacewar in '62.