Julio Argentino Kaplan Pera[1][2] (born 25 July 1950, Argentina) is a Puerto Rican chess player, former world junior chess champion as well as software developer and founder of Heuristic Software.

Earlier in his career, in the 1980s, he programmed dedicated chess computers for SciSys and Saitek.

Socrates II was one of the corporation's most successful programs, winning the 1993 ACM International Chess Championship[8] after defeating opponents with special-purposed hardware and software for playing chess, like HiTech[9] and Cray Blitz,[10] even though Socrates II ran on a stock 486 PC.

These achievements drew Electronic Arts's attention, and the company proceeded to hire Kaplan's development team to develop Kasparov's Gambit, incorporating former world chess champion Garry Kasparov as brand name and adviser.

[11] Kasparov's Gambit was the first and sole effort of Electronic Arts to enter the chess market.