World chess champion ties 'Deep Blue'

Reigning world chess champion Garry Kasparov grimaced across the table at his new, unfamiliar opponent. The seconds ticking away seemed like years to the anguished Kasparov. With both hands firmly pressed to his brow, the 32-year-old Russian known as "the immovable object" failed to crack his "square" opposition. Each side of the battle continued contemplating and maneuvering for three hours until the blank stare of Kasparov's equalizer flickered and -- shut off. The match had ended in a tie. At yesterday's event, computers, technology and chess clashed with the human mind in the third battle of a six-game series between Kasparov and IBM's Deep Blue, a computer specifically designed to beat him. The "Chess Challenge," sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery, is being fought at the downtown Pennsylvania Convention Center, with $400,000 going to the man -- or computer -- left standing at the close of this week. The match is scheduled to coincide with several other technology projects throughout the week, including the re-starting of ENIAC, a high school chess tournament and a convention on Internet chess tournaments. Though most experts predicted that Kasparov would dominate the match, an IBM research scientist said the computer has several key advantages, including its ability to make 200 million moves each second. "Computers do not become tired or distracted," Murray Campbell said. "There is no psychology at work." "Deep Blue will never make an obvious tactical error or an error with short-term consequences," explained Campbell. "If it makes an error at all, it will only become clear later on in the game." According to international chess master David Levy, Kasparov will be forced to gain advantage though different means. "Kasparov has a deep understanding of the game which is entirely different from Deep Blue's," Levy said. "Deep Blue does not mimic human thought -- it reaches the same end by different means. Kasparov's advantages are his intuition, judgement and experience." During the initial game on Saturday afternoon, the world champion complained that the lines on the chessboard were skewed. Philadelphia-area chess master Dan Heisman said even though the problem sounds trivial, it can be very annoying during a prolonged game. "I can compare it to being forced to take a final with a exam that wasn't photographed properly," Heisman explained. "I could still take the test, but I would do much better with a good copy. Kasparov plays his game better on a board that he likes." Kasparov evened the score during the second segment of the match by using deliberate play, but the game took six hours. The tie between the man and machine caused many experts to look upon yesterday's game as a turning point. The computer presented a surprising first attack by moving its knight to king 5. The opening move was one of thousands programmed into Deep Blue in order to give the computer large resources from which to draw. The database provides the system with all the grandmaster games played over the last 100 years according to Joe Benjamin, one of the five programmers. He also explained that the system provides billions of endgame scenarios. "It seems like Deep Blue has been burning the midnight oil," said commentator and international master Maurice Ashley. "The opening move was like a shot thrown up by a basketball player from the half court line that just happened to swish!" During the first 30 minutes of play, incorrect moves were made by the computer operator and a "relief pitcher" was forced to finish the game. But by the 19th move Kasparov regained the advantage and remained in control for the entire game. Toward the ending segment of the duel, Deep Blue made a highly unusual choice by moving rook 23 to C 4. "Only a computer would have played that combination," said Heisman. "That is what really fascinates me about this game, I can't predict Deep Blue." After the 32nd move, the battle became even, with each side jousting for small advantages. Eventually, Kasparov requested a draw from the computer, which accepted the offer within a few minutes. "Kasparov was at the point where he had no other choice than to draw," Levy said. "The game could have continued for days without any further progress." According to Monty Newborn, chairperson of the ACM Computer Chess Committee, the purpose of the entire match is to test the advancement the computer industry is making. The six-day match is also generating enthusiasm for the chess community. Several Penn and Temple University students worked at the convention center reporting scores to Internet pages that post updated chess scores. In addition, several local schools permitted students to volunteer during the games. At the close of the evening, Levy commented on Kasparov's performance. "Kasparov really doesn't have anything to be disappointed about; he has two more games where he will be white and have the advantage," Levy explained. "Such is life."