“Anti-computer chess means you play rope-a-dope chess,” said Kenneth Regan, a computer science professor at the University of Buffalo renowned for his chess research. A computer’s calculating ability gave it an advantage when it came to attacking or defending over the course of one or two moves; it could always find the perfect response. But long-term strategy requires a different kind of “thinking.
The robot lost. In fact, Deep Blue played so poorly that it seemed it was going haywire. Things were off to a great start for humanity’s champion. But in the second game, everything changed.The dance between chess and computers goes back to the very beginning.“Chess requires all sorts of forms of intelligence, reasoning, careful planning through sequences, evaluation of consequences,” Campbell said. “If we could get computers to do all of that, then we presumed computers to be intelligent.
The Deep Blue team. Clockwise from the top left: Jerry Brody, Murray Campbell, Feng-hsiung Hsu, Joseph Hoane Jr., Chung-Jen Tan, and Joel Benjamin.On move 36, Kasparov laid a trap. It was a calculated sacrifice. He gave Deep Blue an opening to capture two pawns, but it would give Kasparov a strong counterattack later in the game. He had played against computers before, and he knew they always focused on short-term advantages.
to score the winning point. “Mr. Kasparov, are you saying there might have been some sort of human intervention in this game,” a reporter asked. “Well, it reminds me of Maradona’s goal against England 1986,” Kasparov replied. “He said it was the ‘hand of God.’”The IBM team stood by as Kasparov slung accusations, waiting for their turn at the microphone.
Kasparov became obsessed. He said he couldn’t focus throughout the rest of the match as his mind continuously drifted back to that impossible move in game two. Observers said he was playing far below his level. Kasparov fought Deep Blue to a draw in the next three games, looking more beleaguered each day.Not everyone was convinced about the cheating. “Who could IBM possibly find that would play better than Deep Blue itself? Deep Blue’s playing was no surprise to me” Newborn said.