New York, Feb 08: The match pitting star Grandmaster Garry Kasparov's chess brain against the computing power of Deep Junior ended in a draw on Friday, thwarting the Russian's attempt to avenge his loss to IBM supercomputer Deep Blue in 1997.

It was the second time in a few months that a sophisticated software program has avoided defeat by one of the world's leading grandmasters. Last October, current world champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia and a German-built program called Deep Fritz finished 4-4 in an eight-game contest in Bahrain. Kasparov, considered by chess experts to be the greatest player in the history of the ancient game, and world computer chess champion Deep Junior, each finished the match with three points from a win apiece and four draws. One point is awarded for a win in chess and a half point for a draw.



Kasparov said psychology played a crucial part in his strategy for Friday's game, which was "not to lose." He said he offered a draw to shorten the game rather than risk making a costly blunder in a prolonged struggle. Computer programs such as Deep Junior instantly punish every human mistake because of their accurate calculating power.
"Today the result of the game was going to decide the match ... for a human player it is a terrible burden, because even if I have winning chances, one mistake and it is over," Kasparov said. "When you play with a human opponent you can always expect the favour to be returned."


Azerbaijan-born Kasparov is still ranked No. 1 ahead of Kramnik by the International Chess Federation, known by its French acronym Fide.



The Israeli programmers and Kasparov each won $250,000 for the match played over 12 days. Kasparov was also being paid a $500,000 appearance fee for the match billed the "Fide Man v Machine world championship."


Kasparov and Deep Junior program, which played with the slight advantage of the white pieces and the first move, agreed to a draw after white's 28th move and three hours of play. Programmer Shay Bushinsky praised Kasparov for playing his natural attacking style throughout the six-game contest watched live on the Internet and by hundreds of spectators in the exclusive New York Athletic Club. Kasparov vowed after his loss to Deep Blue to abandon the cautious "anti-computer" strategy he deployed then.



"Of course I am very happy with the result because I never knew what to expect," said Bushinsky, who developed the software program that runs on a general purpose PC with fellow Israeli scientist Amir Ban.



Programmers and chess aficionados were likely to see the result as further evidence that computers can match the best human players under classical chess conditions in which games can last as long as seven hours.


Deep Blue made history six years ago when it defeated then-world champion Kasparov in a six-game match in New York. But IBM retired the 1.4 ton refrigerator-sized machine, a move Kasparov criticised as robbing him of a rematch. Computer-Kasparov duel ends in tie
REUTERS[ SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 08, 2003 08:39:13 AM ] NEW YORK: The match pitting star Grandmaster Garry Kasparov's chess brain against the computing power of Deep Junior ended in a draw on Friday, thwarting the Russian's attempt to avenge his loss to IBM supercomputer Deep Blue in 1997.

It was the second time in a few months that a sophisticated software program has avoided defeat by one of the world's leading grandmasters. Last October, current world champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia and a German-built program called Deep Fritz finished 4-4 in an eight-game contest in Bahrain.

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Kasparov, considered by chess experts to be the greatest player in the history of the ancient game, and world computer chess champion Deep Junior, each finished the match with three points from a win apiece and four draws. One point is awarded for a win in chess and a half point for a draw.

Kasparov said psychology played a crucial part in his strategy for Friday's game, which was "not to lose." He said he offered a draw to shorten the game rather than risk making a costly blunder in a prolonged struggle. Computer programs such as Deep Junior instantly punish every human mistake because of their accurate calculating power.

"Today the result of the game was going to decide the match ... for a human player it is a terrible burden, because even if I have winning chances, one mistake and it is over," Kasparov said. "When you play with a human opponent you can always expect the favour to be returned."

Azerbaijan-born Kasparov is still ranked No. 1 ahead of Kramnik by the International Chess Federation, known by its French acronym Fide.

The Israeli programmers and Kasparov each won $250,000 for the match played over 12 days. Kasparov was also being paid a $500,000 appearance fee for the match billed the "Fide Man v Machine world championship."

Kasparov and Deep Junior program, which played with the slight advantage of the white pieces and the first move, agreed to a draw after white's 28th move and three hours of play.

Programmer Shay Bushinsky praised Kasparov for playing his natural attacking style throughout the six-game contest watched live on the Internet and by hundreds of spectators in the exclusive New York Athletic Club. Kasparov vowed after his loss to Deep Blue to abandon the cautious "anti-computer" strategy he deployed then.

"Of course I am very happy with the result because I never knew what to expect," said Bushinsky, who developed the software program that runs on a general purpose PC with fellow Israeli scientist Amir Ban.

Programmers and chess aficionados were likely to see the result as further evidence that computers can match the best human players under classical chess conditions in which games can last as long as seven hours.

Deep Blue made history six years ago when it defeated then-world champion Kasparov in a six-game match in New York. But IBM retired the 1.4 ton refrigerator-sized machine, a move Kasparov criticised as robbing him of a rematch.

In Friday's game, Kasparov defended the black pieces with one of his favourite openings, a variation of the Sicilian Defence. He sacrificed a rook for a less valuable knight and two pawns on his 23rd turn with attacking chances. The sequence of moves proved to be the turning point as the human decided the computer had found a defence and offered a draw.

Bureau Report