The Game is Over

[Stuart Cracraft]

[Based on Deep Fritz's match draw with Kramnik and
Deep Junior's match draw with Kasparov, it's still safe
to say that we won't see the likes of Deep Blue's
computational capacity in a computer chess program
for a long time... it's a shame that Gary couldn't
accept losing to DB and played so passively in his
final game against DJ. It is a humbled Kasparov, humbled
by DB who inflicted his first match loss. --Stuart]

Man Vs. Machine Chess Match Ends in Tie
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


Filed at 8:31 p.m. ET

NEW YORK (AP) -- Chess legend Garry Kasparov, who still bitterly contests 
his loss to a computer six years ago, averted a similar defeat Friday when 
he agreed to a draw in the last game of his series against Deep Junior.

The six-game series, dubbed Man vs. Machine and sanctioned by the sport's 
governing body, finished tied 3-3.

``I had one item on my agenda today: not to lose,'' Kasparov said. ``So 
that's why I wanted to be absolutely safe. I decided it would be wiser to 
stop playing.''

Kasparov played himself into a superior position but offered a draw on the 
23rd move, surprising chess experts. Deep Junior turned down the offer but 
offered its own draw five moves later, and Kasparov readily accepted -- to 
the boos of the crowd.

Kasparov said he played better than Deep Junior in the deciding game and 
would have pressed for a win in a similar position against a human 
opponent. But he said he feared even a tiny mistake would have been 
severely punished by the computer.

Kasparov, rated No. 1 by the World Chess Federation, announced last month 
that he would take on Deep Junior. ``I'm here representing the human 
race,'' he said at the time. ``I promise I'll do my utmost.''

Kasparov was paid $500,000 by the WCF, the sport's governing body, for 
playing the computer and would have received another $300,000 had he won.

Kasparov, 39, has held the world's No. 1 point-system ranking since 1984. 
Deep Junior is a three-time computer world champion. The players had been 
tied at 2 1/2 games apiece going into the final contest.

Kasparov also was tied going into the last game of his match with IBM 
supercomputer Deep Blue in 1997. After losing the game and the match, he 
griped that the computer may have been given hints by humans, allegations 
IBM denied.

Kasparov's loss was seen by some as a watershed moment in technological 
advancement.

Deep Junior can process 3 million chess moves per second. That's far fewer 
than Deep Blue's 200 million, but Deep Junior's Israeli programmers say it 
thinks more like a human, choosing strategy over simply capturing pieces 
quickly.

X3D Technologies, a computer game maker and one of the series sponsors, 
broadcast the games on the Internet, drawing millions of viewers. The final 
game was shown live on ESPN2.

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