Chess

:For other meanings, see Chess (disambiguation).

Computer chess

:Main article: Computer chess

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Once solely the province of the human mind, chess is now played by both humans and machines. At first considered only a curiosity, the best chess playing programs - like Shredder, Fritz etc. - have eventually become stronger than the best humans, especially in blitz, even when running on a normal computer.

Related Topics:
Chess playing programs - Shredder - Fritz - Computer

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Garry Kasparov, then ranked number one in the world, played a six-game match against IBM's chess computer Deep Blue in February 1996. Deep Blue shocked the world by winning the first game in Deep Blue - Kasparov, 1996, Game 1, but Kasparov convincingly won the match by winning three games and drawing two.

Related Topics:
Garry Kasparov - IBM - Deep Blue - February - 1996 - Deep Blue - Kasparov, 1996, Game 1

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The six-game rematch in May 1997 was won by the machine (informally dubbed Deeper Blue) which was subsequently retired by IBM. In October 2002, Vladimir Kramnik drew in an eight-game match with the computer program Deep Fritz. In 2003, Kasparov drew both a six-game match with the computer program Deep Junior in February, and a four-game match against X3D Fritz in November.

Related Topics:
May - 1997 - October - 2002 - Vladimir Kramnik - Deep Fritz - 2003 - Deep Junior - X3D Fritz

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The chess machine Hydra is the intellectual descendant of Deep Blue; and appears to be somewhat stronger than Deep Blue was. Certainly it is very much comparable in terms of positions analysed per second. Given the relative ease with which it beats the other programs, and the humans it has met, Hydra may be expected to beat any unaided human player in match play. In June 2005, Hydra scored a decisive victory over the then 7th ranked GM Michael Adams winning five games and drawing one game in a six game match.

Related Topics:
Hydra - Michael Adams

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Kasparov's loss to Deep Blue has inspired the creation of chess variants in which human intelligence can still overpower computer calculation. In particular Arimaa, which is played upon a standard 8×8 chessboard, is a game at which humans can beat the best efforts of programmers so far, even at fast time controls.

Related Topics:
Chess variant - Arimaa - Time control

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