Ein Weg in
die Dunkelheit Four-page interview in Der Spiegel with Kramnik
The Spiegel Interview was conducted in Kramnik's
training camp. It is in German.
In
the Spiegel interview Kramnik speaks about playing humans vs playing computers;
Kasparov's 1997 loss to Deep Blue; the fascination of man vs machine events;
his preparation for the match against Deep Fritz; his own playing style;
his relationship to Kasparov; the value of the world championship title;
young chess talents today; his physical fitness, the problem of turning
off your brain; his other activities; and the prospects of, like Steinitz,
challenging God ("that would be pointless, He is much too strong").
Here are a couple of quotes by Kramnik: "I have to change my way of
playing from normal chess. What matters is to develop the most unusual tactics
possible. I have to keep the computer from using its calculating skills.
And I will do this while provoking moves that it doesn't understand. The
machine has to feel uncomfortable, so to speak.
Computers are just street muggers. The love to grab pieces whenever there
is a chance to do so. I wouldn't have the slightest chance in a fast game.
A computer isn't capable, in the same way a human is, to put knowledge into
context. Intuition is a gift that is totally foreign to a machine and where
problems can arise for it. Sometimes I just have a gut feeling which move
I must make. I just feel it and my feelings have rarely let me down."