Score
| |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
total |
| Garry Kasparov |
1 |
½ |
0 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
3 |
| Deep Junior |
0 |
½ |
1 |
½ |
½ |
½ |
3 |
Half a win, half a loss
The final game of the first official man-machine world chess championship
lived up to the hype for exactly 55 half-moves. It all came crashing to
the ground when after 28.f4 the Deep Junior team offered a draw and Garry Kasparov
accepted, ending the game just when commentators were predicting an exciting
conclusion with good winning chances for Kasparov. This ended the match in a
3-3 tie, with one win for each and four draws. It was a disappointing finish
to what has been two weeks of interesting and occasionally thrilling chess.
The players received $250,000 each, splitting the prize money along with
the match points. FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov awarded the checks and
gave a short speech (in halting but clear and precise English instead of through
his usual interpreter).
When the draw was announced waves of disbelief rippled through the standing-room-only
audience and the Grandmasters in attendance were hard pressed to come up with
an explanation for Kasparov's decision to accept the draw offer. GM Lev
Alburt theorized that Kasparov was ill, although this turned out not to be the
case. In the press conference Kasparov explained his decision with typical bluntness.
"Of course I wanted to win, but the top priority on my agenda today was
not to lose."
Kasparov had offered a draw himself five moves earlier, right after sacrificing
the exchange with the powerful 23...Rxc3! This thematic Sicilian sacrifice
garnered a center pawn and provided Black with good chances to play for a win
according to just about every GM in the room. (US Champion Alexander Shabalov
was the notable exception.) But Kasparov was feeling the intense pressure of
the match, the fear of repeating his experience in game six against Deep Blue
in 1997, and the unpleasant results of the previous four games. To add to his
apprehension, Kasparov had completely missed Junior's clever 25.Bc1-a3 maneuver
and was no longer enthusiastic about his position.
After the final move (diagram) Black has a solid and
promising position after 28...f6. Black is going to walk his king to the
center and push his central pawns down the board. You cannot question Kasparov's
chess knowledge, but it would appear that psychological factors had more influence
than chess factors on his decision to take the draw. Just minutes before the
draw came, Alburt said, "There is a 50% chance that Kasparov will win and
a 50% chance of a draw." Well, it was a draw, but Lev did not have it in
mind on the next move!
Both Kasparov and the Junior team were full of praise for each other's play
in the closing press conference. Junior programmers Amir Ban and Shay Bushinsky
complimented Kasparov for playing "courageous" chess and helping to
create the exciting games. Kasparov highlighted the speculative and "intelligent"
playing style that Junior exhibited, particularly the move of the match, 10...Bxh2+
from game five.
Kasparov rued that he was unable to capitalize on advantageous positions
in games two and three. The drawn result is good for everyone and bad for
everyone. Kasparov didn't lose, but failed to prove the human superiority of
which he spoke so often. Junior drew a match with the world number one, but
failed to emulate Deep Blue's success despite its creators' frequent references
to their program's superiority over the IBM machine.
A full in-depth report on the event with comments from Kasparov and the
Deep Junior team will be posted this weekend.