Woman
vs Machine match in Beijing
Zhu Chen is the previous women's world champion, who did not defend her title
last month in Elista mainly because of a pregnancy. She lives in Beijing, where
the computer company Tsinghua Unisplendour Corporation invited her to play
a two-game match (with a three-day break) against the latest laptop in their
production. The "Star of Unisplendour" is the latest portable computer unveiled
by Tsinghua Unisplendour on June 1. It contains an advanced AMD 64 bit 3400+
CPU and 2 GB RAM.
Zhu, who is studying for her master's degree in China's prestigious Tsinghua
University, agreed. On Tuesday the 28-year-old took on the Notebook, which
was running Fritz 8, for the first game.
Press interest at the start of the game
Before the match started the world champion did not seem to have much confidence
in the fight against a machine, because it left room for mistakes. "Though
I use computer a lot to store information on my training," she told the newspaper
China Daily. "I have no practical match-play experience with it. I am clear
it will let no mistake slip away. But it's not as creative as human beings.
I don't know who is better-positioned. Anything is possible. Maybe I win all
or lose all."
Taking on a 3400+ AMD 64 with 2 GB RAM and Fritz 8
The first game she lost. At move 42 she was a pawn up and could have gone
for a draw. But this aggressive young lady wanted more. "I chose to attack
and then made a mistake," said Zhu. "Unlike human beings, the computer will
never lose any winning chance." She was forced to resign on move 54.
"The game should have finished in a draw," said Ye Jiangchuan, the chief coach
of Chinese National Chess Team, and also the on-the-spot commentator. "If she
was experienced with the machine, she would not have broken. However, her thirst
for victory made her commit a fatal error."
China's top GM Ye Jiangchuan commentating the game
He also expressed his great appreciation for the reasonable moves made by
the computer. "The combination of computer technology and chess has greatly
promoted the spread of the game in the world," Ye said.
The Chinese chess queen
In spite of considerable efforts we have not been able to procure the
moves of the game. We have been promised them shortly. Once they arrive we
will post them on this page, and with our report on game two.
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