Kasparov vs Deep Junior postponed

by ChessBase
9/17/2002 – We have just learned that the Kasparov-Deep Junior match has been postponed. It was scheduled to begin in Jerusalem on October 1, one day before the start of the Kramnik-Deep Fritz match in Bahrain. The new starting date is December 1 and the match is still set for six games and to take place in Jerusalem. More
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FIDE released the announcement and in it FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov said that there had not been enough time to organize the event properly. The complete press release is below and check here for more news on this story as it becomes available.

Press Release -- 17.9.2002

Kasparov - Deep Junior Million Dollar Match Postponed until December

FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov announced on Monday that the human-machine chess match between world number one Garry Kasparov and world computer champion Deep Junior had been postponed until December 1, 2002. "We regret the delay,” said Ilyumzhinov, “but all of the parties involved have agreed that there was not enough time to give such a prestigious event the required presentation." The event will be the first time Kasparov has faced a computer since his famous matches against Deep Blue in 1996 and 1997. He won the first and narrowly lost the second to the IBM machine.

The six-game match was scheduled to begin on October 1 in the Israeli capital and finish on the 13th. Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert welcomed the rescheduling. "The whole world will be watching and we want people to see Jerusalem host a world-class event between two great champions." After Deep Junior won the World Computer Chess Championships in the Netherlands little time remained to complete the negotiations and organize the match before the starting date. Efforts were additionally complicated by the onset of the Jewish high holidays.

Both Garry Kasparov and the team behind Deep Junior expressed disappointment at the delay but enthusiasm for the benefit it will provide the event. "I think I am already well prepared," said Kasparov, "and since I have other events to play before December I don't think the postponement will help me at all." Kasparov will lead the Russian team in the Chess Olympiad that starts October 25. He added, "I've waited five years for my revenge, so what is two more months?"

Deep Junior's Israeli programmers, Amir Ban and Shay Bushinsky, also sounded patient. "We have always dreamed of taking on the world's top player and Deep Junior will not mind the delay at all."

The match has a prize fund of one million dollars and is auspiced by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and the International Computer Games Association (ICGA). The full event schedule and additional information for the media will be made available by FIDE.

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