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Game four ended in a draw and with it the X3D Man-Machine World Chess Championship match also ended in draw. X3D Fritz won game two, Kasparov won game three, and games one and four were drawn. Kasparov receives $175,000 for the result and also takes home the golden trophy. (Although since it drew the match X3D Fritz said it was going to store a virtual reality copy of the trophy for itself.)
Before today's critical final game Garry Kasparov said he just wanted to play good chess and that he didn't consider it a must-win. "Of course I'll play for a win if I get chances, but with black it is very risky to push too hard. I'll play the best moves." Today the best moves led to the shortest game of the match, a 27-move draw that ended in a completely simplified position without chances for either side.
In game four X3D Fritz offered to go into a queen sacrifice line Kasparov had used to beat Kramnik in a blitz game in 2001. Kasparov decided to keep his queen and made it through the complications with precise play and exchanges. The game arrived at a totally dead endgame and was agreed drawn on move 27.
Replay the annotated game online and download PGN
ChessBase's Frederic Friedel tries to steal the trophy at the closing ceremony.
The drawn match is both satisfying and unsatisfying for both players. Team Fritz and Kasparov all seemed to take the "glass half-full" perspective afterwards. X3D Fritz creator Frans Morsch said he had hoped for more with the white pieces in the final game, but that he was happy that all the games had been interesting and a drawn match with the world's greatest player was an honor.
Kasparov continued to criticize the blunder in the second game that cost him a crucial point. He felt that he had outplayed the machine overall in the match and played well. "I only made one mistake but unfortunately that one mistake lost the game."
A full report with photos, comments from Kasparov and the Fritz team and full analysis coming soon.
Preparing for virtual reality battle
