In the following we bring you a small selection of articles that have appeared
on the Man vs Machine match that ended on Tuesday in New York. Tens of thousands
appeared world-wide, making this one of the best-reported chess events in the
history of the game.
We find it particularly remarkable that a political columnist like Charles
Krauthammer should out himself as a chess buff. Krauthammer writes: "Scoff
if you will, but I stayed home Tuesday to watch a chess game. I don't get ESPN
in my office, and I was not about to miss the tiebreaking final game of the
man vs. machine epic: the best humanity has to offer, Garry Kasparov, vs. the
best in silicon, X3D Fritz." Washington
Post: Man vs. Computer: Still a Match (Nov 21). Charles
Krauthammer won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary in 1987.
His widely read and influential columns appears on Fridays
in the Washington Post.
Miss
New York City goes X3D
28.09.2003 Mere
prime ministers and CEOs pale in comparison to beauty queens and sports
stars and we'll have both for the November match between Garry Kasparov
and X3D Fritz. Miss New York City 2003, Katie Horn, will make the first
move of game three on Sunday, November 16. She stopped by the X3D offices
in her tiara and of course we've got lots
of photos.
|
Man
vs Machine – who is winning?
08.10.2003 Every
year computers are becoming stronger at chess, holding their own against
the very strongest players. So very soon they will overtake their human
counterparts. Right? Not necessarily, says statistician Jeff Sonas, who
doesn't believe that computers will inevitably surpass the top humans.
In a series of articles Jeff presents empirical
evidence to support his claim.
|
It's
Man vs Machine in virtual reality
03.11.2003 If
you liked Matrix II you're going to love this one. Just one week from
now the world's strongest chess player, Garry Kasparov, will play a match
against the chess program X3D Fritz. The historic match will be conducted
on a virtual reality board which floats in the air in front of Kasparov.
On Friday in the ESPN Zone in New York City will host the opening
ceremony.
|
May
the Force be with him
08.11.2003 "Remember
the first 'Star Wars' movie? The only way to destroy the Death Star was
to find this one little spot, this weakness, and blow it up. With computers
it's the same." At the opening ceremony Garry Kasparov spoke about the
ordeal he has to go through in his match
against X3D Fritz.
|
Expert
and fan predictions for Kasparov-X3D Fritz
11.11.2003 The
votes are still coming in, but the Grandmasters and fans have spoken.
What do GMs Seirawan, Ashley, Alburt, and Susan Polgar have to say about
the result of the match? Not everyone thinks Kasparov will win. Read
their predictions and the results of an ongoing poll here.
|
A
swat team to New York
11.11.2003 Our
trip to New York to play in the upcoming match between Garry Kasparov
and X3D Fritz started on a frightening note. Take a deep breath before
you read the following story. We would like to warn you that some readers
may find the images distrubing. Here is our express
report.
|
X3D
Fritz holds the draw against Kasparov in exciting game one.
12.11.2003 The
machine threw down the gauntlet by playing the same Slav Defense in which
Kasparov beat Deep Junior in the first game of their January match. X3D
Fritz grabbed a pawn, sacrificed the exchange and held on to draw against
the world #1, forcing a repetition to end the battle on move 37. We now
have analysis
and explanation of the game by GM Karsten Mueller and Mig.
|
A
semi-virtual trip to New York
12.11.2003 The
spectacular match between Garry Kasparov and X3D Fritz in the exclusive
New York Athletic Club has started, the first game was trasmitted live
in a unique TV chess spectacular. In the playing hall hundreds of guests
followed the action, including the US Women's Olympiad team. Here's an
illustrated
report.
|
X3D
Fritz wins game two after Kasparov blackout
14.11.2003 The
second game of the spectacular Man vs Machine encounter in New York ended
with a stunning loss by Garry Kasparov. The greatest player of all time
was actually doing quite well with the black pieces against X3D Fritz,
when suddenly a time trouble blunder put an end to all chances. Here's
our illustrated
report.
|
It
is in the news
16.11.2003 Everybody
is talking about it – the coverage in thousands of newspapers all over
the world comes in addition to the massive cable TV coverage on ESPN
and TV news reports in stations around the world. Even Al Jazeera is
following the progress of "Chess czar Gary Kasparov" in his New York
match against X3D Fritz. Here are links to a small sample of the international
media coverage.
|
Kasparov
strangles X3D Fritz in game three
17.11.2003 Just
in case you thought the rise of the machines was inevitable, Garry Kasparov
stood up for humanity in game three against X3D Fritz in New York City.
Actually, it was more a case of X3D Fritz lying down while Kasparov rolled
over it like he was the Terminator instead of the human. The match is
now tied 1.5-1.5. The final game is Tuesday and X3D Fritz will have white.
Report
and full analysis.
|
Pictures
from Manhattan
18.11.2003 With
the match between Garry Kasparov and X3D Fritz tied 1.5:1.5 after three
games the tension is very high in New York, where the ESPN coverage of
the event is drawing more viewers than anyone anticipated. Before the
critical fourth game we bring you a pictorial report and new
analysis of game three.
|
Kasparov
vs X3D Fritz match finishes 2-2 after game four draw
19.11.2003 Things
cooled down as quickly as they had heated up in game four of the Man-Machine
World Championship in New York City. Kasparov worked out of a difficult
opening to reach a draw with black against X3D Fritz. The match ended
in a two-two draw with a win for each player and two draws. Early report
and game with notes here.
|
Back
to reality after the virtual reality battle
21.11.2003 Garry
Kasparov was in a fine mood when he sat down to go over the games and
the match in an exclusive press conference. We filmed the entire remarkable
session as Kasparov dissected the games and discussed the differences
between X3D Fritz and Junior, anti-computer strategies, comp-comp chess,
possible improvements for the next match, and much
more.
|