Key Concepts of Chess - Pawn Structures Vol.1 and 2
In this two-part course the emphasis will be on typical pawn-structures.
Previous installments focused on the matches for the various world titles. Kasparov, however, also made headlines for his matches against the world's strongest chess computer at the time: Deep Blue. Designed by IBM, Deep Blue approached chess from a mathematical perspective, utilizing supercomputer capabilities to challenge human players.
In 1996, IBM challenged Kasparov to a match against Deep Blue. The first game resulted in a historic win for Deep Blue, marking the first time a computer had defeated a reigning world champion. Kasparov ultimately won the match 4-2.
The rematch took place in May 1997, with Kasparov facing an updated Deep Blue, powered by 30 processors and 480 chess chips, capable of calculating 200 million moves per second and thinking 12 moves ahead. Kasparov made critical errors in the 1st, 2nd, and 6th games, partly due to being unsettled by a random move caused by a bug in the program. Deep Blue won the match 3½-2½, making headlines worldwide.
This experience demonstrated that humans needed a different strategy when playing against computers compared to human opponents. John Nunn suggested that closing the position would be more effective, as humans could better maneuver pieces around a pawn chain than a computer, negating the machine's computational advantage. Today, with programs incorporating artificial intelligence, strategies are more nuanced, but these principles still hold merit. Kasparov believed that the moves he played against humans should work against computers, but this approach proved flawed. Dutch premier player Ad van den Berg, who faced several "man versus machine" confrontations in the 1990s, often traded queens early to transition into a positional battle, famously stating, "I'm not going to play a game of head counting with the supermarket cashier!"
Kasparov challenged IBM multiple times for a third match, but IBM dismantled Deep Blue, much to Kasparov's disappointment.
End of Chess Career
On March 11, 2005, after the Linares tournament, Kasparov announced his retirement from classical chess in a press conference. He played his final official game on March 10, 2005, against Veselin Topalov, which he lost. Topalov's rating surpassed 2800, symbolically passing the torch to his successor.
After retiring from professional chess, Kasparov became politically active in Russia, voicing strong opposition to Putin. However, he expressed interest in occasionally participating in rapid and blitz tournaments.
In the diagram position from the last match between Kasparov (white) and Deep Blue in 1996, Deep Blue's team resigned after White's move Rb4. Can you determine White's plan if Black only shuffles his king between h6 and h7, and also how White secures the win against other possible Black moves?
Master Class Vol.7: Garry Kasparov
On this DVD a team of experts gets to the bottom of Kasparov's play. In over 8 hours of video running time the authors Rogozenko, Marin, Reeh and Müller cast light on four important aspects of Kasparov's play: opening, strategy, tactics and endgame.
This week’s show (for Premium Members only)
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