The Hindu : X3D Fritz escapes with a draw

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 13, 2003

Sport

Sport - Chess

X3D Fritz escapes with a draw

By Our Chess Correspondent

Chennai Nov. 12. World No.1 ranked Garry Kasparov missed out with the first white strike when X3D Fritz computer programme escaped with a draw in their opening game played at the New York Athletic Club in New York City on Tuesday. In this best of four series, the advantage is now with the machine as it has two white games left to play.

Fritz played the Semi-Slav defence against the queen's gambit of Kasparov. It seems Kasparov has come up with a different strategy to play machines. It involves, one, play normal openings, and two, shorter matches. He had prepared for the programme and stretched the end lines of its database, and was hoping to pin it down on its opening weakness.

Kasparov's advantage in the opening game was significant for human v human battles. Unlike humans, machines do not lose heart and keep fighting on. In the end, it made a 37-move draw by perpetually checking Kasparov's king.

Kasparov's ambition was clear as early as move seven when he advanced his king knight pawn four squares signalling attack. When the opening phase ended, he had picked up a black rook for a bishop and pawn, normally a decisive advantage. The machine, which has the ability to think four million moves a second, parked a strong bishop supported with a pawn as Kasparov pondered a winning plan at move 26.

Kasparov played wearing 3D glasses and called out the moves rather than having to make it on a board and stopping the clock. "I think I missed my chance to consolidate my position," Kasparov said. The champion was more worried about the technology, and importantly having to adjust to its realities for the long session.

The time control was two hours each for the first 40 moves, then one hour for the next 20 moves and thereafter each side gets 15 minutes and until the end of the game they would get a 30 second increment.

This is the normal seven-hour session, often considered boring which prompted FIDE to pass a new shorter four-hour time control at the Teheran meeting of December 2000.

Fritz is a programme invented by 50-year-old Dutch programmer Frans Morsch. The match rules allow the programmers to fine tune the engine during the match but not when the games are in progress.

Fritz is a commercially available programme distributed by www.chessbase.com of Germany. There are three more games left. In game two, X3D Fritz will have white pieces and it will be played on Thursday, at 1 p.m. New York time (23.30 IST on Thursday). Games can be followed live on http://x3dchess.com website.

The moves: GM G. Kasparov-X3D Fritz Computer, match game one, Semi-Slav defence, D45: 1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 c6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.g4 Bb4 8.Bd2 Qe7 9.Rg1 Bxc3 10.Bxc3 Ne4 11.0-0-0 Qf6 12.Be2 Nxf2 13.Rdf1 Ne4 14.Bb4 c5 15.cxd5 exd5 16.dxc5 Qe7 17.Nd4 0-0 18.Nf5 Qe5 19.c6 bxc6 20.Bxf8 Kxf8 21.Ng3 Ndc5 22.Nxe4 Nxe4 23.Bd3 Be6 24.Bxe4 dxe4 25.Rf4 Bd5 26.Qc5+ Kg8 27.Rgf1 Rb8 28.R1f2 Qc7 29.Rc2 Qd7 30.h4 Qd8 31.g5 Bxa2 32.Rxe4 Qd3 33.Rd4 Qxe3+ 34.Rcd2 Qe1+ 35.Rd1 Qe3+ 36.R1d2 Qg1+ 37.Rd1 Draw.

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