In May 1997, IBM's Deep Blue Supercomputer played a fascinating match with the reigning World Chess Champion, Garry Kasparov. For the first time a computer program beaten a world champion chess player.

Final Result (after 6 matches): Deep Blue 2 - Kasparov 1 (3 draws)

Game 1: May, 3 1997 - Kasparov wins.

Garry Kasparov showed us what 'Anti Computer Chess' was today and played cat and mouse with Deep Blue, accumulating small advantages without risking anything. Deep Blue seemed a little bemused at first and played a few innacurate and weakening moves but it came right back into the game with a retreat that no one had foreseen.

Kasparov kept his nerve, and the advantage, but consumed valuable thinking time and could be seen chiding himself at one point when he appeared to have missed the best move.

With the tension rising, Deep Blue was provoked into an unsound attack that weakened its position still further -- but such was the ferocity of its assault that it took all of Kasparov's tactical skill to rebuff the computer.

Although nominally ahead on material, Deep Blue was strategically lost after the queens were exchanged and the world champion methodically wrapped up the endgame.

Deep Blue has white tomorrow, and Kasparov will find it much harder to control the play.

White: Kasparov
Black: Deep Blue

1. Nf3 d5
2. g3 Bg4
3. b3 Nd7
4. Bb2 e6
5. Bg2 Ngf6
6. 0-0 c6
7. d3 Bd6
8. Nbd2 0-0
9. h3 Bh5
10. e3 h6
11. Qe1 Qa5
12. a3 Bc7
13. Nh4 g5
14. Nhf3 e5
15. e4 Rfe8
16. Nh2 Qb6
17. Qc1 a5
18. Re1 Bd6
19. Ndf1 dxe4
20. dxe4 Bc5
21. Ne3 Rad8
22. Nhf1 g4
23. hxg4 Nxg4
24. f3 Nxe3
25. Nxe3 Be7
26. Kh1 Bg5
27. Re2 a4
28. b4 f5
29. exf5 e4
30. f4 Bxe2
31. fxg5 Ne5
32. g6 Bf3
33. Bc3 Qb5
34. Qf1 Qxf1+
35. Rxf1 h5
36. Kg1 Kf8
37. Bh3 b5
38. Kf2 Kg7
39. g4 Kh6
40. Rg1 hxg4
41. Bxg4 Bxg4
42. Nxg4+ Nxg4
43. Rxg4 Rd5
44. f6 Rd1
45. g7 1-0

Game 2: May 4, 1997 - Deep Blue wins.

So this proves it, last year's win for Deep Blue was no fluke. The computer stunned the audience and particularly the watching Grandmasters by playing a seamless strategic game in a type of blocked position that conventional wisdom has always held, favors the human player.

Maybe its time to rewrite the textbooks, the match is alive again at 1-1. Kasparov was stunned by his defeat and left the playing area at great speed without comment. The Deep Blue team received a standing ovation and their chess expert Joel Benjamin summed it up: " This was real chess."

Kasparov has the advantage of the white pieces in Tuesday's third game, and will welcome the rest day to collect his thoughts. Deep Blue has to find an improvement over its play in game 1 but whatever the outcome, its clearly worthy of its nickname Deeper Blue.

White: Deep Blue
Black: Kasparov

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5 a6
4. Ba4 Nf6
5. 0-0 Be7
6. Re1 b5
7. Bb3 d6
8. c3 0-0
9. h3 h6
10. d4 Re8
11. Nbd2 Bf8
12. Nf1 Bd7
13. Ng3 Na5
14. Bc2 c5
15. b3 Nc6
16. d5 Ne7
17. Be3 Ng6
18. Qd2 Nh7
19. a4 Nh4
20. Nxh4 Qxh4
21. Qe2 Qd8
22. b4 Qc7
23. Rec1 c4
24. Ra3 Rec8
25. Rca1 Qd8
26. f4 Nf6
27. fxe5 dxe5
28. Qf1 Ne8
29. Qf2 Nd6
30. Bb6 Qe8
31. R3a2 Be7
32. Bc5 Bf8
33. Nf5 Bxf5
34. exf5 f6
35. Bxd6 Bxd6
36. axb5 axb5
37. Be4 Rxa2
38. Qxa2 Qd7
39. Qa7 Rc7
40. Qb6 Rb7
41. Ra8+ Kf7
42. Qa6 Qc7
43. Qc6 Qb6+
44. Kf1 Rb8
45. Ra6 1-0

Game 3: May 6, 1997 - Draw.

The champion finds it difficult to pinpoint the real Deep Blue. The first draw of the match leaves it tied at the halfway stage. Garry Kasparov was visibly frustrated by his lack of success, an emotion that surfaced at the press conference in what diplomats might call a "frank exchange of views" with Deep Blue chess consultant Joel Benjamin.

After Deep Blue's sublime performance in Game 2 it was back to normal computer-vs.-human chess. Deep Blue played rather as it did in Game 1 and mixed some bad positional moves that betrayed a lack of appreciation of strategy with some superb tactical ideas.

It must be so hard to face an opponent that you cannot see who plays so unevenly and, of course, in certain positions, perfectly.

The world champion produced a real surprise as early as move one and we were treated to an opening move obviously prepared for the computer, something that Kasparov would never play against a human.

The idea was to avoid tactics at which Deep Blue excels and make strategic factors paramount. It seemed to work as Deep Blue got its pieces in a muddle. But to compensate for that, the machine did what all machines like to do during a game of chess: It grabbed a pawn and refused to give it back.

Kasparov does not hide his feelings during the game, and we were treated to the full range of facial expressions: a smile when Deep Blue weakened its position and then a huge grimace when the consequences of one of Deep Blue's neat ideas dawned.

Kasparov's position became better and better. Deep Blue "did everything to lose the game but not enough," Kasparov said after the match. With imminent defeat predicted in the press room and on the Internet, Deep Blue played a marvelous, if inconspicuous looking, bishop move that visibly shocked Kasparov and convinced him to part with his most powerful piece, a knight lodged on a great central square.

With the position blocked, Deep Blue was content to mark time with its king as Kasparov strained to find a winning plan. But after just six more moves he gave up and offered a draw.

-- IM Malcolm Pein, London Chess Centre

White: Kasparov
Black: Deep Blue

1. d3 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. c4 Nf6
4. a3 d6
5. Nc3 Be7
6. g3 O-O
7. Bg2 Be6
8. O-O Qd7
9. Ng5 Bf5
10. e4 Bg4
11. f3 Bh5
12. Nh3 Nd4
13. Nf2 h6
14. Be3 c5
15. b4 b6
16. Rb1 Kh8
17. Rb2 a6
18. bxc5 bxc5
19. Bh3 Qc7
20. Bg4 Bg6
21. f4 exf4
22. gxf4 Qa5
23. Bd2 Qxa3
24. Ra2 Qb3
25. f5 Qxd1
26. Bxd1 Bh7
27. Nh3 Rfb8
28. Nf4 Bd8
29. Nfd5 Nc6
30. Bf4 Ne5
31. Ba4 Nxd5
32. Nxd5 a5
33. Bb5 Ra7
34. Kg2 g5
35. Bxe5+ dxe5
36. f6 Bg6
37. h4 gxh4
38. Kh3 Kg8
39. Kxh4 Kh7
40. Kg4 Bc7
41. Nxc7 Rxc7
42. Rxa5 Rd8
43. Rf3 Kh8
44. Kh4 Kg8
45. Ra3 Kh8
46. Ra6 Kh7
47. Ra3 Kh8
48. Ra6 Draw!

Game 4: May 7, 1997 - Draw.

Garry Kasparov still cannot come to grips entirely with Deep Blue. The fourth game saw the world champion overcome early difficulties to reach a winning endgame, only to let it slip at the critical moment.

The second draw of the match leaves it tied at 2-2 with two to play. Deep Blue's speed of response gives it an extra edge because it leaves Kasparov less time to reflect. Both sides have to make their first 40 moves in two hours thinking time. When Kasparov goes in for a long think at an early stage, as he did today, he finds he has to make his last few moves in a hurry as he strives to reach the first "time control" on the 40th move.

Consequently, errors creep into his play. The champion feels he missed a win in the time trouble phase. Deep Blue, naturally, just keeps churning out the moves and keeping the pressure on. Kasparov is tiring.

When questioned by commentator Maurice Ashley about a winning possibility near the end of the game, Kasparov replied: "I was tired and I could not figure it out."

Murray Campbell said of the machine: "It knew it was a little behind but it never saw a clear win (for Kasparov)."

Kasparov has obviously developed a healthy respect for Deep Blue, admitting that he "did not have any great aspirations with black," which implies he would have been satisfied with a draw when he sat down at 3 p.m. By 4p.m., when he stood badly, a draw seemed a long way off, but a pawn sacrifice from Kasparov changed the character of the position and Deep Blue did not react well.

At one point, Deep Blue had five "isolated pawns," a chess term for pawns that are not adjacent other pawns which can be used for protection. Kasparov looked really confident, and Deep Blue might have been worried because one of its handlers, Feng-hsiung Hsu started typing commands into it. This visibly amused the champion. Later it was explained that Feng was restarting the computer.

Kasparov was a pawn in arrears, but his two remaining pawns were united, and could support each other's advance. However, just as the Grandmasters were preparing to bury Deep Blue, it came up with a fantastic defense, and Kasparov's pawns were going nowhere. One of Deep Blue's pawns hovered over the queening square, and when another started to roll, Kasparov had seen enough and offered a draw.

--IM Malcolm Pein, London Chess Centre

White: Deep Blue
Black: Kasparov

1. e4 c6
2. d4 d6
3. Nf3 Nf6
4. Nc3 Bg4
5. h3 Bh5
6. Bd3 e6
7. Qe2 d5
8. Bg5 Be7
9. e5 Nfd7
10. Bxe7 Qxe7
11. g4 Bg6
12. Bxg6 hxg6
13. h4 Na6
14. O-O-O O-O-O
15. Rdg1 Nc7
16. Kb1 f6
17. exf6 Qxf6
18. Rg3 Rde8
19. Re1 Rhf8
20. Nd1 e5
21. dxe5 Qf4
22. a3 Ne6
23. Nc3 Ndc5
24. b4 Nd7
25. Qd3 Qf7
26. b5 Ndc5
27. Qe3 Qf4
28. bxc6 bxc6
29. Rd1 Kc7
30. Ka1 Qxe3
31. fxe3 Rf7
32. Rh3 Ref8
33. Nd4 Rf2
34. Rb1 Rg2
35. Nce2 Rxg4
36. Nxe6+ Nxe6
37. Nd4 Nxd4
38. exd4 Rxd4
39. Rg1 Rc4
40. Rxg6 Rxc2
41. Rxg7+ Kb6
42. Rb3+ Kc5
43. Rxa7 Rf1+
44. Rb1 Rff2
45. Rb4 Rc1+
46. Rb1 Rcc2
47. Rb4 Rc1+
48. Rb1 Rxb1+
49. Kxb1 Re2
50. Re7 Rh2
51. Rh7 Kc4
52. Rc7 c5
53. e6 Rxh4
54. e7 Re4
55. a4 Kb3
56. Kc1 Draw!

Game 5: May 10, 1997 - Draw.

Another marvelous saving resource in the endgame from Deep Blue has tied the match at 2.5-2.5, with one to play, and increased the tension to an almost unbearable degree.

Garry Kasparov, who sees himself as the "last man standing" in a mission to save chess from being turned into a mathematical formula, now faces having to win with black in Game 6 to take the match, an awesome task.

The champion's demeanor has changed palpably as the match has progressed, and he still seems to be in shock from the trauma of being outplayed in Game 2 and then resigning a drawn position.

Today, playing white, he continued his ultra-cautious strategy in the opening, and it seemed to bear fruit in the form of two powerful looking bishops. Deep Blue was unconcerned and played such a startling 11th move that the champion stared at Murray Campbell as if to say, "Is that right ? "

Said Kasparov after the game: "Sometimes the computer plays very human moves. "

Kasparov was soon under pressure on the board, and again on the clock, but he was given some relief when Deep Blue exchanged queens, a tactic that simplifies the game considerably.

The next phase of the game saw Kasparov make a comeback and outplay the machine, isolating its pieces and giving up a pawn to win it back advantageously soon after.

Finally came another vintage endgame in which the combined human intuition of all the top players present could not outweigh the raw calculating power of Deep Blue.

Kasparov had a pawn that seemed destined to be promoted to a new queen, the nearest thing in chess to a touchdown. Deep Blue, meanwhile, seemed oblivious to the danger and was feasting on Kasparov's queenside pawns. What was it doing? We all wanted to know. The answer came as Deep Blue's king moved up the board creating such huge threats that, in the end, Kasparov had to offer a draw on the 49th move.

So no winner for the third successive game, only for the game of chess. The champ summed it up: "When two sides play well the game is a draw. "

-- IM Malcolm Pein, London Chess Centre

White: Kasparov
Black: Deep Blue

1. Nf3 d5
2. g3 Bg4
3. Bg2 Nd7
4. h3 Bxf3
5. Bxf3 c6
6. d3 e6
7. e4 Ne5
8. Bg2 dxe4
9. Bxe4 Nf6
10. Bg2 Bb4+
11. Nd2 h5
12. Qe2 Qc7
13. c3 Be7
14. d4 Ng6
15. h4 e5
16. Nf3 exd4
17. Nxd4 O-O-O
18. Bg5 Ng4
19. O-O-O Rhe8
20. Qc2 Kb8
21. Kb1 Bxg5
22. hxg5 N6e5
23. Rhe1 c5
24. Nf3 Rxd1+
25. Rxd1 Nc4
26. Qa4 Rd8
27. Re1 Nb6
28. Qc2 Qd6
29. c4 Qg6
30. Qxg6 fxg6
31. b3 Nxf2
32. Re6 Kc7
33. Rxg6 Rd7
34. Nh4 Nc8
35. Bd5 Nd6
36. Re6 Nb5
37. cxb5 Rxd5
38. Rg6 Rd7
39. Nf5 Ne4
40. Nxg7 Rd1+
41. Kc2 Rd2+
42. Kc1 Rxa2
43. Nxh5 Nd2
44. Nf4 Nxb3+
45. Kb1 Rd2
46. Re6 c4
47. Re3 Kb6
48. g6 Kxb5
49. g7 Kb4
50. Draw!

Game 6: May 11, 1997 - Deep Blue wins.

By his own admission, the pressure got to Garry Kasparov today. It was the not the $300,000 difference between first and second prize nor the massive media attention this match has received. It was Deep Blue's astonishing play the world champion could not come to terms with.

Kasparov was off-balance coming into this game, a man who, for once in his career, had let his emotions overcome the logical impulses of his own chess genius. Still smarting from his reverse in the second game, Kasparov had lost his objectivity and accepted his strategy has failed.

In a bizarre twist, Kasparov avoided his favorite opening moves and started to play like his longtime human rival, Anatoly Karpov, who loves to defend with an opening known as the Caro-Kann. This was a clear sign things were not right, but Deep Blue, naturally, did not notice and just played the standard moves. As early as move seven, Kasparov made a clear mistake allowing a sacrifice of a knight that is known to be very strong. A quick check of the computer chess databases showed that of the nine players who had allowed this sacrifice, only one had survived and he needed a large slice of luck.

With Deep Blue, luck does not come into it, and we witnessed the shortest ever game between man and machine at the top level. After just under an hour, Kasparov realized how hopeless his position had become. We did not have to wait long for the killer blow from Deep Blue that ended the game after just 19 moves and win the match 3.5-2.5. The champion issued a challenge at the post game press conference: " It's time for Deep Blue to play real chess. I personally guarantee I will tear it in pieces." Fighting talk, and I fervently hope we will see Deep Blue participate in wider world of chess.

What has changed in the machine that lost last year ? The director of the IBM research team, C.J.Tan, explained: " Three things were improved this time around; it's more powerful, we added more chess knowledge and we developed a program to change the parameters in between each game."

Kasparov is still in shock, and was in his hotel room last night studying printouts from the Deep Blue team that he hopes will give him some insights into its wonderful play that have entertained and will, in time, educate every chess player.

-- IM Malcolm Pein, London Chess Centre

White: Deep Blue
Black: Kasparov

1. e4 c6
2. d4 d5
3. Nc3 dxe4
4. Nxe4 Nd7
5. Ng5 Ngf6
6. Bd3 e6
7. N1f3 h6
8. Nxe6 Qe7
9. O-O fxe6
10. Bg6+ Kd8
11. Bf4 b5
12. a4 Bb7
13. Re1 Nd5
14. Bg3 Kc8
15. axb5 cxb5
16. Qd3 Bc6
17. Bf5 exf5
18. Rxe7 Bxe7
19. c4 Resign

source: http://www.research.ibm.com/deepblue/