Deep Blue

Deep Blue was a chess-playing computer developed by IBM. On May 11, 1997, the machine won a six-game match by two wins to one with three draws against world champion

Garry Kasparov. Kasparov accused IBM of cheating and demanded a rematch, but IBM declined and dismantled Deep Blue. Kasparov had beaten a previous version of Deep Blue in 1996.

Play some of Deep Blue’s games

Although Garry Kasparov and Deep Blue are considered to be two of the greatest chess "players" in the world, each has a distinct manner of playing the game. Both have the ability to look at a chessboard, analyze positions, then make the most optimal move. But the way Deep Blue arrives at the decision to move a particular piece is very different from Kasparov’s method of analysis.

The following is a top ten listing of the dissimilarities between the way Garry Kasparov and Deep Blue play chess:

1. Deep Blue can examine and evaluate up to 200,000,000 chess positions per second

Garry Kasparov can examine and evaluate up to three chess positions per second

2. Deep Blue has a small amount of chess knowledge and an enormous amount of calculation ability.

Garry Kasparov has a large amount of chess knowledge and a somewhat smaller amount of calculation ability.

3. Garry Kasparov uses his tremendous sense of feeling and intuition to play world champion-calibre chess.

Deep Blue is a machine that is incapable of feeling or intuition.

4. Deep Blue has benefitted from the guidance of five IBM research scientists and one international grandmaster.

Garry Kasparov is guided by his coach Yuri Dokhoian and by his own driving passion play the finest chess in the world.

5. Garry Kasparov is able to learn and adapt very quickly from his own successes and mistakes.

Deep Blue, as it stands today, is not a "learning system." It is therefore not capable of utilizing artificial intelligence to either learn from its opponent or "think" about the current position of the chessboard.

6. Deep Blue can never forget, be distracted or feel intimidated by external forces (such as Kasparov’s infamous "stare").

Garry Kasparov is an intense competitor, but he is still susceptible to human frailties such as fatigue, boredom and loss of concentration.

7. Deep Blue is stunningly effective at solving chess problems, but it is less "intelligent" than even the stupidest human.

Garry Kasparov is highly intelligent. He has authored three books, speaks a variety of languages, is active politically and is a regular guest speaker at international conferences.

8. Any changes in the way Deep Blue plays chess must be performed by the members of the development team between games.

Garry Kasparov can alter the way he plays at any time before, during, and/or after each game.

9. Garry Kasparov is skilled at evaluating his opponent, sensing their weaknesses, then taking advantage of those weaknesses.

While Deep Blue is quite adept at evaluating chess positions, it cannot evaluate its opponent’s weaknesses.

10. Garry Kasparov is able to determine his next move by selectively searching through the possible positions.

Deep Blue must conduct a very thorough search into the possible positions to determine the most optimal move (which isn’t so bad when you can search up to 200 million positions per second).

Source IBM Deep Blue Research page