myway316
16 ( +1 | -1 ) Kasparov-Deep Junior Game 5Interesting little tactical melee,but it doesn't bode well for Gary in game 6. I mean,was that the best effort he could put together as White?
caldazar
21 ( +1 | -1 ) I agree. With only one game left and holding a better position, I thought he had to accept the risks and go for the win. But maybe Kasparov found a concrete problem with playing on; it'll be interesting to see his analysis of the game.
calmrolfe
28 ( +1 | -1 ) I wonder ?how many GK players would have played 12. Kg1 instead of Kg3 on the basis that it is normally unsound to advance your King ahead of your pawns, particularly when the Queens and Rooks are still on the Board....
12.Kg1? Qh4 13.Rd1 Qxf2+ 14.Kh1 Re6! and White's king is doomed.
atrifix
40 ( +1 | -1 ) While I would have liked to have seen 14. e4, 16. g3 is simply too risky against a computer. Junior's sacrifice was amazing and caught Kasparov completely off guard--reminiscent of his 1997 match against Deep Blue, but this time the piece sacrifice was more speculative, to say the least. I just hope in the next game he doesn't blunder on the 7th move before he gets out of book.
myway316
21 ( +1 | -1 ) atrifixIf you're referring to Gary's 7th move "blunder" vs.Deeper Blue in Game 6,that was no blunder,but a deliberate dive by Gary. Can you really believe a 2800+ GM could play such a beginners move by accident?
zdrak
166 ( +1 | -1 ) Let's get some facts straight. Kasparov 7th move 7...h6 is NOT a blunder. It has been played before on GM level, and it has been played since. It is however considered an extremely risky move, as it allows white the promising sac Nxe6. But there have been cases in GM practise where black survived, and even won. Ok, against a computer it's not the wisest choice, I admit. But surely not a blunder, and certainly not a "dive".
Here's a game between two 2600-level players where black wins:
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 (Contrary to the popular opinion, this move, and not 7...h6, is the source of Kasparov's demise. After b5 it's easy for white to open lines in the queenside and center. After any other reasonable move black's position is hard - especially considering white is a computer! - but defendable) 12. a4 Bb7 13. Re1 Nd5 14. Bg3 Kc8 15. axb5 cxb5 16. Qd3 Bc6 17. Bf5 exf5 18. Rxe7 Bxe7 19. c4 1-0
emmitsmith
218 ( +1 | -1 ) Mr BishopThis is coverage of the match for my local paper. I spiced it up a little :) Chess News Champion Gary Kasparov is lucky to be tied against his opponent "Deep Jr.", son of the best computer alive. Kasparov stunned the world in game 3, by moving his Knight to D2, a move he later admitted could have been better, but forced a draw with the old Hedgehog Defence three days later. Tensions popped, though, after this Wednesday's match, in New York City's Madison Square Garden, when after losing another chance at a win with the white pieces, Kasparov kicked Junior's power cord, unplugging the young genius. The Computer's handler-manager, Mr Bishop, tackled Kasparov, then threw him over the ropes into the front row of stunned fans. He then grabbed the referee's microphone and screamed "This carbon-based life form is goin' down!", and leaped on Kasparov, butting him in the head repeatedly. After being subdued by Stadium staff, Mr Bishop and his entourage were whisked to the stately Grand Hotel, and could not be reached for further comment. Mr Kasparov is no stranger to brawls in his matches. It was Gary's own head butt of an aging Boris Spassky that was widely regarded as the reason Spassky promoted a passed pawn to another King, losing game five and the 1987 Open. Head butting has since been banned in all but Pub Tournaments, but could return for Olympic competition. Kasparov was taken to nearby Ringling Brother's Hospital, and required 30 stitches in his head. "It's not the tactical side of my brain that hurts right now", he joked on CNN's Larry King that evening, "it's the payback side". Gary did note the obvious bulking up of Mr Bishop's head during the call-in show. "Steroid use is a serious problem in modern chess, as we're so close to entering the Olympics, and there are GMs sitting in tournaments all over the world with heads so large, they need neck braces!" Kasparov has been lobbying for years against allowing neck braces in Tournament play. The match is now tied going into game 6 on Friday.
clemens
36 ( +1 | -1 ) Bxh2+ definitely was the most amazing move I've ever seen played by a program. You have to keep in mind that there was no forced mate lurking; Junior must be able to evaluate rather abstract concepts like "initiative" like no other program. Unless of course you suspect operator intervention, but I don't think that.
maca
6 ( +1 | -1 ) mr. bishopheh... allways tought taht chess players are calm :).
zdrak
38 ( +1 | -1 ) "Unless of course you suspect operator intervention, but I don't think that. "
From personal experience I can say that Shay Bushinsky and Amir Ban, Junior's creators and operators, are both not particularly strong chessplayers, barely able to hold their own against an average amature. To suspect that one of them will make the Bxh2+ sacrifice himself will be unreasonable.
clemens
74 ( +1 | -1 ) ZdrakReally, you have played them? At what occasion? So you gave them a good whipping? :)
It seems amazing that two mediocre chessplayers can create a program of such strength. Sure, I know, it's a lot about feeding it rules and letting it apply them on its own, but I still imagine it difficult to test new evaluations when you are so far under its level of play. Maybe they just let it play against older versions of itself and other programs to see how well it does... Or do they "hire" GMs to assist them with chess knowledge?
Anyway, as I said, I don't really believe in the option of intervention. I simply think that it is _theoretically_ possible with the analysis power of such a high-end computer at your hands.
calmrolfe
13 ( +1 | -1 ) macaagreed !! the greatest virtue of a chess player is to be calm
:)
zdrak
68 ( +1 | -1 ) I didn't play them personally, but I saw them at various local tournaments here in Israel, where their "baby" participated. They played skittle games between themselves and with other players, and I deduced their game level from observing the games. By the way, I was one of the first people to ever play Junior - I did it before it was even named "Junior". The program's original name was "Ban" (I guess Bushinsky was too humble to add his own name).
I believe that while creating Junior they have consulted a few Israeli GMs (one of them is Yona Kosashvili, rated 2560), but most of the work they did themselves. Yes, it is a truly outstanding achievement of programming.