Kasparov loses second game of virtual chess series
NEW YORK (AP): International chess master Garry Kasparov lost the second game in his match against the computer program X3D Fritz after a three-hour battle.
Thursday's result in the "Man vs. Machine'' four-game series at the New York Athletic Club leaves Kasparov at a heavy disadvantage after a draw in the first game: The computer has 1.5 points, and Kasparov has a half-point.
Kasparov, who had black pieces and moved second, blundered late in the game, allowing X3D Fritz's queen, its most powerful piece, to penetrate deep into the Russian-born champion's territory.
Kasparov, unable to recover or defend his king, resigned the game on the 39th move.
Chess grandmaster Maurice Ashley said Kasparov's blunder was "terrible.''
"He just made a mistake,'' Ashley said, "and the computer pounced.''
Kasparov must take the remaining two games to win the match; the computer program can take the match with two ties or a win. The match could finish in a draw.
Even if he loses, Kasparov will earn $150,000 for the match. If he wins, his reward is $200,000, and a draw earns him $175,000.
Ashley, the chess analyst, said Kasparov looked defeated.
"He looks as if he's saying to himself, 'I can't beat this thing,''' Ashley said. "But he's had losses before and come back, so we'll see.''
X3D Fritz, a 12-year-old German program and former world computer chess champion, defeated its IBM rival Deep Blue in 1995. It can compute more than 5 million chess positions per second.
After the game, Kasparov did not speak of any strategies for the next two games. He only confessed his mistakes.
"You work hard for three hours, you get a very promising position, you make a blunder,'' he said, "then you go home.''
Generally considered the greatest chess player of all time, Kasparov was world champion between 1985 and 2000, with a tournament record second to none. After relinquishing his world title in 2000, he responded by taking first place in the next 10 major international events.
It is not the first time Kasparov has been challenged by a computer.
He won against Deep Blue in 1996, but an upgrade of the machine defeated him the following year. Earlier this year, he drew against the Deep Junior Israeli chess program.
In the current "Man vs. Machine'' match, the chessboard is suspended in the air on a screen in front of Kasparov, who wears 3D glasses, voice-activates the chess pieces and uses a joystick to rotate the virtual board.
The International Computer Games Association and the U.S. Chess Federation have sanctioned the match as the first official world chess championship in virtual reality.
The match continues with Game 3 on Sunday and Game 4 on Nov. 18. The games can be followed on the Web site of the sponsor, Manhattan-based X3D Technologies Corp.
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