X3D Fritz was a version of the Fritz chess program, which in November 2003 played a four-game human–computer chess match against world number one Grandmaster

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...

. The match was tied 2–2, with X3D Fritz winning game 2, Kasparov winning game 3 and drawing games 1 and 4.

Match conditions

Fritz ran on four

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Pentium 4 Pentium 4 is a series of single-core CPUs for desktops, laptops and entry-level servers manufactured by Intel. The processors were shipped from November 20, 2000 until August 8, 2008. The production of Netburst processors was active from 200 ...

Xeon Xeon ( ) is a brand of x86 microprocessors designed, manufactured, and marketed by Intel, targeted at the non-consumer workstation, server, and embedded system markets. It was introduced in June 1998. Xeon processors are based on the same a ...

CPUs A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and ...

at 2.8 GHz. The match was unique in how Kasparov relayed his moves to the computer. In most human–computer matches, the human makes their moves on a normal board, as in a normal game. These moves are fed into the computer by an intermediary seated where a normal human opponent would be, and its replies played on the board by the same person. In this match, however, no normal board and no intermediary was used. Instead, Kasparov, wearing special glasses provided by X3D Technologies Corp, saw a three-dimensional projection of the board floating in the air in front of him. He spoke his moves out loud, thus conveying them to the computer which had a

speech recognition Speech recognition is an interdisciplinary subfield of computer science and computational linguistics that develops methodologies and technologies that enable the recognition and translation of spoken language into text by computers with the ...

system. The computer's replies were shown on the projected board. The

time control A time control is a mechanism in the tournament play of almost all two-player board games so that each round of the match can finish in a timely way and the tournament can proceed. Time controls are typically enforced by means of a game cloc ...

s for each game were as follows: * Start with 120 minutes. * After move 40, add 60 minutes. * After move 60, add 15 minutes and 30 seconds per move. The match was held at the

New York Athletic Club The New York Athletic Club is a private social club and athletic club in New York state. Founded in 1868, the club has approximately 8,600 members and two facilities: the City House, located at 180 Central Park South in Manhattan, and Traver ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, United States. Kasparov got US$150,000 for playing and an extra $25,000 for the drawn match. Kasparov would have earned an extra $50,000 instead if he had won.

Games

The moves of the games are given below.

Game 1: November 11, 2003, Kasparov–Fritz ½–½

Opening Opening may refer to: * Al-Fatiha, "The Opening", the first chapter of the Qur'an * The Opening (album), live album by Mal Waldron * Backgammon opening * Chess opening * A title sequence or opening credits * , a term from contract bridge * , ...

Queen's Gambit Declined The Queen's Gambit Declined (or QGD) is a chess opening in which Black declines a pawn offered by White in the Queen's Gambit: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 e6 This is known as the ''Orthodox Line'' of the Queen's Gambit Declined. When the "Queen's Gambi ...

(QGD) semi-Slav: Stoltz variation
ECO: D45 The first game, with Kasparov as White, ended in a draw after Kasparov sacrificed a pawn in the

Semi-Slav The Semi-Slav Defense is a variation of the Queen's Gambit chess opening defined by the position reached after the moves: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 c6 :3. Nf3 Nf6 :4. Nc3 e6 The position may readily be reached by a number of different . Black's s ...

for a better position. He eventually won a

rook Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to: Games *Rook (chess), a piece in chess *Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game Military * Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft * USS ...

for a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

and

pawn Pawn most often refers to: * Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game * Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral Pawn may also refer to: Places * Pawn, Oregon, an his ...

, but was unable to convert the advantage into a win. Fritz managed to open lines against Kasparov's king, and

drew Drew may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places ;In the United States * Drew, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Drew, Mississippi, a city * Drew, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Drew, Oregon, an unincorporated community * Drew County, Arkansas ...

with

perpetual check In the game of chess, perpetual check is a situation in which one player can a draw by an unending series of checks. This typically arises when the player who is checking cannot deliver checkmate, and failing to continue the series of checks give ...

. 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. O–O–O Qf6 12. Be2 Nxf2 13. Rdf1 Ne4 14. Bb4 c5 15. cxd5 exd5 16. dxc5 Qe7 17. Nd4 O–O 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 ½–½

Game 2: November 13, 2003, Fritz–Kasparov 1–0

Opening: Ruy Lopez: Berlin defense
ECO: C65 The second game, with Fritz as White, was a Ruy Lopez. Kasparov played the Berlin Defence (3...Nf6), with which Vladimir Kramnik had drawn against

Deep Fritz Fritz is a German chess program originally developed for Chessbase by Frans Morsch based on his Quest program, ported to DOS, and then Windows by Mathias Feist. With version 13, Morsch retired, and his engine was first replaced by Gyula Horvat ...

in the 2002 Brains in Bahrain match (and which Kramnik had also successfully employed as a drawing variation against Kasparov himself in their 2000 World Championship match). Fritz, however, avoided the simplifying main line (4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8), instead keeping pieces on the board with 4.d3. Kasparov seemed to have at least equal chances until he blundered on move 32 when short of time (see

) and lost. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 d6 5. c3 g6 6. O–O Bg7 7. Nbd2 O–O 8. Re1 Re8 9. d4 Bd7 10. d5 Ne7 11. Bxd7 Nxd7 12. a4 h6 13. a5 a6 14. b4 f5 15. c4 Nf6 16. Bb2 Qd7 17. Rb1 g5 18. exf5 Qxf5 19. Nf1 Qh7 20. N3d2 Nf5 21. Ne4 Nxe4 22. Rxe4 h5 23. Qd3 Rf8 24. Rbe1 Rf7 25. R1e2 g4 26. Qb3 Raf8 27. c5 Qg6 28. cxd6 cxd6 29. b5 axb5 30. Qxb5 Bh6 31. Qb6 Kh7 32. Qb4 Rg7?? 33. Rxe5 dxe5 34. Qxf8 Nd4 35. Bxd4 exd4 36. Re8 Rg8 37. Qe7+ Rg7 38. Qd8 Rg8 39. Qd7+ 1–0

Game 3: November 16, 2003, Kasparov–Fritz 1–0

Opening: QGD semi-Slav: accelerated Meran (Alekhine variation)
ECO: D45 Game three was another

, but Fritz varied from game one early with 5...a6. Kasparov replied with 6.c5 which took the game into the sort of closed position which it is generally believed computers do not play well. The game followed one between

Samuel Reshevsky Samuel Herman Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski; November 26, 1911 – April 4, 1992) was a Polish chess prodigy and later a leading American chess grandmaster. He was a contender for the World Chess Championship from the mid-1930s to the mid-196 ...

and

Paul Keres Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...

from the 1948

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Tournament until move 12 when Kasparov varied (Black eventually won that game, though White seemed to be better out of the

opening Opening may refer to: * Al-Fatiha, "The Opening", the first chapter of the Qur'an * The Opening (album), live album by Mal Waldron * Backgammon opening * Chess opening * A title sequence or opening credits * , a term from contract bridge * , ...

). Kasparov won a pawn while keeping the position closed, and Fritz did not appear to understand the closed position well, moving its pieces back and forth with no obvious plan. In the meantime, Kasparov pushed his extra a-pawn and broke through on the queenside. With the computer having absolutely no counterplay and Kasparov about to force through his b-pawn to promote, winning more

material Material is a substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical and chemical properties, or on their geolo ...

, the Fritz operators resigned on move 45, making the match tied at 1½–1½. 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 c6 5. e3 a6 6. c5 Nbd7 7. b4 a5 8. b5 e5 9. Qa4 Qc7 10. Ba3 e4 11. Nd2 Be7 12. b6 Qd8 13. h3 O–O 14. Nb3 Bd6 15. Rb1 Be7 16. Nxa5 Nb8 17. Bb4 Qd7 18. Rb2 Qe6 19. Qd1 Nfd7 20. a3 Qh6 21. Nb3 Bh4 22. Qd2 Nf6 23. Kd1 Be6 24. Kc1 Rd8 25. Rc2 Nbd7 26. Kb2 Nf8 27. a4 Ng6 28. a5 Ne7 29. a6 bxa6 30. Na5 Rdb8 31. g3 Bg5 32. Bg2 Qg6 33. Ka1 Kh8 34. Na2 Bd7 35. Bc3 Ne8 36. Nb4 Kg8 37. Rb1 Bc8 38. Ra2 Bh6 39. Bf1 Qe6 40. Qd1 Nf6 41. Qa4 Bb7 42. Nxb7 Rxb7 43. Nxa6 Qd7 44. Qc2 Kh8 45. Rb3 1–0

Game 4: November 18, 2003, Fritz–Kasparov ½–½

Opening:

Queen's Gambit Accepted The Queen's Gambit Accepted (or QGA) is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 dxc4 The Queen's Gambit Accepted is the third most popular option on Black's second move, after 2...e6 (the Queen's Gambit Declined) and 2.. ...

(QGA): classical, 6...a6
ECO: D27 Fritz, with the White pieces again, varied from game two immediately with 1.d4. A

Queen's Gambit The Queen's Gambit is the chess opening that starts with the moves: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 It is one of the oldest openings and is still commonly played today. It is traditionally described as a ''gambit'' because White appears to sacrifice the ...

Accepted followed, and for a while Kasparov followed a rapid game he had won with Black against Kramnik in 2001. Whereas in that game he exchanged his queen for a rook, bishop and pawn (with 13...Nxd5 14.Rad1 Nxf4 15.Rxd8 Rxd8), here he played more soberly, rapidly exchanging pieces, and quickly drawing. The match ended tied, 2-2. 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 e6 4. e3 a6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O–O Nf6 7. Bb3 cxd4 8. exd4 Nc6 9. Nc3 Be7 10. Re1 O–O 11. Bf4 Na5 12. d5 Nxb3 13. Qxb3 exd5 14. Rad1 Be6 15. Qxb7 Bd6 16. Bg5 Rb8 17. Qxa6 Rxb2 18. Bxf6 Qxf6 19. Qxd6 Qxc3 20. Nd4 Rxa2 21. Nxe6 fxe6 22. Qxe6+ Kh8 23. Rf1 Qc5 24. Qxd5 Rfxf2 25. Rxf2 Qxf2+ 26. Kh1 h6 27. Qd8+ Kh7 ½–½

References

External links

FIDE Man - Machine WC Match
Kasparov vs Deep Junior, chessgames.com {{DEFAULTSORT:X3d Fritz Fritz X3D