Considering that chess started around A.D. 600, and computers only came on the scene a mere two to three decades ago, it would seem that chess and computers wouldn't mix. But the modern invention of computers that can play against people, play itself, analyze games, and run software that can teach you chess is an amazing modern invention. But, using artificial intelligence (AI), can computers really a match a person's ability to think through complicated moves to the finish? Realistically, computers are only as smart as they are programmed to be.

David Levy's Challenge

Back in 1970, when computers were first starting to play chess, International Master David Levy issued a £10,000 challenge to any programmer, stating that no computer could defeat him in a match within ten years. He later collected on his bet, defeating the best program of the day. He renewed the bet, and again collected, this time in 1990 versus Hans Berliner's Deep Thought. But by then the computers were starting to offer real resistance, and he did not renew the challenge the third time.

Kasparov Versus Deep Blue

By the early 1990s, chess-playing computers had reached grandmaster level. There weren't many players left who could defeat them when they were allowed to play at their best. They had been banned from tournament chess for some time.

Finally, the world champion of the time, Garry Kasparov, consented to play a highly publicized match with IBM's Deep Blue. He defeated the machine in 1996, 4 to 2, but the match was close, and he did lose one game.

In October 2002, humanity got a measure of revenge when BrainGames World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik played an eight-game match with Deep Fritz, one of the strongest computers available. The match ended in a tie, with Kramnik winning two early games and Fritz rallying to win two late games. The other four games were drawn.

Deeper Blue defeated Garry Kasparov in 1997. Surprisingly, it was not the tremendous look-ahead capability of the machine (it analyzed 200 million moves per second) that allowed it to triumph. Rather, it was Kasparov's surprise at its positional sophistication and his subsequent emotional collapse that allowed the machine to win. Kasparov resigned game two in a drawn position and made an uncharacteristic error in game six, and these were the two games he lost.

The human-computer match played in New York City between Kasparov and Deep Junior ended in a draw in February 2003. Each competitor won one game and drew the other four.