White: Deep Blue
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Black: Garry Kasparov
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1.e4
Deep Blue plays its standard opening move. |
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c6
Kasparov again threatens to play quietly and positionally with this
move. Will he play the Pribyl System? |
| 2.d4 |
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d5
At last the World Champion decides it is time to play some main line
theory.
"I think Kasparov's attempt to play anti-computer chess in the earlier
games has rebounded on him" - GM McDonald. Kasparov used to play this opening
when he was young, shelving it later for the sharper Sicilian. |
| 3.Nc3 |
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dxe4 |
| 4.Nxe4 |
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Nd7
The leading exponent of this system is Kasparov's old rival Karpov.
The alternative was the main line system with ...Bf5 about which Kasparov
has written a whole book. |
5.Ng5
Initiating the sharpest system against the 4...Nd7 Caro-Kann. The weakest
point in Black's position is the f7-square. Therefore White's knight homes
in on this square immediately. |
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Ngf6
In contrast to Deep Blue's abstruse knight manoeuvre Kasparov develops
his pieces rapidly in Classical style. |
| 6.Bd3 |
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e6
Avoiding the trap 6...h6 7.Ne6 when White acquires the two bishops
after 8.Nxf8 because 7...fxe6 8.Bg6# is mate. |
7.N1f3
Bringing up more forces for the attack. |
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h6
Wow! This is very double-edged since it invites a sacrifice on e6.
The standard (and safe) move is 6...Bd6 when a possible continuation is
7.Qe2 h6 8.Ne4 Nxe4 9.Qxe4 and tournament praxis has shown that White has
a small positional advantage. |
8.Nxe6
The computer accepts the challenge. White sacrifices a piece to leave
Black with a disrupted position and his king stranded in the centre. This
game. the final game in the match, will 'prove' whether Man is greater
than Machine. Man has his back to the wall, but he is clutching an extra
piece. |
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Qe7
This is rather unexpected. Black delays capturing the Trojan horse
for a move. Of course the knight cannot move because of the pin. |
9.0-0
Clearly best. This forces Kasparov's hand. He must now capture the
knight. |
|
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fxe6 |
10.Bg6
This check is a vital component of White's compensation for the sacrificed
piece. First of all by blocking the g6-square, the bishop prevents Black
from unwinding his kingside with ...g7-g5 followed by ...Bg7 and the development
of the rook to f8. Secondly, the check forces the Black king to give up
the right to castle and remain in the centre. |
|
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Kd8 |
11.Bf4
The bishop is developed to a strong diagonal and rules out ...Qd6 followed
by ...Be7 when once again Black has succeeded in developing his king's
bishop. Although White has sacrificed a whole piece he does not need to
play for an immediate checkmate as long as Black cannot coordinate his
pieces. |
|
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b5
Black has to play some ugly moves in order to extricate his pieces
from their starting positions. The point of this move is to vacate the
b7-square for his bishop and secure the d5-square for his knight without
allowing c4 chasing it away. |
12.a4
Deep Blue uses the b5-pawn as a handle to force open lines on the queenside
as a prelude to an all-out-attack.
This casts doubts on Black's last move. Perhaps he should have tried
11...Ne8 planning to clear some lines for his pieces with 12...Qf6 which
would incidentally threaten both white bishops. |
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Bb7
This is consistent with his last move, but it seems very dangerous
to move the bishop away from c8 where potentially it can help defend the
critical e6-square (and the pawn on it) from attack. |
13.Re1
Deep Blue immediately takes advantage of Black's last move by putting
the pressure on e6. |
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Nd5
The knight is now well-placed in the centre but this is the only thing
which is right about Black's position. He has failed to find a plan to
free his kingside. |
14.Bg3
The bishop retreats and prevents the natural move 14...Qf6 to unravel
Black's kingside since now 15.Bh4 would win Black's queen. Kasparov now
looks in serious trouble. |
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Kc8
This plans 15...Qf6 by removing the king from the potential pin mentioned
in the last note. However it seems doubtful if he will have time to carry
out this plan before White's attack on his king becomes overwhelming. |
15.axb5
Opening up pathways to the monarch in his crumbling castle... |
|
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cxb5 |
16.Qd3
The White queen is the last White piece to enter the fray. Meanwhile
look at the state of Black's pieces. His rooks are slumbering and the c8-bishop
is entombed by the queen. Therefore although in nominal terms he has an
extra piece Deep Blue has much greater firepower at its disposal. Is it
all over for Kasparov? |
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Bc6
This defends b5 but leaves the bishop on a vulnerable square after
the opening of the c-file. Better seems 16...a6. |
17.Bf5
This contains the deadly threat of 18.Rxe6 attacking the queen and
the newly exposed bishop on c6. |
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exf5
There seems to be little choice but to give back the queen. This must
be close to winning for White, which seems to show that the whole plan
of 11...b5 and 12...Bb7 is simply bad for Black. Or, perhaps, the whole
variation, letting White sacrifice on e6 is simply bad for Black. Which
begs the question: why on earth did Kasparov play like this!? |
18.Rxe7
Deep Blue regains the material sacrificed at move 8. Kasparov was looking
unhappy and put his watch back on, a sure sign that the end was imminent.
Everbody thought it was all over. |
|
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Bxe7
So Kasparov has a rook and two minor pieces for a queen. Normally this
is more than enough material for the strongest piece, but here Black's
rooks are still inactive and the king faces a tremendous assault. 19.c4
This rips open the c-file and exposes Black's king to a devastating attack.
Surely the game is over now, since Kasparov's king has no defence to the
huge attack of all White's pieces? |
| 19.c4
It is now! This rips open the c-file and exposes Black's king to a devastating
attack. Surely the game is over now, since Kasparov's king has no defence
to the huge attack of all White's pieces?
Yes, Kasparov has resigned!! The Machine has triumphed... A very sad
day for mankind.
If now eg. 19...Nb4 20.Qxf5 Rf8 21.Qe6 and Black's position is in tatters. |
|
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Black Resigned. Kasparov left
the stage at once and for a brief moment there was speculation that the
game was still continuing. That was soon dispelled by the incredulous match
officials, who confirmed it.
Kasparov is a difficult man to play against for the top grandmasters
of the world. He has the ability to psyche others out with his imposing
manner and body language, without anyone being able to return the favour.
However he has found the one opponent that ignores these aspects and in
fact perhaps it takes a computer to actually psyche Kasparov out. |
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