The boundaries of computer science have been pushed a great deal in the more than two decades since Deep Blue's historic match. Harder problems, better AI, faster computers, stronger science The story of Kasparov and Deep Blue is one of humans versus humans, chess masters against scientists pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence and computer programming. "The 1997 match was very tense, but the victory in the final game of the match was a thrilling moment." "There was a lot of intense work leading up to the 1997 match, including building a new revision of the specialized chess hardware and debugging the system with the help of some strong chess grandmasters," says Campbell.
Watching the board just as intently as Kasparov was the team of scientists behind the computer, including Murray Campbell ('79 BSc, '81 MSc), instrumental co-creator of Deep Blue. The humans behind the machineīut of course, calling the match one of "human versus machine" doesn't tell the whole story. This rematch would be one for the history books: the first time a computer triumphed over a world champion as Deep Blue broke the tie to win the sixth and final game and take the match. It's Deep Blue's second attempt to take on Kasparov, after winning only a single game against him in their first match in 1996. On the other, IBM supercomputer Deep Blue, with a human assistant moving the pieces across the board. On one side of the board plays reigning World Chess champion, Garry Kasparov. But this high-stakes matchup has little to do with East and West-instead, it's a battle of human versus machine. On the table next to each player sits a small flag indicating their home country: one Russian, one American. It's Game 6, final round of the match, and the score is a dead tie. Chess pieces sit arrayed on a board, a chess clock quietly counting off tense seconds. New computer hardware and AI techniques have enabled the field to evolve substantially.
The boundaries of computing science have been pushed since AI supercomputers have been able to beat world champions in strategy games like chess, checkers, and Go.