Deep Blue, Celebrates 15th Birthday
It was 15 years ago today that a computer – a conglomeration of transistors, memory, and storage media – could beat a world-class chess player. Called Deep Blue, the machine was part of a mission that culminated in IBM’s creation of a supercomputer that beat chess master Garry Kasparov two wins to one. While the concept is delightfully antiquated today (after all, IBM now makes a computer that can beat us all in Jeopardy and our phones can understand us to an extent unimagined even a decade ago), it was an important turning point in the climb down into the uncanny valley.
Deep Blue, in short, made computers personable.
Deep Blue was more than just a brute force chess-playing machine. It was the true triumph of hardware over humanity and paved the way for us to implicitly trust our computers, for better or worse. Deep Blue also opened up other vistas including genetic analysis, new biotechnologies, improved AI, and, ultimately, the rise and preponderance of the networked world.
It’s easy to see this computer as a gaming machine. It wasn’t. It was the first machine that scared us enough to learn all we could about computing. It was our turn of the century wake up call.
Happy birthday, Deep Blue. Indeed a master mind.
Via TECHCRUNCH
7 replies
Garry is the only one to draw a game with deep blue
How many did he win? It was big news that time.
Vipul: On 11th May 1997... Deep blue won the second six-game match against world champion Garry Kasparov.
EpIcInCoGnItO: How many did he win? It was big news that time.
On February 10, 1996, Deep Blue became the first machine to win a chess game against a reigning world champion (Garry Kasparov) under regular time controls. However, Kasparov won three and drew two of the following five games, beating Deep Blue by a score of 4–2 (wins count 1 point, draws count Half point). The match concluded on February 17, 1996.
Deep Blue was then heavily upgraded (unofficially nicknamed Deeper Blue) and played Kasparov again in May 1997, winning the 6 game rematch 3.5–2.5, ending on May 11. Deep Blue won the deciding game six after Kasparov made a mistake in the opening, becoming the first computer system to defeat a reigning world champion in a match under standard chess tournament time controls.
Deep Blue, with its capability of evaluating 200 million positions per second, was the fastest computer that ever faced a world chess champion. Today, in computer chess research and matches of world class players against computers, the focus of play has often shifted to software chess programs, rather than using dedicated chess hardware.Hmm so I was right Garry drew the match twice
thanks bro
thanks bro Vipul: On February 10, 1996, Deep Blue became the first machine to win a chess game against a reigning world champion (Garry Kasparov) under regular time controls. However, Kasparov won three and drew two of the following five games, beating Deep Blue by a score of 4–2 (wins count 1 point, draws count Half point). The match concluded on February 17, 1996.
Deep Blue was then heavily upgraded (unofficially nicknamed Deeper Blue) and played Kasparov again in May 1997, winning the 6 game rematch 3.5–2.5, ending on May 11. Deep Blue won the deciding game six after Kasparov made a mistake in the opening, becoming the first computer system to defeat a reigning world champion in a match under standard chess tournament time controls.
Deep Blue, with its capability of evaluating 200 million positions per second, was the fastest computer that ever faced a world chess champion. Today, in computer chess research and matches of world class players against computers, the focus of play has often shifted to software chess programs, rather than using dedicated chess hardware.
wow
