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In Kasparov's homeland, Deep Blue match isn't just another board game
May 10, 1997
Web posted at: 10:21 p.m. EDT (0221 GMT)From Correspondent Betsy Aaron
MOSCOW (CNN) -- In Moscow, where chess is serious business, Garry Kaparov's chess match against Deep Blue is not just another board game.
It's a man vs. machine epic, with profound implications for the species.
"I'm rooting for the person," says Gelly Natabov, a member of Moscow's Russian Federation Chess Club. "I pity the human race a little bit."
Natabov is well aware that every year the computer gets just a little bit smarter. But the situation isn't entirely bleak for flesh-and-blood players. Man is clever, and when confronted with the computer's massive number-crunching capacity, he can still rely on his wits.
"Storage of all those skills and knowledge put together sometimes produces an unexpected move that is completely illogical from the perspective of the computer," Natabov says.
The computer is able to analyze 200 million chess moves a second, but Kasparov has held his own. "Even back in the first game you could see how he forced the computer to calculate," says former women's world chess champion Tatyiana Zatulovskaya.
It's no surprise that Kasparov, a fellow Russian, is the favorite among the members of club.
Deep Blue may be the source of fascination among Moscow's chess playing elite, but in the club's elegant game room, it's virtually impossible to find anyone who would prefer to play against a computer than a person.
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