CHESS

A couple of weeks ago, a good deal of fuss was made about Mr Garry Kasparov defeating a mere machine. So he should! Yet the manner of his victory left a good deal to be desired.

White: Fritz 4

Black: Garry 1

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4

The human race is in a sad state if it must resort to the dullness of a Nimzo-Indian to defeat a heap of tin and silicon. Where is your King's Indian, Mr K?

4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 b6 7.Bg5 Ba6 8.e3 d6 9.f3

When Fritz played this move instantly, it was clear that something odd was happening. The move would have been normal had Black played 7...Bb7 instead of Ba6, but rather pointless in the current position. It was found that the human operator had incorrectly entered Black's 7th move on his keyboard. The position was re-set, but Fritz's last two moves had to stay as played. Had the computer possessed anything approaching artificial intelligence, it would have stormed out.

9...Nbd7 10.Bd3 h6 11.Bh4 c5 12.Rd1 Rc8 13.Ne2 cxd4 14.Qxd4 Ne5 15.b3 Nxd3+ 16.Qxd3 d5 17.Qc3 (see diagram)

White may have calculated this far when making his faulty 13th move. It was not far enough.

17...Ne4! 18.Qxg7+

The best of a bad lot. 18.Bxd8 Nxc3 19.Nxc3 Rfxd8 just loses a pawn.

18...Kxg7 19.Bxd8 Rfxd8 20.fxe4 dxc4 21.bxc4 Rxd1+ 22.Kxd1 Rxc4 23.Kd2 Ra4 24.Ra1 Bxe2 25.Kxe2 b5 26.Rb1 a6 27.Rb3 Rxa4

A pawn down with a passively placed rook, White's game is hopeless. Here's the rest of it:

28.Rc3 Ra4 29.h3 h5 30.g3 f5 31.Rb3 Kf6 32.Rc3 Ke5 33.Kf3 Kd5 34.Rd3+ Kc4 35.Rd6 Kb3 36.Rxe6 Kxa3 37.Ke2 a5 38.Re5 b4 39.Rb5 b3 40.Kd3 Kb2 41.h4 Ra1 42.Rxf5 a4 43.Rxh5 a3 44.Ra5 a2 45.h5 Rh1 46.Kc1 a1=Q and White resigned.