Page 26 - Monocle Quarterly Journal Vol 3 Issue 2 Spring

MONOCLE QUARTERLY JOURNAL | DEEP LEARNING
If you are not familiar with Garry Kasparov’s appearance, it would be hard to imagine him as a chess grandmaster. The Russian is tan with thick dark hair, has a propensity for nicely tailored suits and is very charismatic. He speaks articulately and certainly lacks no confidence in himself or his abilities. Speaking to journalists before his famous match against IBM’s Deep Blue in 1997, he did not even seem to contemplate the possibility of losing to the computer. And why would he? Since the age of 22, he had never lost a match against a human or computer opponent. He had even beaten an earlier version of Deep Blue the previous year, and before the match, he scoffed at the organisers’ suggestion to split the prize money of half a million dollars 60-40 between the winner and the loser. He wanted it all, and in 1996, he won it all. Kasparov was the best in the world, and he knew it. In fact, in the 19 years between 1986 and his retirement from competitive chess in 2005, Kasparov was ranked first in the world for 225 out of 228 months. He was virtually unbeatable.
The match in 1997 was different in so many ways. The six-game challenge started well for a confident Kasparov, and he easily beat Deep Blue in the first game, thanks to what would later be called a glitch in the machine’s programming. All was going to plan for the world champion, but it was to be a pivotal moment in the second game that would change everything.
In that iconic game, Kasparov intended to set a trap for his opponent using a variation of an opening strategy known as the Ruy Lopez or Spanish Opening. As the strategy played out, a pivotal point required the placement of the “poisoned pawn” to entice the opponent into a compromising situation – a technique the Russian
grandmaster that was commentating on the game, John Nunn, called it “a stunning move played by a computer”. It was something no professional had seen before from chess-playing programs. Kasparov was visibly shaken.
As Kasparov then states even
20 years later, “It was a black
If you are not familiar with Garry Kasparov’s appearance,
That move was the beginning of the end of chess grandmasters beating computers. And at that point, Kasparov’s emotions took a hold of him. He vigorously rubbed his face, stood up, and walked around the room rather aimlessly. At one instance, Kasparov stood alone in the middle of the room staring at his mother – who was seated in the audience – shaking his head. In several interviews after the match, the Russian called the move in question “human-like”. And for years to come, there was suspicion around the true source of the move – with Kasparov and many others suspecting there was some kind of human intervention from the IBM team on behalf of Deep Blue.
In part, the suspicion was justified. The IBM team did not exactly fight fair in 1997. Before the match, although initially agreeing to let Kasparov study games played by Deep Blue in training, they rescinded their agreement on the premise of a technicality – the contract stated that Kasparov was entitled to any games played in official tournaments, but Deep Blue had technically not played any games in official tournaments. IBM therefore did not provide him any games to study. As Kasparov then states even 20 years later, “It was a black box,” as he had no idea of what he was up against compared to the previous version he had beaten in 1996.
This was just one of numerous distracting tactics the IBM team used to ultimately defeat their opponent. Other subtle psychologically targeted elements built into the programming of Deep Blue included the manipulation of timing in processing the output for a move. When playing a human opponent, one can attempt to read the body language and timings of a player to gauge the various emotions and thought processes they may be experiencing. A quick move after your own, for example, could indicate excitement in a plan coming together, or in contrast, a slow move could be a sign that they are
it would be hard to imagine
him as a chess grandmaster.
had used against countless opponents, especially against computers, which often could not recognise the danger they were playing themselves into. But to Kasparov’s great surprise, at the critical moment, Deep Blue did not take the bait. Instead, the machine played a move that was far more subtle and forward-thinking than anyone – except the IBM team – could have ever anticipated. A
box,” as he had no idea of
what he was up against...
24