24 MAY 1997, Page 52

SIMPSON'S

IN-THE-STRAND

SIMPSON'S

IN-THE-STRAND

Playing the blues

Raymond Keene

DEEP BLUE has won, but the suspicion remains that it was really Kasparov who lost. However, can it be said that Deep Blue has contributed anything new to our understanding of chess? In the first instance, there are those who might legiti- mately describe Deep Blue's success as Bobby Fischer's revenge. Famously, in 1972 the American grandmaster brilliantly seized the world title from his rival Boris Spassky, thus terminating 24 years of Soviet domination. A mere three years later, Fischer withdrew from chess and left the world championship open once again to Soviet hegemony. Now the intellectual ghost of Bobby Fischer has been avenged and American technology has — for the moment — defeated Garry Kasparov, the direct lineal heir of Anatoly Karpov, the Russian champion who originally benefited from Fischer's refusal to play.

Additionally, Deep Blue has injected a new element of discontinuity into chess strategy. The traditional `well-made' game of chess follows a clear line: superior strat- egy nets an advantage in position, which permits the stronger side to finish off with a fine display of tactical pyrotechnics. Kasparov has won innumerable games of this type. Deep Blue, though, has eroded earlier certainties, much as in music the sonata form of the classical symphonies of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms was first tested and stretched almost to destruction by Bruckner and Mahler, then annihilated and ultimately replaced by the simultaneous and competing discordances of ICarlheinz Stockhausen's Gruppen. In this work three separate orchestras sur- round the audience and compete for atten- tion. In a similar way, Deep Blue's tactical arsenal of defensive wizardry in precarious situations has enabled it virtually to chop up the game into disparate sequences, where defeat is continually postponed by virtue of the machine's calculating excel- lence. This inability to impose a pattern, to dictate a pleasing strategic flow, was the function partly of some infelicitous open- ings choices by Kasparov, but also of Deep Blue's ability to keep bad positions in a state of flux. Assuredly, Kasparov's frustra- tion at his utter inability to land a direct hit in games 3, 4 and 5 must have contributed to his psychic collapse in game 6. Here is one that got away.

Kasparov–Deep Blue: New York Game 3.

Position after Black's 16th move 17 Rb2 a6 18 bxc5 bxc5 The open 'la' file if any- thing favours Black because of its strong knight on d4. White cannot play Bxd4, since this would leave his dark squares too exposed. 19 Bh3 Off- ering a profound pawn sacrifice. Of course, after

19 ... MO+ 20 1thl White threatens both Bxd7 and g4 severing the lifelines of Black's knight. If 19 ... Nxf3 + 20 Khl and now 20 ... Nd4 21 Qxh5 Nxh5 22 Bxd7 wins a piece. More testing is 19

Bxf3 though then 20 Bxdl Bxdl 21 Rfxcll Nxd7 22 Rb7 gives White positional compensa- tion for his lost pawn. 19 ... Qc7 20 Bg4 A good move, indeed the only way to make progress since 20 g4 Bg6 would leave White's pawn struc- ture looking like a Swiss cheese. 20 ...Bg6 The correct response. Although the bishop runs the danger of facing a white pawn roller, Deep Blue keeps control of d5 and prepares to counter- attack on the queenside. 21 f4 exf4 22 gxf4 Qa5 White is now forced to sacrifice a pawn, in as much as the only move to save material, 23 Nbl, is patently too passive. 23 Bd2 Qxa3 24 Ra2 Qb3 25 f5 Qxdl 26 Bxdl Bh7 Black's queen's bishop has been virtually buried alive but the extra pawn is a useful asset. In spite of the various complications and material transactions, the basic equilibrium of the position has not been seriously disturbed. 27 Nh3 To underscore his grip over d5. 27 ...R1b8 28 Nf4 Bd8 29 Nfd5 Nc6 The knight drops back to shield the weak 'd' pawn. 30 Bf4 Ne5 31 Ba4 On this square the bishop blockades Black's queenside and also strikes into Black's camp via the light squares. 31

Nxd5 32 Nxd5 a5 Mobilising its passed pawn. Here, and on subsequent moves, it would be unwise to play ... Nxd3 on account of Bxd6 when Black's rooks are in a tangle. 33 Bb5 Ra7 34 ICg2 g5 The situation has more or less resolved itself on the queenside, so Deep Blue turns its atten- tion towards freeing its trapped bishop. 35 Bxe5+ dxe5 36 f6 Forestalling the liberating manoeuvre ... f6 followed by ... Bg8, but now Black's bishop gains space to breathe on the kingside. 36 ...Bg6 37 h4 There was some dan- ger that Black might play ... h5. With this move White gives up another pawn but can easily regain it. 37 ... gxh4 38 Kh3 Kg8 39 lah4 1017 40 Kg4 Bc7 The last difficult move of the game. By giving back the extra pawn Black relieves its cramp and counter-exposes White's pawn on d3 as a serious weakness. After this there is nothing that White can achieve. 41 Nxc7 Rxr7 42 Rxa5 Rd8 43 Rf3 Kh8 44 Kh4 Kg8 45 Ra3 Kh8 46 Ra6 Ith7 47 Ra3 Kh8 48 Ra6 Draw agreed.