KASPAROV AND TURING PLAY UNIQUE CHESS MATCH

Chess Computer 26june12When chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov took to the stage at the University of Manchester he faced an opponent of legendary intellect, and yet it the game was all over in a matter of seconds.

The match was Turing vs. Kasparov, but this was no ordinary competition.

“Turing” was in fact the chess programme written in the late 1940s by Alan Turing, the father of computing. Kasparov, who had a peak World Chess Federation (FIDE) rating of 2,851, introduced the programme to an audience marking the centenary of Turing’s birth, at the University where Turing himself used to work.

Turing was instrumental in early computing as well as for his pioneering role as a code breaker during World War Two. As well as playing a major part in the Allied war effort, Turing went on to work on the world’s first stored-programme computers, as well as areas of mathematical biology, before he died in 1954 aged just 41.

With the board on a large screen behind him, Kasparov opted to play as black, but anyone looking forward to a long battle of attrition was to be disappointed.

As white made its third move Kasparov couldn’t help himself: “Not a great choice…” he said, to a ripple of laughter. Then, within a minute, Kasparov had checkmate on “Turochamp”; all over in just 16 moves.

“I’m sorry,” said Kasparov, smiling, as the audience groaned good-naturedly.

Kasparov went on to praise Turing’s chess programme, as well as his contribution to computer science.

“I suppose you might call it primitive, but I would compare it to an early car,” Kasparov said. “You might laugh at them but it is still an incredible achievement.

“It’s something that definitely changed our lives.”

Watch the footage of the match on the BBC website.