2002 Kramnik-Deep Fritz

Brains in Bahrain
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Report Five: Game 1
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by Malcolm Pein in Bahrain
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The million dollar Brains in Bahrain match between Vladimir Kramnik
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and Deep Fritz takes place 2nd-22nd October 2002 (Opening
Dvoretsky Sale
Ceremony 2nd October. Playing days 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17 & 19
£5/$7.50 Sale October, 2002).
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October Issue
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Malcolm Pein Game 1 Report
Game 1 saw Vladimir Kramnik and Deep Fritz draw in twenty eight Books 2002
moves as Kramnik used his favourite Berlin Defence. Deep Fritz was
white and played the Ruy Lopez but after many piece exchanges the
Fritz operator Matthias Feist, in a break with the agreed match
protocol offered a draw through the arbiter. The rules state that only
Kramnik is allowed to offer a draw but Feist could see that were no
winning chances for either side and made the offer.
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Deep Fritz running on a Compaq 8 Processor.Photo Mig Greengard
DEEP FRITZ - Kramnik,V (2789) [C67]

04.10.2002
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 I suppose this opening was no
http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/event/brainb02/game1.html (1 of 3)16/07/05 20:07:11

Brains in Bahrain
surprise. Kramnik wants the quiet life and Fritz has had trouble in
this line before. 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.
Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 h6 10.b3 Ke8 11.Bb2 All typical Berlin
Defence fare. White has all his pieces out and Black does not a lot
11...Be7 Designed to take Fritz out of book which it appeared to do
12.Rad1 a5 Although this is the first novelty but again a normal
move. 13.a4 h5
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Nigel Short asked Vlad about this - he did not want to answer in
detail. It just does not matter if you lose a tempo in this line he said
14.Ne2 Be6 15.c4 Fritz wanted to prevent ...Bd5 but this reminded
me of when Vishy feasted on 'yoghurt' against Fritz in a Berlin Books 2000/1
Defence and captured all three pawns with his light squared bishop.
Fritz later removes this piece 15...Rd8 16.h3 b6 17.Nfd4 Nxd4 18.
Nxd4 c5 [ 18...Bd7 19.f4 ( 19.Rd3 c5 20.Nb5 Bxb5 21.Rxd8+ Kxd8
22.axb5 Kd7 23.f4 f5 Looks quite OK for Black as well) 19...Bc5
heading for opposite bishops and the Bd7 could come in handy later]
19.Nxe6 fxe6 20.Rxd8+ Kxd8 21.Bc1 Kc8 22.Rd1 Rd8 I am sure
Kramnik has examined this kind of ending in detail but it still requires
accuracy. Vlad said he felt it was a draw now 23.Rxd8+ Kxd8 24.
g4 Another idea was to try and play g4 and recapture with the king
because then the white bishop can manoeuvre to h4 and force an
exchange into a won K+P ending. [ 24.f4 Ke8 25.Kf2 Kf7 26.Kf3 Bd8
27.g4 hxg4+? ( 27...g6 28.Ke4 Be7 The line I find troubling is 29.
gxh5 and 30.f5, this needs more analysis but I have not found a way
through so far 29.f5 ( 29.gxh5 gxh5 30.f5 Bh4 31.f6 Be1 32.Kf4 Bc3)
29...hxg4 30.hxg4 ( 30.f6? gxh3; 30.fxg6+ Kxg6 31.hxg4 Bh4=)
30...gxf5+ 31.gxf5 Bh4 and I think this is holding) 28.Kxg4 Be7 29.
Be3 Bd8 30.Bf2 c6 31.Bh4 Bc7 32.Kh5 and its winning ] 24...g6
[ 24...hxg4 25.hxg4 g6 26.f4 Ke8 27.Kf2 Kf7 28.Kg3 Bd8 29.Kh3 Be7
30.Be3 Bd8 31.Bf2 Be7 ( 31...c6!? 32.Bh4 Bc7 33.Bf6+/-) 32.Bh4
Bxh4 33.Kxh4 Kg7 34.Kg5+-] 25.h4?
This takes the pressure off but Fritz thought (wrongly) it was setting
a trap 25...hxg4 [ 25...Bxh4 Also draws but why complicate ? -
Kramnik 26.g5 Kd7 27.Be3 Kc6 28.Kg2 Kd7 29.Kh3 Bxf2 30.Bxf2
Kc6=] 26.Bg5 Bxg5 27.hxg5 Ke8 28.Kg2

Brains in Bahrain
1/2-1/2
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Brains in Bahrain Game 2

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The million dollar Brains in Bahrain match between Vladimir
Chess Express
Kramnik and Deep Fritz takes place 2nd-22nd October 2002
Kingpin (Opening Ceremony 2nd October. Playing days 4, 6, 8, 10,
Book archive 13, 15, 17 & 19 October, 2002).
Book Reviews
Dvoretsky Sale
Report Seven: Game 2 Report
£5/$7.50 Sale by Malcolm Pein
Security
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Backgammon There was a real air of expectancy at the Bahrain Mindsports
Centre as Kramnik arrived with his entourage ten minutes
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before the start of play. I was doing the rounds upstairs and
Fantasy Chess
checking the rest rooms and toilets for anything that
Events remotely looked like it should not be there like a Pocket Fritz
for example. Security is always an important consideration
EMAIL TWIC when you have a big money match. The night before the
EMAIL LCC arbiter watched as the Fritz team tinkered with the opening
book as described in the rules.
October Issue
Out Now
Books 2002
New Software
Aziz. Photo Mig Greengard
For his personal security Vladimir has brought his own Arabic-
speaking bodyguard with him. ‘Aziz’ is from Beirut and he
certainly looks like he can handle himself.
The one problem I found was that Frederic Friedel of

ChessBase had grabbed the big wooden boards we had Chess Express
erected around the computer to stop anyone from tampering
with it. Frederic had another use in mind for it. He used
them to board up to of the windows in the web room to
prevent Mig and the Fritz team getting too hot from the
searing Bahrain sun. The room is where the live moves come
from and the commentary which is produced in German
Spanish, by the journalistic legend Leonxto Garcia and
English by Mig and the other commentators.
Blinded by the light

Perhaps it is just as well I am leaving. This Match Director

role might be going to my head. After Kasparov’s team
negotiated so badly with IBM I saw the result first hand and
I am trying to make sure that the match is balanced. Before
the game Vlad kindly choreographs the sitting down at the
board for the TV cameras. After that the photographers have
their time.
In game one we let them shoot before play and for the first
few minutes after it started. This time Vlad arrived very early
and I thought that six minutes of flash photography was Chess Assistant
enough. I sent the photographers out after I saw Vlad wince
– lets face it, usually its both players who are distracted by
the photography but not here.
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Carsten Hensel. Photo Mig Greengard
There was grumblings of discontent so I consulted Carsten

Hensel, Kramnik’s unflappable manager and we agreed that
once play started, a couple of minutes of photographs with
no flash were, in his words ‘ no problem’.
Do not adjust your sets
‘‘A bad day’ was how Fritz programmer Matthias

Wuellenweber described it and in truth this was not a great
advertisement for computer chess although you had to
admire how ‘Big Vlad’ kept his composure after the machine
came up with some incredible tricks.
There were several phases to the game as Deep Fritz played

alternately like a beginner and then like a genius. Kramnik
was white and play again followed one of the opening
variations seen when Kramnik defeated Kasparov to capture
the world title two years ago. The Fritz team assures me
Kasparov has not been helping them !
Deep Fritz accepted the Queen’s Gambit, which is a typical

computer ploy to start opening lines as soon as possible.
Kramnik immediately exchanged queens to steer the game
into the kind of quiet positions in which he could use his
superior strategic knowledge. The other choice was to play a
middle game with an IQP but this line with 7.dxc5 is perfect
against a computer.
Then came another very cunning anti computer move 9.Kf1!

its worth mentioning that with hindsight, 9.h3 would have
been even better. The computer was out of book and pushed

…b5 a shade too quickly for my liking. However this was

nothing compared with Deep Fritz’s twelfth move which was
so weird we all wondered if there had been some kind of
operator error. By the way the rules state that Kramnik gets
ten extra minutes if an incorrect move is corrected. If it is
not spotted within a minute it stands.
Kramnik played the slightly odd 12.Nb3 and Fritz calmly

played Bf8. It was an “ incredibly bad move” said Nigel Short
and the phrase ‘do not adjust your sets’ came to mind.
No repetition
I was watching Fritz’s thoughts emerging on the screen in

the computer room and I was amazed to see that it had
erroneously decided that 12.Nb3 was a very bad move. In
fact it was a perfectly sensible choice attacking a bishop. The
point was that Fritz was sure Kramnik had to play b3 and
Bb2 to develop the bishop and could see no further than 12…
Bf8 13.Nbd2 !!
It thought that Kramnik had no better plan than to move his

knight back to the square it had just come from. Fritz
actually anticipated a repetition of moves but this was
obviously nonsense and Kramnik promptly attacked the
queenside. With two extra tempi he quickly built up a clear
advantage.
But how to put the ‘little devil’ away?
Deep Fritz then played incredibly well to stave off immediate

defeat. Kramnik called its resources ‘amazing’ and added ‘ no
human could see this’. In Nigel Short’s words “ It’s a tricky
little devil’ – if he had not been talking to members of the
Bahraini Royal Family, ambassadors and government
ministers at the time he might have used another
expression.
For two years Kramnik must have been wondering whether

he could overcome his human fallibility against a monstrous
calculating machine and now here it came. Bc4+ and Nd3
was incredible. At one point we thought Fritz was going to
equalise but Kramnik maintained his composure and skilfully
steered the game into a rook and pawn endgame where the
computer had no good moves.
In fact I could see the winning plan even before the time
control and it was interesting to watch Fritz gradually work it
out. In the rook and pawn endgame the winning plan is to tie
black down to a5 and then open up a second front with pawn
to f4.
It is not easy for a computer to defend passively and with

impeccable technique Kramnik kept the position totally under
control until Fritz’s pawns started to fall. On move fifty seven
he checked the variations three times and then forced a won
king and pawn endgame. The operator Matthias Feist noted
that the Fritz evaluation indicated that the position was
hopeless and he resigned on the machine’s behalf.
The match is being organised by the General Organisation of

Youth and Sport in Bahrain (GOYS) and is held under the
patronage of the King of Bahrain Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al
Khalifa. GOYS have put up a prize fund of one million dollars
and rights holders Einstein Group PLC are televising the
matches across the Arab world. Kramnik will win one million
dollars if he defeats the computer, 700,000 if the match
ends 4-4 and a mere 500,000 dollars if computers triumph
again.
Kramnik,V - Deep Fritz [D27]

Bahrain (2)
[Malcolm Pein]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 Computers like to open files but this is

an opening that Vlad really has had great success with 3.Nf3
Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.0-0 a6 7.dxc5 As played with
success against Kasparov 7...Qxd1 8.Rxd1 Bxc5 9.Kf1!

What a clever idea to get the computer out of book and it

works. It later turns out that the king is slightly vulnerable
on f1 and h2 is undefended but this was naturally quite
impossible to foresee. [ 9.Nbd2 Nbd7 10.Be2 b6 Kramnik v
Kasparov game 4 London 2000] 9...b5 I don't like this
because there is no need for it now. 9...Nbd7 is sounder and
less weakening 10.Be2 Bb7 11.Nbd2 Nbd7 12.Nb3 A bit
unusual. 12.b3 was standard, so standard Fritz short circuits.
I wonder if Kramnik had this position on the board in
advance. After the game he denied this. 12...Bf8??
Fritz just thought Kramnik had to play 13.Nbd2 now when it

would merrily play 13...Bc5 Of course 13...Be7 was more
sensible 13.a4 With the Black rook on h8 a long way from
the action its time to attack the weak queenside pawns 13...
b4 [ 13...bxa4 14.Rxa4 Nc5 15.Nxc5 Bxc5 16.Bd2 0-0 17.
Rda1 Rfd8 18.Be1 and the pawn on a6 is going] 14.Nfd2
The standard move to head for the newly available c4 square
14...Bd5 15.f3 To play e4 and kick the bishop 15...Bd6 16.
g3 e5! Its vital to keep the bishop shadowing the Nb3 and
limit those white knights which are poised to invade 17.e4
Be6 18.Nc4 Bc7 [ 18...Be7 19.Nba5 0-0 20.Nc6 Rfe8 21.
Bd2 and the queenside pawns are very weak again] 19.Be3
a5 [ 19...0-0 20.Nc5 Nxc5 21.Bxc5 Rfb8 22.Bd6 Bxd6 23.
Rxd6+/-] 20.Nc5 Now Fritz plays quite brilliantly to find a
defence 20...Nxc5 21.Bxc5 Nd7 Only move 22.Nd6+ Kf8!
[ 22...Kd8 23.Rac1 ( 23.Nxf7+ Bxf7 24.Bb5 Be6 25.Rxd7+
Bxd7 26.Rd1 Kc8 27.Rxd7 Is exactly how not to play against
Fritz even if its quite strong !) 23...Nxc5+/- 24.Nxf7+ Ke7
25.Rxc5 Bb6 26.Rc6+/-] 23.Be3 At this stage it was hard to
imagine the computer surviving [ 23.Nb5+ At first sight
Nigel Short thought this was winning. I couldn't see why not
so in the end we switched on Franz Morsch's Fritz to find
out !! 23...Nxc5 24.Nxc7 Rc8 25.Rac1 Looks absolutely
crushing but... 25...Bh3+! 26.Ke1 Rxc7 27.Rd8+ Ke7 28.
Rxh8 Nd3+ Survives] 23...Bxd6 24.Rxd6 Ke7 25.Rad1
Rhc8 26.Bb5 and now we were expecting 26...Rc7 and Fritz
grovels till it dies but... 26...Nc5!! [ 26...Rc7 27.R1d2 Rac8
28.Ra6+/- Nc5 29.Bxc5+ Rxc5 30.Rxa5] 27.Bc6 They think
its all over... 27...Bc4+! An amazing shot 28.Ke1 Nd3+ 29.
R1xd3! Bxd3 30.Bc5 Bc4 [ 30...Bc2 31.Kd2 b3 32.Rd5+
Kf6 33.Bxa8 Rxa8 34.Rd6+ Kg5 35.h4+ Kh5 36.Bb6 And a5
falls and White should win] 31.Rd4+ Kramnik forces a rook

and pawn endgame 31...Kf6 32.Rxc4 Rxc6 33.Be7+ Kxe7

34.Rxc6 Kd7 35.Rc5 f6 36.Kd2 After this forcing sequence
its hard to see a good plan for Fritz even though material is
level. Nearly all strong human players would try to give up a
pawn to become active and set the opponent practical
problems but not Fritz, he wants to hang on to his pawns
and so Kramnik just expertly improves his position 36...Kd6
37.Rd5+ Kc6 38.Kd3 g6 [ 38...Ra7 39.Kc4 Ra8 40.h4 Ra7
41.h5 h6 42.f4 Opening a second front and straining the
defence to the limit 42...exf4 43.gxf4 Re7 44.e5 fxe5 45.
fxe5 Kb6 46.Rd6+ Kc7 47.Kd5 Wins ] 39.Kc4 g5
Fritz had now seen that f4 would hurt but this does not stop
it. If anything it might encourage the sequence f4 gxf4 gxf4
exf4 Rf5 but Kramnik just prefers to let the machine suffer a
bit more 40.h3 h6 41.h4! gxh4 42.gxh4 Ra7 43.h5 Now
everything is perfect. Fritz can not afford the waiting move
Ra7 because Rd8-h8 wins so Kramnik loses a move to set up
Zugszwang 43...Ra8 44.Rc5+ Kb6 45.Rb5+ Kc6 46.Rd5!
Your move my friend 46...Kc7 [ 46...Ra7 47.Rd8 Rg7 ( 47...
Rf7 48.Rc8+ Kb6 49.Kd5 Rd7+ 50.Ke6 Rd2 51.Kxf6 Rxb2 52.
Kxe5 b3 53.f4+-) 48.Rf8+-] 47.Kb5 b3 [ 47...Ra7 48.Rc5+
Kd7 49.Kb6+-] 48.Rd3 Ra7 49.Rxb3 Rb7+ 50.Kc4 Ra7
51.Rb5 Ra8 52.Kd5 Ra6 53.Rc5+ Kd7 54.b3 Rd6+ 55.
Kc4 Rd4+ 56.Kc3 Rd1 57.Rd5+
57...Rxd5 58.exd5 Kd6 59.b4 Kxd5 60.bxa5 f5 61.a6 Kc6 62.

Kc4 Kb6 63.Kd5 wins 57...Rxd5 58.exd5 Kd6 59.b4 axb4 60.
Kxb4 Kxd5 61.Kb5 f5 62.a5 e4 63.a6 queens with check 1-0
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Report Eight: Game 3 Report
£5/$7.50 Sale by Ebrahim Al Mannai
Today saw Kramnik’s best play so far in the match, resulting
Bridge
in his second full point against the computer. Despite the
Go fact that Fritz emerged out of the opening with a superior
Backgammon position, Kramnik’s exceptional technique resulted in his
LCC Links outmaneuvering the calculating machine. During the course
Fantasy Chess of the game, Kramnik’s manager and the man behind the
Events annual tournament in Dortmund, Carsten Hensel, earnestly
shared with me his opinion on Kramnik’s current form and
prospects on the champion’s competitive strategy for the
EMAIL TWIC rest of the match:
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October Issue
Out Now
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New Software
Carsten Hensel: Rooting for the champ (photo courtesy of

Fred Friedel and Mig Greengard)
"This is great! When he is like this (i.e. in this form), no one

can beat him, absolutely no one. But he has to be careful. As
the match progresses, his energy-level will not be so high.
He must capitalize on his condition now. Playing for a 4.5
win via consecutive draws will not do."
Chess Express
Carsten’s enthusiasm was truly moving. His usual ‘down-to-
earth’ business sense and casual, relaxed manner were not
completely eclipsed, but today another side of Herr Hensel
showed. In a narcisistic “money-talks” (chess) world full of
political propaganda and general mistrust, his honesty and
dedication were inspiring. He had the look of any coach
excited to watch his team take the lead while trying to stay
calm, knowing full well that ‘it ain’t over til it’s over’.

Chess Assistant
Giant Chess Sets
Books 2000/1
GM Julian Hodgson: still getting used to the heat! (photo
courtesy of Fred Friedel and Mig Greengard)
His manager wasn’t the only person who was thrilled at

Kramnik’s play. English GM, Julian Hodgson, who’s just
arrived to join the commentary team for the match, was
equally in admiration of Kramnik’s refined handling of the
game:
"This is Kramnik at his best. It is this sort of precise

technique that Kramnik is known for, and here we see him
demonstrating his clear mastery over the machine."
Vladimir Kramnik - settling himself before the start of game

two
At the post-game press conference, Kramnik himself was

pleased with his play today. When asked whether he thought
his play was perfect, the world champion responded
modestly:
"One can never play ‘perfect chess’, but I think I played

quite well today."
He later added, "If the computer is to win, it has to be

through tactics. In this game, the computer could not grasp
many of my ideas because they were too abstract."

Again, today’s game saw an early exchange of queens. This

time in a Scotch game, which started out looking quite good
for White, but Kramnik’s resourcefulness prevailed.
Deep Fritz - Kramnik, Vladimir [C45]

Brains in Bahrain (3), 08.10.2002
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 Avoiding Kramnik's indestructible

Berlin! Rumour has it that, right before he left Bahrain, Nigel
Short actually recommended trying the Scotch to the Fritz
team during their arbiter-supervised 'opening adjustment'
session, in an attempt to catch Kramnik off guard. 3...exd4
4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nxc6 Qf6 6.Qd2 dxc6 7.Nc3 Ne7
Oddly enough, Kramnik has adopted Short's favoured reply

to the Scotch, according to Mig Greengard.8.Qf4 Be6
allowing White to double Black's kingside pawns as well.
Kramnik realizes that the exchange of queens is worth this,
considering that Fritz would require quite a bit of strategic
savoirfaire in order to exploit the resulting irregular pawn
structure. 9.Qxf6 gxf6 10.Na4 Bb4+ a zwischenzug that
aims to deprive the wayward knight of any retreat squares
11.c3 Bd6 12.Be3 avoids losing the knight to 13...b5 by
creating an outpost for it on c5, but Black competes with
12...b6 13.f4 White grabs some more space on the kingside
and anticipates Black's f5 pawn advance. 13...0-0-0 14.Kf2
Preparing to advance his c-pawn in order to reactivate the

knight and get a nice hold on the white squares [ if 14.c4
then 14...Bb4+ ] 14...c5 Black would like to bring his own
knight into play with this. 15.c4 Nc6 16.Nc3 f5 the long-
awaited pawn thrust contests White's dominant central pawn
structure. Especially with players like Kramnik, the timing of
such pawn thrusts is crucial. 17.e5 Bf8 planning Bg7 and
then f 6, hitting White's spearhead on e5. At this point, the
Fritz team were quite pleased with their program's opening
play. White does have the more favourable position. 18.b3
this exposes the long a1-h8 diagonal to Black's intended Bg7
and pawn f6. Kramnik took over a half-hour, and some
nicotine, to produce the following masterstroke: 18...Nb4!

19.a3? This further weakens White's queenside structure.

Later, Kramnik said that he was sure of the win after this
move. 19...Nc2 20.Rc1 Nxe3 21.Kxe3 Bg7 22.Nd5 c6
[ if 22...Bxd5 then 23.cxd5 Rxd5 24.Bd3 White regains his

pawn and has a clear endgame advantage thanks to his
more active pieces and superior pawn structure ] 23.Nf6 to
stop Black's f6 push, but this also neutralises White's pawn
structure advantage on the kingside. 23...Bxf6 24.exf6
Rhe8
Black's superiority is becoming clear now. 25.Kf3 Rd2 26.

h3 Bd7 27.g3 Re6 snapping up the defenceless pawn on f6
28.Rb1 passive, but it's hard to see anything else: 28. g4!?
28...Rxf6 This does allow White just enough time to slightly
activate his pieces. 29.Be2 Re6 30.Rhe1 Kc7 31.Bf1 b5
32.Rec1 [ 32.cxb5 cxb5 and now White has to reckon with
the threat of Bc6++.] 32...Kb6 33.b4 cxb4 34.axb4

Now Black has a legitimate Queenside majority, of which he

takes full advantage. 34...Re4 35.Rd1 Rxd1 36.Rxd1 Be6
37.Bd3 Rd4 38.Be2 Rxd1 39.c5+ Kb7 40.Bxd1 a5 41.
bxa5 Ka6 42.Ke3 Kxa5 43.Kd4 b4 44.g4 fxg4 45.hxg4
b3 46.Kc3 Ka4 47.Kb2 f6 48.Bf3 Kb5 Protects his own
pawn on c6 and secures the capture of the white one on c5.
With two connected passed pawns, all White can play for is
heart failure. 49.g5 f5 50.Kc3 Kxc5
51.Be2 was played over the board, but the Fritz team chose
not to wait for Black's response, demonstrating the only legal
method of taking a move back. 0-1
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The million dollar Brains in Bahrain match between Vladimir Kramnik
Chess Express
and Deep Fritz takes place 2nd-22nd October 2002 (Opening
Kingpin Ceremony 2nd October. Playing days 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17 & 19
Book archive October, 2002).
Book Reviews
Dvoretsky Sale
Report Eight: Game 4 Report
Thursday, 10 October 2002
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Backgammon The match has reached the half-way point, and things are looking
very promising for the world champion. Game 4 ended in a draw,
LCC Links
leaving the world’s number two player with a comfortable 2-point
Fantasy Chess
lead.
Events
Fritz today avoided the sort of disaster it saw in Game 2 by meeting

EMAIL TWIC Kramnik’s Queen’s Gambit with the active Tarrasch Defence. There
EMAIL LCC has been much talk about the “coincidence” that Deep Fritz has been
employing openings played by Kasparov. Some have even claimed
psychological warfare on behalf of the Fritz team.
October Issue
Out Now
This seems a little far-fetched to me. As daunting as the invincible
Kasparov might seem to the average grandmaster, I don’t believe
that Kramnik himself has any reason to fear Kasparov, much less his
favorite opening lines played by a machine. The fact of the matter is
that Kasparov is known for his dynamic attacking style. Therefore
Kasparov has often employed active and dynamic openings- the type
of opening that leads to an open tactical game- the exact sort of
game which Fritz revels in. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that
der Komputer is playing tactical openings, which just so happen to be
part of GK’s arsenal.
The Fritz team realizes that an open game with sufficient tactical
possibilities is necessary, if their program is to have any chance
Books 2002
against Big Bad Vlad. Playing the Slav Defence, for example, will not
do, since that sort of closed game would downplay the machine’s
calculating power and test its positional skill.
As it turned out in the end, employing the Tarrasch did indeed work
to Black’s favour. Kramnik breezed through the first twenty moves,
(yet again) exchanging queens and heading for a super-early
endgame with a comfortable advantage. However, given the open
nature of the game, Fritz played accurately enough to secure a draw.
The game is not especially thrilling, but shows Fritz’s powers to
defend accurately under the right circumstances.
After Kramnik had thought a long while and played the strong 21. New Software
Rd7, after which Black played 21…Rb8. The creator of Fritz,
Dutchman Frans Morsch, was standing next to me, arms crossed
shaking his head at his program’s passive move, not quite sure if it
knows what it’s doing.
Frans was quite upset at the press conference after his brainchild’s
first loss to Kramnik (game 2), so I decided to watch my step around
him. But, of course, as we continued to stare intently at the monitor,
I couldn’t resist throwing in a few ‘casual’ questions:
Chess Express
"At this point, what do you think is the main challenge Fritz is facing
against Kramnik?"
He answered, straight and to the point, "If we can (somehow)

completely avoid the exchange of queens, then our chances would
increase dramatically."

Chess Assistant
Giant Chess Sets

Today his answer seemed based on a complete logic and realization
of fact. I looked for a trace of rationalization in his answer, and all I
found was the objectivity of laboratory scientist. I believed him.
The most exciting part of this round was when Deep Fritz went out of
commission. Somewhere between moves 32 and 33, Fritz decided to
have a nervous breakdown. Team Fritz were scrambling trying to see
whether they could revive their program, or to pull up the less
reliable back-up machine. The crisis was resolved after 15 minutes of
panic when the programmers decided to keep ol’ Fritzer going, only
with less to think about simultaneously. Fortunately, the game had Books 2000/1
advanced far enough that it didn’t have much impact on the result: 8
moves later, a draw was reached.
Kramnik demonstrates the game with GM Daniel King
Kramnik - Deep Fritz [D34]

Kramnik- Deep Fritz match (4), 10.10.2002
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch's answer to the

Queen's Gambit. Once again today, Fritz chooses an opening line
which allows for peice activity. 4.cxd5 exd5 5.g3 The legendary
Akiba Rubinstein found this most effective move against the Tarrasch
Defence in the early 20th century. The fianchettoed bishop is to
exploit the potentially-isolated d5-pawn. 5...Nc6 6.Bg2 Nf6 7.0-0
Be7 8.Nc3 0-0 9.Bg5 cxd4 10.Nxd4 h6 11.Bf4 Bg4 12.h3 Be6
13.Rc1 Re8

14.Nxe6 fxe6 15.e4 All theory. With this pawn break, White
contests Black's center pawns, aiming to open lines for his two
bishops and perhaps an exchange of queens. 15...d4 16.e5 dxc3
17.exf6 Bxf6 18.bxc3 Qxd1 19.Rfxd1 Rad8 20.Be3 Rxd1+ 21.
Rxd1
This has all been play with which Kramnik is apparently familiar. Up
to this point, he's used up very little time. White has a nice
advantage here. His rook is sole commander of the d-file, and his
laser-beam bishops penetrate the heart of Black's queenside. The
only disadvantage (other than those loose queenside pawns) is that
this is exactly the kind of open position in which Fritz has little
trouble finding the best moves. 21...Bxc3 22.Rd7 Kramnik spent 31
minutes before committing to this move. The c3-pawn would have
been too much of a burden to protect. In any case, with his rook on
the seventh, White looks forward to regaining his pawn. 22...Rb8 I
saw Frans Morsch shake his head at this one. Similar to Fritz's Rb1
yesterday, this move is too passive. [ 22...Re7?? 23.Bxc6] 23.Bxc6
bxc6 24.Rxa7 Rb2 'Rooks behind pawns!' By moving his own rook
to the second rank, Black aims to annoy the a-pawn and also keep
the white king at bay. 25.Ra6 Bd2!

Fritz gladly gives up a pawn to exchange bishops. The machine here

sees that the resulting position is a draw.26.Rxc6 White wins if he
could trade rooks, thanks to his passed rook pawn. By allowing the
bishop exchange, however, Kramnik also allows the draw. [ The
masters here were expecting 26.Bd4 Rb4 27.Be5 Re4 28.f4 g5 29.
Rxc6 gxf4 30.gxf4 Bxf4 31.Bxf4 Rxf4 32.Rxe6=] 26...Bxe3 27.fxe3
Kf7
At this point, with his king confined to the first rank, White hasn't the
slightest hope for a win. The extra rook pawn means little, as it is
under easy surveilance by Black's active rook. Of course, Kramnik
has to play on for another 14 moves, just in case...28.a4 Ra2 29.
Rc4 Kf6 30.Kf1 g5 31.h4 h5 32.hxg5+ Kxg5 33.Ke1 e5 34.Kf1
The king can't stray too far from his lone pawns.34...Kf5 35.Rh4
Kg6 36.Re4 Kf5 It's about that time, isn't it? 37.Rh4 Kg5 38.Kg1
Kg6 39.g4 hxg4 40.Rxg4+ Kf5 41.Rc4
Now that clocks have gained an extra hour each, Kramnik is satisfied
that the machine isn't likely to err. 1/2-1/2


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Report Nine: Game 5 Report
Fritz Wins!! Sunday, 13 October
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Muharraq island, and Kramnik and Fritz had been going at it
LCC Links
for two and a half hours upstairs. Everyone was expecting
Fantasy Chess
another long dreary game that would take us up to eight or
Events nine o’clock.
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October Issue
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Books 2002
Fritz team before the game:' What you've got to ask yourself
is...do you feel lucky?
That’s when I was gracefully swept away by the wonderful

Zena Howard (Einstein Chief of Communication, and my
immediate supervisor- incidentally). She wanted another
chess lesson from her faithful press officer. It was with
utmost pleasure I dropped the ten thousand necessary tasks
I was performing in order to be seated across the
chessboard from the enchanting Ms. Howard. New Software
Chess Express

Chess Assistant
Giant Chess Sets
Kramnik before his unlucky game 5
Of course, mine was not the only heart captured by this fair
lady (and, oh, so very fair boss). I felt a pair of envious eyes
follow us into the common hall, where we were to innocently
play with our wooden pieces. As we reviewed the rook’s
move, I sensed his presence lurking in the shadows, waiting
for the right moment to intrude and shatter our rapport. We
were examining the tricky knight’s move when he revealed
himself. Books 2000/1
Kramnik answering questions from children. Photo Mig

Greengard
Christopher Lutz, with his bright and friendly smile, sat down
to join us. He appeared quite fascinated in our chess-101
session. I was a little on-edge to be conducting a chess
lesson with Germany’s number one grandmaster sitting right
next to me. He seemed very interested in our session. Lutz,
who happens to be Kramnik’s second for this match, listened
intently to my words. His eyes would hardly look away from
the board on which my basic illustrative positions were
played. He’d briefly contribute occasionally but, for the most
part, he observed us with a silent, and modest, smile.
‘What is he doing?’ I asked myself, ‘How could he possibly be

enjoying this?!’

Frans Morsch and Vladimir Kramnik after Game 5
I figured he might have been in a reflective mood, where

he’d observe the game from the eyes of a novice. He
definitely wasn’t brushing up on the conditions of castling. It
was most distracting.
He seemed even more engrossed when my precious Zena

and I decided to play an Italian game for practice, going over
the general opening principles. It actually got to be quite fun
with the three of us- a novice, a tournament player, and a
grandmaster - discussing the logic and reasoning behind the
different moves. I was just beginning to reluctantly prepare
a fierce attack against my dear opponent’s weakened castled
position when Aziz, Kramnik’s kickboxing bodyguard
approached us with the surprising news:
"He just lost."
Lutz rushes away with Aziz. Zena and I abruptly end our
game to go tell the world media about today’s extremely
news-worthy result.
After it’s first two games with white, it seems that Fritz
might have decided to send the 1.e4 file of its openings
database to the recycle bin. For the first time so far in the
match, Fritz opened with the queen’s pawn.
The computer’s choice of opening was a successful one. This

is not because Fritz eventually won the game (this was due
to a two-move blunder by Kramnik!), but because Fritz
exhibited its best play so far in the match, never quite letting
go of the (mostly minute) pressure it exerted on Black’s
position.
Another first-time happening is that the queens managed to

survive the beginning of the game, and actually stayed on
the board until the end. This was the most favourable
change Team Fritz could have hoped for.

Kramnik signing autographs. Photo Mig Greengard
Despite the result, Kramnik’s conduct of the opening was

that of a world champion. His handling of the black side of
this QGD resulted in no serious weakness and a practically
equal position. At one point, Kramnik decided not to enter a
variation which forces the queen trade (move 12- see game
below), probably because he’d assessed White’s resulting
position as being too advantageous. The champ opted for
safe exchanges and simplification, obviously aiming for a
draw.
Fritz Team after Game 5. Photo Mig Greengard
It was only in the endgame when Kramnik was forced to lose

a pawn. He then had to reckon with the possibility of
defending an objectively-drawn but very difficult queen and
pawn endgame; with 4 vs. 3 pawns on the kingside. He later
claimed that defending such an endgame would require an
adjournment- or perhaps a double adjournment- and much
mental energy to play (and for a draw, at that). It was
perhaps the thought of this daunting scenario which caused
him to blunder away his knight, with 15 minutes left on his
clock.

The losing move
At the following press conference, Vlad claimed to have had

seen that 34. ..Qc4 loses the knight to 35. Ne7+ and that he
had moved on to examine other candidate moves only to
return to 34…Qc4, forgetting the reason he’d dismissed it.
Personally, as a mortal chessplayer, I find this somewhat
encouraging. The fact that even a player the like of Kramnik
would fall into the “I-saw-it-and-then-forgot" type of
oversight. Of course, after this fatal error, Kramnik resigned.
Deep Fritz - Kramnik, Vladimir [D57]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 Having faced

accusations of playing too many Kasparov openings, Deep
Fritz adopts a Karpov favourite today. 5...h6 6.Bh4 0-0 7.
e3 Ne4 The Lasker variation 8.Bxe7 Qxe7 9.cxd5 Nxc3 10.
bxc3 exd5 11.Qb3 Rd8 probably better than 11...c6, which
restricts both of Black's minor pieces. 12.c4 dxc4 Instead of
this, the GM team of commentators were examining what
looks like a forced queen exchange: [ 12...Nc6 13.cxd5 Qb4
+] 13.Bxc4 Nc6 14.Be2
This avoids the possibility of losing a tempo and the capture

of White's good bishop after 14...Na5. 14...b6 15.0-0 Bb7
16.Rfc1 Rac8

Preparing for an eventual ...c5 pawn break to butt heads

with White's rock-solid d-pawn. 17.Qa4 Na5 18.Rc3 c5 19.
Rac1 cxd4 20.Nxd4 Rxc3 21.Rxc3 Rc8 22.Rxc8+ Bxc8
Entering this endgame, Black's ace-in-the-hole is his

queenside pawn majority. This could materialize into a
dreaded distant passed pawn, but only if Black trades off the
pieces first! Currently, White's knight is powerfully
centralised while the poor Black winny on a5 might as well
be off the board. 23.h3 g6 [ 23...Bd7 24.Qc2 Qd6 enabling
25...Nc6 and preventing 25. Qc7 25.Qe4 Nc6 26.Bd3 Nxd4??
27.Qa8+! (Pein).] 24.Bf3 Bd7 25.Qc2 Qc5 26.Qe4 Qc1+
27.Kh2 Qc7+
I suspect the purpose behind the queen checks was to help

reach the time control. 28.g3 Nc4 the knight finally joins
the battle. 29.Be2! Excellent maneuvering by Fritz! It rightly
anticipates the advance of Black's queenside pawns,
beginning with 29...b5 to support the knight, but then 30.
a4! a6 31. Qa8+ nails it. 29...Ne5

At this point, most humans- including the grandmasters

here- would probably kick the knight with 30. f4. According
to Frans Morsch, this move was what the machine was
considering as its best option for a while, until it happened
upon 30.Bb5! Bxb5 31.Nxb5 Qc5 Black cannot hold on to
his a-pawn. 32.Nxa7 Qa5 33.Kg2 Qxa2 34.Nc8
In this position, Kramnik played the worst move of his world

championship career. 34...Qc4?? 35.Ne7+ 1-0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------


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Report Ten: Game 6 Report
"Rock’n’Roll Chess": Are you there Tal? It’s me, Kramnik.
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October Issue
Out Now
The day after suffering his first loss in Game 5, Kramnik
decided to make a special appearance at the children’s simul
given by GM Julian Hodgson here at the match venue. The
children were thrilled to meet the world champion, and
Kramnik himself seemed happy to be there. He signed
autographs and answered their questions, which he said
were more interesting than the ones asked by the adult
journalists:
Q: Do you ever get tired of chess?
A: Not so much, but it’s like eating rich and delicious Books 2002
food; if you ate it everyday, you would still get tired of
it.
New Software
Chess Express
GM Julian "Jules" Hodgson giving a simultaneous, photo

courtesy of Mig Greengard
Playing a gruelling world-class match against a faceless

computer program, with a million dollars at stake, could
understandably make one forget the ‘human’ element of
chess, and the reason why we choose to spend countless
hours staring at 64 squares.

Chess Assistant
Giant Chess Sets
Kramnik answering questions from children. Photo Mig

Greengard
After meeting the kids, he seemed moved. He was beaming.
"They helped me remember why I do this, to put it all in

perspective."
Books 2000/1
‘The champ signing T-shirts’ photo courtesy of Mig

Greengard
Our man was revitalized. This may partially explain his wild
inspiration to play a bloody sacrificial attack against the
computer’s king in round 6, producing the most gripping,
hair-raising game of the match. Had he not lost, due to a
"miracle" defensive move for the computer, Kramnik would
have called it "the most brilliant game of my life".
Sacrificing a piece against a computer with no forced win in

sight is, in general, a bad idea. As has been repeated time
and again, analysis of long complex variations is the
computer’s forte. When facing a sharp, double-edged
position with many complex tactical variations, a good
computer program will usually find the best continuation.
Free of ego and psychological pressure, Deep Fritz would
simply crank out the possible variations (and sub-variations)
at monster speed, give each a quantitive assessment, and
then make its choice accordingly- regardless of the overall
result.
Of course, Kramnik knows this. So why would he take such a

serious risk against Deep Fritz when he had just lost the
previous game? Meeting some pre-teen fans the previous
day probably did provide a boost to his psyche, but did it
inspire him to invoke the spirit of the great Mikhail Tal to
give him some ideas during the game?

Kramnik and Frans Morsch at the post-game press

conference. Photo Mig Greengard
In a sense, it did. When asked about the brilliant-but-insane

19.Nxf7!?, he said, with a smile (almost apologetically):
"It was so beautiful I couldn’t force myself not to play it. Of

course, the result is important. I recognize that this is an
important match, but the more I looked at this move..."
He looked down and shook his head, "All these beautiful

variations - have not seen such rich, beautiful variations in
all my life. I just couldn’t force myself not to play it. "
He went on to say:
"Despite the result, I don’t feel like I fully lost. I am pleased

that I played Nxf7 because of the beauty, and I would have
even won the game if it wasn’t for this miracle defence, Bh4.
If it wasn’t for this move, then this would have been the
most brilliant game of my life."
I would claim that this is one his most brilliant games,

regardless of the result.
"I played like a man," he said to Danny King, and he did.
Fritz opening specialist, Alex Kure, analyzing the game with

GMs Danny King and Julian Hodgson. Photo Mig Greengard
During this wild Queen’s Indian encounter, everybody in the

media center was in a frenzy. Grandmasters, chess
journalists and amateurs were all playing out the different
possible variations. Three different computers had Fritz
examining various moves. Julian Hodgson couldn’t sit still.
Going back and for The game, with all its unplayed
variations, would take days to analyze correctly. However,

36 hours later, that notoriously silly seeker-of-truth, Mig

Greengard (avec computer), seems to have worked out the
final position- in which Kramnik resigned- as a practical
draw!
As I was completing the previous paragraph, GM Christopher

Lutz (Kramnik’s second) approached me with the news that
Frederic Friedel (Chessbase co-founder/Computer Chess
godfather) knocked on Lutz’s hotel room door last night to
gently break it to him that his employer resigned in a drawn
position. Fred also suggested that he convey the message to
Kramnik!
Apparently, both Lutz and IM Tigran Nalbandian (Kramnik’s

other second) decided to keep that information away from
the boss, in fear that it might ruin his mental preparation for
the penultimate game. However, they also fear that Vladimir
might hear the jolting news from someone else (it’s all
anybody’s talking about in the media center), and come to
them for an explanation!
They plan to inform him of his wasted half-point tonight,

hopefully after a game 7 win. Here’s the spine-tingling game
6:
Kramnik,V - DEEP FRITZ [E15]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 Fritz decides on the Queen's

Indian Defence. 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 c6
8.Bc3 Forget the whole 'don't-move-the-same-piece-twice'
advice here. The dance of bishops is considered theory. 8...
d5 9.Ne5 Nfd7 10.Nxd7 Nxd7 11.Nd2 0-0 12.0-0 Rc8
13.a4 Black's next move prepares to hit the d4-pawn with ...
c5. 13...Bf6 [ if immediately 13...c5 then 14.cxd5 (14.a5
b5) 14...exd5 15.Bxd5 cxd4 16.Bxd4 Nb8 17.e4 Bxf1 18.
Nxf1 Nc6] 14.e4 c5 15.exd5 (15.e5? cxd4) 15...cxd4 So
far, so book. 16.Bb4 Re8 17.Ne4 Kramnik spent 42
minutes before making this move. It leads to some
spectacular play. 17...exd5 18.Nd6 dxc4 Deep Fritz was
anticipating this and was willing to sacrifice the exchange for
a super-strong d-pawn, but Kramnik had other ideas... 19.
Nxf7!?
Spectacular! Before this move was played Deep Fritz was

expecting 19. Bd5! and if 19...Ne5 20. f4! with a clear
advantage to White. Here's the actual Deep Fritz analysis:
19.Bd5 Nc5 [ 19...Ne5 20.f4 Nd3 21.Bxf7+ Kf8 ( 21...Kh8 22.
Bxe8 ) 22.Qh5 Nxb4 23.Bxe8 ] 20.Bxf7+ Kf8 21.Bxe8 Qxd6
22.Bb5 Bxb5 23.axb5+/- With White's actual move, we're
presented with the most fascinating king hunt. 19...Kxf7 20.
Bd5+ Kg6 21.Qg4+ Bg5 22.Be4+ [ very interesting was
22.f4 h5! 23.Bf7+ Kxf7 24.fxg5+ Kg8 25.Qxh5 threatening
g6 and then Qh7 mate, but after 25...Ne5 26.g6 Nxg6 27.
Qxg6 Qd7 seems to hold for Black.] 22...Rxe4 Forced if
Black wants to avoid a draw by repetition. 23.Qxe4+ Kh6
[ 23...Kf7 24.Qd5+ Kg6 25.Qe4+ with the choice between
perpetual check or the text move] 24.h4 Bf6 25.Bd2+ g5
26.hxg5+ Here, the Deep one took a deep think before
committing to 26...Bxg5 27.Qh4+

At the time of playing 19.Nxf7, Kramnik had intended 27.Qe6

+ here, but then saw 27...Nf6 28. Qh3+ Kg6! 29. f4 Bh6 30.
f5+ Kf7 and dismissed it for the text move (he was under
time pressure). It turns out that the more complicated 27.
Qe6+ would have resulted in better winning chances for
White. Following is the actual analysis done by the
commentary team, Deep Fritz, and Kramnik himself, enjoy:
[ 27.Qe6+ Nf6 28.Qh3+ ( 28.f4 Bh4!!
The Move that prevented this game from being the brilliant
jewel in Kramnik's crown. The bishop is sacrificed in order to
clear open the file leading to White's king. This is also why
White avoided Qe6+.) 28...Kg6! Kramnik showed that this
move gives back the piece but wins for Black- see very
bottom of this analysis. ( 28...Nh5 29.f4 Bh4! 30.bxc4 ( 30.
g4 Ng3 ( 30...Kg7 31.bxc4) 31.f5+ Kg7 32.f6+ Bxf6 ( 32...
Kh8 33.Qxh4 Ne2+ ( 33...Nxf1 34.Rxf1) 34.Kh2 cxb3 ( 34...
c3? 35.Bf4 Qf8 ( 35...Nxf4 36.Rxf4) 36.f7 Nxf4 37.Rxf4) 35.
Qh6 Qc7+ ( 35...Qf8 36.f7) 36.Bf4 Qf7) 33.Qh6+ Kh8 34.
Rxf6) 30...Nxg3 31.Be1 Nxf1 32.Bxh4 Qg8+ 33.Bg5+ Kg7
34.Re1! Rc7 ( 34...Ne3 35.Qd7+ Kh8 36.Qxd4+ Qg7 37.Qxg7
+ ( 37.Qxe3) 37...Kxg7 38.Rxe3 Rxc4 39.Re7+ Kg6 40.Rxa7
Rxa4 41.Bd8=) 35.Qh6+ Kh8 36.Kxf1 Qxc4+ 37.Kg1 Qf7=
Hodgson) 29.f4 Bh6 30.f5+ Kf7-+ Kramnik]
27...Kg6 28.Qe4+ Kg7 Black saves the king and keeps the
piece, but the game isn't over yet. 29.Bxg5 Qxg5 30.Rfe1
cxb3 31.Qxd4+ Nf6 32.a5 [ if 32.Re7+ then 32...Kg6]
32...Qd5?! With his passed b-pawn 2 squares away from
promotion, it is (finally) favourable for Fritz to trade queens.
33.Qxd5 Nxd5 34.axb6 axb6 0-1
Final Position. Should White Resign?
Similar to Kasparov's second game against Deep Blue in

1997, Kramnik resigned in what was later suspected to be a
drawn position, at least practically against the computer. If
there exists a win for Black here, then it requires very subtle
understanding of this endgame position, an understanding
that the Fritz team doubts the computer to possess.
Kramnik should play: 35.Rxa6 b2 36.Ra7+ Kg6 ( 36...Kf8

Here, White is able to sacrifice a rook for both b-pawns.

Leaving R+N vs. R endgame. The h-pawn seems harmless.
This still might be Black's best chance! 37.Rd7 Nc3 ( 37...
Rc1 transposes to mainline) 38.Rd2 b1Q 39.Rxb1 Nxb1 40.
Rb2 Nc3 41.Rxb6 with very difficult winning chances for
Black. Practically, it should be a draw whether played by a
human or a computer.) 37.Rd7 Rc1 38.Rd6+!
The idea is, in order to avoid perpetual checks the knight is

forced to block the check. 38...Nf6 ( 38...Kf7 39.Rd7+ Kf8
40.Rd8+ Kf7 41.Rd7+ Kf6 42.Rd6+ Kg7 43.Rd7+ Kg6 ...
etc.) 39.Rdd1 b1Q ( 39...Rc2 40.Kg2 Ng4 41.Kf3 h5 42.Re2
draw) 40.Rxc1 Qxc1 41.Rxc1 with a forced draw!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------


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Report Eleven: Game 7 Report
Game 7: Dreary Draw
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October Issue
Out Now
Despite a closed Queen’s Indian position in which the

average computer would not usually feel at home, the
champ failed to utilize his positional prowess to pull off a
point against the program. Deep Fritz actually ended up
giving Tall Kramnik a Short Run for his Big Money. Books 2002
Initially, the Kramnik team were licking their lips at the

display screens while the Fritz team were anticipating
Kramnik to regain his lead. With pawns locked, Kramnik was
shifting his pieces behind the ranks, preparing to
strategically outwit the computer.
After much clumsy maneuvering of its own, Fritz came upon

24.f4, forcing Kramnik’s hand. This eventually led to an
equal position, where both sides seemed content with a
draw. After a little repetition, a draw was agreed upon after
28 moves. This leaves the score still tied at 3.5-3.5, with the New Software
final game being the decisive one.
Chess Express

Kramnik meets Bahrain's only titled player, FM Zeyad Janahi
Personally, I would be rooting for my fellow human to win

the match and avenge Kasparov’s loss, but I found out that
if Deep Fritz wins, or draws, then Chessbase will donate their
entire prize money to help children’s chess in Europe. I’m
assuming that Kramnik will simply pocket his prize (he gets
half-a-million if he loses!).
Therefore, I don’t care who wins, just as long as somebody Chess Assistant
does. I’d hate to see another draw. A decisive result with
some great chess behind would be a perfect end to this great
event.
Giant Chess Sets
Books 2000/1
Kramnik and Einstein's Zena Howard find a stray camel
Here’s game 7:
Deep Fritz - Kramnik, Vladimir [E19]

Brains in Bahrain MyTown (7), 19.10.2002
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 Kramnik thinks he'll try the

black side of the Queen's Indian today. 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2
Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Nc3 Ne4 Common theme in the Nimzo/
Queen's Indian complex; Black aims to give White doubled
pawns on the c-file. 8.Qc2 meets the threat and creates
another. 8...Nxc3 9.Qxc3 c5
Such a central pawn thrust, contesting the d4-pawn, is

almost always crucial for Black in Queen's pawn openings.10.
Rd1 d6 11.b3 Bf6 pinning 12.Bb2 Qe7 13.Qc2 unpinning
13...Nc6 14.e4 e5 15.d5 Nd4 16.Bxd4 cxd4

Here, Fritz creator Frans Morsch was worried. With this sort
of closed position, the program cannot capitalize on its
phenomenal tactical abilities and Kramnik has the
opportunity to implement his superior strategic knowledge.
The black pawn on d4 is strong. Not only because it's passed
(with all the locked pawns around it, it's hard to imagine it
advancing to queen), but also because it's solidly placed in
the heart of White's camp, and hinders the White pieces. 17.
Bh3 The king's bishop sees the light of day. Fritz played this
instantly. According to Alex Kure, the man in charge of the
program's openings, Deep Fritz has roughly 1.9 million
opening positions in its database, from 88,000 master
games, plus a lot of analysis that's never been played
before. All this amounts to about 150 megabytes on the hard
drive. 17...g6 18.a4 White intends 19.a5 to open the file for
his major pieces. 18...a5 The backward b6-pawn is actually
quite safe from harm, thanks to the locked pawn structure.
19.Rab1 Ba6
20.Re1? Useless. Much more to the point was 20. b4,

opening things up on the queenside. 20...Kh8 Black takes
his time to place all his pieces in preparation for a future
central pawn break with ...f5. 21.Kg2? These time-wasting
moves are a great example of a computer's inability to
handle such postions. 21...Bg7 22.Qd3 Rae8 23.Nd2 Bh6
24.f4!

The computer beats him to it! This makes the champ's

pieces sweat for a bit, but leads to equality and, as Mig
Greengard would put it, a "high chicken factor" draw in four
more moves.24...Qc7 25.Rf1 Kg8 26.Rbe1 Qd8 27.Kg1
Bb7 28.Re2 Ba6
1/2-1/2
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October Issue
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Nobody wanted to see it, but most who were ‘in the
know’were expecting it. The final game of the Kramnik-Deep
Fritz match resulted in an eventless 21-move draw, which
leaves the final score tied at 4-4.
Books 2002
New Software
There have been some uninformed claims of a "rigged"

match. I think that an approximate measurement of the
amount of sweat excreted from Kramnik’s forehead during
each game in that arctically air-conditioned room would very
much dismiss these claims. People have a uncanny ability to
explain undesirable events to suit their fancy.
Chess Express

Chess Assistant
Giant Chess Sets

Kramnik Team (l-r): Kramnik's physical therapist Valery
Krylov, Kramnik's second GM Christopher Lutz, Kramnik, his
agent Carsten Hensel, his bodyguard Arfo Aziz, and second
IM Tigran Nalbandian.
People wanted to see the "human race" win. What most

don’t know is that any money won by Deep Fritz completely
goes to a European trust fund to provide more chess to
children, not a penny to the programmers or the company.
For all I know, Kramnik is saving up for his own Airbus. In
which outcome does the human race end up truly winning?
Books 2000/1
In any case, I honestly wasn’t rooting for either side. I just
wanted to see a well-fought final game, but that’s shows my
naivete. There’s always Hyderabad…
After the final game, in which he played White, Kramnik

confessed that he had not been prepared for the specific
variation of the orthodox Queen’s Gambit Declined chosen by
Fritz. He also said that the move order used had tricked him
somewhat.
Unlike most top-level GM encounters, where a match forms

the battleground for theoretical debate, each game of this
Man vs. Machine encounter started out with a different
opening.
Shortly before the end of the match.
Kramnik, Vladimir - Deep Fritz [D68]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 Entering the Slav

Defence, only to be transposed into something else in a few
moves. 5.Bg5 Be7 Black avoids the nebulous strategic
realms of the Slav, in which Kramnik happens to be a leading
expert. Instead the Fritzer transposes back into the Queen's
Gambit Declined. 6.e3 0-0 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.0-0 dxc4 The
immortal Jose Raul Capablanca studied the position for a
long time before finding this move in the QGD Orthodox
variation. The idea is, due to his cramped (but sound)

position, Black forces a series of exchanges that virtually

neutralizes White's spacial domination. 9.Bxc4 Nd5 The
dark-squared bishops must be exchanged. 10.Bxe7 Qxe7
11.Rc1 Nxc3 12.Rxc3 Recapturing with the rook saves a
tempo. The alternative recapture 12.bxc3 isolates the a-
pawn, and the d4-pawn would still be vulnerable to the
counter-thrusts ...e5 and ...c5. 12...e5 With this, White
must either exchange his pawn on d4 or isolate it. 13.Bb3
exd4 14.exd4 Nf6 15.Re1 Qd6 16.h3 prevents ..,Bg4,
obviously. 16...Bf5
The active rooks yield White some more activity, but his
isolated d4-pawn could prove to be a burden later on. In
return for slightly less active pieces, Black has no inherent
weakness in his position. With a beautifully sound pawn
structure, it would be hard for Kramnik to find a way to win
out of this final game of the match. 17.Rce3 Rae8 The
doubled rooks must not be allowed entry. 18.Re5 Bg6 19.
a3 Probably with no purpose other than to provoke the
computer into aggressively advancing, and thereby
weakening, its queenside pawns. 19...Qd8 20.Rxe8 Nxe8
21.Qd2
1/2-1/2
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Brains in Bahrain

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LCC Home Brains in Bahrain Game 1

Malcolm Pein Game 1 Report

Deep Fritz running on a Compaq 8 Processor.Photo Mig Greengard

DEEP FRITZ - Kramnik,V (2789) [C67]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 I suppose this opening was no

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http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/event/brainb02/game1.html (2 of 3)16/07/05 20:07:11

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LCC Home Brains in Bahrain Game 2

Aziz. Photo Mig Greengard

The one problem I found was that Frederic Friedel of

Blinded by the light

http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/event/brainb02/game2.html (1 of 5)16/07/05 20:07:21

Perhaps it is just as well I am leaving. This Match Director

Giant Chess Sets

Carsten Hensel. Photo Mig Greengard

There was grumblings of discontent so I consulted Carsten

Do not adjust your sets

‘‘A bad day’ was how Fritz programmer Matthias

There were several phases to the game as Deep Fritz played

Deep Fritz accepted the Queen’s Gambit, which is a typical

Then came another very cunning anti computer move 9.Kf1!

http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/event/brainb02/game2.html (2 of 5)16/07/05 20:07:21

…b5 a shade too quickly for my liking. However this was

Kramnik played the slightly odd 12.Nb3 and Fritz calmly

I was watching Fritz’s thoughts emerging on the screen in

It thought that Kramnik had no better plan than to move his

But how to put the ‘little devil’ away?

Deep Fritz then played incredibly well to stave off immediate

For two years Kramnik must have been wondering whether

It is not easy for a computer to defend passively and with

The match is being organised by the General Organisation of

Kramnik,V - Deep Fritz [D27]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 Computers like to open files but this is

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What a clever idea to get the computer out of book and it

Fritz just thought Kramnik had to play 13.Nbd2 now when it

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and pawn endgame 31...Kf6 32.Rxc4 Rxc6 33.Be7+ Kxe7

57...Rxd5 58.exd5 Kd6 59.b4 Kxd5 60.bxa5 f5 61.a6 Kc6 62.

http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/event/brainb02/game2.html (5 of 5)16/07/05 20:07:21

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LCC Home Brains in Bahrain Game 3

Carsten Hensel: Rooting for the champ (photo courtesy of

"This is great! When he is like this (i.e. in this form), no one

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Giant Chess Sets

His manager wasn’t the only person who was thrilled at

"This is Kramnik at his best. It is this sort of precise

Vladimir Kramnik - settling himself before the start of game

At the post-game press conference, Kramnik himself was

"One can never play ‘perfect chess’, but I think I played

He later added, "If the computer is to win, it has to be

http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/event/brainb02/game3.html (2 of 5)16/07/05 20:07:30

Again, today’s game saw an early exchange of queens. This

Deep Fritz - Kramnik, Vladimir [C45]