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Kasparov draws series with 'X3D Fritz'

New York: Chess grandmaster Gary Kasparov drew the final game of his man-versus-machine showdown with virtual reality supercomputer "X3D Fritz," leaving the match and honours shared at two points apiece.

Kasparov had entered the game under intense pressure with "X3D Fritz" having the advantage of the white pieces and looking to secure a famous victory over the chess legend.

However, Kasparov played with relaxed determination to force a draw on the 27th move of the game yesterday.

It was the 40-year-old Russian grandmaster's third series against a computer. He lost to IBM's Deep Blue in 1997 and tied with Deep Junior in February this year.

After the match, a smiling Kasparov said he had been happy with his performances against both X3D Fritz and Deep Junior, which resulted in only two losses out of a total 10 games.

"I think the human player was dominant," Kasparov said.

"Both losses resulted from terrible, terrible blunders that were due to tremendous pressure. I was not outplayed by the computers and I kept a steady initiative throughout both matches," he said.

"It is still up me to make the difference. If I don't make a terrible blunder, I should win or at least definitely not lose."



source-November 19, 2003