| World Chess Challenge 2006 Kramnik vs. Deep Fritz |
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November 25 to December 05, 2006
The duel World Chess Challenge 2006 added a new chapter to the long history of thrilling chess duels between human and artificial intelligence. The big question was: Does a human player – after so many years of technological advances – still have the strategic skills to hold his own against the machine? Deep Fritz, who could compute around eight to ten million positions a second, was the clear favourite. On November 25, 15.00 pm., the duel started with a full house in the Federal Art Hall: Dr. Werner Müller, Chairman of the Board of Management at RAG Aktiengesellschaft, and Peer Steinbrück made the ceremonial first move in presence of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, President of the World Chess Federation, FIDE. Kramnik kept pressure on the computer and dominated the entire match. The two opponents battled down to the last pawn. At the end, the computer managed to gain the half point. In the second match the World Champion from Russia also controlled the strategic position beautifully, developing advantages through precise playing. But after that, in the 34th move, Kramnik made a disastrous mistake – allowing the computer to checkmate him and immediately end the game. But Kramnik recovered quickly from this error and showed strength in the following third game. This ended in a draw, as well as the games number four and five. In the sixth and last game Kramnik tried everything to win and equalize the match. With the Sicilian Defense he played a risky move – but one that held out the promise for a win. But during the end game, Kramnik had no way to save himself from defeat. The duel ended with four draws and two wins for Deep Fritz, but most chess experts said, that Kramnik showed a very good performance and that he is still able to keep up with the machine.
The presentation and the response in media In the Federal Art Hall audience watched the chess duel up close in an attractive setting. The games have been projected onto a large screen and were accompanied by live commentaries provided over headphones by professional commentators. The games and commentaries were also broadcast live on the internet. More than ten million visitors world-wide watched the games via the official website and other websites as well.
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