How Computer Chess Changed Programming
It changed how we program and think about the human brain
1/53
2/53
3/53
4/53
5/53
6/53
7/53
8/53
9/53
10/53
11/53
In the end we didn’t really solve it by quote, unquote "digging into the essence of human intelligence." Photo: IBM
12/53
We did it by, essentially, engineering. Photo: IBM
13/53
14/53
15/53
16/53
17/53
18/53
When we played against Kasparov, brute force actually pushes through. But in reality, if you look deeper there are a lot of selective elements in there. Photo: Jeff Christensen/Reuters
![<b>Deep Blue at the time we were playing against Kasparov [was] essentially two big box[es]...</b>](/ns/slideshows/11W_AudioSS_Chess1/fullscreen/15_kathywi_503216.jpg)
19/53
Deep Blue at the time we were playing against Kasparov [was] essentially two big box[es]... Photo: Kathy Willens/AP Photo
20/53
...each one the size of a large refrigerator—a little bit taller than Kasparov, so Kasparov can fit in. Photo: James the photographer/Flickr
![<b>It had 30 work stations in that box. Thirty in each box, and there were two big box[es], so…</b>](/ns/slideshows/11W_AudioSS_Chess1/fullscreen/17_30desktopmachines.jpg)
21/53
It had 30 work stations in that box. Thirty in each box, and there were two big box[es], so… Photo: Gaby Jalbert/iStockphoto
22/53
...the total of 60, basically, of what’s equivalent to today’s desktop machine. Photo: Gaby Jalbert/iStockphoto
23/53
Each of these so-called workstations, back in those days, has... Photo: Gaby Jalbert/iStockphoto
24/53
...one card that has eight chips on it. Each chip essentially... Photo: IBM
![<b>[With] today’s technology, you can do the whole Deep Blue...</b>](/ns/slideshows/11W_AudioSS_Chess1/fullscreen/553_21_rs_chess_computer.jpg)
26/53
[With] today’s technology, you can do the whole Deep Blue... Photo: Model Citizen/Wikimedia Commons
27/53
...on a single chip. Photo: Leonid Sadofiev/iStockphoto
28/53
29/53
There was a cartoon showing that Kasparov was losing... Illustration: Mickey Hackman
30/53
...and he found a way to... Illustration: Mickey Hackman
31/53
...beat Deep Blue by kicking... Illustration: Mickey Hackman
32/53
...the wire. Illustration: Mickey Hackman
33/53
34/53
35/53
Kasparov is a person... Illustration: Mickey Hackman
36/53
...an intelligent person. Illustration: Mickey Hackman
37/53
Given the situation, he finds another way to win. Illustration: Mickey Hackman
38/53
Deep Blue, meanwhile, is just a tool. It just knows... Illustration: Mickey Hackman
39/53
...one thing. It did that one thing really well. Illustration: Mickey Hackman
40/53
Get the wire kicked off and it just unplugs. Illustration: Mickey Hackman
41/53
No power. Boom. Illustration: Mickey Hackman
42/53
![<b>For artificial intelligence, one key lesson is sometimes you don’t necessarily have to follow what humans [do]. It’s sometimes easy to do what computers are good at.</b>](/ns/slideshows/11W_AudioSS_Chess1/fullscreen/36_istockp_9large.jpg)
43/53
For artificial intelligence, one key lesson is sometimes you don’t necessarily have to follow what humans [do]. It’s sometimes easy to do what computers are good at. Illustration: Felix Möckel/iStockphoto
44/53
It’s all a matter of imagination. Illustration: Guido Vrola/iStockphoto
45/53
46/53
47/53
48/53
49/53
50/53
51/53
52/53
53/53
When Deep Blue beat Garry Kasparov in 1997, it was a shock to most—but not to those who had closely watched the development of chess computers over the previous 50 years. IEEE Spectrum talked to one of Deep Blue’s creators, Feng-Hsiung Hsu, and AI specialist and computer-chess historian Monty Newborn about the special place of chess computers in the history of computer programming and their role in our understanding of the human brain.
Comments