Did IBM cheat in the Deep Blue Rematch with Kasparov?

Answer 1

No I don't think there was any cheating at all, actually.


I think people that jump on the fact deep blue played far better in the second match are very naive and have not played very many computer matches.

I've personally seen, for example, an extremely weak engine like Natwarlal (2350) beat one of the strongest engines in the world like Spike (2800). It's amazing how a computer can completely miss a critical move, or in some cases, see a move you wouldn't have even considered. That and computers don't always play consistantly; computers are almost as unpredictable as human players. They can play a shitty game one game and then the next player a winning game.

And most of the time, in the computers case it only takes one major move you havn't considered to completely floor you. Once the computer can open an advantage and start laying out lines it is very comfortable with playing, the human player cannot make a comeback.

This is exactly what happened to Kasparov. He got too overconfident and didn't think the computer was smart enough to see the move; the computer was playing a line it was very confortable with and played Kasparov like a champ.


I think Kasparov just didn't want to admit to the fact he had been beaten by a machine. He lost. The last game was a disgrace; I don't care if he didn't want to play the match, he sucked and got beat. I could have beaten Kasparov with those crappy lines he played. The same with the second match; he lost and this cheating stuff is just a bunch of lame excuses for losing.



Computers are just better than humans at chess. Let's face it; they're designed to beat us. Fritz recently kicked Kramnik's butt...and Rybka can beat Fritz up pretty bad. Rybka would cut up any human player like a silly noob.

Answer 2

Dont believe everything you see in a documentary.
They cheated but not in the way the previous person thinks. Big Blue is a computer and capable of making millions of computations in a second. There are only so many possible moves and results in a chess game (i.e. it isnt infinite) so it isnt complicated to guess what someone is doing, even a grand master.
The truth is that an average human couldnt beat a grand master let alone one as good as Kasparov so having a human check the moves would have been pointless. What I think they did do is calculate Kasparov's likely strategies into the program before the match took place, probably basing it on the first match up.

Answer 3

YES they cheated. There is clear evidence in the documentary "Game Over". IBM had a human between Deep Blue to look over its moves and correct errors. The Deep Blue / Kasparov match was the biggest farce in the history of chess.

Answer 4

reach has a point but...
they DID cheat kasparov and here's how:
the computer was actually programmed AHEAD OF TIME to beat all of kasparov's usual stratregies
so it was PROGRAMMED to beat HIM SPECIFICALLY
so Deep Blue wasnt playing him on a fair level
he was cheated
you can get this info by downloading chessmentor
at www.chess.com its free
after downloading it search through the 75 free games it has to teach you about chess
one of them is "Deep Blue vs Kasparov"
there you will find the information i gave