If you want information on any subject under the sun, you don't have to consult encyclopaedias any more; just Google it! What an amazing facility computers have become, revolutionising almost every aspect of our lives. It seems, however, that no other activity has benefited more significantly than the sport of chess, since computers provide not only a comprehensive history of every phase of the game but also an incomparable tool for enhancing the skill of players. In fact, computers have changed virtually every facet of the royal game, except, of course, its basic structure. For example, you no longer have to be born in Russia or Europe or, to a lesser extent, the United States to become a really strong player. The specialist guidance and training infrastructure traditionally provided in these countries have been comprehensively transferred to computer programmes and are now readily accessible to all players almost anywhere in the world. As world champion Viswanathan Anand says: "With today's databases everybody has a wealth of information available.
Previously, this only applied to a minority, players with the appropriate networks, for instance in the Soviet Union. This development has led to a democratic broadening of knowledge and the opportunity to access ideas far more quickly." This explosion of information, of course, applies to most other areas of life as well. "In addition," the world champion adds, "chess playing computers have become so strong that you can analyse all phases of the game more extensively, deeper and more accurately. All these factors have changed the game." As a result, Anand notes, chess has become more dynamic, piece play has become more effective. The ability to defend oneself in bad positions or against king attacks has increased dramatically. General principles are moving more and more into the background; calculating move sequences has become more important.
Anand expresses these views in a lengthy full-page interview with Hamburg's largest daily, Hamburger Abendblall, revealing how computers have influenced his approach to the game. The revelations of the world chess champion should make instructive reading for all aspiring players, particularly our talented youngsters. He says: "Computers have become more critical in my decisions and they don't allow myself to be guided by a few general strategies. I look for special moves, for exceptions to the generally accepted principles. The exceptions, of course, have their own logic, but we have not been able to understand it so far. "With growing understanding we are often confronted with moves we would have previously rejected, out of general considerations.
Viswanathan Anand, world chess champion
This is the merit of the computer - they point to many new and unusual ideas. People are afraid to think out of the ordinary; computers force you to do so. But we must be the pilot; the computer must not be allowed into the cockpit." Does the 41-year-old champion think about quitting? No, at least not in the immediate future. He says: "I will not go on playing tournaments until the age of 60 or 70 but I will not suddenly stop like Garry Kasparov did five years ago. It will be a longer process. Right now I feel physically and mentally fresh enough to compete at the highest level, at least for a couple of more years."
In his review of Diego Rasskin-Gutman's book, Chess Metaphors: Artificial Intelligence and the Human Mind, former world champion Garry Kasparov dramatically indicates the growth in strength of computer chess playing programmes. In Hamburg in 1985, he took on 32 different chess computers, including all the top models, in a simultaneous exhibition and, after five hours of play, he defeated them all. In one difficult game, he found a way to trick the machine with a sacrifice it should have refused. Eleven years later, he narrowly defeated the supercomputer Deep Blue in a match. Then in 1997, after IBM had redoubled its efforts and doubled Deep Blue's processing power, he lost the match in an event that made headlines around the world.
"The result," Kasparov recalls, "was met with astonishment and grief by those who took it as a symbol of mankind's submission before the almighty computer. ("The Brain's Last Stand" read the Newsweek headline). Others shrugged their shoulders, surprised that humans could still compete at all against the enormous calculating power that, by 1997, sat on just about every desk in the first world." It seems to DR that computers have now become an indispensable tool for chess players aspiring to reach the top of the sport. How times have changed! When, somewhere in the distant past, DR entertained thoughts of becoming a strong chess player, finding a book on the game was a precious thing. Now, where is this explosion of information technology leading us? Paradoxically enough, as the science advances, man's moral and ethical constitution seems to be steadily crumbling. In any case, DR, a befuddled septuagenarian, does not expect to be around to witness the endgame.
