Deep Blue Establishes Historic Landmark

Abstract

On May 11, 1997, IBM’s Deep Blue stunned the world when it defeated the best human chess player – possibly the best human chess player ever! – on planet Earth, Garry Kasparov, in the final game of their six-game Rematch, thereby winning the match by a 3.5–2.5 score. The victory gave Deep Blue the right to call itself the world’s best chess player. But was the claim legitimate? Was Deep Blue really better than Kasparov? Was the victory a one-time fluke? Would Kasparov – or one of his kind – set the record straight in the coming months or years? We’ll see in the following chapters. But first, let’s review Deep Blue’s two matches with Kasparov beginning with its victory in the Rematch.