Commentary for black move 1: You may know that that's the group that invented the disk drive, the Dheim RAM, relational database, RISC architecture. The list goes on and on. Five Nobel prizes, numerous national medals for technology and science. And over the last eight years, some of the best of that technical talent has been focusing on a problem that's as old as computer science: The problem of computer chess. Actually, computer chess goes back to 1833. The first chess schematics were built -- were pulled together by a guy by the name of Babbage in that year, never constructed the machine, but believed he could build something that would be able to play chess versus a human being. And in 1915, the first Torry's built the first chess computer and that chess computer could actually do a rudimentary endgame, a rook and a king vs. A king. The first real chess computer was built actually by one of the fathers of modern information theory, Claude Shannon. And we actually have that computer here. It was built in 1949. It could do a rudimentary endgame. Actually, the technology, as you might guess, pales compared to what we have available today. What we're talking about today and thinking about today goes far beyond the ability of a computer to supplement man's ability to play chess. It's one of the fundamental issues of the 21st century. IBM, just one company, has 170,000 pages, home pages on the Internet. It would take a fast reader, operating seven days a week, full time, five years to read it all. We talk about the 21st century, as the information age. But all that data is going to be useless unless it can be boiled down into something useful, transferring random pieces of information into useful information, and ultimately into knowledge and potentially whiz, is the key challenge we all face for the 21st century.

Mr. Horne: And it's that technology that we're testing here. That technology is our ability to interface with the data and the world that's around us and pull in key pieces of information that are going to be important for the future of all our societies. The following is a live translation of the chess match commentary in "realtime." During realtime the translation is instant, unedited text and may contain punctuation errors or raw stenotype.

Mr. Horne: So with that background, we believe we're asking the computer and ourselves a much more difficult question than whether it can play chess, but whether or not it can start the beginnings of understanding. So with that introduction, let's get on with the game. Next I would like to introduce to you Monte Newborn. He is chairman of the ACM computer chess committee, and he is responsible for the officials and comment taters for the game. In fact, Monte will oversee the match.

Mr. Newborn: I'd like to begin by saying what a great pleasure it is to be a part of this incredibly exciting chess match. I'd like to thank, on behalf of the ACM, I'd like to thank IBM and the Garry Kasparov team for inviting us here to serve in an official capacity. This event is going to be a tremendous landmark in the history of computing. And I just want to point out one interesting fact. The first game that was played by a computer, first chess game was played in 1958 on an IBM 704, in I believe the same Yorktown Heights where the computer is playing today. 30 years ago it was played on a computer that was one million times slower than the computer that's playing today. Imagine an automobile a million times faster. Last year the score in the match between Kasparov and IBM was 4-2 in Kasparov's favor. Both sides are going to be stronger this year. Kasparov is playing the best chess of his life, and IBM's program is clearly stronger than it was last year. So it's a tremendous challenge between the two competitors.

Mr. Newborn: I'd like to at this point introduce the commenttator team and some of the officials, and then we'll begin, but I'll end my own personal marks by wishing both sides the best of luck. The match arbiter is Cheryl Jarecki who is sequestered upstairs on the 35th floor and she has been the arbiter of a number of major world championships in the past and will add her expertise to making sure that everything goes smoothly at this time. You won't see her, but you may see her on television. She's maybe got her back to us now. The other officials are Ken Thompson, Mike Valvo, and myself. We will serve as officials in the sense that we're an appeals committee if there's any problems that go beyond the match arbiter. Our commentary team is a tremendous team who will bring this match to life. Maurice Ashley. Maurice is one of the comment taters. Maurice is one of the top players in the New York area, on his way to the title of grandmaster. He has served as the commenttator in the Philadelphia match last year, and brings it to life as well as any football announcer on CBS and NBC.

Mr. Newborn: Yasser Seirawan is our second. Yasser has been three times the U.S. champion, is a tremendously articulate chess whiz and will assist Maurice in the commentary. Mike Valvo is our third commenttator. Mike has served as an arbiter and commenttator at countless computer chess events and a number of major human matches as well. Mike is one of the best blindfold chess players in the United States, so don't try and fool him by thinking he doesn't see what's going on. I wish everybody a very enjoyable afternoon and in fact an enjoyable week of chess and again on behalf of the ACM I'd like to thank IBM and Kasparov for inviting us here. Best of luck.

Mr. ASHLEY: Hello, and welcome once again to the IBM Kasparov vs. Deep Blue rematch. I'm Maurice Ashley, along with international grandmaster Yasser Seirawan and Internet master Mike Valvo. And this match significance for bragging rights as to who has the best chess mind in the universe. At least that's what it's been billed as. Garry Kasparov says he's here to defend humanity against the ever-encroaching wave of computers. He's about ready to start, not quite yet in the room. Before we get to that I'd like to get a few comments from my associate, Yasser Seirawan. Yaz, what do you think? Is -- has the time come? Have computers gotten good enough yet to whip the best human being?

Mr. SEIRAWAN: No. (Laughter.) Next question?

Mr. ASHLEY: Next question.

Mr. ASHLEY: Let me mention over here, to Mike Valvo. You've been arbiting these computer tournaments for 15 years now, since 1980. You served -- before we do that, Kasparov has arrived. And he's looking quite chipper. The guy doesn't look worried at all. There is feng seng of the Deep Blue team. All pared, a lot of photographers and a lot of ss. USA Today, CNN, New York Times is providing practically hourly coverage, anding this going live over WebTV and many museums around the country also live. Kasparov now adjusting he's pieces. Mike, what is your opinion of this match? Does the computer have a chance?

Mr. VALVO: I think the computer definitely has a chance. I think people are just too down on computers. They think that computers are going to eradicate the human race, like "2001" or something. But as Ken Thompson said to me "Do you think that you can compare a foot race to a car running? Is it the same kind of thing?" They are enhancing to us. They aren't the enemy. They are helping us. That's my position.

Mr. ASHLEY: Why are we so terrified then? Why is it that everyone is saying no? A friend of mine, josh Waitzkin, who is the subject of the move "Searching for Bobby Fischer," says this is one of the most terrifying things he can think of, he doesn't want the computer to wins, thinks the computer is going to take over everything.

Mr. VALVO: A lot of people thing /* think the game is going to get solved and no one is going to play anymore.

Mr. ASHLEY: Is that going to happen?

Mr. VALVO: I doubt it. Checkers has been mastered by a computer and there's still checker.

Mr. SEIRAWAN: I think that absolutely with chess, regardless of whether or not Deep Blue wins this particular match, or a future match, I'll always want to beat my brother, or Maurice. I guess we're getting ready.

Mr. ASHLEY: I think we are getting ready. Kasparov has put his game face on. (Laughter.) All the smiles are gone. He has drawn the white pieces. The drawing of lots was made two days ago and Kasparov got the white pieces, unlike in the first match where he had the black pieces. Kasparov has said that the first couple of games will be sort of like a reconnaissance mission. He's often complained that he does not know anything about this new version, the sort of big brother to little brother from last year, and he wants to know what's better, what has improved, what could be improved? Well, one thing that we know has improved is the calculating speed. It's double what it was last year. I mean that's frightening.

Mr. ASHLEY: 200 million moves a second.

Mr. VALVO: Positions.

Mr. ASHLEY: 200 million positions a second, even more frightening. He just played in the Aegon tournament, a tournament which -- you did very well, five and a half out of six? Last year you were 6-0 the tournament winner.

Mr. SEIRAWAN: Right.

Mr. ASHLEY: What's the strategy against computers? What do you do to beat this kind of thinking?

Mr. SEIRAWAN: First of all you have to just start from the perspective that it's truly amazing to think that a game of chess, which is such a complex but structured world, you can have a chess computer play against the world's best, and in this particular tournament and in Aegon, it featured the best microcomputer programs. I should /HAEUFPB to say microcomputer. Deep Blue, as you perhaps well know -- we have a mock-up on the stage here. This is half of what Deep Blue looks like. It's got 16 nodes, and 32 processors, so this is half of what Deep Blue is like, and this is not a microcomputer. But I was playing against microcomputers, and they're extremely good, and you have to adjust your way of thinking. And computers have forced us to adapt. In a sense what you were saying earlier, Mike, I tend to look at the computer as a great aid, as opposed to, you know, the terrifying thing that's going to replace me.

Mr. ASHLEY: Sorry for interrupting, Yasser, but it seems as if Kasparov just wants to get it on and you've got all these ss people in the room and they're trying to get them out right now. (Laughter.) Let's get busy. And you know he knows exactly what he wants to do today. There won't be any surprises as far as his initial moves are concerned. Last year, he did figure out what to do against the computer with the white pieces, and gi game six he dominated the computer completely. It's going to be interesting to see what he tries today.

Mr. ASHLEY: Is he still waiting for the room to more or less clear so that he can get started?

Mr. VALVO: They're really in his space, aren't they? They put a camera right in his physician.

Mr. ASHLEY: They want some good pictures of him.

Mr. VALVO: Last year for the first five minutes we couldn't control the photographers, they just clamored all over the place and he just sat there as though nothing was going on, that was part of the agreement, we had to let them do it. After five minutes we just chased them away.

Mr. ASHLEY: You were in the room, you were the arbiter. What did you see about Garry's moves at the beginning of games, especially at the beginning of the first game as it is now?

Mr. VALVO: He was very confident. His watch was on, which is a very important sign, and his coat was on. Those are important signs.

Mr. ASHLEY: We will tell you about the coat and the watch to be going on. Garry Kasparov has certain tell-tale signals. When the watch goes off, that's something, and when the coat is on, uh-oh, I'm in trouble, I've got to get myself out of this. Trust us, he does that every single game. We'll pay attention to that. He's very, very visual. He shows his emotions quite a bit, and you will know how he feels at practically every moment, because he doesn't hide his emotions on the board. And he has played a move.

Mr. ASHLEY: The game has started. The match has begun officially with the move 1 Nf1920.

Mr. VALVO: Yasser dicted. -- he dicted that.

Mr. SEIRAWAN: How many of you were around --

Mr. ASHLEY: Deep Blue has responded with d7-d5. Kasparov has replied instantly g2-g3 and the computer has also responded immediately -- these moves will come very quickly -- Bc8-G 1910.

Mr. VALVO: This is new. The computer didn't play this last year. That's correct. And already -- Bc8-G 1910. We should mention on the Deep Blue team there are very many programmers, they also have an acknowledged expert, another grandmaster and former U.S. champion, Joel Benjamin, he has basically dedicated a year of his life to avenging the loss from last year, and he has no doubt worked on all the opening nicetys that he needs to check the weaknesses the computer has, and so Garry very much feels, Yaz, that he's playing against the mind of Joel Benjamin as well as against Deep Blue?

Mr. SEIRAWAN: Certainly for the opening stages, certainly. And let me just go with that. Once again, Philadelphia, how many of you were there? That's a very good resentation in the audience. As you'll recall, Mawry and I, Mike, just about everybody in the world of chess was totally stunned when Deep Blue massacreed Garry in game one. And it was really a shock. By the time they got to the end of the match, game six, Garry looked like he was just conducting an orchestra, and he in turn clobbered Deep Blue in game six. And he clobbered Deep Blue with the opening that he chose already in game one. One of the problems that Garry has had and will have in this match is he doesn't really know anything about Deep Blue, or how do you say, the new, improved Deep Blue. And so IBM has kept its research rather secret.

Mr. SEIRAWAN: Certainly Joel Benjamin has been in with --

Mr. ASHLEY: I was trying to get some stuff from him. No information.

Mr. SEIRAWAN: His eyes lit up when you showed him the five bucks.

Mr. ASHLEY: They did.

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