It's 1-1 and computer chess skeptics must surely be in the last stages of denial. Sunday we witnessed a game of chess played with such control and assurance it could have been played by a top-flight grandmaster. Indeed, many in the auditorium at the Equitable Center thought Deep Blue's maneuvering worthy of Garry's longtime rival, Anatoly Karpov. Deep Blue team chess expert, Grandmaster Joel Benjamin, summed it up: "This was real chess. This was a game any human grandmaster would have been proud of."

What really impressed the top players in the press room was Deep Blue's patience in a blocked position, supposedly the type of position in which it should have been uncomfortable.The Deep Blue team knew better: "I knew Deep Blue would have to play all kinds of positions. I made it play closed positions, said Benjamin. "I ultimately had faith in Deep Blue playing that kind of position, and I was right to have faith."

Kasparov was tormented by a chess opening known as the Ruy Lopez, but in view of the immensely difficult situations that can cause, it also is known by chess players as the "Spanish Torture."

Deep Blue team member Murray Campbell revealed afterwards that the computer did not pinpoint any particular mistake that Kasparov made. But it slowly increased its advantage, despite playing a couple of moves that had the experts frowning. The star move was Deep Blue's 37th, moving its bishop to a central square from which it singlehandedly blocked Kasparov in completely. The world champion was totally shut out, unable to make a single aggressive gesture. In a curious parallel of Game 1, it was Kasparov who had to spend the last eight moves waiting for the worst, and like Deep Blue, he had to resign on the 45th move.

The chief of the Deep Blue team, C.J. Tan, later reminded the crowd of his words: "Its going to be a long drawn out match."

-- IM Malcolm Pein, London Chess Centre