Crowd favors Kasparov

Kasparov's only human -- so are the spectators

On the 35th floor of the Equitable Center in Manhattan, one man fought mightily against a 1.4-ton computer. But among the 480 chess fans watching the showdown from the basement auditorium, there was no question who deserved the heavyweight title. It was Garry Kasparov, the world's greatest human chess player.

"He's so brave," said Bonnie Waitzkin, a New York chess teacher and mother of Josh Waitzkin, the 17-year-old International Master whose life was the subject of the movie, Searching for Bobby Fischer. "It's demeaning to have a computer win. It takes away the mystique of how we think, how the brain comes up with a chess move in a flash. Kasparov has great courage. Year after year he puts himself up against a mega-computer, and if he loses, he comes back and plays again."

Spectators pay $25 each for the chance to watch the world champion of chess agonize over his every move against Deep Blue, IBM's supercomputer. They watch the action on a giant video screen set up on a stage that also includes a replica of Deep Blue, a couple of potted plants and a podium for game commentators. Fans arrive an hour before the 3 p.m. starting time, armed with portable chess boards and plenty of patience. Chess experts offer play-by-play commentary, and audience members hoot and clap whenever Kasparov appears to be at an advantage.

Alex Arthur, 6, a kindergartener who attended Tuesday's four-and-a-half hour match, planned to stay until the bitter end. His father, Andrew, said the Kasparov-Deep Blue rematch had revived his interest in chess, and had led him to spend afternoons and evenings playing chess with his son. Alex, he said, had a promising career ahead. "Alex is good. He's been beating first- and second-graders." Alex added, "Soon I'll be playing with chess clocks." Still, chess isn't the only thing on Alex's mind. "We have to get home in time for the Rangers game," he said.

The topic of the day on Tuesday was Game 2, when Kasparov gave up in defeat without realizing that he could have achieved a draw. News of the gaff surfaced on the Internet, and some were incredulous.

"I would have a very, very strong sense of self-loathing if I had done that," one commentator said Tuesday. "How could I do something so stupid?"

Others were more understanding.

Elon Gasper, chief technologist for computer game-maker Sierra On-Line, said Deep Blue was much improved from last year when Kasparov won one game against the machine in Philadelphia. "But Kasparov is far better this year too," he said. "This is the best chess player the world has ever seen. He is at the peak of his form, the peak of his willpower."

"It seems incredible someone of his talent would miss that," said Paul Nystrom, 25, an attorney in New York and an avid chess player. "But he was carrying a lot of emotional baggage. He was being ground down by a computer all afternoon, and he must have been thinking, 'Get me out of here. I'm humiliated.'"

He was, after all, only being human.

-- Julia Lawlor