When Frederic Friedel was asked if Game 5 was a tough one for him, he had one word to say.

"Pow."

This was the game Kasparov had to win, and this was the game his team felt they could win. Instead, Friedel left the auditorium visibly shaken. "I am drained," he said.

As Kasparov's technical assistant, Friedel has been unusually forthcoming with the press during the match. After Game 5, however, he refused to comment on the dispute that took place immediately after the game. The discussion apparently had to do with the handling of Deep Blue's log books. "I cannot say anything about it," Friedel said. "Garry called me in as his computer assistant on a very serious internal matter, and it was settled."

There is some speculation that the matter is related to the computer's play in Game 2, which still has the Kasparov team mystified. "Yes, he is still thinking about it," said Friedel. "Garry doesn't have experience in being beaten and in that game he was beaten very badly."

What puzzles the Kasparov team about Game 2, as well as Saturday's Game 5, is that the computer made moves which seemed human to them. "I'm his computer expert, and I'm supposed to explain to him how it plays, but I can't," Friedel said. "Even my computer doesn't understand it."

He said the team would go back tonight and use its computer to analyze Deep Blue's moves. "We will look at its h5 move -- Deep Blue's most surprising move, early in the game -- and after Fritz (a computer program) analyzes it for ten hours, we hope we will have an answer."

Another of Kasparov's assistants, Michael Khodarkovsky, said Deep Blue succeeded on the strength of what he called "pure calculation and brute force computation." Friedel agreed, pointing out that while Kasparov appeared to be outplaying Deep Blue, the computer is at its strongest in the endgame, which it plays perfectly. That puts enormous pressure on the champion. Added Khardakovsky "We have to see everything perfectly, and that's very hard."

The sentiment was echoed by the champion himself, speaking from the auditorium stage after the game. "I can out-calculate any player in the world," he said, "but I cannot out-calculate the machine."

While Kasparov had just come off two days rest, Friedel was again worried about the effects of mental fatigue on the champion. "The computer is forcing him to calculate every move, and he is going to be exhausted," he said, adding that the team, Kasparov included, "will return to the hotel and immediately set to work analyzing the game."

Kasparov will also play the black pieces tomorrow, which will make a win even more difficult. "It's the last game of the match, so he has to secure a draw, and he has to win out of a draw position, which is not going to be easy."

Kasparov admitted as much, when he said, harking back to Game 2, "I am not afraid to admit I am afraid, so I have to be cautious."

Friedel was asked what it would mean if the computer wins on Sunday, or if the match would end in a draw. Does that mean the computer is a superior player? "No," Friedel said emphatically. "Garry has not seen any of the computer's previous games, and they play a match of six games. That isn't enough. If after this they were to play 20 games, I think you would see Garry win easily." But either way, the Kasparov team will leave New York thinking much differently about their opponent than the way they did before the match began.

"This has been a shattering experience," said Friedel. "We just didn't expect this to happen. I hope after the match we will all sit down and see how it has been able to perform this way."

--Jeff Kisseloff