Daily Telegraph - DF7 vs Kramnik
Bruiser Moreland
Chess: Kramnik to face Fritz
By Malcolm Pein
BRAIN Games Network have announced a $2 million sponsorship from the Emir of
Bahrain to fund a match between the computer program Deep Fritz and the
world champion Vladimir Kramnik in the Gulf state next October. Kramnik
stands to win $1 million, with a further million to be spent on organising
the event. The world champion will take home $800,000 if he draws and
$600,000 if he loses.
The contest is an exhibition, but Kramnik has still sought to avoid some of
the pitfalls into which Garry Kasparov fell when he lost to Deep Blue in
1997.
In particular Kramnik will be able to study the program for a few months in
advance, although not, of course, its openings book. Also, he will not be
confronted with a different program mid-match, something that flummoxed
Kasparov four years ago.
Deep Fritz qualified to play Kramnik by defeating its rival, Deep Junior, in
a contest organised by leading computer chess expert Professor Enrique
Irazoqui at Cadaques in Spain. There was much controversy in the computer
chess world because only two programs took part, with many of the leading
programs, such as Shredder and Rebel, refusing to play.
The two programs contested 24 games on identical dual processor Pentium PCs
running at 933 MHz. Deep Junior, programmed by Amir Ban and Shay Bushinsky
of Israel, took a 5-0 lead but in the second half of the match, Deep Fritz,
programmed by Dutchman Franz Morsch, changed its openings and headed for
quiet positions in which it proved superior.