X-SciTech

It's Your Move, Kasparov

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

June 20, 1999 / 9:37 PM EDT / CBS

After clicking countless computer mice and sliding a lowly black pawn forward two spaces, thousands of chess enthusiasts await the response of world champion Garry Kasparov, who challenged the world to a game in cyberspace.

Kasparov opened the tournament Monday in New York with what he called "the most traditional move," moving his white king's pawn two spaces forward to E4 on a giant board. Microsoft's Gaming Zone immediately began fielding countermoves from around the world.

The World Team's reply -- chosen by 41 percent of those voting -- was to move the black pawn in front of the queen's bishop two spaces forward to C5, initiating the Sicilian Defense.

Kasparov visited Washington's Union Station to witness the World Team's move on a 400-square-foot chessboard. He has 24 hours to respond.

Here is how the game works:

Kasparov makes a move via the Internet, which is then analyzed by four world team coachesÂ—two from France and Germany and two Americans.
The group then thinks up strategies and countermoves, which are posted on a special Internet site.
Chess players around the world have 24 hours to vote for the move they like best.

The match is expected to take most of the summer to complete.

"I have a very good chance of winning, but I wouldnÂ't underestimate the strength of the world team," Kasparov said.

Those leading the opposing team are among the world's finest young chess players. They include:

Irina Krush of Brooklyn, the 15-year-old U.S. women's chess champion
Etienne Bacrot, 16, of France, who became the youngest grandmaster in history at age 14
Florin Felecan, a 19-year-old resident of Evanston, Ill., who is the highest-rated American chess player under age 21
Elizabeth Pahtz, 14, of Erfurt, Germany, who is ranked eighth in the World Championship of youngsters.

"I think we just have a good chance of playing an interesting game," Krush said. "ThatÂ's the most important thing."

In the highly publicized 1997 "Deep Blue" tournament, Kasparov was defeated by the IBM supercomputer, a "man vs. machine" victory that left him smarting.

When asked Monday what attracted him to chess as a 5-year-old in Soviet Azerbaijan, he said, "I like to win."

For Kasparov, this is the ultimate opportunity to bring chess to a new generation of players.

"I think the Internet guarantees chess its place in the next millennium," Kasparov said.

Organizers predict this will be the largest interactive competition the world has ever seen.

[To access the game, click here.]