An internationally acclaimed chess match between World Champion Vladimir Kramnik and the chess program Deep Fritz. It was an eight-game series held between October 2-21, 2002 at the Bahrain Mind Sports Centre in Bahrain.

The game resulted in a draw between the opponents.

Man vs Machine
The match was one in a series of bouts between human chess players and computer programs that primarily use brute force tactics. The most notorious matches was held between 1996-1997, when IBM's Deep Blue was pitted again then-World Champion Garry Kasparov. In three different matches, Deep Blue held the edge at 2-1.

Deep Fritz is the successor to Deep Blue (as Kramnik is to Kasparov). For the Brains in Bahrain match-up, the Deep Fritz 7 program (which fit in one CD-ROM) was loaded on to a Compaq machine with 8 processors. For the daring chess players, Deep Fritz is sold commercially at around $100.

Kramnik vs Deep Fritz
Game 1 - Draw (0.5 - 0.5)
Game 2 - Kramnik Win (1.5 - 0.5)
Game 3 - Kramnik Win (2.5 - 0.5)
Game 4 - Draw (3.0 - 1.0)
Game 5 - Deep Fritz Win (3.0 - 2.0)
Game 6 - Deep Fritz Win (3.0 - 3.0)
Game 7 - Draw (3.5 - 3.5)
Game 8 - Draw (4.0 - 4.0)

Kramnik was expected to win the competition by a landslide, but he made some critical blunders during the final games. However, he did remain competent, leaving the match at a draw.

Kramnik didn't have much time to be disappointed - for drawing the match, he received $800,000. (He would have won $1,000,000 for winning or $600,000 for losing)

Quotes About the Match
  • "It is now clear that the top program and the world champion are approximately equal. " - Vladimir Kramnik"
  • "We've learned a lot from this, and there is much we can do to increase Fritz's playing strength." Frans Morsch, creator of Fritz

    Notable Items
    - The Deep Fritz team has been accused of tampering with the match by equipping the computer with sound capabilities, then playing Shakespearean quotes during the match. This occurred at Game 6, where Kasparov first lost a game.

    Sources
    Brains in Bahrain (http://www.brainsinbahrain.com/)