Man vs Machine Team Championship starts
06.10.2004 For the first time the ever fascinating encounter man vs machine in chess is being staged as a team championship. From October 6 to 10 a team of three strong grandmasters, Veselin Topalov, Ruslan Ponomariov and Sergey Karjakin, will face three of the strongest programs in the world, Hydra, Junior and Fritz – live on Playchess.com. Picture and video report.

Machines attack, humans strike back
08.10.2004 The man vs machine team chess championship in Bilbao started with a depressing 0.5-2.5 loss for the biological systems. But in round two humans struck back – in fact at one point they were very close to a 3:0 whitewash. The president of the sanctioning body ICGA, David Levy, gives us a provocative assessment of the event.

Feeding frenzy in Bilbao
10.10.2004 The chess in this man vs machine team championship ended fairly disastrously for the human side. The computers for their part were unable to appreciate some of the biggest attractions of the Basque city of Bilbao. We would like to warn our readers that there are very graphic images in our pictorial and video report.

Bilbao Man vs Machine – a resume
16.10.2004 Last week the man vs machine team championship in Bilbao ended in a 3.5:8.5 loss to the humans. It was a dramatic event, with every game fought out, often to a very bitter end. What were the causes of the disaster for the strong GMs? David Levy, a leading expert in computer chess, draws his conclusions. Do you agree?

The Man vs Machine debate continues
20.10.2004 A few days ago we published a resume by David Levy, president of the International Computer Games Association, on the recent man vs machine team championship in Bilbao, which ended in a bitter 3.5:8.5 loss to the humans. A number of letters were fired at us, some applauding and some vigorously contradicting David's conclusions.

3-0 shock start by computers in Bilbao
21.11.2005 The human opponents are all world champions: Alexander Khalifman, who won the title in 1999, Ruslan Ponomariov, who became FIDE champion in 2002, and Rustam Kasimdzhanov, the 2004 winner. The opponents are the programs Hydra, Junior and Fritz. In the first round they scored in all three games.

Bilbao – the humans strike back
22.11.2005 Round two was quite the opposite of the first traumatic encounter between man and machine in Bilbao. This time the humans had good positions on all boards. Two were turned into sure draws, while in the third Ruslan Ponomariov blundered against Fritz, and then pulled a miracle comeback when the computer returned the favour.

Wham! 2½-½ for the machines in Bilbao
23.11.2005 In round three of the People vs Computers match in the Basque city of Bilbao the computers all had white – and came close to giving the humans another 3-0 whitewash. Only Rustam Kasimdzhanov was able to save a grace draw for the three world champions in this event. Report and games.

8:4 final score for the machines – what next?
24.11.2005 All three games in the final round of the People vs Computers match in Bilbao ended in three exciting draws. Except for the Deep Junior vs Ponomariov game, which had everyone bored to tears, until Junior suddenly tried to win and almost lost to the former world champion. Report and games.