Samson Benen, the 1996 National Sixth-Grade Champion, was among the spectators at the Kasparov-Deep Blue rematch, and he spoke with our reporter.

I think I'm in my seventh year.

How old are you?

Twelve. I started at 5 1/2.

And what got you into it?

Well, when I was kindergarten, Sunil, the guy sitting with me in the audience, used to come to my classroom, and he taught me the rules of chess. And then once I learned the rules of chess, he started teaching me the basics, and I guess I sort of developed a love for it. Then I got a private coach, David Goodman, and then I just built from there.

What do you like about chess?

It is so challenging and it improves your ability and your discipline. It improves your ability to see things in a way that you wouldn't have seen them before. It's sort of exciting to sit down and have a game, and sometimes it can be a very rewarding game. Because you know if you win a national championship or a big tournament, first of all, you can get a trophy, a big trophy, or if you win a huge, huge tournament, you can win thousands upon thousands of dollars -- which I've never actually done. I've won a four-foot trophy.

What was that for?

In 1994, I won a national championship and I got a huge trophy. This was the K-3 (kindergarten through third grade) National Championship. And then in 1996, I won the K-6 National Championship. And in 1996 I won the Sixth-Grade National Championship.

Who are you rooting for?

I am all for Kasparov. My teacher is David Goodman. He is also a reporter at Associated Press. He once said that the computer doesn't go out at night for a drink and sit down with his friends and talk about the game. A computer is not upset when he loses. But I have full confidence and full hope in the computer to become a great source of artificial intelligence. And while hoping that Deep Blue can become one of the most incredible computer technologies ever invented, I also hope that Kasparov will win.

Who would you rather play, Kasparov or Deep Blue?

If I had a choice, I would much rather play Garry, because I don't like playing computers. They can't make mistakes. They can't touch a piece. They might make a poor move, but never a blatant blunder, a blunder like you completely overlook something, because there's no such thing as overlooking with computers, and there's no such thing as shaking a computer's hand. And there's no such thing as talking to a computer.

Given that the computer has all this power, why do you still think Garry will win?

Garry still wins because chess is not all about looking ahead into the future. Chess is also about if you can find a 12-move combination -- hip-hip-hooray -- but if Garry can get into a situation where there is no 12-move combination to find, which is considered closed positional chess, then the computer's ability to look ahead is not going to be as effective.

Do a lot of your friends play chess?

No, my best friend probably couldn't get a four-digit rating. I have friends in the chess world, but my best friends don't play chess. It's very different.

Do you think this match is going to boost the popularity of chess around the world?

Well, considering all the press is here, the whole media world, and IBM and everything is covering this, this a huge news event. And if it happens more frequently, with other players, if there are more huge tournaments that get media like this and recognition like this, I think that chess would become a much more popular sport, not to play, but to watch.

Is this where you want to be?

Let me tell you this much. Garry Kasparov has had to do so much studying, has had to commit his life to chess. He has had to sit down, he's had to have periods of time where he just does chess. I mean there are so many other things that I like to do. I like to play sports, I like creative writing, I like so many other things. This is my hobby, this is my second life, and I have other priorities. Garry Kasparov does not have other priorities, and that's why he's the world champion, and that's why he's a very successful chess player.