The million dollar Brains in Bahrain match between Vladimir Kramnik and Deep Fritz takes place 2nd-22nd October 2002 (Opening Ceremony 2nd October. Playing days 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17 & 19 October, 2002).

Report Eight: Game 4 Report
by Ebrahim Al Mannai

Thursday, 10 October 2002

The match has reached the half-way point, and things are looking very promising for the world champion. Game 4 ended in a draw, leaving the world’s number two player with a comfortable 2-point lead.

Fritz today avoided the sort of disaster it saw in Game 2 by meeting Kramnik’s Queen’s Gambit with the active Tarrasch Defence. There has been much talk about the “coincidence” that Deep Fritz has been employing openings played by Kasparov. Some have even claimed psychological warfare on behalf of the Fritz team.

This seems a little far-fetched to me. As daunting as the invincible Kasparov might seem to the average grandmaster, I don’t believe that Kramnik himself has any reason to fear Kasparov, much less his favorite opening lines played by a machine. The fact of the matter is that Kasparov is known for his dynamic attacking style. Therefore Kasparov has often employed active and dynamic openings- the type of opening that leads to an open tactical game- the exact sort of game which Fritz revels in. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that der Komputer is playing tactical openings, which just so happen to be part of GK’s arsenal.

The Fritz team realizes that an open game with sufficient tactical possibilities is necessary, if their program is to have any chance against Big Bad Vlad. Playing the Slav Defence, for example, will not do, since that sort of closed game would downplay the machine’s calculating power and test its positional skill.

As it turned out in the end, employing the Tarrasch did indeed work to Black’s favour. Kramnik breezed through the first twenty moves, (yet again) exchanging queens and heading for a super-early endgame with a comfortable advantage. However, given the open nature of the game, Fritz played accurately enough to secure a draw. The game is not especially thrilling, but shows Fritz’s powers to defend accurately under the right circumstances.

After Kramnik had thought a long while and played the strong 21. Rd7, after which Black played 21…Rb8. The creator of Fritz, Dutchman Frans Morsch, was standing next to me, arms crossed shaking his head at his program’s passive move, not quite sure if it knows what it’s doing.

Frans was quite upset at the press conference after his brainchild’s first loss to Kramnik (game 2), so I decided to watch my step around him. But, of course, as we continued to stare intently at the monitor, I couldn’t resist throwing in a few ‘casual’ questions:

"At this point, what do you think is the main challenge Fritz is facing against Kramnik?"

He answered, straight and to the point, "If we can (somehow) completely avoid the exchange of queens, then our chances would increase dramatically."

Today his answer seemed based on a complete logic and realization of fact. I looked for a trace of rationalization in his answer, and all I found was the objectivity of laboratory scientist. I believed him.

The most exciting part of this round was when Deep Fritz went out of commission. Somewhere between moves 32 and 33, Fritz decided to have a nervous breakdown. Team Fritz were scrambling trying to see whether they could revive their program, or to pull up the less reliable back-up machine. The crisis was resolved after 15 minutes of panic when the programmers decided to keep ol’ Fritzer going, only with less to think about simultaneously. Fortunately, the game had advanced far enough that it didn’t have much impact on the result: 8 moves later, a draw was reached.

Kramnik demonstrates the game with GM Daniel King

Kramnik - Deep Fritz [D34]
Kramnik- Deep Fritz match (4), 10.10.2002

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch's answer to the Queen's Gambit. Once again today, Fritz chooses an opening line which allows for peice activity. 4.cxd5 exd5 5.g3 The legendary Akiba Rubinstein found this most effective move against the Tarrasch Defence in the early 20th century. The fianchettoed bishop is to exploit the potentially-isolated d5-pawn. 5...Nc6 6.Bg2 Nf6 7.0-0 Be7 8.Nc3 0-0 9.Bg5 cxd4 10.Nxd4 h6 11.Bf4 Bg4 12.h3 Be6 13.Rc1 Re8

14.Nxe6 fxe6 15.e4 All theory. With this pawn break, White contests Black's center pawns, aiming to open lines for his two bishops and perhaps an exchange of queens. 15...d4 16.e5 dxc3 17.exf6 Bxf6 18.bxc3 Qxd1 19.Rfxd1 Rad8 20.Be3 Rxd1+ 21.Rxd1

This has all been play with which Kramnik is apparently familiar. Up to this point, he's used up very little time. White has a nice advantage here. His rook is sole commander of the d-file, and his laser-beam bishops penetrate the heart of Black's queenside. The only disadvantage (other than those loose queenside pawns) is that this is exactly the kind of open position in which Fritz has little trouble finding the best moves. 21...Bxc3 22.Rd7 Kramnik spent 31 minutes before committing to this move. The c3-pawn would have been too much of a burden to protect. In any case, with his rook on the seventh, White looks forward to regaining his pawn. 22...Rb8 I saw Frans Morsch shake his head at this one. Similar to Fritz's Rb1 yesterday, this move is too passive. [ 22...Re7?? 23.Bxc6] 23.Bxc6 bxc6 24.Rxa7 Rb2 'Rooks behind pawns!' By moving his own rook to the second rank, Black aims to annoy the a-pawn and also keep the white king at bay. 25.Ra6 Bd2!

Fritz gladly gives up a pawn to exchange bishops. The machine here sees that the resulting position is a draw.26.Rxc6 White wins if he could trade rooks, thanks to his passed rook pawn. By allowing the bishop exchange, however, Kramnik also allows the draw. [ The masters here were expecting 26.Bd4 Rb4 27.Be5 Re4 28.f4 g5 29.Rxc6 gxf4 30.gxf4 Bxf4 31.Bxf4 Rxf4 32.Rxe6=] 26...Bxe3 27.fxe3 Kf7

At this point, with his king confined to the first rank, White hasn't the slightest hope for a win. The extra rook pawn means little, as it is under easy surveilance by Black's active rook. Of course, Kramnik has to play on for another 14 moves, just in case...28.a4 Ra2 29.Rc4 Kf6 30.Kf1 g5 31.h4 h5 32.hxg5+ Kxg5 33.Ke1 e5 34.Kf1

The king can't stray too far from his lone pawns.34...Kf5 35.Rh4 Kg6 36.Re4 Kf5 It's about that time, isn't it? 37.Rh4 Kg5 38.Kg1 Kg6 39.g4 hxg4 40.Rxg4+ Kf5 41.Rc4

Now that clocks have gained an extra hour each, Kramnik is satisfied that the machine isn't likely to err. 1/2-1/2