One-on-one with C.J. Tan

Q: Do you play chess?

C.J. Tan: I play chess just like you do.

Q: Badly?

C.J.: Badly. But I understand the computer science principles behind how a computer plays chess. And you don't have to be a good chess player to do that.

Q: And looking at that and looking at chess as the analogy for the whole system, how is this year's version comparing against last year's version? When we made the historic breakthrough of beating a human.

C.J.: Well, this year's version is much more robust in terms of the ability to adapt to new strategy and new environment during a game. And also, this year, the machine is twice as fast compared to the last year's machine. We're using the new P2SC processor for the RS/6000 SP, which will give us much more computing power. So, we will have more capability in searching as well being more robust in our algorithm and our ability to adapt to new strategies and so forth.

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Q: Last year, Kasparov won. But this year Kasparov asked for a rematch challenge. What do you think the rationale is?

C.J.: Well, I think Garry is gradually realizing that he is part of the team, he is really part of our scientific experiment. He wants to be part of the history-making event himself, he's no longer just a chess player.

Q: Can you elaborate on that?

C.J.:A lot of serious grandmasters would not have done what Garry is doing, risking his reputation. After all, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain from this event. Garry, on the other hand, if he loses, he doesn't lose his real title. But if he does lose, he can no longer be the world chess champion who never lost a match.

But he realizes the technology is moving very fast and sooner or later the computer's going to play better chess than human grandmasters. He wants to be part of that process. And he hasn't lost to any human grandmaster for the last 10, 12 years. And he's not afraid to be part of this. Last year he was very confident he would win. And this year he is also very confident, but he is also very nervous. He realizes there's a very good chance that he may just lose this time.

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Q: You said, "We have everything to gain." I take it you mean from a commercial application perspective? Not just from chess?

C.J.: Not from chess. Obviously, chess is a very small part of this. For us it's really to understand how computers can solve problems. And how we, as human beings, can use tools - the computer as a tool - to solve complex problems. It's really an experiment for us to see if we can use tools to solve problems, not just in crunching numbers, but in exploring many other areas.

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Q: Would you describe computers, then, as an extension of human capabilities?

C.J.: In a way, yes. A computer is not necessarily an extension, but a tool that allows us to extend our capabilities. It's like a car. Automobiles allow us to run faster. Airplanes allow us to go places. And telephones and computers too… But so far computers always been involved in large business and scientific experiments.

This demonstrates the technology has matured to a point where you can go beyond that. You can now go into the consumer world, go into the home, the school, even arts, and almost everything we do in the next century will involve the computer as part of our tool kit.

Q: You talked about Kasparov, and you have a pretty good relationship -- Kasparov and the team. But, is there still a bit of competitiveness between you?

C.J.: In any sport there is always some element of competition. That's part of the fun. I think both of us want to win, right? And that will make this more of a true test as to how the technology has progressed to this point. He plays PC programs every day, he uses PCs to prepare for his matches – not only against Deep Blue but against every other human grandmaster. So, he's really a technology user himself.

Q: Do you use a computer at home?

C.J.: Yes.

Q: I want to talk about last year's event. Can you describe the environment and the excitement for you?

C.J.: It was exciting, although stressful, and a lot of fear and excitement all rolled into one. And at the first game, before the first game, we really didn't know whether this whole thing we had put together would work. And so, after the first game, not only did it work, but we defeated Kasparov. After that you really don't care whether you win the rest of them.

Q: Let me ask one philosophic question. Using this Deep Blue technology, what's the vision of the future now? Or where does society go from here now that…?

C.J.: Well, you see, a lot of people…we at IBM understand technology and computers. The majority of the rest of the world don't even know how to touch a computer, let alone understand how to use it. And this will really popularize technology. And so, you allow push technology to reach many areas, and the many users whom it has not reached before. So it is really opening up a floodgate for this new technology.

Q: Do you have a prediction for the match?

C.J.: I think Deep Blue will win.

Q: Do you think that parallel processing will eventually take over desktop PCs of ordinary users?

C.J.: You mean will desktop users pick up the parallel processing technology? Absolutely. The PC today is probably more powerful than the super-computer we had 15, 20 years ago. And the high-end technology will eventually become the desk-top, or the laptop technology in a few years. That's inevitable.

Q: What initially got you interested in computers?

C.J.: Well, I got interested in computers because I was a major in electro-engineering. I was always interested in technology. And when I was in college, we were using the 7090s when I was in graduate school, even before the 360. So, it was very exciting when I came to IBM to see all the new generations of computers in development.