Deep Blue Establishes Historic Landmark

The Dawn of the Post Deep Blue Era

2002: Shredder Bows to Deep Junior at 10th WCCC

2002: Deep Fritz Befuddles Kramnik, Drawing 4-4 in Bahrain

2003: Deep Junior Confounds Kasparov, Drawing 3-3 in New York

2003: Shredder, the Comeback Kid, Comes Back at 11th WCCC

2004: Deep Junior Edges Out Shredder to Take 12th WCCC

2004: Hydra Slews Shredder in Abu Dhabi, 5-5–2.5

2005: Zappa Red Hot at 13th WCCC

2006: Junior, Another Comeback Kid, Wins 14th WCCC

2006: Deep Fritz Clobbers Kramnik, 4–2

2007: Deep Junior Deep Sixes Deep Fritz in Elista, 4–2

2007: Rybka Moves to Top at 15th WCCC

2007: Zappa Upsets Rybka in Mexico City, 5.5–4.5

2008: Rybka, Naum Top Field at Internet Chess Club CCT 10

2008: Rybka Retains Title at 16th WCCC

2009: Rybka Tops at Internet Chess Club CCT 11

2009: Rybka Rolls Through Opposition at 17th WCCC

2010: Sjeng Wins ICC CCT 12

2010: Rybka Romps Again at 18th WCCC

And Beyond Rybka?

More than a decade has passed since IBM’s Deep Blue computer stunned the world by defeating Garry Kasparov, the world chess champion at that time. Following Deep Blue’s retirement, there has been a succession of better and better chess playing computers, or chess engines, and today there is little question that the world’s best engines are stronger at the game than the world’s best human players.

Beyond Deep Blue: Chess in the Stratosphere tells the continuing story of the chess engine and its steady improvement from its victory over Garry Kasparov to ever-greater heights. The book provides analysis of the games alongside a detailed examination of the remarkable technological progress made by the engines – asking the questions which one is best, how good is it, and how much better can it get.

• Presents a total of 118 games, played by 17 different chess engines, collected together for the first time in a single reference
• Details the processor speeds, memory sizes, and the number of processors used by each chess engine
• Reviews Deep Blue’s matches with Garry Kasparov in 1996 and 1997
• Includes games from 10 World Computer Chess Championships, and the three most recent major computer chess tournaments of the Internet Chess Club
• Covers the man-machine matches between Fritz and Kramnik in 2002 and 2006, and between Kasparov and Deep Junior in 2003
• Describes three historical matches between leading engines: Hydra versus Shredder, Junior versus Fritz, and Zappa versus Rybka

This fascinating account of the ongoing evolution of computer chess will appeal to both the general reader and to specialists in A.I. and computing. Chess players and aficionados will also appreciate this remarkable insight into the new superstars of the classic game.