Computers outsmart humans in chess battle<\/p>\n
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
It was touted as a battle of \"man vs machine\", with some of
\nthe country's best chess players pitting their mental smarts
\nagainst hi-tech computer programs.<\/p>\n
And as expected, the computers came out on top on Monday.<\/p>\n
The matches, also to be held on Tuesday, pitted the quartet
\nagainst computerized chess programs -- Shredder8, Junior8, Fritz8
\nand Chessmaster9000.<\/p>\n
The latter proved far too strong, with a combined 7.5-0.5
\ndrubbing of the men.<\/p>\n
GM Utut Adianto, GM Susanto Megaranto and FM Tirta Chandra
\nPurnama were all beaten in their two games. Only FM Taufik Halay
\nsaved face with a half point in his second game against
\nChessmaster9000.<\/p>\n
Utut, who is also the interim chairman of the Indonesian Chess
\nAssociation (Percasi) after the resignation of Jeffry Geovanie in
\nDecember, took the widely expected defeat in stride.<\/p>\n
\"Of course, we battled hard for an edge against the computers.
\nBut the fact that we lost doesn't bother us ... because the most
\nimportant thing is that we have taken a big step in a bid to
\nimprove our chess performance in international tournaments,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"The world of chess, just like other sports, is indispensable
\nwith (use of) high technology. Utilizing computers in our chess
\ntraining is a must if we are to catch up with the world.\"<\/p>\n
The matches are being staged at the Wisma Karsa Pemuda
\nbuilding outside Bung Karno sports compound in South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Four big screens have been placed around the stage for the
\naudience's viewing.<\/p>\n
For the first set of matches, all the players were allotted a
\nthinking period of 60 minutes, but the humans seemed pressed for
\ntime.<\/p>\n
Against Fritz8 in the first game, Utut had a chance to force a
\ndraw but with time ticking away, he made a tactical mistake to
\nhand victory to his opponent.<\/p>\n
Utut only had about two minutes left, compared to a
\ncomfortable 15 minutes for Fritz8.<\/p>\n
\"They moved accurately throughout,\" young players Susanto, 17,
\nand Tirta, 18, concurred of their opponents.<\/p>\n
Taufik received applause for his feat against Chessmaster 9000
\nin the second game, but the 17 year old also found himself
\nrunning out of time.<\/p>\n
Taufik gained an advantage after he forced his opponent to
\nliquidate its queen for a rook, bishop and pawn in the middle of
\nthe game. But in the end, Chessmaster found a repetition that
\nTaufik could not stave off to force a draw after 55 moves.<\/p>\n
Again, time was on the side of the computer; Taufik had three
\nminutes left on the clock compared to Chessmaster's 30 minutes.<\/p>",
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