Machines
The History of Chess
Course 13 · Chapter 9 · Machines
People have wanted machines to play chess for over two and a half centuries, partly because the game seemed to need intelligence. This chapter follows the story from a famous fake, the Turk, through early computer programs and the Deep Blue match of 1997, to modern engines and online play. The main results were checked by web search; other details are flagged "check".
The Turk
The machine
In 1770 Wolfgang von Kempelen unveiled in Vienna a chess-playing automaton, a figure in Turkish dress sitting behind a cabinet, known as the Turk. It toured Europe and later America for decades (check).
The secret
It was not a thinking machine. Sources agree that a concealed human player operated it from inside the cabinet, using mechanisms to follow the game and move the arm (check).
The lesson
The Turk raised the question of whether a machine could think, 250 years before the answer began to matter. It is an early example of an apparent machine that hid human work, a pattern that has recurred (check).
Computers Learn to Play
| Stage (check each) | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1940s to 1950s | Pioneers including Alan Turing and Claude Shannon described how a machine might play, by searching moves and scoring positions. Turing wrote a program on paper before there was a machine able to run it (check). |
| 1950s to 1970s | Early programs played weak games on small boards or with simplified rules, then improved as computers did (check). |
| 1980s to 1990s | Special-purpose hardware and deeper search made programs strong enough to beat masters (check). |
| 1996 and 1997 | IBM's Deep Blue played Garry Kasparov twice (below). |
| 2000s onward | Programs on ordinary computers became stronger than any human; engines were used by players to prepare and analyse (check). |
Deep Blue and Kasparov
In 1996 Kasparov beat Deep Blue 4-2 in a six-game match in Philadelphia, though the machine won one game. A year later, in 1997, an upgraded Deep Blue won the rematch 3.5 to 2.5. The sources consulted report that in the deciding game Kasparov resigned after only 19 moves (check). It was the first time a reigning world champion lost a match to a computer under standard conditions. Kasparov afterward questioned the conditions, including the lack of access to the machine's earlier games, and the question of fairness was debated (check).
Engines Beyond Human Knowledge
Traditional engines, such as Stockfish, search millions of positions with hand-built scoring rules. A different approach came in 2017 with AlphaZero from DeepMind, which taught itself chess from the rules alone by playing against itself. In a reported match it beat a leading traditional engine with 28 wins, no losses and 72 draws over 100 games (check; the engine version and conditions were criticised). The arithmetic of that result is easy to check:
The score of 64 to 36 matches the 28-0-72 record, and the Deep Blue score adds up to the six games played. The code checks the sums. It cannot say whether the match conditions were fair (check).
Online Chess
- Internet play. From the 1990s, servers let people play anyone in the world at any hour, and by the 2010s millions played every day (check).
- Cheating. Engines made cheating by consulting a program a real problem, in online play and in tournaments, and organisers use statistical methods and rules about devices to detect it (check).
- Training. Players of every level use engines to analyse their games, and the best prepare opening lines many moves deep with engine help (check).
- The pandemic and popular media. Online chess and streaming grew sharply around 2020 (check).
Evidence, Weighed
| Claim (check each) | Evidence | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| The Turk was a genuine machine | A human operator was hidden inside | False |
| Deep Blue beat Kasparov in 1997 | 3.5 to 2.5 over six games | Well supported |
| Machines have solved chess | They are very strong, but the game is not fully solved | False |
| Machines killed human chess | Participation and interest have grown | False |
Exercises
Explain how the Turk worked in broad terms, and say why the story is still told.
Describe two reasons why the 1997 Deep Blue match was more than just a game result, and one reason to be careful about drawing conclusions from it.
Use the points function to check this result: a 12-game match with 3 wins, 1 loss and 8 draws. Give both scores and the winner.
Quick Reference
- The Turk: 1770, a human hidden inside
- Deep Blue: lost 2-4 in 1996, won 3.5-2.5 in 1997
- AlphaZero: reported 28-72-0 against a leading engine, 2017
- Method: check the sums, then ask about the conditions