A New Era [Paperback]

Michael Khodarkovsky (Author)

Book Description

Series: New Era | Publication Date: September 30, 1997

"I tried to play through the rest of the game as best I could, but I lost because [Deep Blue] played great. It played like God."
--Garry Kasparov

In 1995, shortly before he was to play IBM's Deep Blue, World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov defeated challenger Viswanathan Anand in eighteen demanding and gripping games. Here for the first time are move-by-move analyses by International Grandmaster Leonid Shamkovich and by Master--and Kasparov second--Michael Khodarkovsky which provide insight into the mind of the world champion as he prepared for the match against Deep Blue.

Garry Kasparov handily won his first match with Deep Blue, but it is clear from Khodarkovsky's description that even in 1996 the massively parallel computer could be a difficult  opponent. Then, before the spring 1997 rematch, the IBM team let on that it had improved Deep Blue considerably and that it was spoiling for a fight . . . The analysis of these games in A New Era shows just how much IBM has improved the breed.

Must-reading for anyone who is passionate about the world's most enduring game of strategy and wits, A New Era takes the reader inside the world of professional chess, offering insiders' insights (including those of Kasparov himself) into the politics and psychology of competition at the top levels of play, whether against human or machine.

"A [match] victory by Deep Blue would be a very important and frightening milestone in the history of Mankind."
--Garry Kasparov

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

"I tried to play through the rest of the game as best I could, but I lost because [Deep Blue] played great. It played like God."
--Garry Kasparov

In 1995, shortly before he was to play IBM's Deep Blue, World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov defeated challenger Viswanathan Anand in eighteen demanding and gripping games. Here for the first time are move-by-move analyses by International Grandmaster Leonid Shamkovich and by Master--and Kasparov second--Michael Khodarkovsky which provide insight into the mind of the world champion as he prepared for the match against Deep Blue.

Garry Kasparov handily won his first match with Deep Blue, but it is clear from Khodarkovsky's description that even in 1996 the massively parallel computer could be a difficult  opponent. Then, before the spring 1997 rematch, the IBM team let on that it had improved Deep Blue considerably and that it was spoiling for a fight . . . The analysis of these games in A New Era shows just how much IBM has improved the breed.

Must-reading for anyone who is passionate about the world's most enduring game of strategy and wits, A New Era takes the reader inside the world of professional chess, offering insiders' insights (including those of Kasparov himself) into the politics and psychology of competition at the top levels of play, whether against human or machine.

"A [match] victory by Deep Blue would be a very important and frightening milestone in the history of Mankind."
--Garry Kasparov

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Game Two: Sunday, May 4, 1997

Deep Blue--Kasparov

Before Game Two, Garry had decided to let Deep Blue play the Spanish Game
(Ruy Lopez) against him, and immediately before the game he decided to
play a very "left wing" variation that the computer would not be able to
find in its database of chess openings.

The game started out with Garry's playing the Spanish Game with 5...Be7--an obvious choice given his anticomputer strategy. The opening was
played with the standard Spanish Game moves. Deep Blue obviously had
access to Spanish Game theory and was playing according to firmly
established chess principles.

It was soon becoming apparent to everyone that something different was
happening in Deep Blue's play. Its ability to develop a rational plan, its
patience in realizing plans, its sophisticated maneuvers--all this made
Deep Blue seem quite human in its play. It was eerie to watch--Garry was
being outplayed positionally by a machine! Computers aren't supposed to be
able to do this and yet it was happening before our eyes. Apparently, the
IBM Deep Blue team had modified some of the parameters of Deep Blue's
scoring functions between rounds one and two which would account for the
machine's ability to limit its opponent's counterplay to practically
nothing. The implications were staggering. We could now never be sure
which Deep Blue to play against! Garry was getting squeezed off the board.
With no attacking possibilities of his own, all he could do was play a
patient, waiting defense, hoping to fend off Deep Blue's eventual attack.
Deep Blue gradually improved its position and with a highly prized human
virtue--infinite patience--prepared a decisive breakthrough into Garry's
position. With 36. axb5, the breakthrough was achieved. The route into
Garry's position would be the a-file. The only question was, could Garry's
defense hold?

Deep Blue played the breakthrough masterfully while preventing any chances
of counterplay by Black with its 37. Be4!, a move which surprised many
observers since Qb6, netting some extra pawns, seemed more in keeping with
a computer's materialistic bent. With no counterchances, Garry just waited
with the rest of us for the end. After Deep Blue played 46. Ra6, Garry,
having seen enough, resigned. The audience, the commentators, the
pressroom, and perhaps the world were stunned not so much by a machine's
having defeated a World Champion, but by the manner in which it had done
it. The great subconscious fear of machines conquering their makers--and
their makers being powerless to stop it just as Garry seemed powerless
against Deep Blue--seemed to be in everyone's conscious thoughts.


Game Two--The First Questions

We entered several game positions into our computers for evaluation and
waited to see if they would select the same moves...

While the computers were working, and as the shock of what had happened
began to wear off, something started to bother us--the inconsistencies in
Deep Blue's behavior. For example, in Game One and until move 35 of Game
Two, Deep Blue spent three to four minutes on every move. Obviously it had
been programmed to make a move in that amount of time. But before its move
35, Deep Blue took fifteen minutes to make sure that Bxd6 was a good move
for White.

Another inconsistency was the way Deep Blue had played between Game One
and Game Two. In Game One, it played the way we were accustomed to see a
computer play--materialistic and tactical but unable to comprehend
higher-level things like long-term positional weaknesses and piece
coordination. In Game Two, material was not important to the machine and
it played with a strategic and positional competence achieved by very few
grandmasters.

These inconsistencies bothered us and Garry; we started to feel
suspicious. However, we had nothing solid to go on. There was also the
possibility that the Deep Blue team had set us up by having Deep Blue play
in its original style in Game One, only to surprise us with its newer
capabilities in Game Two. All this bothered Garry and it became difficult
for him to concentrate completely on his preparations for Game Three. With
these thoughts dominating our minds, we went to sleep. Our dreams could
not possibly match the fantastic events that were to occur.

Product Details

• Paperback: 291 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1 edition (September 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 034540890X
• ISBN-13: 978-0345408907
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,686,881 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting, but one-sided and poorly written, August 13, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: A New Era (Paperback)

For chess players it's a very useful account of Kasparov's matches with Anand and against Deep Blue. However, the style is very dull and, although fluent, it is obvious that the author's first language is not English. Some analysis is presented in this book but not in any useful way - neither in depth for the expert nor descriptive explanation for the novice.

In stark contrast to the quality of writing, Dominic Lawson's book on the Kasparov-Short match, End Game, is a much more enjoyably read as an account of a world championship match, although it lacks any chess analysis.

Khodarkovsky also seems unable to have his own opinions on the matches and appears only to present Kasparov's point of view. He often drones on how intelligent and wonderful Kasparov is, without there being any relevance to the story. There is also a lot of criticism of IBM's behavior in the second Deep Blue match but no attempt to get a perspective from outside the Kasparov team. This is understandable if he wants to remain as a trusted aide for future matches, but it doesn't make for enjoyable reading.

These criticisms of style and approach aside, the book is very worthwhile to the chess player as it gives the world champion's perspective on one of his title matches and also on the most important man-versus-machine games ever played.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent coverage from inside source., April 11, 2003

By 

Bryan Castro (Williamsville, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A New Era (Paperback)

A New Era was a very interesting book! This book provides coverage of Kasparov's championship defense against Vishy Anand, as well as his two matches against Deep Blue. The difference between this book and other books on the matches is that it is written by one of Kasparov's team, master Mikhail Khodarkovsky. This means that it includes much inside information about how Garry was feeling through the matches as well as fascinating insights into how their team prepared for each game and the general strategy of match play.

Kasparov is a very common hero for chess players not just because he is perhaps the greatest player ever but also because he often shows his emotions both on and off the board. He is a passionate person, as exhibited by his play as well as his views on politics and other topics. This book illustrates this aspect as he goes through the emotional ups and downs that comes from playing at the pinnacle of the game.

The games themselves were fascinating. I also have read Patrick Wolff's account of the 1995 World Championship match as well as Pandolfini's book on the second match against Deep Blue, so I had some background on the games. It is interesting to compare the feelings of Anand in Patrick Wolff's book (he was one of Anand's seconds) with that of Kasparov's during the same match.

My only criticism of the book is with regards to the analysis. It is detailed and includes Kasparov's own preparation and analysis. However, at times I feel it could be over the heads of less than advanced chess players because there is little commentary. However, I felt I could enjoy the games overall anyway. However, I don't think this detracts too much from the book overall as I felt the strength of the book was Khodarkovsky's perspective as an inside person in Kasparov's life.

If you are a fan of Kasparov's, you would do well to read this book. If you are a fan of chess, I also highly recommend it.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Computers are getting smarter see also The Black Swan, February 25, 2008

By 

Gabriel Falco "Black Swan" (NYC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A New Era (Paperback)

This review is combined in my other reviews and writing and can be found on my web site www.gabrielfalco.com
This book gives a chess player detailed information on how computer chess programing can be applied to ones personal game and thrilling account of the matches between Gary Kasparov and Deep Blue

Academia Made Magically Intuitive Real Time Review
By Gabriel Falco Copyright 2008 www.gabrielfalco.com
This review is written in the first person and will be updated bi-weekly.
I was delighted to begin reading this book but disturbed that some the ideas memorialized in the pages were ones that I have begun writing a white paper on titled "Fly by Wire Economy".
Obviously the book is great and this is more of a narrative and "slight of internet" to get you, the reader of this review to take a look at me; a self declared Black Swan (there is also a video of a black swan on my web site)
Nassim Nichols Teleb has an extraordinary ability to reinforce the meaning of academia-speak by context. The process seems to be magically intuitive. By the time I finished the prologue I was delighted.
Set forth in the prologue is a hint a brilliant crystallization of concepts and theories that will be accessible to a layperson like me. They include precision verse theorization and the impact of television.
I read very few books. The authors who I have chosen to read have all dramatically shaped my thinking. Most of them I know so I recon I am a bit biased.
They include: Michael Khodarkovsky, Gary Kasparov, Bart Kosko, Holly Peterson, Douglas r Hofstadter, Steven Gaines, Fritjof Capra, G. V. Chernov, Ron Chernow,D.T Suzuki and Shunryu Suzuki
Both this review and "Fly by Wire Economy" will be updated on my website, www.gabrielfalco.com

Is the "wire " strong enough to support our faith in financial systems. This article will is in progress as of Feb 20, 2008 and will be added to bi- weekly.