(After game 4 was drawn on the 50th move, World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov entered the hall of the Philadelphia Convention Center to speak to the live audience.)
Mr. AshleyI believe entering the hall now, we should welcome world chess champion Garry Kasparov.
( Standing ovation)
Mr. AshleyQuestion to you, Garry Your feelings about today's game.
Mr. KasparovI just -- I'm quite happy that I escaped so narrow at the end. That's the worst situation, that computer's pieces are on attack and you're short on time. And I managed to find all the moves, only moves, and to very narrowly escape. But I spend too much time in the opening -- after the opening to find how could I improve my position because it looked very, very promising, but I didn't find anything.
Mr. SeirawanWell, again --
Mr. KasparovTake on C4 was a queen, yes. Yeah, queen takes C4. White is definitely better, yes.
Mr. SeirawanIt's nice.
Mr. KasparovYeah, it's nice. Knight F6, I play knight F6 and now it's -- I mean, it's not easy to improve White's position because Black -- the danger of Black has a queen and my king is a bit exposed and you should look carefully. I think you know White could find something better. There was an interesting moment in the opening because when -- before machine played -- I mean, I don't know whether I could play bishop takes A6 or not. I would consider this with any human, but here -- what Murray told me after the game, that machine saw A5, A3, bishop takes A6 was winning. That's what machine was afraid. I think even here bishop takes A6 gives very interesting attack for White.
Mr. AshleyYou're talking about the moment when, 15 -- 16, bishop takes A6 --
Mr. KasparovBishop takes A6, rook E8.
Mr. SeirawanIt's tough to sacrifice against the computer.
Mr. KasparovThis is true. But I would consider this. I would spend some time. But I played bishop E3 almost automatically because I could exchange bishops and I felt I would have slight edge. A pawn is quite weak, and I would -- I thought something would be found.
Mr. SeirawanWell, I think your instincts were right. But when you had come up later into the game with knight takes E5 --
Mr. KasparovBut I played rook E8 and here I had big dilemma. I could take on G4 and have a very comfortable position, but very difficult to win, you know. I take on G4 all these exchanges. Take on G4, knight takes G4, rook takes E8, queen takes E8, H3, knight F6, rook E1, queen D8. Better on D8 to protect A5 pawn. How can you make progress here? I mean it's nice, it's much better for White; but to make progress, not easy. Not easy because Black has no real weaknesses and you would have to play maybe on G4 at one point. It's difficult to tempo the position. And I wanted something bigger.
Mr. AshleyYou know, you talk about the spectacular move bishop to H6. And I've seen you so many games, I've commented on so many games, that I know a typical Garry Kasparov when I see it. And bishop takes H6 would have been a typical Garry Kasparov sacrifice. What do you feel about the fact that you had to change your style somewhat to play against this thing?
Mr. KasparovI think that's a very new type of the game that any human grandmaster ever played. Because, first of all, it's a game where there's no sure tactic. I mean, the tactic doesn't win because it will never happen. Your opponent will never miss any short-term tactical combination. I mean, just forget about it. Which means that all of -- part of my own style or anybody's style is just -- you know, it's cut off. Because most of the games, if you look at the human games, they're lost due to short-term tactical combinations. One side is, you know, getting an advantage, it's increasing it, and it's putting a lot of pressure and, you know, other side is crushed under the pressure, and you win most of the game, if you look at them. You win with a very nice tactical shot. I mean, here it will never happen. Now just imagine that you have to win, but your arsenal, you know, the means that you use in a normal game, are eliminated. Now, bishop could definitely be a long-term combination. Now you could sacrifice something and machine would not fear it in time and then it would be too late. But you know then that's quite a unique approach because moves like bishop takes A6, you know, that's a masterpiece. If it wins, it's real masterpiece. And as you know, even the best players in the world, they can't play masterpiece every day. Now obviously, you know, you have to be -- in practical terms you have to be scared to waste your time on such a long-term sacrifice. I would do it if I played, you know, against a normal human player, but here I didn't see something really concrete. And also bishop E3 promised a nice advantage. If bishop E3 would lead to nothing, I would probably consider bishop H6 seriously. I said maybe I would get an end game or just a position where I could put pressure without any risk. And, you know, it didn't work, but --
Mr. SeirawanGarry, where do you think -- I mean, basically everything you were doing, at least from my perspective, worked. And it seemed to me, as we got into the game position a bit, you were doing everything nice. You forced them to play queen C5. B5 was a great countermove.
Mr. KasparovBut you know what? The time I spend, you know, after F4 I was scared of B5 immediately. There was a possibility to play B5 immediately. That would result queen C8, and that could lead to very interesting complications as well.
Mr. SeirawanBut do you feel, like I feel, there was a slip, that you still had a good game even --
Mr. KasparovHow? B3, A4? The problem is, I can't keep my pawn.
Mr. SeirawanThis is what I thought was happening. I thought rook E4 was a slip. I thought this was an overplay.
Mr. KasparovYes, exactly. Queen takes C4 was better. But still I would make something before. White had to get, you know, the better position because it looked very --
Mr. SeirawanDo you feel that this is twice in a row now that you've had something, game 3 you had something, you were a step away?
Mr. KasparovNo. Game 3, it was definitely an illusion because it played the defensive line very well. And, you know, from the pure chess point of view, the position was not winning. It was better for Black. But White had to make a mistake for Black to win. Here I think I had a serious advantage, but to transfer it into something really concrete, it was not easy. I mean, it looks very nice for White, knight on E5. You know, rook is protecting the knight, but I couldn't figure out how to make the final --
Mr. SeirawanThe final blow.
Mr. KasparovThe final blow.
Mr. AshleyYas talks about losing sleep over some positions. Is this a position you're going to lose sleep over?
Mr. KasparovNo, no, no. It could happen if I lost the game; but, no, I'm quite pleased because I defended, you know, the position which, you know, extremely dangerous.
Mr. SeirawanWhat came later.
Mr. KasparovYes, against the machine. I managed quite well just to save the game.
Mr. SeirawanI thought the move rook takes E5, the exchange sacrifice that you made at the end, was really an extremely professional --
Mr. KasparovYeah. It's easy to play with the machine. You just take on E5, and I think that computer could create certain problems for White. I just -- you know, I show that for the game. I saw it. But still, you know, because I knew that this position bishop had two pawns, that I was heading for -- against rook and two pawns is a draw, I thought it would not be that dangerous because at any point computer would win a pawn, exchange queens and be happy.
Mr. Seirawanand be a draw too.
Mr. KasparovYes, and it will be a draw too. But in the opening it's very funny. Also it's a problem that, you know, we would play the line that I didn't expect today. I just played something that machine didn't expect for sure. And I think White could play some other moves because I remembered there was some ideas with B4, C5. But very difficult just to figure it out at the game. And when you don't know what to do, you just go for a line which gives you a certain plus. But, you know, without weaknesses. If machine has a position without weaknesses, it's very difficult to win.
Mr. AshleyTwo-game match. The first 4 games have passed. A rest day tomorrow. Come back on Friday. Tension is definitely rising for you, not for DEEP BLUE.
Mr. KasparovYes, exactly. That's my main concern, because I'm really tired. These games took a lot of energy. But if I play a normal human match, my opponent would be also exhausted. Here I have something that is not exhausted and just will play with the same strength. It's not stronger but not weaker. And the only thing I can do is just to relax tomorrow and get some good rest and sleep because, you know, the price for these two games is quite high for me. But again, machine is not under pressure.
Mr. SeirawanIts chips are taken care of. I invite the audience to ask two questions.
(Audience question)
Mr. SeirawanWhen the computer crashed, were you upset? Did that affect you psychologically?
Mr. KasparovProbably because immediately I made a very reduced move, rook E4. It's a normal psychological reaction because it's a critical moment of the game. You know, I played F5. I spent so much time. Still, bishop takes F5. I had to calculate and calculate, and suddenly it's crash and it's irrational. You're full of emotions, and it crashed. I saw the clock was stopped. I asked the arbiter. Then I realized the clock was on and I -- you know, I got quiet. You know, it's very difficult to keep under control because something is happening and you're definitely not happy.
Mr. AshleyThat's happened in all the games, though, hasn't it?
Mr. KasparovYeah, but that was a crucial moment of the game, you know, and that's why I was so nervous.
Mr. AshleyAnd the last question, over here.
(Audience question)
Mr. KasparovAs I said, that's the worst situation you can dream to be with the computer. I had about ten minutes to play. And, you know, my original idea was to play queen E1, queen takes B2. And suddenly I found knight F4. When I found that and, okay, I was quite lucky that I still was able to find all these tricks, you know, then the whole plan was bishop A4 was -- it was nonsense. And also I realized that king H1 was a terrible mistake because king was much better on G1. You know, on H1 it could be only mated. But again it was a very simple human move. You know, you put king on H1, maybe it's check, but in the long-term it was a very bad move because eventually it helped Black to create new tactical threats with the rook E1 mate now because king couldn't come on F2. And I found it. And, you know, I couldn't find a move first, and I realized I had to play bishop C6. But then bishop C6 and D1 square is weak now. Rook C4, I realized that's my only move, but I had to force myself to play. And, you know, that's kind of the position. Because if there is a win, it will be found. Now, I had to trust my intuition. I played bishop C6, and I was lucky to find the only defensive move. Because at one point it looked terrible.
Mr. SeirawanPretty bad.
Mr. KasparovYes, pretty bad. But again it was draw, because otherwise computer would find it.
Mr. SeirawanI just wanted to say thank you for coming out, on behalf of my audience. I want to wish you a very good restful sleep. (Applause.)
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