Man and Machine Agree to a Draw in Chess Match

The unprecedented chess match between world champion Garry Kasparov and the IBM computer Deep Blue was deadlocked Tuesday after player and programmers agreed to a draw in the third game.

Kasparov offered the draw after making his 39th move with the black pieces and a little more than three hours of play. The six-game match, worth $400,000 to the winner and $100,000 to the loser, is level at 1 1/2 points each. One point is awarded for a victory and a half point for a draw.

Deep Blue made history Saturday when it became the first computer to defeat a reigning world champion in classic tournament play. Kasparov won the second game Sunday.

“In simple practical terms, the computer played today at a level of some of the best players in the world,” the Russian grandmaster said after Tuesday’s drawn game, indicating that he had a battle on his hands for the remaining three games. Game 4 is today.

Deep Blue varied its system on move 12 by placing a knight in the center of the board, and by move 20, the queens had been exchanged and the end game was underway.

The match between the world’s strongest player and the strongest chess machine ever built was part scientific project on how computers can solve problems and part contest between human and machine.

It was the first match between a world champion and a computer under tournament conditions. The players had two hours each to make the first 40 moves.

The games were being played in a small chamber in the Philadelphia Convention Center, where Kasparov sits at a chessboard opposite an IBM programmer. When he makes a move, the programmer enters it on a small keyboard and screen. The information is then sent down a telephone line to Yorktown Heights, N.Y., to Deep Blue.

Here are Tuesday’s moves:

Deep Blue No. 2-Kasparov: 1 e4 c5 2 c3 d5 3 exd5 Qxd5 4 d4 Nf6 5 Nf3 Bg4 6 Be2 e6 7 O-O Nc6 8 Be3 cxd4 9 cxd4 Bb4 10 a3 Ba5 11 Nc3 Qd6 12 Ne5 Bxe2 13 Qxe2 Bxc3 14 bxc3 Nxe5 15 Bf4 Nf3+ 16 Qf3 Qd5 17 Qd3 Rc8 18 Rfc1 Qc4 19 Qxc4 Rxc4 20 Rcb1 b6 21 Bb8 Ra4 22 Rb4 Ra5 23 Rc4 O-O 24 Bd6 Ra8 25 Rc6 b5 26 Kf1 Ra4 27 Rb1 a6 28 Ke2 h5 29 Kd3 Rd8 30 Be7 Rd7 31 Bxf6 gxf6 32 Rb3 Kg7 33 Ke3 e5 34 g3 exd4+ 35 cxd4 Re7+ 36 Kf3 Rd7 37 Rd3 Raxd4 38 Rxd4 Rxd4 39 Rxa6 b4. Draw agreed.