Computer Wins at Chess

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Profile America - Friday, February 10th.
The idea of man in competition with the machines he has built has been a theme in fiction and movies for years. But on this day 10 years ago, fiction became reality, as the IBM computer "Deep Blue" defeated reigning world chess champion Garry Kasparov - in just 34 moves. The computer was able to analyze 200-million chess positions a second, but could not learn from its mistakes. Kasparov went on to win the six-game match, but in a rematch the next year, "Deep Blue" emerged the winner. Some 8-million people in the U.S. enjoy playing chess at least once a year without the aid of a computer - or playing against one. More than 600-thousand play at least twice a week. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau on the Web at http://www.census.gov/ Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2006, p. 126
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2006, t.1230
http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract.html