You are here: silicon.com > Hardware > Desktops

Desktops

Chess master takes on supercomputer

Man versus machine... again

Tags: michael adams, hydra, deep blue, chess

By Graeme Wearden

Published: 25 May 2005 08:45 BST

Nearly 10 years after the first epic clash between Garry Kasparov and Deep Blue, man is again going head-to-head with a computer in a high-profile chess competition.

This time, mankind will be represented by Grand Master Michael Adams, who at 33 is the UK's top chess player. Facing him across the board - virtually, at any rate - will be Hydra, a supercomputer housed in Abu Dhabi.

Hydra is a clustered system made up of 64 PCs each powered by a 3.06GHz Intel Xeon processor. According to the team that developed Hydra, it can calculate 200 million moves per second, and look up to 40 moves ahead.

The six-game contest between Adams and Hydra will run from 21 June to 27 June. It will take place at London's Wembley Centre, although Hydra will remain in Abu Dhabi. At a press briefing in London on Tuesday, the clash was billed as 'the battle for supremacy' between man and machine. Some of the statistics being banded around suggested the computer could have the upper hand, given that Adams can consider just 1.4 moves per second.

But Adams' 20 years of competitive experience should serve him well, and he said he was "really looking forward to matching wits with the ultimate opponent to prove that nothing can match the power of human creativity".

Adams became a grand master at 17 and was ranked third in the world in 2002 by FIDE, the world chess federation - although this ranking didn't include Kasparov himself, who broke away from the federation in 1993.

Kasparov defeated Deep Blue in their first contest, in 1996. But in a rematch a year later it was the computer that was victorious, winning 3.5 points to 2.5 points.

Graeme Wearden writes for ZDNet UK

  1. Zones
  2. Management
  3. Networks
  4. Software
  5. IT Services
  6. Hardware
  1. Verticals
  2. Public Sector
  3. Financial Services
  4. Retail & Leisure

  • Jobs
Graduate Analyst Programmer

Graduate Analyst Programmer RM is a firm at the top of its game. Performance bonus of up to per year 25 days holiday a year Career Development We ...

Career Development! JAVA Developers-North West 30,000-40,000

Make a change to really stand out from the rest, call or send your CV to Michael Nightingale 0161-817-7888.Computer Futures Solutions Limited acts as ...

J2ME Developers-The next step! North West. 30,000 to 35,000

If you are motivated to create advanced, effective applications and to gain the best rewards in the business, send your CV or call Michael ...

CIO50 2008
The silicon.com CIO50 2008 profiles the most influential and innovative tech chiefs in the UK across all industries and organisation size, from the biggest FTSE100 companies to high growth dot-com start ups and the public sector. The list was voted on by the UK CIO community and a panel of experts. Find out more in our latest special report.





Quick Sitemap Links: