Man versus machine chess match ends in draw

World chess champion Vladimir Kramnik has fought out a hard-earned draw with a computer opponent called Deep Fritz.

Kramnik went one better than fellow Grand Master Garry Kasparov who was beaten by IBM's Deep Blue in 1997.

Deep Fritz is a commercially available application designed by German firm ChessBase. It can analyse three million positions per second making it a formidable opponent - as its 4-4 result against the reigning world champion proved.

Kramnik said after the match that the very nature of playing a non-human opponent makes it a more difficult task, as he was unable to learn anything about his opponent or gauge the mood of his adversary.

He is quoted on Ananova as saying: "The main problem is that you can never understand its logic. With a human opponent, you feel him and you know what path he will take."

Despite finding the experience exhausting, Kramnik is keen for a rematch against Deep Fritz.

Kasparov has also thrown his hat into the rematch ring, saying that five years after his defeat at the hands of IBM he is ready to take on another machine.