IBM Kasparov vs. Deep Blue Rematch

[Event "IBM Kasparov vs. Deep Blue Rematch"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1997.05.03"] [Round "1"] [White "Kasparov, Garry"] [Black "Deep Blue"] [Result "1-0"] [Opening "Reti: King's Indian attack, Keres variation"] [ECO "A07"] [Annotator "Gabriel Schwartzman"] 1. Nf3 {Garry decided to play this much more passive move compared to 1.e4 or 1.d4, in an attempt to keep the game quiet, with as few tactical strikes as possible. As everybody knows, the computer's main strength lies in calculating concrete lines very fast and very far, and not necessarily in the area of positional play, so it is normal for Garry to try to steer the game in this direction.} 1...d5 { Black's response indicates no desire to copy white's actions.} 2. g3 {fianchetto} 2...Bg4 {Black's idea is to counteract the power of the white bishop, by building a pawn fortress on the squares c6, d5, and e6. But before doing that, he makes sure that the his bishop isn't caught inside} 3. b3 {One of the most memorable games in Kasparov's career was the last game of his 1987 world championship match against Anatoly Karpov. Despite the fact the he needed a win to preserve his title, he chose the rather passive double fianchetto} 3...Nd7 {The computer passes on an attractive opportunity to double white's pawns on the 'f' file, by taking the knight on f3. This only means that in Deep Blue's eyes, keeping the pair of bishops is more important than ruining the opponent's pawn structure. In this case, the machine's decision was correct.} 4. Bb2 e6 5. Bg2 Ngf6 6. O-O c6 7. d3 Bd6 8. Nbd2 O-O 9. h3 Bh5 10. e3 {Kasparov once again proves he doesn't want a violent confrontation, by playing e3, instead of e4} 10...h6 11. Qe1 Qa5? 12. a3 Bc7? 13. Nh4! {Black's hesitation in the last moves allows white to grab the initiative. Nh4 is also a way of proving that black's overprotective h7-h6 a few moves back was no such a good idea. Now white threatens to push g3-g4, and send the bishop to g6, where the knight can't wait to capture it. The advantage of trading under these conditions is that white gets the pair of bishops and at the same time ruins black's pawn structure.} 13...g5!? 14. Nhf3 e5! {If black doesn't want to lose this game quickly, he has to close the position. The push of the 'g' pawn created a very weak a1-h8 diagonal, which black has to cover in some way. e6-e5 is not without problems, as we'll see in a second, but Deep Blue has no other choice - the bishop on b2 is too powerful and its line of fire comes a little too close to the black king.} 15. e4 Rfe8 {One of the effects of black's last two moves is the complete weakening of the f5 square. } 16. Nh2! Qb6 {Deep Blue discovered that one of the steps in white's march to f5 is the removal of the rook on f1. This means that the pawn on f2 suddenly loses its most defenders, so the machine, like a bloodhound, started the hunt. First by placing the queen on b6, and then by adding the bishop to the diagonal. } 17. Qc1 a5 18. Re1 Bd6 19. Ndf1 dxe4 20. dxe4 Bc5 21. Ne3 Rad8 22. Nhf1 {Both sides have achieved their ideal positions. Black's pieces are placed almost perfectly, but he still has the weak f5 square. White meanwhile is a little behind in development, but the same f5 square compensates for it plentifully. The only thing he does need to solve is the 'f2' problem. It is hard to play Nf5 while the black bishop and queen are enjoying such an impressive supremacy on the g1-a7 diagonal, but no one can stop white from slowly preparing b3-b4, for instance, and chasing the black bishop away, thus getting ready for the heralded arrival of the knight to f5.} 22...g4? {The fatal error.....Kasparov will say after the match that "pawns had to stay back to defend the king". He smiled after this move.} 23. hxg4 Nxg4 24. f3 Nxe3 25. Nxe3 Be7! 26. Kh1! {this will ensure that in the concrete variations that can ensue in such a dynamic position, there is no check that ruins everything} 26...Bg5 27. Re2 a4 28. b4 f5!? {Deep Blue finds another way of throwing the position in the air} 29. exf5 e4 30. f4! {This move obviously sacrifices an exchange, but it does two very significant things: it keeps the 'e' file tightly closed, thus making the black extra rook sit as a spectator for a while, and it gets rid of the black bishop. Add to this the might of the white pawns on the kings side, and you realized that white might have given up material, but also got a lot in return.} 30...Bxe2 {One interesting variation was 30...Bf4 31.gf4 Be2, but as Kasparov pointed out in his short talk with the audience after the game, the opening of the 'g' file is to white's advantage, because it allows a quick transferal to the king side of the heavy artillery from the queen side with 32.Qg1. } 31. fxg5 Ne5 32. g6 Bf3! {Black finds a beautiful spot for the bishop} 33. Bc3 Qb5 34. Qf1! {after Qb5, black threatens to come in, which white can ill afford. So better trade queens and get out of danger, hoping that the 'f' and 'g' pawns are enough to win} 34...Qxf1+ 35. Rxf1 h5 36. Kg1! {KasparovÕs decision not to take on e5 and f3 was correct, as his post game analysis proved. After 36.Bf3 ef3 37.Be5 Re5 38.Rf3 Kg7!, black gets a powerful blockade of the pawns, which could make things difficult for white. } 36...Kf8 37. Bh3! b5 38. Kf2 Kg7 39. g4! Kh6 40. Rg1 hxg4 41. Bxg4 Bxg4 42. Nxg4+ Nxg4+ 43. Rxg4 Rd5 44. f6 Rd1?! 45. g7 1-0