Commentary for black move 15:

YASSER SEIRAWAN: I know some of the audience members have some questions for Murray, but briefly Garry as we've seen has utilized the a2-a3 pawn move and to play b2-b4 grabbing space on the queen-side. There was a variation earlier Bxd4 cxd4 knight e2 -- DB MOVE: 15...b6

MAURICE ASHLEY: We have a move by Deep Blue, b7-b6. So the idea of the move b4 is quite simple, just gaining space on the queen-side for an eventual endgame. And I know the gentleman there did have a question, so we'll pass you the microphone. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes, I have a question about how the computer uses its opening library when a transposition has taken place. Mr. Campbell, presumably if the computer reaches a position that is in its opening library and gets there by an abnormal route, it still knows it's there, but suppose it is in a position that is not in its opening library but has an opportunity to reach a position that is in its opening library. Does it say, "Hey, I'm going through my searches, I know this position and I think I might go for it"?

MURRAY CAMPBELL: No, it doesn't, and that would be a big mistake. There may be a much better move than just simply transposing back into your opening library, and if you do that -- For example, for chess players they can follow this. e4 e5 Nf3 a6 Bb5. White has just put his bishop where it would be taken. There's a move that would transpose back into the book, which is Nc6 which is a standard Ruy Lopez opening which showed up in game two, but of course it's much better to simply take the bishop and be a piece ahead. AUDIENCE MEMBER: To follow up on my question, the opening position would have a numerical count as to how good or bad it was for it, so suppose -- why couldn't you use the opening library and have that position evaluated, and then see if the computer can reach a position that's better numerically for it than that position in its opening library, and if it can't, go to a known acceptable position?

MURRAY CAMPBELL: One problem with that is that Deep Blue is not -- Deep Blue is not static, it changes all the time. We're constantly improving it. So if you have stored a lot of information about what moves it likes and what moves it doesn't like, you would have to constantly be revising that based on the quent version of the system. But in principle it sounds like a very good idea.

MAURICE ASHLEY: In fact in principle that's what human beings often do is to check versus other positions that are known and play that way. I have been told that I should mention that we have very good company with us, a group from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Cherry Hill high school in New Jersey, we'd like to welcome them here. Please stand up. (Audience applause.) And can we get a microphone over to them? I'm sure that the youngsters have -- AUDIENCE MEMBER: A second high school here, Masterman from Philadelphia.

MAURICE ASHLEY: Oh, perfect ennatural national champions. They're here also from Philadelphia. Please welcome them. (Audience applause.)

YASSER SEIRAWAN: And we have our commentator IM Michael Valvo in the audience. Mike, reconnaissance?

MIKE VALVO: Yeah, I've been asking them, and Masterman here seems to be the best school in the whole country, so unbelievable.

YASSER SEIRAWAN: All right. Congratulations.

MIKE VALVO: They're the national high school K-12 champs, they're the national junior K-9 champs. We have 50 to 60 kids in their program, and the Cherry Hill coach said there's no question, they're the best in the country. We may be the best in New Jersey, he says. We've won nine of 12 years, but they just dominate, and they've got one kid here, Stan. Maybe you can say a few words, Stan. I understand you came in fifth in the national championship. You'd rather not? He says, "Let my moves speak for me."

MAURICE ASHLEY: Any other questions, maybe?

MIKE VALVO: Any kids here would like to make any comments about the games?

YASSER SEIRAWAN: Okay, let's take our poll. Who of the national high school champions, why don't you lead us off here, believe Garry Kasparov, it's his day today?

MAURICE ASHLEY: One.

MIKE VALVO: Raise your hands. How many of you think Garry is going to win today.

YASSER SEIRAWAN: I think that's unanimous.

MIKE VALVO: Anyone voting for a draw? One for a draw. Anyone think the computer is going to win today?

YASSER SEIRAWAN: Zippo, nada.

MAURICE ASHLEY: It's often the audience is right. And we have national champions in the -- AUDIENCE MEMBER: One gentleman I'd like to introduce, we've been analyzing the game and we had one question about the second game. If you analyze it without taking the bishop -- I mean did you look through that, that was really anything possible? We spent about an hour on it, and none of us are masters but we figured we'd get a chance to do to ask somebody about it, but could you do that later?

MAURICE ASHLEY: You mean instead of capturing the d6 bishop, doing something else as white?

YASSER SEIRAWAN: I stopped myself because I had gotten into some of the chess positions rather deeply of Qxd6, and having -- once we have a pause later today, I'll save it as a sweet, but I will in fact look at the move Qd7+ which I think is a superior attempt at winning, but it fails as well.

MAURICE ASHLEY: Does anyone else have questions?

YASSER SEIRAWAN: We have a gentleman with his hand up, Mr. Carl Hessle /R*ERBGS, a good friend of mine from Oregon. Be careful with me, Carl. Be nice. AUDIENCE MEMBER: I'm always nice, Yaz, you know that. I was just wanting to ask Mr. Campbell, I mean look at the position now, and you commented how early on in the game how horrendous the e7 bishop is for black. Is there anything in its evaluation function that says hey I've got a bad bishop, I've got to try something like Bg5 to trade it off. There's a time instead of throwing in Nd4 he could have been thinking -- it, sorry.

MURRAY CAMPBELL: Common mistake. AUDIENCE MEMBER: How could I play Bg5 or something to get that inactive bishop traded off?

YASSER SEIRAWAN: Let me interrupt and restate the question for just a second. What Carl is asking is, look, is Deep Blue asking itself the question "What is my dark-squared bishop on e7 doing and could I or should I do something about it?" Murray?

MURRAY CAMPBELL: It absolutely knows that that bishop is bad. If you took that bishop without the two dark-squared bishops on the board, black's evaluation would jump dramatically I'm sure the. -- I'm sure. So it would have it had an opportunity, exchange it off. But I don't think it's had an opportunity yet.

MAURICE ASHLEY: Is that one of the things you teach it, if it has a bad piece, seek to exchange off that bad piece? That's something totally automatic for chess players.

YASSER SEIRAWAN: But it's an important positional strategy. Isn't it hard to build that in into the computer's awareness?

MURRAY CAMPBELL: Not really. It's pretty clear to a chess player why that bishop is bad. The blocked pawns in the center, lack of mobility. So that bishop is going to be getting a lower value than a normal bishop.

MAURICE ASHLEY: What does that mean, it's getting a lower value than a normal bishop?

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