Deep Blue Defeats the World Chess Champion

In May 1997, reigning world chess champion Garry Kasparov faced the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue in a six-game rematch at the Equitable Center in New York City. The contest followed an initial meeting in Philadelphia the previous year, where Kasparov had overcome an opening loss to win the overall match four points to two. The New York encounter carried intense public and scientific attention, as artificial intelligence researchers had long treated chess mastery as a major benchmark for machine capability.

Kasparov started the rematch favorably by securing a victory in the first game after forty-five moves, following an opening that developed into the King's Indian Attack. However, the tone of the match shifted abruptly during the second game. Deep Blue declined short-term opportunities to capture material and instead played positional moves, notably positioning its bishop on e4, which dismantled Kasparov's defensive setup. Kasparov resigned the game, though later evaluations showed that a drawing line through perpetual check had remained available to him.