12 years ago, deep blue became first computer to defeat the world chess champion in a match!

on may 11, 1997, the ibm computer nicknamed "deep blue" won the sixth and decisive game of the re-match, held right here in new york city, against garry kasparov, the then world chess champion. it was the first time a computer program won a chess match against a sitting world champion!

an earlier (less deep, less blue?) version of the program lost the first six game match against kasparov held in february, 1996. kasparov won that match, which was held in philadelphia, by a score of 4-2. it was still significant because it featured the first win by a computer against the chess champion (amazingly, deep blue won the first game of that match)!

as a confirmed chess geek at the time, i followed each move of each game of both matches! while i consider the young bobby fischer the greatest chess player of all time, garry kasparov is second on that list of all time greats.