Author: Pete R.
Date: 09:36:06 01/10/00
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On January 10, 2000 at 10:52:12, Amir Ban wrote: >IMO, if Kasparov indeed answered with "come back when you have a machine", >that's a reasonable reply that does not break his former commitment. However >Hsu didn't need Kasparov so much to play a match as he needed him to make the >entire project possible. I disagree with the first statement being entirely reasonable. Maybe so, maybe not. Apart from being a chess genius, Kasparov is smart in the general sense. He surely knows that "come back when you have a machine" kills the project instantly because Hsu cannot afford to build it without a sponsor, and without commitment from Kasparov no sponsor will appear. The fact is that if Kasparov were actually interested he could make this happen rather easily. Microsoft knows from Kasparov vs. The World what a draw Kasparov is, so they are an easy choice as a sponsor. If Kasparov's only real requirement is to have the machine establish a public record before playing it, this is trivial. What he cannot do is say he wants to wait until the machine is built and has a public record before he decides to play it. This again kills the project from the beginning. The parties must agree beforehand what the machine must do (e.g. play x number of games against GM strength opponents) so that if this is done the match is automatically on. If Kasparov wanted this it's as simple as agreeing to everything beforehand in order to guarantee the event to the sponsor. This and the fact that Kasparov surely knows that Hsu cannot build the machine otherwise points clearly to the idea that Kasparov does not want to do this. This is his choice of course, but as a chess fan (who spent a great deal of time contributing to the World team in the recent match, and loved every minute of it) this is exceedingly disappointing for two reasons. First, Kasparov has claimed cheating for years and demanded printouts etc., and this is his chance to have a "clean" match under conditions that he has *full* control over because it can't happen without him. The match is his to make any way he likes it. Second, it's extremely disappointing in that his lack of interest in this project kills the commercial DB chip itself. I sincerely hope that this chapter of chess history will not be closed prematurely.
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