Garry Kasparov: The Digital Pioneer of the Chess World

What’s the first thing you connect with the name Garry Kasparov? Probably the words World Champion come to mind, images of his epic battles against Anatoly Karpov, his brilliant immortal game against Topalov or his legendary match against IBM’s supercomputer Deep Blue.

But there’s another, lesser-known aspect of Kasparov’s legacy—one that was less visible, but also worth seeing and acknowledging: his pioneering role in bringing computers into chess training and game preparation.

This article will give some insights into Kasparov’s journey of discovering what computers could do for chess at a time when they were still new to most. 

Kasparov’s first computer

Kasparov was first introduced to computers in 1983, following his semi-final match against Korchnoi in the 1983 Candidates Tournament in London. His sponsor Acorn, a British computer company, gifted him his very first computer, which he took back to his hometown Baku.This was actually one of the very first computers in the Soviet Union! In his book Deep Thinking (2017), Kasparov writes: “To me, coming from the USSR, owning a computer seemed a little like science fiction.” Although he wasn’t using the computer for chess yet, he played other games on it, one of his favorites being Hopper.

As a part of his later sponsorship deal with Atari, in 1986, Kasparov received more than 50 computers which he used to help start the first computer club of the Soviet Union. On his international travels, he continued supporting the club by bringing back additional hardware and software.

Kasparov’s first database

What we take for granted nowadays—studying openings with engines, analyzing positions in seconds, scouting opponents and dissecting their repertoires—was groundbreaking just 30 years ago. Back then, hardly anyone was doing it. Kasparov was one of the very first.

In 1985, just before becoming World Champion, Kasparov became friends with Frederic Friedel, a fellow computer enthusiast who would later co-found ChessBase. The two exchanged ideas on how computers could streamline chess tournament preparation—discussions that ultimately led to the creation of the first version of ChessBase.

The first idea was to create a chess database. A plan that quickly became a reality: Kasparov received the very first ChessBase diskette labeled “00001” and began using it for his opening preparations.

Being able to work with a digital database brought him significant success in some simultaneous exhibitions he was playing at the time. It also gave him a clear advantage over other grandmasters who were more reluctant to adapt to the new possibilities.

By the late 80s, the computer had become an indispensable tool in Kasparov’s chess preparation. While other chess players were still carrying around huge piles of paper with opening analyses and tournament games, Kasparov was one of the first to use a portable computer for this.

In his book Deep Thinking (2017) he recounts a situation in which a photographer asked for some pictures of him with his chessboard, but he only had his computer:

I didn't have a chessboard with me! All my preparation was done on my laptop, a Compaq that really stretched the definition of "portable." It must have weighed close to twelve pounds. Even so, it was far lighter and more efficient than traveling with my paper notebooks and a stack of opening encyclopaedias. 

Kasparov’s first games against computers

Databases were a novelty back then, so it’s no surprise that chess engines were not nearly as advanced as they are today. While they could defeat amateur players and, under faster time controls, even some titled players, Kasparov consistently outperformed them. In a simultaneous exhibition in Hamburg in 1985, he played against 32 of the world’s best chess machines and triumphed over all of them.

In 1989, Kasparov also played a two-game exhibition match against Deep Thought, predecessor of Deep Blue, which he won relatively easily. It was only five years later, in 1994, that a computer by the name of Chess Genius managed to defeat Kasparov. This was in a rapid time control game, though. 

The real challenge for chess programs was beating masters in classical time controls—a challenge that IBM took on a bit later when they developed their chess computer Deep Blue (more on that below).

The first chess programs and Kasparov’s Gambit

As soon as the first chess engines were available, Kasparov started experimenting with them as well. One of the first ones was Fritz 1 in the early 90s, which was still primitive though compared to what we’re used to today. Kasparov and his team used the engines to evaluate positions and confirm their “analog” analyses. 

An interesting fact probably not many know about: In 1993, Kasparov served as a consultant and brand ambassador for Kasparov’s Gambit, a program designed as both a chess engine and a teaching tool. It included interactive tutorials with Kasparov’s video commentary, a glossary of chess terms and a library of 500 famous games.

The matches against IBM’s Deep Blue

When Kasparov embarked on his journey in challenging the strongest chess computer at the time with the whole world watching, he was already deeply immersed in the subject. 

IBM had created Deep Blue with the sole purpose of defeating Kasparov. Yet, Kasparov managed to win the first match in 1996, with the machine’s performance leaving him rather unimpressed. He once compared its intelligence to that of an alarm clock. 

Just one year later, he was forced to reconsider this assumption and accept the rapid advance of technology when Deep Blue overpowered him in the rematch IBM held in 1997.

This rematch against Deep Blue was a global sensation, captivating not only chess enthusiasts but a much wider audience. Kasparov represented human intellect in a battle against machine intelligence. 

It was a tight match—the score was equal until the end and decided only by the last game. Kasparov took a risk and went into a rare trap in the Caro-Kann which he suspected the machine would not know. IBM had several grandmasters on their team who helped with the machine’s opening preparation, and apparently they had prepared Deep Blue specifically for this line.

The defeat came as a shock to Kasparov, and he appeared reluctant to accept it. This was, in part, because it was the first match he had ever lost in his entire career. Adding to his distress was a surprising suspicion: he believed IBM might have cheated by involving a human chess player during game two of the match.

His accusations against IBM are discussed in more detail in the 2003 documentary Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine. There is also a recently published series titled Rematch that revolves mostly around this aspect of the story.

Despite the circumstances of his loss, Kasparov wasn’t discouraged by it. Years later, he describes the experience with Deep Blue as One Big Loss for a Man, One Giant Win for Mankind. 

What happened after the Deep Blue rematch?

After the loss, Kasparov was eager to play a rematch. IBM however, declined. They had reached their goal, and that was also the end for Deep Blue. The machine was dismantled and parts of it were sent to museums.

Kasparov may not have been able to get his revenge on Deep Blue, but he continued challenging other chess engines, like later versions of Fritz and Deep Junior in 2003.

As it became inevitable that technology was going to surpass human intellect in the realm of chess, Kasparov ventured into another interesting territory: he pioneered in a new chess discipline, known as “Advanced Chess, aiming at bringing together human skills and machine intelligence. This innovative form of chess involved players collaborating with engines, combining the strategic depth of human skill with the computational power of computers—an approach nowadays used also by Magnus Carlsen and other top players.

This approach would come to epitomize Kasparov’s broader philosophy on technology: a focus on collaboration, advocating for humans and machines to work together. A perspective elaborated on in his book Deep Thinking and his 2017 TED talk:

With regard to chess, Kasparov thinks that the game will remain captivating for humans, despite the fact that computers unquestionably outperform us: “The potential for intellectual confrontations on an individual level guarantees that chess won’t be going anywhere”, he said in a recent interview published on the YouTube channel Levitov Chess World.

With Chessable being one of the most advanced options for digital chess training and tournament preparation, of course Kasparov’s presence can’t be missing here. His Opus magnum My Great Predecessors has been digitalized and made available on our platform. And just recently, Kasparov himself provided us with exclusive video material for part 4 of his work on Bobby Fischer!
Today, April 13th, is Kasparov’s birthday and for this special day, his courses will be on sale. Check them out on our page.