Kramnik versus Deep Fritz 2002

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Kramnik versus Deep Fritz, a match between Classical World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik and one of the world's top rated chess programs at that time, Deep Fritz 7 by ChessBase, held in Manama, Bahrain, October 4-19, 2002. It was organized by the General Organization of Youth and Sports in Bahrain, held under the patronage of the King of Bahrain, His Majesty Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. Dubbed as Brains in Bahrain, the eight game match ended in a 4-4 tie with two wins each and four draws. It was not sanctioned by ICGA or FIDE as Man vs. Machine World Championship - opposed to the upcoming Kasparov versus Deep Junior 2003 match. The Fritz team was represented by primary author Frans Morsch, by co-author and operator Mathias Feist, and by book author Alex Kure. Kramnik was supported by his seconds Christopher Lutz and Tigran Nalbandjan. The hardware used by Fritz was an eight-processor Compaq machine at 900 MHz, able to run Fritz at a speed around 3.5 Mn/sec.

=Course of the Match= The first half was dominated by Vladimir Kramnik, when he successfully applied an anti-computer strategy and won game 2 and 3 for a 3-1 lead. However, Deep Fritz fought back and could equalize due to a blunder of Kramnik in game 5, and Kramnik's risky piece sacrifice and with hindsight premature resignation in game 6.

=Prologue= The match, initially scheduled for October 2001, but postponed due to the September 11 attacks, was promoted by Brain Games Network, who already organized the 2000 Braingames World Chess Championships between Kasparov and Kramnik. Raymond Keene was appointed Match Director, Enrique Irazoqui and Eric Schiller disignated arbiters. In January 2002, the Einstein Group PLC took over the rights for the Man vs Machine event in Bahrain, they hired Malcolm Pein to take on the role previously occupied by Keene, with Schiller's participation vetoed by ChessBase.

=Computer Qualifier= When negotiations for a Kramnik versus computer match commenced in October 2000, the obvious computer opponent was Shredder, the reigning World Computer Chess Champion. But Brain Games Network decided instead to hold a qualifying event to which many of the world's strongest programs were not invited, provoking outrage in computer chess forums on the internet. The qualifying event, held in Cadaqués, Spain, was a 24-game match between Fritz and Junior. The qualifying match itself provoked surprise in the computer chess community, with doubts about how Junior's early 5-0 lead, which it sustained until after the 14th game completely eroded during the next 10 games, thereby causing a tied match and a play-off that was won by Fritz.

=Concession= After the Kasparov versus Deep Blue 1997 experience, where Kasparov had to play an almost unknown entity, a concession was made to Kramnik to his advantage. ChessBase was required to freeze the Fritz code several months before the start, while Kramnik received exactly this version allowing him and his seconds to prepare. For the match, Fritz was only allowed to change its opening book preferences. =Games=

Round 1
[Event "Brains in Bahrain"] [Site "Manama, Bahrain"] [Date "2002.10.04"] [Round "1"] [White "Deep Fritz 7"] [Black "Vladimir Kramnik"] [Result "1/2-1/2"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 h6 10.b3 Ke8 11.Bb2 Be7 12.Rad1 a5 13.a4 h5 14.Ne2 Be6 15.c4 Rd8 16.h3 b6 17.Nfd4 Nxd4 18.Nxd4 c5 19.Nxe6 fxe6 20.Rxd8+ Kxd8 21.Bc1 Kc8 22.Rd1 Rd8 23.Rxd8+ Kxd8 24.g4 g6 25.h4 hxg4 26.Bg5 Bxg5 27.hxg5 Ke8 28.Kg2 1/2-1/2 Postings Links
 * Draw due to lack of blockade detection... by Omid David, CCC, October 04, 2002
 * The Berlin Wall Holds. Short Draw in Game 1, ChessBase News, October 04, 2002
 * Brains in Bahrain Game 1 by Karsten Müller, ChessBase News, October 04, 2002

Round 2
[Event "Brains in Bahrain"] [Site "Manama, Bahrain"] [Date "2002.10.06"] [Round "2"] [White "Vladimir Kramnik"] [Black "Deep Fritz 7"] [Result "1-0"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.O-O a6 7.dxc5 Qxd1 8.Rxd1 Bxc5 9.Kf1 b5 10.Be2 Bb7 11.Nbd2 Nbd7 12.Nb3 Bf8 13.a4 b4 14.Nfd2 Bd5 15.f3 Bd6 16.g3 e5 17.e4 Be6 18.Nc4 Bc7 19.Be3 a5 20.Nc5 Nxc5 21.Bxc5 Nd7 22.Nd6+ Kf8 23.Bf2 Bxd6 24.Rxd6 Ke7 25.Rad1 Rhc8 26.Bb5 Nc5 27.Bc6 Bc4+ 28.Ke1 Nd3+ 29.R1xd3 Bxd3 30.Bc5 Bc4 31.Rd4+ Kf6 32.Rxc4 Rxc6 33.Be7+ Kxe7 34.Rxc6 Kd7 35.Rc5 f6 36.Kd2 Kd6 37.Rd5+ Kc6 38.Kd3 g6 39.Kc4 g5 40.h3 h6 41.h4 gxh4 42.gxh4 Ra7 43.h5 Ra8 44.Rc5+ Kb6 45.Rb5+ Kc6 46.Rd5 Kc7 47.Kb5 b3 48.Rd3 Ra7 49.Rxb3 Rb7+ 50.Kc4 Ra7 51.Rb5 Ra8 52.Kd5 Ra6 53.Rc5+ Kd7 54.b3 Rd6+ 55.Kc4 Rd4+ 56.Kc3 Rd1 1-0 Postings Links
 * Is it over for black? by Ed Schröder, CCC, October 06, 2002
 * Kramnik wins by Andrew Williams, CCC, CCC, October 06, 2002
 * Kramnik vs Deep Fritz (2) PGN and commented game by Kurt Utzinger, CCC, October 06, 2002
 * Fritz-Blunder and Kramnik-fantastical! (diagrams) by Eduard Nemeth, CCC, October 06, 2002
 * Kramnik Squeezes the Machine to Win Game 2, ChessBase News, October 06, 2002
 * Brains in Bahrain Game 2 by Karsten Müller, ChessBase News, October 06, 2002

Round 3
[Event "Brains in Bahrain"] [Site "Manama, Bahrain"] [Date "2002.10.08"] [Round "3"] [White "Deep Fritz 7"] [Black "Vladimir Kramnik"] [Result "0-1"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nxc6 Qf6 6.Qd2 dxc6 7.Nc3 Ne7 8.Qf4 Be6 9.Qxf6 gxf6 10.Na4 Bb4+ 11.c3 Bd6 12.Be3 b6 13.f4 O-O-O 14.Kf2 c5 15.c4 Nc6 16.Nc3 f5 17.e5 Bf8 18.b3 Nb4 19.a3 Nc2 20.Rc1 Nxe3 21.Kxe3 Bg7 22.Nd5 c6 23.Nf6 Bxf6 24.exf6 Rhe8 25.Kf3 Rd2 26.h3 Bd7 27.g3 Re6 28.Rb1 Rxf6 29.Be2 Re6 30.Rhe1 Kc7 31.Bf1 b5 32.Rec1 Kb6 33.b4 cxb4 34.axb4 Re4 35.Rd1 Rxd1 36.Rxd1 Be6 37.Bd3 Rd4 38.Be2 Rxd1 39.c5+ Kb7 40.Bxd1 a5 41.bxa5 Ka6 42.Ke3 Kxa5 43.Kd4 b4 44.g4 fxg4 45.hxg4 b3 46.Kc3 Ka4 47.Kb2 f6 48.Bf3 Kb5 49.g5 f5 50.Kc3 Kxc5 51.Be2 0-1 Postings Links
 * What happened after 43. Kd4? by Guy Haworth, CCC, October 08, 2002
 * Kramnik wins again by Jeremiah Penery, CCC, October 08, 2002
 * Kramnik Fights Back to Win Game 3, Leads 2.5-0.5, ChessBase News, October 08, 2002
 * Brains in Bahrain Game 3 by Karsten Müller, ChessBase News, October 08, 2002

Round 4
[Event "Brains in Bahrain"] [Site "Manama, Bahrain"] [Date "2002.10.10"] [Round "4"] [White "Vladimir Kramnik"] [Black "Deep Fritz 7"] [Result "1/2-1/2"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.g3 Nc6 6.Bg2 Nf6 7.O-O Be7 8.Nc3 O-O 9.Bg5 cxd4 10.Nxd4 h6 11.Bf4 Bg4 12.h3 Be6 13.Rc1 Re8 14.Nxe6 fxe6 15.e4 d4 16.e5 dxc3 17.exf6 Bxf6 18.bxc3 Qxd1 19.Rfxd1 Rad8 20.Be3 Rxd1+ 21.Rxd1 Bxc3 22.Rd7 Rb8 23.Bxc6 bxc6 24.Rxa7 Rb2 25.Ra6 Bd2 26.Rxc6 Bxe3 27.fxe3 Kf7 28.a4 Ra2 29.Rc4 Kf6 30.Kf1 g5 31.h4 h5 32.hxg5+ Kxg5 33.Ke1 e5 34.Kf1 Kf5 35.Rh4 Kg6 36.Re4 Kf5 37.Rh4 Kg5 38.Kg1 Kg6 39.g4 hxg4 40.Rxg4+ Kf5 41.Rc4 1/2-1/2 Postings Links
 * Kramnik,V vs Deep Fritz (PGN and Diag. after 22...Tb8) by Kurt Utzinger, CCC, October 10, 2002
 * Kramnik-Fritz 1/2-1.2 pgn by Uri Blass, CCC, October 10, 2002
 * Fritz Tries a New Twist and Earns a Draw in Game 4, ChessBase News, October 10, 2002
 * Brains in Bahrain Game 4 by Karsten Müller, ChessBase News, October 10, 2002

Round 5
[Event "Brains in Bahrain"] [Site "Manama, Bahrain"] [Date "2002.10.13"] [Round "5"] [White "Deep Fritz 7"] [Black "Vladimir Kramnik"] [Result "1-0"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 O-O 7.e3 Ne4 8.Bxe7 Qxe7 9.cxd5 Nxc3 10.bxc3 exd5 11.Qb3 Rd8 12.c4 dxc4 13.Bxc4 Nc6 14.Be2 b6 15.O-O Bb7 16.Rfc1 Rac8 17.Qa4 Na5 18.Rc3 c5 19.Rac1 cxd4 20.Nxd4 Rxc3 21.Rxc3 Rc8 22.Rxc8+ Bxc8 23.h3 g6 24.Bf3 Bd7 25.Qc2 Qc5 26.Qe4 Qc1+ 27.Kh2 Qc7+ 28.g3 Nc4 29.Be2 Ne5 30.Bb5 Bxb5 31.Nxb5 Qc5 32.Nxa7 Qa5 33.Kg2 Qxa2 34.Nc8 Qc4 35.Ne7+ 1-0 Game on Lichess.org

Postings Links
 * Qc4? by Terje Vagle, CCC, October 13, 2002
 * PGN of game #5 by Mike Scheidl, CCC, October 13, 2002
 * 'Brains in Bahrain' report: Kramnik is All Too Human by Paul Hoffman, TIME, October 12, 2002

Round 6
[Event "Brains in Bahrain"] [Site "Manama, Bahrain"] [Date "2002.10.15"] [Round "6"] [White "Vladimir Kramnik"] [Black "Deep Fritz 7"] [Result "0-1"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 c6 8.Bc3 d5 9.Ne5 Nfd7 10.Nxd7 Nxd7 11.Nd2 O-O 12.O-O Rc8 13.a4 Bf6 14.e4 c5 15.exd5 cxd4 16.Bb4 Re8 17.Ne4 exd5 18.Nd6 dxc4 19.Nxf7 Kxf7 20.Bd5+ Kg6 21.Qg4+ Bg5 22.Be4+ Rxe4 23.Qxe4+ Kh6 24.h4 Bf6 25.Bd2+ g5 26.hxg5+ Bxg5 27.Qh4+ Kg6 28.Qe4+ Kg7 29.Bxg5 Qxg5 30.Rfe1 cxb3 31.Qxd4+ Nf6 32.a5 Qd5 33.Qxd5 Nxd5 34.axb6 axb6 0-1 Game on Lichess.org

Postings Links
 * Kramnik's sacrifice - game 6 by Ed Schröder, CCC, October 15, 2002
 * Kramnik looks lost by Ron Murawski, CCC, October 15, 2002
 * Final position in game 6 by K. Burcham, CCC, October 15, 2002
 * Missed Draw by Kramnik by Ingo Althöfer, CCC, CCC, October 16, 2002
 * Kramnik-Deep Fritz Game 6 final position (draw?!) by Mig Greengard, CCC, October 17, 2002
 * The Bahrain Fortress by Mike Scheidl, December 10, 2002 » Fortress
 * Deep Fritz wins game six to equalise, ChessBase News, October 15, 2002
 * Brains in Bahrain Game 6 by Mig Greengard, ChessBase News, October 15, 2002


 * 'Brains in Bahrain': Kramnik Tries to Be a Viper by Paul Hoffman, TIME, October 15, 2002
 * Did Mig find a draw for Kramnik in game six? ChessBase News, October 18, 2002

Round 7
[Event "Brains in Bahrain"] [Site "Manama, Bahrain"] [Date "2002.10.17"] [Round "7"] [White "Deep Fritz 7"] [Black "Vladimir Kramnik"] [Result "1/2-1/2"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Qc2 Nxc3 9.Qxc3 c5 10.Rd1 d6 11.b3 Bf6 12.Bb2 Qe7 13.Qc2 Nc6 14.e4 e5 15.d5 Nd4 16.Bxd4 cxd4 17.Bh3 g6 18.a4 a5 19.Rab1 Ba6 20.Re1 Kh8 21.Kg2 Bg7 22.Qd3 Rae8 23.Nd2 Bh6 24.f4 Qc7 25.Rf1 Kg8 26.Rbe1 Qd8 27.Kg1 Bb7 28.Re2 Ba6 1/2-1/2 Postings Links
 * Re: Game 7 drawn in 28 moves PGN by Vincent Lejeune, CCC, October 17, 2002
 * News flash: Game seven drawn, ChessBase News, October 17, 2002

Round 8
[Event "Brains in Bahrain"] [Site "Manama, Bahrain"] [Date "2002.10.19"] [Round "8"] [White "Vladimir Kramnik"] [Black "Deep Fritz 7"] [Result "1/2-1/2"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 O-O 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.O-O dxc4 9.Bxc4 Nd5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.Rc1 Nxc3 12.Rxc3 e5 13.Bb3 exd4 14.exd4 Nf6 15.Re1 Qd6 16.h3 Bf5 17.Rce3 Rae8 18.Re5 Bg6 19.a3 Qd8 20.Rxe8 Nxe8 21.Qd2 1/2-1/2 Postings Links
 * Kramnik,V vs Deep Fritz (8) Draw (PGN, Final diagram) by Kurt Utzinger, CCC, October 19, 2002
 * Fritz Defends to Draw Game 8 and the Match! Final Score: 4-4, ChessBase News, October 19, 2002

=See also=
 * Kasparov versus Deep Blue 1997
 * Kasparov versus Deep Junior 2003
 * Kasparov versus X3D Fritz 2003
 * Kramnik versus Deep Fritz 2006

=Publications=
 * Karsten Müller (2002). The Clash of the Titans: Kramnik – Fritz Bahrain. ICGA Journal, Vol. 25, No. 4
 * Matthias Wüllenweber (2002). The Match from Fritz' View Point. ICGA Journal, Vol. 25, No. 4
 * Eric Hallsworth (2002/2003). Deep Fritz v Kramnik. Selective Search 103, pp. 9, pdf hosted by Mike Watters
 * Monty Newborn (2011). Beyond Deep Blue: Chess in the Stratosphere. Springer, ISBN-13: 978-0857293404
 * [[FILE:bejDeepBlue.jpg|none|border|text-bottom|link=http://www.springer.com/computer/general+issues/book/978-0-85729-340-4]]
 * Chapter 4: 2002: Deep Fritz Befuddles Kramnik, Drawing 4–4 in Bahrain

=Forum Posts=
 * Open letter to prof. Irazoqui about the Braingames qualifier by Jeroen Noomen, CCC, April 28, 2001
 * BrainGames Qualifier, about unfair competition by Ed Schroder, rgcc, April 29, 2001
 * A word from the 'Junior' Team - Cadaques by Shay Bushinsky, CCC, May 01, 2001
 * Questions for Enrique Irazoqui by Larry Proffer, CCC, May 02, 2001
 * Daily Telegraph - DF7 vs Kramnik by Bruiser Moreland, rgc, August 03, 2001
 * BrainsinBahrain website replies to Kasparovchess website questions by Graham Laight, CCC, September 11, 2001
 * Eric Schiller about the Cadaques Qualifier by Ed Schröder, CCC, October 11, 2002
 * Kramnik insulted by ChessBase by Matthias Gemuh, October 16, 2002
 * Congratulations to the Fritz team! by Andrew Williams, CCC, October 19, 2002
 * Which CPUs was used against Kramnik in 2002 ? by Vincent Lejeune, CCC, July 13, 2020

=External Links=
 * Brains in Bahrain from Wikipedia
 * Brains in Bahrain (2002) from chessgames.com
 * Kramnik-Deep Fritz match ends in 4-4 draw!, The Chess Drum
 * The Week in Chess 7th May 2001 by Mark Crowther (archived) 4.) Brain Games Network announce million dollar computer contract
 * Kramnik holds Deep Fritz in chess battle by Will Knight, New Scientist, October 21, 2002
 * Will humans ever beat computers at chess again? by David Levy, The Guardian, October 24, 2002

ChessBase

 * Brain Games reply to Ten Tough Questions, ChessBase News, September 14, 2001
 * Kramnik vs Deep Fritz schedule, ChessBase News, January 05, 2002
 * Einstein takes over Brain Games and Kramnik, ChessBase News, January 25, 2002
 * Vladimir Kramnik on Man vs Machine and world championships | Kramnik vs Fritz – playing good chess under fair conditions, ChessBase News, April 11, 2002
 * Kramnik vs Deep Fritz starts October 2nd 2002, ChessBase News, June 14, 2002
 * Kramnik is in Bahrain – and in the news, ChessBase News, September 29, 2002
 * Kramnik - Deep Fritz About to Get Underway, ChessBase News, October 04, 2002
 * People and faces at Brains in Bahrain, ChessBase News, October 07, 2002
 * Man vs Machine – Fritz 7 vs Vladimir Kramnik, ChessBase News, October 08, 2002
 * New tricks and new friends in Bahrain, ChessBase News, October 12, 2002
 * Did Deep Fritz use Shakespeare to heckle the World Champion? ChessBase News, October 16, 2002
 * Fritz Defends to Draw Game 8 and the Match! Final Score: 4-4, ChessBase News, October 19, 2002
 * Vor zehn Jahren: "Brains in Bahrain", ChessBase Nachrichten, October 16, 2012 (German)
 * Thirty years! Happy Birthday Fritz (5) by Frederic Friedel, ChessBase News, December 19, 2021
 * 20 years ago: "Brains in Bahrain", Vladimir Kramnik vs Deep Fritz by Dagobert Kohlmeyer, ChessBase News, June 10, 2022

Spiegel
by André Schulz, Der Spiegel, October 21, 2002, (German)
 * Das fällige Fazit: Die Lehren aus Kramnik gegen Deep Fritz
 * "Brains in Bahrain": Reiner Schaukampf oder mehr?
 * Rasterfahndung: Was verstehen heutige Programme vom Schach?
 * Schachcomputer: Die Rache des Mittelmaßes
 * Schach und (künstliche) Intelligenz: Ein Missverständnis

TIME
by Paul Hoffman, TIME
 * Report From the 'Brains in Bahrain', October 12, 2002
 * 'Brains in Bahrain' report: Kramnik is All Too Human, October 12, 2002
 * 'Brains in Bahrain': Kramnik Tries to Be a Viper, October 15, 2002
 * 'Brains in Bahrain:' Man and Machine Call It Quits, October 22, 2002

Interviews

 * Vladimir Kramnik on Man vs Machine and world championships, ChessBase News, April 11, 2002
 * Kramnik vs Fritz – playing good chess under fair conditions by Matthias Wüllenweber, ChessBase News, April 11, 2002


 * Interview with Vladimir Kramnik by Mig Greengard, ChessBase News, October 19, 2002
 * The gospel according to Enrique Irazoqui!, Interview with Enrique Irazoqui by Mariano Sigman, ChessBase News, April 18, 2003
 * Es gibt noch viel Entwicklungspotenzial, Interview with Mathias Feist, Karl - Das kulturelle Schachmagazin (German)

=References= Up one Level