LaviChess

Deep Blue vs. Kasparov, Game 6

On May 11, 1997, world champion Garry Kasparov resigned after only 19 moves against IBM's computer Deep Blue. It was the first time a computer had won a match against a reigning world champion.

  • WhiteDeep Blue
  • BlackGarry Kasparov
  • WhereNew York
  • WhenMay 11, 1997
  • EventIBM Deep Blue vs. Kasparov rematch, game 6
  • Result1–0, White won
  • OpeningCaro-Kann Defense (B17)
  • Length19 moves

Garry Kasparov and IBM's chess computer Deep Blue met in two matches of six games. Kasparov won the first, in Philadelphia in February 1996, 4–2. Before the rematch in New York in May 1997, the computer had been upgraded and was unofficially nicknamed “Deeper Blue.”

Before the sixth and last game the score was 2½–2½. Kasparov had won the first game, lost the second and drawn the next three, even though he had had the better position in all three. The game began at three in the afternoon and was over in just over an hour.

Afterward, Kasparov accused the Deep Blue team of cheating: of having people help the computer during the match. He wanted a new match, but IBM declined and shut down the project.

The players

Deep Blue was a purpose-built supercomputer from IBM, designed for chess by the computer scientist Feng-hsiung Hsu. Work on it began in 1985 at Carnegie Mellon University under the name ChipTest. Its successor was called Deep Thought, and once the developers had moved to IBM, the machine was named Deep Blue in 1989.

Garry Kasparov (born 1963) had been world champion since 1985. He knew opening theory as well as anyone in the history of chess, which is what makes his choice in the opening of this game so strange.

The game move by move

Step through with the arrows or tap a move. Moves with a dot have a comment.

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Deep Blue has the white pieces, Garry Kasparov the black.

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Open on the analysis board

Watch the game on the living board

Play like Deep Blue

Guess the moves Deep Blue played, one at a time. The move from the game earns two points, and a move Lavi thinks is about as good earns one. The other side's moves and the game's notes come as you go.

Play like Deep BluePlay like Kasparov

The moments that decided it

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After 8.Nxe6: the knight sacrifice, well known from earlier games.
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After 17.Bf5: the pressure on e6 is too much.

The end

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The final position after 19.c4. Black resigned after 19.c4.

Why the game is famous

The loss was the first time a computer had beaten a reigning world champion in a match of several games. That Kasparov lasted only 19 moves, in just over an hour, drew enormous media attention. Deep Blue's win was seen as a sign that artificial intelligence was catching up with people.

Ironically, the game was decided in the opening, by a sacrifice that was known to theory. Today's chess programs rate 8.Nxe6 as the best move even when they work it out from scratch. If you want to try playing a machine yourself, there are opponents at every level here.

The whole game with notes, as text

1. e4 c6 Kasparov chooses the solid Caro-Kann. Against people, the sharp Sicilian Defense was his usual choice. 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Ng5 A fairly new move that breaks the rule about not moving the same piece twice in the opening, but puts pressure on f7. Kasparov had played it himself with White in at least three games. 5… Ngf6 6. Bd3 e6 7. N1f3 h6 The strange move. The usual order was 7…Bd6 and only then …h6. It has been suggested that Kasparov mixed up the move order. Deep Blue's designer Feng-hsiung Hsu has suggested instead that it may have been a deliberate move to trick the computer. 8. Nxe6 The knight sacrifice. It was known from earlier high-level games, where White had scored well. 8… Qe7 Kasparov doesn't take the knight at once but pins it to the king, to give his king the square d8. Many annotators have criticized the move and argued that he should have taken right away. 9. O-O White castles. Now 9…Qxe6 would lose the queen after 10.Re1, so Black has to take the knight or stay a pawn down. 9… fxe6 10. Bg6+ The king goes to d8, and Black can no longer castle. 10… Kd8 11. Bf4 White's bishops dominate. Black is a piece up, but the queen is in the way of the bishop on f8, and it is hard to get the pieces out. 11… b5 The first new move of the game. Here Deep Blue has to think for itself for the first time. Kasparov wants to gain space and stop c4, but the move has been criticized for weakening the queenside. 12. a4 Bb7 The commentator Raymond Keene thought 12…b4, keeping the lines closed, was necessary. 13. Re1 Nd5 14. Bg3 Kc8 15. axb5 cxb5 16. Qd3 Bc6 17. Bf5 The pressure on e6 is too much. Kasparov can't keep his extra material and has to give up his queen for a rook and a bishop. 17… exf5 18. Rxe7 Bxe7 19. c4 Kasparov resigned. White's queen is on its way in via c4 or f5, and after Re1 White's advantage is decisive.

PGN – the game as text for other chess programs
[Event "IBM Deep Blue vs. Kasparov rematch, game 6"]
[Site "New York"]
[Date "1997.05.11"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Deep Blue"]
[Black "Garry Kasparov"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B17"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Ng5 Ngf6 6. Bd3 e6 7. N1f3 h6 8. Nxe6 Qe7 9. O-O fxe6 10. Bg6+ Kd8 11. Bf4 b5 12. a4 Bb7 13. Re1 Nd5 14. Bg3 Kc8 15. axb5 cxb5 16. Qd3 Bc6 17. Bf5 exf5 18. Rxe7 Bxe7 19. c4 1-0

Download .pgn

Sources

  • Chessgames.com, Deep Blue–Kasparov 1997, game 6
  • Wikipedia: Deep Blue versus Kasparov, 1997, Game 6
  • Wikipedia: Deep Blue versus Garry Kasparov
  • PGN Mentor, Kasparov.pgn

The moves compared in four sources (Chessgames, two Wikipedia articles, PGN Mentor): identical, 37 half-moves. Kasparov resigned after 19.c4. Every move has also been replayed by computer and checked against the rules of chess.

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Updated November 6, 2026