In this current day and age, the use of chess computers has become so trivial, many have taken it for granted to be able to play against a 3700-rated machine. People may not have realised this, but Chess AI has come a long way.
You may have noticed from the title that this will be a 2 parter since this story is so long, and I didn’t want to leave out any details. So, strap in as we are going to go through the history of Chess AI, from the ancient past to today.
THE TURK
The Turk is the first ever recorded Chess “robot”. This robot was showcased worldwide, defeating some of the greatest players. It played against many well-known figures, such as Napoleon Bonaparte and Benjamin Franklin. For a robot made in 1770, this was very impressive.
The Turk was incredible in another way. During its game against Napoleon Bonaparte, he tried to make illegal moves. The Turk was smart enough to be able to detect them and turn back the move, something NO chess AI can do TO THIS DAY!
This robot was amazing, as there was a small window into the robot, for the players to see inside! However, it had one BIG problem. It was a complete LIE. There was actually a small box, where a person could hide, and play the moves for the Turk.
THE FIRST REAL CHESS AI
The first engine that was able to play the game of Chess is the Los Alamos Bot. Created in 1956, it was the first bot to be able to play a simplified version of chess. In the 1980s however, the development of Chess-AI rose massively. Belle was the first bot to reach the Grandmaster level.
However, Deep Blue was a much bigger revolution than any of these bots are. Yes, the bots before it were at the Grandmaster level, but humanity was still better. After Deep Blue, Bots became objectively stronger than humans. Many do not know this however, there were actually 2 versions of Deep Blue.
The first, lesser-known version and game played by Deep Blue, was played in 1996, against Garry Kasparov. It’s less known as the results ended with Garry, 4, and Deep Blue, 2. However, one year later, history was written when AI became stronger than the strongest human.
CONCLUSION (PART 1)
This is where the story ends for most people. Ask a chess fan you know, and they will end at this point, the point where Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov. But this isn’t the end of the Story. Because something happened in 2008. And that thing… is called STOCKFISH.
