Understanding Checkmate in Artificial Intelligence

Checkmate! The moment I hear this word, it brings back memories of the historical match in 1997 between Garry Kasparov and Deep Blue, the IBM supercomputer. It was an extraordinary match in which the then-world champion, Garry Kasparov had lost to a machine. By defeating Kasparov, Deep Blue had made history by being the first computer to beat a world champion in a six-game match under standard time controls. Kasparov had won the first game, lost the second, and then drawn the following three. It was hard for Kasparov to accept the defeat and he said, “The machine played like a God”. It is amazing to see how the machine can outsmart humans in a game that is considered to be too complex for a machine.

This game of chess which is now being challenged by machines to humans has undergone a subtle to massive transformation in 1500 years while retaining its basic essence of strategizing. It is a reflection of the socio-cultural development of human civilization over the centuries. It is believed to have been derived from a game called Chaturanga in around 600AD in India during the Gupta Empire. The different pieces of the game represented the four divisions of military units common in warfare at that time. The game spread to Persia during the 7th century AD where its name changed to Shatranj and the rules of the game also changed slightly. “Checkmate” is derived from “Shah mat” meaning “the Shah (King in Persian) is helpless”. The game continued to evolve as it moved westwards to Europe – Spain and Italy. After reaching Europe in around the 15th century AD, it eventually evolved into a game that we know today as chess with the names of pieces as king, queen, rook, knight, bishop, and pawn. The modern competitive chess game began in the second half of the 19th century.

Chess is widely loved and played all over the world by people of all ages at a variety of levels – from beginner to professional level. It is estimated that about 605 million (source: UN.org) people play chess regularly all over the world. The best part of this strategic board game is that it can be played by 2 people sitting in different corners of the world irrespective of language barriers, age, gender, physical ability, or social status, thereby stimulating international communication and camaraderie associated with the sport. Due to the growing popularity of chess, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 20^th July as World Chess Day in 2019. The date, July 20^th was selected as it marks the establishment of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in Paris in 1924. FIDE is an international organization that connects various national chess federations and acts as the governing body of international chess competitions.

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) grants one of the highest titles to chess players, known as “Grandmaster”. Once someone achieves this title, it stays for a lifetime. Till now about 2000 chess players have been awarded the title of Grandmaster. In the chess-themed television series, The Queen’s Gambit telecasted on Netflix, the fictional character of Beth Harmon quickly becomes a strong chess player at an early age. Well, that was a fictional character but some real female chess Grandmasters had to struggle to climb the top of the chess world. Just 40 women out of 2000, have been awarded the title of Grandmaster till 2022. There is a wide gender gap in the chess world, mainly due to the societal and cultural pressures that have put women off the game. Now the winds of change have started flowing. In 2001, only 6% of internationally rated players were female but the numbers have swelled to 15% in 2020. Efforts are being made to make girls and women feel more included in the male-dominated chess community.

Chess is a fascinating game that requires planning, strategizing, and forecasting. Hence, it is considered to be a game of mind. The French mathematician, physicist, inventor, and philosopher, Blaise Pascal in 1623 proclaimed, “Chess is the gymnasium of the mind.” And we cannot agree more! The regular players develop their cognitive functions through strategic thinking, quick decision-making, and problem-solving skills which are helpful in all spheres of life. Chess requires intense concentration by guessing the opponent’s moves and figuring out the next moves based on that. Studies have shown that regular playing of chess helps in improving the IQ level. Schools in Armenia have chess as a subject in their academic curriculum since it develops logical thinking, improves the focus of children from an early age, and teaches children how to deal with defeat. It also imparts the life lesson of creating own opportunities in life and never waiting too long to make a move.

Games and sports are known to help humanity in times of crisis by reducing anxiety, and stress and improving the mental health of people. During the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, many games and sports had to scale down but chess was one of the sports in which participation and interest of people had witnessed a surge and it continues still. People had much more time to practice the game during the lockdown period and as a result, it has become a popular tabletop and online game.

Chess is often seen as a game for geniuses as it requires immense deep thinking and complex strategies to win. However, this notion of chess as a game for geniuses is largely a myth. In reality, nowadays anyone can learn to play chess by learning the right moves and practice. In this Digital Era, technology is playing a major role in evolving the game of chess too. With better algorithms, hardware, and improvements in Artificial Intelligence (AI), people are able to learn various aspects of chess sitting in the comfort of their homes. The increased database capacity is helping people to analyze and study the moves of Grandmasters from their past matches. Chess computers, also known as chess engines like Stockfish maintained by a community of programmers, engineers, and chess experts are extremely accessible and help to analyze various moves that it considers to be the strongest. Computer chess has helped in increasing creativity and we can play chess at the highest level to amateur levels. The classical victory of Deep Blue in the clash between a supercomputer and a Chess Grandmaster 26 years ago was just the beginning of an era and there has been no turning back since then. Chess computers have taken over the chess world with full force and left humans in the dust. But hope that the chess computers do not take away the sheen and excitement of a sport that has kept humanity bonded over centuries. It would be interesting to observe how the game would evolve further a few centuries later.