Deep Thinking summary

As computational science took its first tentative steps in the 1950s, few people suspected where this new technology would lead. Predictions of utopian and dystopian futures controlled by computers were common. But it was all a bit far-fetched when you consider that the first personal computers came nowhere close to being able to play chess.

Scientists did try though. In 1956, a laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico developed the first chess-playing computer. The machine was called MANIAC 1, and it was one of the very first computers that had enough memory to store a chess program. It weighed about 1000 pounds.

It’s not hard to imagine that the profession of supermarket cashier will soon be a thing of the past. After all, self-checkout machines are firmly establishing their place in supermarkets.

This example is indicative of a broader trend. Computers are putting humans out of work, especially those with jobs in the service industry.

In September 2016, Kasparov visited a robotics event in Oxford where he was able to chat directly with a robot called Artie.

Such talking robots may still seem pretty futuristic, but they are sure to become an essential aspect of daily life very soon as developments in artificial intelligence continue.

It’s an ongoing debate as to whether chess should be considered a sport or not. What is certain, however, is that the nervous exhaustion experienced after a chess match is on a par with exhaustion felt at the end of a track race.

This is due to the fact that chess is ultimately a psychological game.

It’s a commonly held belief that success rests upon innate talent. But, as Malcolm Gladwell wrote in Outliers, this is debatable. What matters is many thousands of hours of practice.

For humans, Gladwell’s thesis holds some truth. But as far as artificial intelligence is concerned, there’s no uncertainty. Brute force is what counts.

For many people, a game is just a game and nothing more. But there are also those who burst into tears or see red if they lose.

The author, in his chess-playing days, was hardly a blubberer, but he wasn’t exactly a happy loser either.

As spectators, we generally see the glamorous sides of competitive sports. But behind the scenes, in the shadows, foul play is hardly unusual. Competitive chess is no different.

From a distance, these anecdotes can appear quite amusing. Take the bitter rivalry of Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi, the two dominant players in the 1970s.