Garry Kasparov

Even if Gregory Shahade weren't going up against the world's greatest chess player this afternoon (greatest human chess player, that is), the time has arrived for him to get serious about his game.At age 18, gone are the days when he could improve by leaps and bounds merely by playing his sister, his father, a few tournament opponents, or 25 friends simultaneously via the Internet, as he still does once a week.Nor will he likely pick up anything of value today when he and seven others take on the computer-bruised world champion, Garry Kasparov, at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

Thanks from parents of slain lieutenantThe family of Lt. Owen E. Sweeney Jr. wishes to publicly express its sincere thanks to members of the Baltimore City police department for everything they did for us at the time of our tragic loss.Their love and compassion was felt by everyone. Everything was done to ease our pain and make things as comfortable as possible.Commissioner Thomas Frazier was more than kind and his visit to Lieutenant Sweeney's home was greatly appreciated.A police chaplain, Father John McLoughlin, who held Lieutenant Sweeney's hand at his death, was there for us from beginning to the end and gave us the spiritual strength to pull us through.

Fresh from his stunning defeat by an IBM computer, world chess champion Garry Kasparov discovered anew yesterday the trouble a mere mortal can have figuring out all the right moves.First, Kasparov got lost on his way to an exhibition game at University of Maryland Baltimore County. He forgot his directions and spent two hours in a cab before arriving at the Catonsville campus, where as many as 300 chess enthusiasts were waiting patiently.Then, he encountered a tougher-than-expected fight in facing off in simultaneous games against eight players, including leaders of UMBC's top-notch chess team and Maryland's reigning scholastic champion.

World chess champion Garry Kasparov had his butt handed to him early last week when a computer known as Deep Blue dispatched him within 19 moves."Nineteen moves!" I snorted on reading the news. "Heck, I could have lasted longer than 19 moves. In fact, I think I could have lasted longer than 19 moves without cheating."Chess experts, news reports said, were "stunned" by Deep Blue's easy victory. I don't know why. If they're indeed experts, they should know that all chess players have their bad days.

PHILADELPHIA -- In a near-empty darkened room here, the world changed this weekend, maybe more than a little.The evolution that Garry Kasparov feared, and had set himself against, was realized: history's greatest chess player was defeated in the first of a six-game match by an artificial intelligence, the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue.He did come back in yesterday's second game and force Deep Blue to resign on the 73rd move, after a grueling 5-hour-and-40-minute battle in which Mr. Kasparov had the advantage of playing the white pieces and held it throughout.

NEW YORK -- On the 35th floor of a Manhattan skyscraper, inside a TV studio filled with the accouterments of a cozy study, the chess-playing machine sits to the camera's left and peers at the board, cooly preparing unrelenting defenses and ruthless attacks.The machine is Garry Kasparov. His opponent -- a temperamental, unpredictable computer named Deep Blue -- isn't even in the same room. Deep Blue is phoning it in, transmitting by wire from twin, black 6-foot towers that rest in an adjoining room to a computer screen next to the chess board.

In yesterday's Today sections, one of the moves in the chess match between Garry Kasparov and the IBM computer Deep Blue was listed incorrectly. Mr. Kasparov's 40th move should have been recorded as Ra7.The Sun regrets the errors.

PETER COOPER built the locomotive Tom Thumb and raced it against a horse on the B&O tracks to Baltimore from Ellicott's Mills in 1830. The horse won when the locomotive's blower belt broke.John Henry was a steel-driving man, smashing rock for a rail tunnel, when the steam drill came to put men out of work. He challenged it, won, and died with his hammer in his hand.Whether these legends are true is less important than their tribute to human and equine fortitude, traits of character no machine can match.

World chess champion Garry Kasparov had his butt handed to him early last week when a computer known as Deep Blue dispatched him within 19 moves."Nineteen moves!" I snorted on reading the news. "Heck, I could have lasted longer than 19 moves. In fact, I think I could have lasted longer than 19 moves without cheating."Chess experts, news reports said, were "stunned" by Deep Blue's easy victory. I don't know why. If they're indeed experts, they should know that all chess players have their bad days.

LONDON -- The chess grandmasters sounded like boxers trading pre-fight insults, but the jabs lacked the real heavyweight muscle of Muhammad Ali or Smokin' Joe Frazier in their prime.British challenger Nigel Short swung first at a news conference Wednesday: World champion Garry Kasparov was a creature of the KGB and not even pretty, he said."Anybody who has seen Garry Kasparov by the swimming pool will know he is extremely hairy," said Mr. Short. "The Norwegian women's team call him 'The Rug.' "Not exactly "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee," but then Mr. Short's not the Muhammad Ali of this match.

Fresh from his stunning defeat by an IBM computer, world chess champion Garry Kasparov discovered anew yesterday the trouble a mere mortal can have figuring out all the right moves.First, Kasparov got lost on his way to an exhibition game at University of Maryland Baltimore County. He forgot his directions and spent two hours in a cab before arriving at the Catonsville campus, where as many as 300 chess enthusiasts were waiting patiently.Then, he encountered a tougher-than-expected fight in facing off in simultaneous games against eight players, including leaders of UMBC's top-notch chess team and Maryland's reigning scholastic champion.

Even if Gregory Shahade weren't going up against the world's greatest chess player this afternoon (greatest human chess player, that is), the time has arrived for him to get serious about his game.At age 18, gone are the days when he could improve by leaps and bounds merely by playing his sister, his father, a few tournament opponents, or 25 friends simultaneously via the Internet, as he still does once a week.Nor will he likely pick up anything of value today when he and seven others take on the computer-bruised world champion, Garry Kasparov, at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

NEW YORK -- On the 35th floor of a Manhattan skyscraper, inside a TV studio filled with the accouterments of a cozy study, the chess-playing machine sits to the camera's left and peers at the board, cooly preparing unrelenting defenses and ruthless attacks.The machine is Garry Kasparov. His opponent -- a temperamental, unpredictable computer named Deep Blue -- isn't even in the same room. Deep Blue is phoning it in, transmitting by wire from twin, black 6-foot towers that rest in an adjoining room to a computer screen next to the chess board.

PETER COOPER built the locomotive Tom Thumb and raced it against a horse on the B&O tracks to Baltimore from Ellicott's Mills in 1830. The horse won when the locomotive's blower belt broke.John Henry was a steel-driving man, smashing rock for a rail tunnel, when the steam drill came to put men out of work. He challenged it, won, and died with his hammer in his hand.Whether these legends are true is less important than their tribute to human and equine fortitude, traits of character no machine can match.

In yesterday's Today sections, one of the moves in the chess match between Garry Kasparov and the IBM computer Deep Blue was listed incorrectly. Mr. Kasparov's 40th move should have been recorded as Ra7.The Sun regrets the errors.

PHILADELPHIA -- In a near-empty darkened room here, the world changed this weekend, maybe more than a little.The evolution that Garry Kasparov feared, and had set himself against, was realized: history's greatest chess player was defeated in the first of a six-game match by an artificial intelligence, the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue.He did come back in yesterday's second game and force Deep Blue to resign on the 73rd move, after a grueling 5-hour-and-40-minute battle in which Mr. Kasparov had the advantage of playing the white pieces and held it throughout.

Thanks from parents of slain lieutenantThe family of Lt. Owen E. Sweeney Jr. wishes to publicly express its sincere thanks to members of the Baltimore City police department for everything they did for us at the time of our tragic loss.Their love and compassion was felt by everyone. Everything was done to ease our pain and make things as comfortable as possible.Commissioner Thomas Frazier was more than kind and his visit to Lieutenant Sweeney's home was greatly appreciated.A police chaplain, Father John McLoughlin, who held Lieutenant Sweeney's hand at his death, was there for us from beginning to the end and gave us the spiritual strength to pull us through.

Former chess world champion Anatoly Karpov, on a U.S. tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his first world title, will play school-aged challengers and deliver a public lecture at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County this week. On Wednesday, Karpov will simultaneously play all scholastic challengers in grades one through 12. The event is free but limited to the first 60 players, who must bring their own regulation sets. The event is from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Commons Building in the center of the campus, which is off Exit 47B on Interstate 95. On Thursday, Karpov, who will also provide private training sessions to UMBC's renowned chess team, will deliver a free lecture explaining some of his best games, including recent encounters with reigning world champion Garry Kasparov.

LONDON -- The chess grandmasters sounded like boxers trading pre-fight insults, but the jabs lacked the real heavyweight muscle of Muhammad Ali or Smokin' Joe Frazier in their prime.British challenger Nigel Short swung first at a news conference Wednesday: World champion Garry Kasparov was a creature of the KGB and not even pretty, he said."Anybody who has seen Garry Kasparov by the swimming pool will know he is extremely hairy," said Mr. Short. "The Norwegian women's team call him 'The Rug.' "Not exactly "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee," but then Mr. Short's not the Muhammad Ali of this match.