Fritz3's breakthrough performance in tying for first with Kasparov in the Intel Express Chess Challenge blitz tournament in Munich was accomplished running on Intel's new Pentium processor. Fritz3's ability to calculate very fast got it out of trouble in numerous situations. Its game against super blitz player Viswanathan Anand shows in archtypical fashion how strong humans lose to computers: 1) Computer gets a silly position 2) Human builds up strong attack 3) Computer gobbles one or two pawns 4) Human fails to deliver the checkmate

5) Computer is merciless in technical endgame. One of Fritz3's most notable moves in the tournament occured in the game Lobron - Fritz3, which opened: 1 c4 e5 2 e3! Bb4?!, and Fritz3 later struggled to a draw. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 Arriving at a mutated form of the Pelikan Variation which has become increasingly popular. A totally different concept is 5 ... a6, the Lowenthal Variation. 6.Be3 White has a lot of options at this point. It is doubtful that 6 c4 leads to an advantage after 6 ... Be7 7 N1c3 a6 8 Na3 Be6 because of the potential weakness on d4 and the possibility of ... Be7-g5. On the direct 6 N1c3 a6 7 Na3 b5 8 Nd5, looking to transpose to the Pelikan after 8 ... Nf6 9 Bg5, Black has the strange idea 8 ... Nge7. A wild line is 6 Bc4 Be7 (not 6 ... Nf6? 7 Bg5) 7 O-O Nf6 8 Bg5!? planning 8 ... Nxe4 9 Bxe7 Nxe7 10 f3. The text move encourages Black to play 6 ... Nf6 (because after 6 ... Be7 7 N1c3 a6 8 Na3 there is too much pressure on the queenside due to the double threat of Nc3-d5 and Na3-c4) at a time when White can force the doubling of the f-pawns. This justifies White in moving the queen's bishop twice in a row. Note that this position could arrive via the Taimanov Variation 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 e6 5 Nb5 d6 6 Bf4 e5 7 Be3. 6...Nf6 7.Bg5 Be6 8.N1c3 The continuation 8 Bxf6 gxf6 9 Nd2, which avoids the tangling of the knights on the queenside, proved quite effective for White in Kengis - Rohde, Tilburg 1992. 8...a6 9.Bxf6 gxf6
10.Na3

10...Bg7 The modern way, maintaining the latent energy of Black's center. Anand avoids the explosive 10 ... d5 11 exd5 Bxa3 12 bxa3 Qa5, introduced in the Fischer - Petrosian Candidates Match of 1971, because it is better to engage the computer in positional rather than tactical warfare at first, because it is impossible to know the extent of Fritz3's usable theoretical knowledge, and becuase the line is not that great anyway - see a recent U.S. Championship game between A. and I. Ivanov(s). 11.Bc4 It is better to take it easy with 11 Bd3, with the maneuver Na3-c4-e3 in store.

11...0-0 12.Bxe6 fxe6 13.Nc4 Nd4 The knight on c4 is left functionless. 14.Ne2 f5 15.Nxd4 exd4 16.exf5 Rxf5 17.Qe2 Qe7

18.0-0-0? Admirable fighting spirit, but unjustified. White's position is not as bad as it looks after 18 O-O d5 19 Nd2 e5, as it can use the c-pawn to chip away at Black's center. Now a more serious problem is the pressure on the c-file. 18...Rc8 19.Rhf1! A good defensive move preparing to block the h6-c1 diagonal and distract Black by gaining space on the kingside. This kind of tenacious Defense in blitz is a particularly strong aspect of computers. 19...Rfc5 20.Na3 b5 21.Rd2 Qf6 22.Qd3 Making sure no accident happens on the long diagonal.

22...d5 23.f4 Kh8 24.g3 b4 25.Nb1 a5 This general advance is well motivated. If the position opens up, something good has to happen for Black. 26.Re1 a4 27.h3 Qf7 28.Kd1 Qh5+ Finally Anand finds a target in the pawn on f4. 29.g4 Qf7 30.Rf1 Rf8 31.Rff2 Rcc8 32.Qb5 A foraging mission which Anand probably discounted in his calculations, as he in banking on the opening of the kingside and center now. 32...Qc7 33.Qxb4 Rxf4 34.Qxa4 Rxf2 35.Rxf2 Qg3

36.Qa6! Irritatingly accurate tactical Defense. Through judicious counterthreats, the computer retains its extra material. 36...Rb8 37.Qf1! Fritz3 retains its extra pawn and beings to dig out, but Black is still better because of the looming central mass. 37...h6 38.b3 e5 39.Rf3 A better idea was 39 Qg2 Qh4 40 Rf5 trying to hold up the pawns. After the text, White is in big trouble. 39...Qh4 40.Rf7 Making room for the activation of White's other pieces. 40...e4
41.Nd2

41...Qg3 A creeping move, but the straightforward 41 ... Re8! would have been very strong. Of course, it is useless to talk about time pressure in a 5-minute game, but up to here the play has been very strong. 42.Qf4 Qg1+ 43.Nf1 Rg8? Again, big problems would be posed by 43 ... Re8! 44.Qd6 Now White has the situation under control as 44 ... Re8 45 Qg6 accomplishes nothing, and 44 ... e3 45. Qxd5 Re8 46 Ke2 is fine. Given the new state of affairs, Anand decides to abandon the central mass and open up some more lines.

44...d3 45.Qxd5 dxc2+ 46.Kxc2 Qg2+ The only checking square on the rank, but now the e-pawn is immobile. 47.Nd2 Rc8+ 48.Kd1 Qh1+ Black would be unable to grab any material on 48 ... Qg1+ 49 Rf1. 49.Ke2 Re8 50.Qd7 Finally the queen establishes control over the Black rook's possible attacking squares. 50...Qh2+ 51.Kd1 Rg8 52.Re7! Accurately surrounding the e-pawn without jettisoning other pawns unnecessarily. 52...Qg1+ 53.Ke2 Qg2+ 54.Ke3 Qxh3+ 55.Kxe4 Qg2+ 56.Kd3 Qa8

Anand has been angling to pick off the a-pawn for a while. Now he is also threatening 57 ... Rd8, but Fritz3 will not let Anand revive the attack. 57.a4!! Rd8 58.Rxg7 Rxd7+ 59.Rxd7 Qc8? Much better was 59 ... Qa6+ 60 Nc4 Qg6+ 61 Kc3 Qxg4 with a fascinating race in store. Now Fritz3 marches to victory. 60.Rd4 Kg7 61.b4 Kf6 62.Ne4+ Ke5 63.Nc5 Qc6 64.Kc4 Qg2 65.Nd3+ Kf6 66.a5 Qc2+ 67.Kb5 Qc8 68.a6 Qb8+ 69.Kc4 Kg5 70.b5 Qc7+ 71.Nc5 Qf7+ 72.Kb4 Qa7 73.Rd7 Qb6 74.a7