Mexico City, Sep 21 (Xinhua) The World Chess Championship here featuring eight chess Grand Masters (GMs), including defending champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, also kicked off an on-site 10-match face-off between the two top chess computer programmes, Rybka and Zappa.
Kramnik said Thursday that computers were stronger than human beings. It is not necessary to match human beings against computers.
Armenian GM Levon Aronian said: “Our opening preparation is better than the computers’.”
In the Rybka chess programme, the 2007 world computer chess champion will play against Zappa, the 2005 winner and 2007 runner-up.
Fans can watch the match free of charge at Hotel Centro Historico Sheraton while they must pay $30 to watch the world’s best players in action.
The first computer match-up Thursday, a Ruy Lopez opening, ended in a 73-move draw.
Both programmes are well known worldwide and head the rating-lists of all independent agencies of chess programmes. The matches are being conducted with a 60-minute per game plus 20 seconds per move time control.
The contest will be played on two identical 8-cores computers with $10,000 prize money at stake.