Creating a computerized chess game was an early project for computer programmers. In 1997 they achieved their goal by designing a computer called Deep Blue which played six chess games against reigning World Chess Champion Gary Kasparov. Deep Blue won two of the chess games, Kasparov won one chess game, and they tied in the other three chess games. The computer and Kasparov had faced off the previous year, with the original Deep Blue becoming, on February 10, 1986, the first computer to defeat a World Champion, although Kasparov defeated the computer by a handy margin of four chess games to two matches for the computer, with each victory earning a full point and ties worth a half a point, in accordance to the normal and established rules regarding the scoring of chess games taking place amongst players in tournament play.
Since then the ability to play chess online has become commonplace. Many programs exist which allow people to engage in online chess matches. Some of those competing in online chess games elect to play against computer opponents, as Kasparov did against Deep Blue, but many others chose to play chess online against other people. Some of these online chess matches pit players against complete strangers, who can have a variety of skill levels. For people just beginning to play chess online it may be a better idea to engage a computer with the difficulty lowered to its easiest setting. Some chess masters elect to play chess online against computers with the computer’s skill level set to its most difficult option included in the program so they can attempt to simulate live opponents they would face in live tournaments.
Online chess programs have become ubiquitous in helping new players learn advanced strategies in chess. Some people that participate in online chess correspondence games make use of computers to analyze their games, leading some to contend that the distinctions between novice players and masters are almost non-existent when they play chess online. It remains to be seen in what other ways online chess play will change the climate and culture of tournament chess play. It is possible that online chess will result in players who have learned to play chess online begin to play by rote and repeat moves which they have seen their computer trainers make without understanding the particular benefits or drawbacks of a particular opening scheme. The only reason these young players would know to use a particular routine of moves is because they were programmed into the computers by other people in the first place. An alternative is that a generation of chess players who been taught to play chess online might be able to diagnose flaws in traditional chess stratagems because of an increased detachment. Perhaps the fact that talented young players will not be limited in their ability to find equally talented opponents will result in a future World Chess Champion having a higher skill level than has ever been encounter in the history of chess.