Garry Kasparov: prediction

Transcript context

…You think complacency is the main human bias you see in top chess games? It’s complacency if you are the winning side, but it could be also the desperation if you are the losing side. One of the greatest problems against any machine is how to deliver the final blow to win the game. Even if you lucky and you get a very good position, then again, you have to play with precision that is not required in human chess. So, everything that you learn throughout your professional career, it suddenly is working against you. My experience — and I’m talking about best games played by top players — tells me that inaccuracies are inevitable. Any inaccuracy against the machine, even if you’ve made, already, 45 good moves and 4 great moves, but the 50th move that is simply inaccurate may deny you victory that you think you deserve by playing brilliantly. You don’t have to lose, necessarily, if your position’s really good. But let me emphasize, playing against the machine requires precision and concentration. I don’t think it can be achieved by humans in a regular game of chess, or another game like Go or Shogi. If we want to continue this experiment, or to put it in an extreme form, I would say that if we have Magnus Carlsen, the current world champion, offered an opportunity to play against the computer, say 10 games match, on the conditions that he wins the match if he wins one game, which means he can play all the games without thinking about losing the game by making a mistake. He can play without this terrible psychological pressure, maybe there’s still a chance. I would bet on the computer, though. Would you?…

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