International chess great Garry Kasparov said he wanted to prove "human players are not hopeless" when he battles world champion computer program Deep Junior next week in the latest "Man vs Machine" contest.
The Azerbaijan-born Kasparov, who has played computers three times since 1989 and famously lost to IBM"s supercomputer Deep Blue six years ago, will pit his skill and intuition against the Israeli-built software program over six games in New York starting Sunday.
"After the other matches I felt hooked to be part of this competition because I believe it is very important for the game of chess and the human race as a whole," Kasparov, 39, said Thrsday at a news conference. "Now I hope to use my experience to help set new standards and also prove that human players are not hopeless."
The developers of Deep Junior, programmers Shay Bushinsky and Amir Ban, said at the same news conference that the computer"s key to success in the $1 million match will be how efficiently it uses its considerable calculating ability.
"I think what we are seeing at the moment is getting away from the materialistic shape that programs used to play chess and moving into a new era where chess programs understand more abstract concepts," Bushinsky said.