The First of Many • Deep Blue vs Kasparov • ACM Chess Challenge • Philadelphia, USA (1996) • Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation (B22)

Step into Philadelphia’s historic Franklin New World on February 9, 1996, for Game 1 of IBM’s groundbreaking ACM Chess Challenge—a six-game $700,000 showdown pitting reigning world champ Garry Kasparov (2775), humanity’s tactical pinnacle, against Deep Blue, IBM’s 11.38-GFLOPS supercomputer upgraded with 480 custom chips. Kasparov, favored after crushing the 1989 version 5.5-0.5, prepped intensely, expecting Sicilian traps, but Deep Blue’s human-tuned opening book shocked with Alapin rarity; the machine’s win stunned Kasparov, who later fumed over its “brute force” aggression, fueling match drama.

Deep Blue struck in the Sicilian Alapin with 1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5, novelly pinning Nf3 Bg4 Be2, as Kasparov countered Bb4 unusually. Exchanges ramped up—cxd4 Nc3 Qd6 Ne5 Bxe2—with Deep Blue grabbing Bg5 Bxf6 edge. Kasparov pushed Rfd8 f5, but d5!! Rxd5 opened lines; critical 25…Kh8?? Re8?? blunders let Nd6 Nxf2 Nxf7+ Ng5+ Rxh7# seal a crushing mate, Deep Blue’s first elite win under tournament rules.