Kasparov Dons 3D Glasses To Fight, Draw X3D Fritz

Shalda writes "CNN is reporting that: "Former world chess champion [Garry] Kasparov, 40, pits his genius against 'X3D Fritz,' a combination of Fritz, the most dominant chess software, with X3D Technologies company software that specializes in virtual reality." Kasparov will be looking at a virtual board through 3D VR glasses in what sounds like one of the lamest chess PR stunts ever." ChessBase has some interesting statistics trying to predict the entire match, plumping for an overall Kasparov win, but Reuters reveals today's opening encounter ended in a draw.

Comments

3D and Battlechess?

[ghideon]

If someone could get some 3D VR going with updated graphics for Battlechess, I'd start playing again...

Commentary

[Jason_says]

The ESPN2 commentary was really funny too.

Way to go Fritz

[lightspawn]

Obviously its strategy is to try giving Kasparov a virtual-boy sized headache and throw off his game.

Re:Way to go Fritz

[Pyro226]

Obviously its strategy is to try giving Kasparov a virtual-boy sized headache and throw off his game.

A watched a little bit of the match on ESPN today, and that is honestly what it looked like. The only actualy reason to do this (that I could see) was that in the past the computer would need a human player to make the moves for it, wasting a few seconds per move, and the games are timed.

Aside from that it was just a PR stunt. Kasparov did not look like he liked the system, although he probably always looks that way when he's concentrating. I also agree with another comment, the ESPN commentary was very funny. I particularly liked 'Do you think that this VR setup is going to give Garry any trouble?' 'Well it shouldn't, because he's demonstrated on several occasions that he can play the game blindfolded.' If I were in that position, I would not want my imagination to be the only alternative if the glasses did give me a headache.

Also, I didn't care for the angle at which the game was shown. It was down pretty low on the board, and while I have no idea whether Garry wanted it that way, it would make the game a lot harder for me.

Boring!

[Descartes]

Ok, I know it's not any more exciting but why not pit the best computers against eachother.

I mean, I'm sure some Chess geeks would love to follow the game of Deep Blue vs. Deep Junior. We should stop ranking chess players in two seperate categories depending on whether they are human or not.

Let's face it, having a person controlling the board doesn't actually make watching a game of chess any more exciting.

They do

[eamonman]

CSVN tournament

State of computer goggles

[metalhed77]

As a side note to this media stunt. What is the state of wearable computing goggles. Personally, I'm goddamn sick of looking at my CRT but don't want to pay for a 19" LCD. Would buying goggles keep the price down (I figure two tiny LCDs must be cheaper than one big one). Where could I buy such goggles? Google is turning up nothing.

Re:State of computer goggles

[Oddly_Drac]

Olympus Iglasses are one, but try this site and scroll down to 'Displays (Commercial)'

blindfolded grandmasters

[Kynde]

Grandmasters like Kasparov are commonly known to be able to not only play blindfolded but play on almost the same level that they play with the board in front of them. For some reason this really applies to only the really great ones, though I must admit that I have knowledge of Kasparov playing blindfolded but many grandmasters before him have played absolutely astonishing games like that.

I remember a picture of a former russian grandmaster Aljechin sitting on a chair and behind him were some 20 to 30 other top russian players. He played against them simultaneously and without back against them. Can't remember the exact result, but in overall he won by some margin. Just about the most spectacular event in chess history that I can remember, althoug there are many many others.

So my point being, the vr glasses probably won't do that much good for him and even worse they may disturb his concentration more than they're of use.

I can wholeheartedly recommed borrowing some chess history books. They're filled with amazing true stories about those goons. One really doesn't have to be all that much into chess to enjoy them. Was it Spasski who was so concentrated on his next game in a tournament that he got mixed with the doors of the cafeteria and somehow wound up back inside. Deep thinking poor chap ate again. Might have not been Spasski, but it was one of the greater ones.

Re:Commentators say...

[cgenman]

I doubt anyone knew about X3D goggles before this, and the likelihood of commentators mentioning them in a positive light are extremely slim. They cost 60 bucks online, they're cheap, and they use LCD technology that first saw commercial release on the SEGA Mastersystem in '83, possibly earlier. This is not a form of advanced TFT display device, these are little left-right blinking glasses that also blink your display.

In that sense, any kind of publicity is good publicity for them. It certainly won't cause anyone to underestimate their product.

x3d/x3d Fritz reviews?

[TxdoHawk]

I found x3dFritz for sale, and now I'm really curious. Has anybody found any reviews/hands on for the technology, or even better, reviews of X3d fritz itself? Google has turned up nothing so far.