When Did The First Computer Play Chess?

The first serious attempts to harness computing power to play chess matches date back to the 1950s when room-sized computers were pitted against human players. Early computers enjoyed unspectacular success, but over the years as processor power steadily improved, better results were regularly achieved. In about half a century, computers went from zero to whipping Grandmasters; no small achievement most people would agree.

The first breakthrough for the computer came in 1996 when the then world number one, Gary Kasparov played a six-game match against IBM's chess computer, Deep Blue. Much to Kasparov's consternation and the world's amazement, Deep Blue won the opening match. This was the first time a computer had ever beaten a world champion under normal chess tournament time rules. Regaining his composure, Kasparov then went on to take three of the games and draw two, giving the Grandmaster the match.

These Deep Blue matches signalled the start of super computers' ascendancy over human chess opponents.