Introduction of Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen
Every person who has an interest in chess must be familiar with the name of Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen who is one of the most famous and strong chess players in the world. We can call him a chess legend who has influenced and motivated new chess players with his legacy. He is the 1st position holder in FIDE tournaments and also holds an unbreakable record in classical chess for a long time.
Deep Blue
The first supercomputer that was built to play chess is called “Deep Blue”. Deep Blue won the game against world chess champion Garry Kasparov under regular time control. In 1996, Garry Kasparov defeated Deep Blue two times out of 4 games. In 1997, Deep Blue was upgraded and it defeated the Garry with a score of 3½ – 2½.
Rating Comparison of Deep Blue and Magnus Carlsen
Just like all other chess players, Deep Blue also has FIDE ratings with a score range of 2700-2750 while Magnus Carlsen has 2800+ FIDE ratings. If we compare the ratings, it is obvious that Magnus is a better player than Deep Blue. Magnus has developed new strategies and opening ideas but Deep Blue is not so much updated.
It was found that Deep Blue has many faults in its playing style. At the time of the competition b/w Deep Blue and Garry Kasparov, there was no other better chess-playing engine except Deep Blue so it could not be analyzed how much deep it had played.
But nowadays, advanced supercomputers are available that play better than Deep Blue. Modern computers have a rating of 3300+ and the reason is a difference in processing powers of modern computers. In the last 20 years, there has been a drastic change in technology while on the other hand, playing styles and techniques have also changed with time. So, it is not difficult for Magnus Carlsen to gain victory against Deep Blue due to the following reasons;
- Magnus has better skills in the endgame.
- Magnus Carlsen can calculate and evaluate complex positions.
- Carlsen has a better understanding of different chess positions.
- The chess tactics of Magnus are more accurate than Deep Blue.
- Magnus has more knowledge of opening positions.
Let’s discuss them one by one.
Magnus Has Better Skills in Endgame
Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen is famous as a beast in endgame techniques. He has the skills and expertise to turn the end game into his victory. That’s why it is the worst nightmare for other grandmasters to play endgame with Magnus Carlsen. His way of calculation is many times better as compared to Deep Blue.
Although Deep Blue has powerful calculation abilities in straight positions in the endgame, there are a lot of things to process before making any move. Even if the modern chess engines compete with Magnus Carlsen for endgames, it would be tough for them to beat him. The player who has great command of the endgame can surely become the winner of the game.
Magnus Carlsen’s Ability to Calculate Complex Positions
The most challenging condition that a chess engine faces is the calculation of complex chess positions and many modern chess engines still do wrong calculations of complex positions. Humans can do better calculations of complex positions. So without having any doubt, we can say that Deep Blue can never win against Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen. Chess engines have limits in position calculation. If we analyze the calculation power of Deep Blue that is 20 years 20-year-old chess engine, we will observe that Deep Blue has no great power to calculate complex positions. Carlsen can play with intuitions while Deep Blue can’t.
Better Understanding of Different Chess Positions by Mangnus
Knowledge of chess positions is crucial for every chess player and Magnus is famous for his deep understanding of chess positions. His expertise and skills in position recognition are much higher as compared to Deep Blue. Although Deep Blue has abilities to analyze chess moves it can’t match with powerful knowledge of Carlsen.
But modern chess engines are upgraded with Alpha-zero which has revolutionized the chess engine by updating their chess styles and enabling the chess engines to calculate millions of chess moves in almost no time.
Chess Tactics of Magnus are More Accurate than Deep Blue
Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen is considered one of the most accurate chess players in the world. He plays short-format games such as Blitz and Rapid with a high accuracy level. He has more authentic theoretical knowledge of chess than Deep Blue. Deep Blue can play according to set rules and it was also found that there was a bug in its code of the initial round of the game. But on the other hand, Magnus plays games based on his intellectual level.
Magnus has More Knowledge of Opening Positions
Magnus can start the game with solid opening positions. The techniques of chess openings are changing over time due to advancements in technology. Deep Blue uses techniques and styles that are 20 years old but chess professionals are aware of changes in opening positions and they apply the latest knowledge to avoid mistakes and blunders at the start of the game. This comparison makes clear that Magnus will be better in chess opening as compared to Deep Blue.
Summing up
Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen is far better than Deep Blue in all aspects either in intellectual level, opening techniques, positional understanding, endgame tactics, and calculation of complex chess positions.