Game Over - Kasparov and the Machine
by Vikram Jayanti
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DVD details
Actor: John Searle (III), Marc GhannoumDirector: Vikram Jayanti
Brand: Velocity
Cinematographer: Maryse Alberti
Editor: David G. Hill
Producer: Andre Singer
Producer: Andy Thomson
Producer: Hal Vogel
Producer: Nick Fraser
Producer: Paul Trijbits
Producer: Tom Perlmutter
Producer: Éric Michel
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: NTSC
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 85 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-07-27
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Model: TF53725
Studio: IMAGE/THINKFILMS
DVD Reviews of Game Over - Kasparov and the Machine
DVD Review: SPOILER Alert--press "Page Down" if you haven't seen the film
Summary: 4 Stars
This following review will be a spoiler from start to finish, but I'd like to think I'm bringing in a different and worthwhile perspective. I'd like to try to refute some common assumptions about this film, assumptions which have turned most of the reviews on this page into a simplistic debate.
Did this film go into enough detail about chess to satisfy the truly initiated? Or was it "dumbed down" for an audience primarily consisting of people who don't live and breathe the game?
That's a question this film inevitably raises. But it's too shallow a basis for a review, particularly if it dominates the discussion.
[SPOILER alert again. If you haven't seen this film--and you don't want any details of the film to be revealed--then skip down the page to the next review. Otherwise, you'll see spoilers all over the place. In this instance, I'm not overly worried. After all the media coverage of Kasparov v. Deep Blue, much of what I'm saying is not going to be a surprise even to folks who've never heard of Game Over.]
In chess, you win or you lose. IBM doesn't play that game.
What we have here is a documentary which is painfully obvious in its bias: IBM must have cheated. This conclusion is never stated, but no one viewing the film could fail to get the message. There must have been some sort of conspiracy: even though the details of the conspiracy are never revealed, and no evidence is presented.
Oh, how unfair to impugn the ethics of IBM and the Deep Blue team.
The preceding was a synopsis of the majority of amazon.com reviews of Game Over.
Let me make a wild guess: most of these reviewers know a lot more about chess than about cinema.
Documentaries have a point-of-view. (Or, at least, this is true of all of the best documentaries ever made.)
Accusing a documentary of being biased is like accusing Garry Kasparov of having a big ego. No one will disagree with you, but then, it's not a front-page headline either.
Don't be misled by the ubiquity of complaints, among the reviews written by chess geeks: that the film doesn't ever get into the meaty details of what should be the film's subject: the great game of chess.
This is not a film about chess.
Suppose it were. Each and every chess geek alive would have paid to see Game Over in the theater, and a lot of them would have paid to see it ten times.
And this film--a low-budget film--wouldn't have made a penny in profit. Because no one but chess geeks would have been able to understand it.
Which is why this film is not about chess; it's about the intrigue behind the scenes of one of the most famous chess matches in history. That's what makes it a film with the potential to draw an audience. Few people are fluent in algebraic notation for chess moves. But the John Henry legend? Now, that is something we all know.
Why is there is no evidence?
Because IBM took great care--before, during, and after the match--to veil every aspect of their Deep Blue project with the same level of secrecy applied by the CIA when planning a covert operation.
"We can't reveal trade secrets." Not the most credible explanation, when you consider: of all the hardware and software IBM developed in association with Deep Blue, how much of it was later applied to IBM products in the marketplace?
None. After Deep Blue "won", everything was dismantled, locked away, shredded or incinerated.
Everything was weighted against Kasparov. In nanoseconds, Deep Blue could examine every move of every game Kasparov ever played. But Kasparov knew nothing of his opponent. The Deep Blue he'd once defeated had become a different player: its hardware more powerful, and its software radically updated. And because the rules allowed IBM to tweak Deep Blue between games, Kasparov (in effect) faced a new opponent with each successive game.
Finally, there's the ultimate human factor. Tournament chess is exhausting: not only mentally, but also emotionally and physically.
Computers never get tired.
So why did Kasparov agree to the match? (If you can call it a "match". No chess tournament between human players lasts only six games.)
Hubris, perhaps. Kasparov has plenty of that.
But as director Vikram Jayanti notes in his commentary on the DVD, one thing Kasparov lacks is "worthy opponents". Chess is his life. Yet, at times, he must feel a kind of boredom. No one in the world can give him the thrill of a true challenge. Not even Karpov (not consistently), or Fischer (unless he were younger, and sane).
Some say that's why Deep Blue won fair and square. Because until Kasparov faced the 1997 version of Deep Blue, he'd almost never been seriously worried about losing. So, when Kasparov lost Game Two, he also lost something he'd never lost before: his confidence.
Then there's the alternate explanation. That even if Kasparov didn't fully understand chess software, he has a better grasp of the "style" of individual players--their strengths and weaknesses, the patterns in their play--than anyone alive. After Deep Blue in Game Two played so differently than in Game One, Kasparov realized the odds were against him...to a greater degree than could be explained by the rules.
There was only one explanation.
IBM cheated.
In what way? Game Over, unfortunately, cannot answer this key question. There is no evidence.
Facing growing suspicion, the IBM team promised to begin making available more (and better) logs of Deep Blue's play.
But these logs were never forthcoming. The promises were not kept.
The "un-machinelike" moves which suddenly appeared in Game Two: where did they come from? IBM and their defenders say Deep Blue was destined to beat any human opponent. Computer technology would inevitably advance to the point when "look ahead" became fast enough, and there could be enough "plies", that a brute-force technique could overwhelm even the most intelligent strategy.
The retort of the dissenters: starting with Game Two, whenever Deep Blue chose a bad move, the grandmasters on the IBM team overruled the computer. If necessary, they substituted a human decision. That, anyway, is the most popular theory.
Remember, though, that the IBM team could reprogram Deep Blue after every game. Those members of the team who weren't consultants, who worked directly for IBM: if the computer lost the match, what about their jobs?
They were highly motivated. Suppose they decided to reprogram not only after games, but also after MOVES? So much more efficient. That would be only a slight bending of the rules...wouldn't it?
But that's the employees' point-of-view. What about the corporate view?
Kasparov vs. Deep Blue could be an historic marketing success. Compelling news stories with an angle favorable to IBM: that creates exposure, attention and credibility in ways that no amount of advertising can achieve.
It's often cited that shares of IBM stock rose in value after Deep Blue won. But what is a corporation's most valuable asset? Any executive today will tell you: brand image.
This is the REAL game.
A corporation has a "fiduciary responsibility" to put the next quarter's bottom-line ahead of all other considerations.
IBM was compelled to do everything possible to ensure a win for Deep Blue. It would be a violation of that responsibility if they didn't exploit every possible angle. If Deep Blue had lost, how many shareholders lawsuits would IBM have faced?
A corporation as powerful as IBM rarely loses civil cases. But think of all the additional attorneys to hire, and their billable hours...including overtime.
(Think, also, of the boardroom discussions which would have ensued: "How could we spend $XX million on this project and not have a plan: to make sure Big Blue couldn't possibly lose? Anyone who thinks it's more important to 'play fair' had better start updating their resume.")
Keeping all this in mind: imagine the "suggestions" to the Deep Blue team from IBM's executives.
But...it would be shockingly unethical for IBM to tell their employees to cheat. They would never do that.
Description of Game Over - Kasparov and the Machine
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