Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine (2003)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Vikram Jayanti

Release Date:

23 January 2004 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Garry Kasparov is arguably the greatest chess player who has ever lived. In 1997 he played a chess match against IBM's computer Deep Blue...

Plot Keywords:

Ibm | Chess | Cheating | Chess Grandmaster | Man Versus Machine

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Marc Ghannoum	...	Voice Over
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joel Benjamin	...	Himself
Michael Greengard	...	Himself
Anatoli Karpov	...	Himself (archive footage)
Garry Kasparov	...	Himself
Jeff Kisselhof	...	Himself
John Searle	...	Himself
Terry Wogan	...	Himself (interviewing Garry Kasparov) (archive footage)

MPAA:

Rated PG for brief mild language.

Runtime:

90 min | Canada:84 min (Ontario)

Country:

Canada | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:G (Ontario) | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Bled, Slovenia

Company:

Alliance Atlantis Communications

Quotes:

Garry Kasparov: [after being defeated by Deep Blue] I think the competition just started!

Movie Connections:

Features Le joueur d'échecs (1927)

Stale, Mate?

In 1997 the world of flesh suffered a major body blow when it was announced that chess Grandmaster Gary Kasparov, perhaps the greatest player in the history of the game, had been trounced by a tool shed. A rather advanced variation, granted; IBM's supercomputer Deep Blue – designed especially, it seemed, to tip latent paranoiacs over the edge. Had we genuinely inched that much closer to Jimmy Cameron's dystopian vision of a machine-run planet? Or were there cruder, more political ramifications at work? (i.e. were Deep Blue's programmers a bunch of cheating brigands?). Kasparov, who compared IBM to Enron, and the outcome with Maradona's 'hand of God' goal certainly thinks so and, superficially, the evidence appears compelling: with Apple taking the market lead, IBM were desperate to win at any price, and thus raise their profile. Whatever, it worked; the next day their stock share jumped 15%. IBM refused to allow anyone to inspect Deep Blue or its printouts, and dismantled it as soon as the game was over. But the real controversy centred on Round 2, during which Deep Blue made a risky – and suspiciously 'human' move – having hitherto played with number-crunching logic. Ranged against all this is the fact that Kasparov has an ego the size of the Matterhorn, and more chips on his shoulders than a tree surgeon. For Gary's been here before: in 1985, he claimed the Soviets, who'd looked down on him as an Armenian Jew, had used dirty tricks during his match with their champion Anatoly Karpov… For a documentary about such a cerebral, closeted subject, Game Over progresses like a taut little thriller, ultimately yielding more questions than answers, to leave you wondering long after the credits.