Did you know that Deep Blue is the first programmed computer in history to defeat a world's chess grandmaster on a rematch game in1997 after first losing to him in 1996?

32-year-old Russian Grandmaster Garry Kasparov had first been named world champion at age 22. The Russian chess grandmaster was a World Chess Champion from 1985 to 2000. His peak International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation (FIDE) chess rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed in 2013 by Magnus Carlsen (a Norwegian chess grandmaster whose peak rating of 2882 is the highest in history).

To prove the superiority of machine over man's capability, the International Business Machine (IBM) designed a computer that is capable of computing 100 million chess positions per second. This machine was named Deep Blue. The Kasparov-Deep Blue chess matches became an unprecedented battle of wits between man and machine.

On February 10, 1996, Deep Blue won a game of chess against the world champion for the first time. The game was the first in a match of six held in Philadelphia. However, Kasparov rebounded in the following five games, fighting the computer to two draws and three victories, winning the overall match. 

IBM immediately set about making improvements to Deep Blue, fully doubling its computing power, and a rematch was set for May 1997. The two opponents finally met in a darkened television studio in New York, United States for their highly hyped grudge match.

Kasparov took the first move of the first game, and once again defeated the improved Deep Blue in 45 moves. However, Kasparov was unable to understand the reason for one of the computer’s final counterintuitive moves, which may have been the result of a software glitch. He interpreted it as a sign of an intelligence superior to his own, and became anxious and unnerved.

The second game ended in victory for the computer, leaving them tied with four games left. Game 3 ended in a draw. Game 4 ended in a draw. Game 5 ended in a draw.

On May 11, the final, tie-breaking game was held. Audiences watched in suspense via television as Kasparov sat down opposite Deep Blue’s human surrogate. And in just 19 moves, Deep Blue defeated the human grandmaster. 

IBM was thrilled, and Kasparov was crestfallen. He went on to accuse the Deep Blue team of cheating and demanded another rematch. IBM declined, and retired Deep Blue at the top of its game.

From 1984 until his retirement from regular competitive chess in 2005, Kasparov was ranked world No. 1 for a record 255 months overall. He also holds records for the most consecutive professional tournament victories (15) and Chess Oscars (11).

Source: Culled from '20 years ago, a computer first beat a chess world champion' By Alex Arbuckle | Mashable | Wikipedia

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