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Bjørn Staal

Deep Blue v Kasparov

Feb 11 - Mar 11, 2026

Overview

"This series of twelve data sculptures revisits that moment, re-rendering each of the games between Kasparov and Deep Blue into three-dimensional, interactive forms."

- Bjørn Staal

Deep Blue v Kasparov
In May 1997, a significant shift in the relationship between human and machine intelligence occurred on a chessboard in New York City. After defeating IBM's Deep Blue in 1996 with a score of 4-2, world chess champion Garry Kasparov faced the upgraded supercomputer in a rematch. On May 11, 1997, after six games, Deep Blue won with a score of 3½-2½. Kasparov's resignation after just 19 moves in the final game marked a pivotal moment: a machine had overcome a human champion in a domain long associated with intellectual depth.
In the aftermath of the match, the chess world's initial alarm gradually gave way to acceptance. Kasparov's perspective also evolved over time. While initially suggesting IBM had programmed Deep Blue with unfair human assistance, in his 2017 book "Deep Thinking," he came to view the defeat as a pivotal moment in human-machine collaboration. "The chess world didn't end," he reflected. "Human-computer chess symbiosis has produced a level of play never before seen." This shift mirrors chess culture's broader journey, incorporating AI tools while preserving the game's appeal to human players.
“Deep Blue v Kasparov” is a series of 12 data sculptures that examine this historical transition through spatial representation. Each piece (which represents one of the games they played in the period from 96-97) converts algebraic chess notation into three-dimensional form, where the xy-plane represents the board's 64 squares, while the z-axis shows the progression of moves through time. In addition to the minimalistic web of lines representing the actual moves of the game, the other possible moves each piece could have made are drawn out by a less legible pattern of particles. Small “explosions” of these same particles are emitted from the positions where a piece was captured. Using JavaScript and WebGL, the sculptures create browser-based interactive spaces where viewers can explore the games' evolving structures and examine the intense fight between two minds of a different substrate.
This particular historical threshold functions as both precursor and counterpoint to our current technological moment. While Deep Blue's victory anticipated today's questions about machine capabilities, it also revealed something noteworthy about human engagement. Chess participation has increased rather than decreased in the decades since, suggesting that technical superiority doesn't diminish human interest in the activity itself.
The project uses computational tools to explore the boundary between human and computational thinking. The rules of chess create finite possibilities that nonetheless generate complex strategic landscapes. These visualizations render these abstract decision spaces into tangible forms that can be examined from multiple perspectives.
Perhaps what emerges from studying these matches is that the question was never simply whether machines would surpass humans in calculation, but how we might critically reconsider our relationship with technology beyond zero-sum competition.
[The digital series consists of 12, fully on chain, interactive data sculptures that can be experienced on a whole range of different devices and resolutions. The way these data-sculptures are constructed also makes it possible to produce physical counterparts to the digital versions].
Interactivity:
Scroll through moves in the game by moving mouse up and down over the sculpture itself mouse click anywhere to cycle through camera angles (3 clicks to cycle through all)
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