Before the advent of Deep Blue, man faced another challenge - Deep Ed. The match was played on June 11, 1961. Portions of the match were shown on national television to an audience of millions. Unfortunately no annotation of the match has been found. The photo below shows a critical position in the match that even today is not fully understood in terms of its theoretical implications.
It is rumored Bobbie Fisher wanted to play Deep Ed but no agreement could be reached between the parties on the venue. Deep Ed resurfaced briefly on October 24, 1965 when he answered a hard question regarding chess on a radio game show and won a new color TV set.
Perhaps others here who remember the Deep Ed vs. Man match can provide their observations and it’s impact on the chess world at that time.
Over the years there have been questions as to how Deep Ed prepared for the match. At the time unverified sources provided the photo below allegedly showing Deep Ed’s development team.
However, it has since been discovered the photo was actually taken at a secret Soviet chess training facility after the airing of the Deep Ed vs. Man match. The Soviets feared a new “Chess Gap” and were testing ways to maintain their supremacy.
