Editing Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine

{{Infobox film
| name           = Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine
| image          = Kasparov and the machine.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Vikram Jayanti]]
| producer       = Hal Vogel
| writer         = 
| narrator       = Marc Ghannoum
| starring       = [[Joel Benjamin]]<br>[[Michael Greengard]]<br>[[Anatoly Karpov]]<br>[[Garry Kasparov]]<br>Jeff Kisselhof
| music          = Robert Lane
| cinematography = [[Maryse Alberti]]
| editing        = David G. Hill
| distributor    = [[THINKFilm]]
| released       = {{Film date|2003|09|05|[[Toronto International Film Festival|TIFF]]|2004|12|03|[[New York City]]}}
| runtime        = 90 minutes
| country        = Canada<br />United Kingdom
| language       = English
| budget         = 
| gross          = 
}}

'''''Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine''''' is a 2003 [[documentary film]] by [[Vikram Jayanti]] about the match between [[Garry Kasparov]], the highest-rated [[chess]] player in history (at the time), the [[World Chess Championship|World Champion]] for 15 years (1985&ndash;2000) and an anti-communist politician, and [[Deep Blue (chess computer)|Deep Blue]], a chess-playing computer created by [[IBM]].  It was coproduced by [[Alliance Atlantis]] and the [[National Film Board of Canada]].

==Synopsis==
Kasparov had beaten Deep Blue, a computer designed specifically to beat him, in a match played in 1996.<ref name = "boston"/> He agreed to offer a rematch the following year. Kasparov won the first game of the rematch easily with the white pieces.<ref name = "boston"/> In the second game, Kasparov was struggling with the black pieces, but he set a trap that most computers fall for.<ref name = "boston"/> Deep Blue didn't fall for it and won to level the match. At the time, it was reported that both Kasparov and Deep Blue missed a [[perpetual check]] that could have given Kasparov a draw,<ref name = "boston"/> but the strongest computer chess engines today—for example, [[Stockfish (chess)|Stockfish]]—don't consider the final position as draw but rather as having better winning chances for White, contradicting the human analysis at the time that Kasparov missed an opportunity to enter into a perpetual check.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://analysis.cpuchess.com/?fen=1r6%2F5kp1%2FRqQb1p1p%2F1p1PpP2%2F1Pp1B3%2F2P4P%2F6P1%2F5K2%20b%20-%20-%2014%2045&lmove=Ra6 | title=Online computer analysis of the final position of game 2 | accessdate=2015-05-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.chess.com/blog/FirebrandX/kasparov---deep-blue-1997-everyone-was-wrong | title=Kasparov - Deep Blue 1997: History gets it wrong! | accessdate=2015-05-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160120070534/http://www.chess.com/blog/FirebrandX/kasparov---deep-blue-1997-everyone-was-wrong|archive-date=2016-01-20|url-status=dead}}</ref> The next three matches ended in draws, with Kasparov appearing to weaken psychologically. Deep Blue went on to win the decisive [[Deep Blue - Kasparov, 1997, Game 6|sixth game]], marking the first time in history that a computer defeated the World Champion in a match of several games.

From this experience, particularly the second game of the match, Kasparov accused the IBM team of cheating. He suspected that a human player was used during the games to improve the strategic strength of the computer. As a metaphor for this suspicion, the film weaves in the story of [[Mechanical Turk|the Turk]], a hoax involving a chess-playing automaton built in the eighteenth century, but secretly operated by human beings. The film also implies that Deep Blue's heavily promoted victory was a plot by IBM to boost the company's market value.

==Reception==
''Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine'' received mixed reviews from critics. Among the positive reviews, Dennis Lim of ''[[The Village Voice]]'' called ''Game Over'' a "gripping documentary".<ref>Review by Dennis Lim, Village Voice, November 30, 2004</ref> Jami Bernard of the ''[[New York Daily News]]'' called it "a nail-biter".

Peter Hartlaub of the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'', however, called ''Game Over'' "a film with one big question and no visible attempt to find any answers."<ref>Review by Peter Hartlaub, ''San Francisco Chronicle'', February 11, 2005</ref> Numerous reviewers criticized ''Game Over'' for being biased toward Kasparov and making accusations against IBM without presenting evidence for its claims, including Robert Koehler of ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'',<ref>[https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117921798.html?categoryid=31&cs=1 Review by Robert Koehler], Variety</ref> Kevin Crust of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'',<ref>[http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-game18mar18,1,4901468.story Review by Kevin Crust], ''LA Times''</ref> Michael Booth of ''[[The Denver Post]]'',<ref>Review by Michael Booth, ''Denver Post'', December 31, 2004</ref> Liam Lacey of ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'',<ref>[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/content/subscribe?user_URL=https://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FRTGAM.20050304.wxkasparov04%2FBNStory%2FEntertainment%2F&ord=116139804&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true Review by Liam Lacey], ''Globe and Mail''</ref> Janice Page of ''[[The Boston Globe]]'',<ref name = "boston">{{cite news|url=https://www.boston.com/movies/display?display=movie&id=7540 |title=Showy moves don't go far in chess documentary 'Game Over'|first=Janice |last=Page|work=[[Boston Globe]] |date=January 14, 2005|accessdate=July 23, 2011}}</ref> and Ned Martel of [[The New York Times]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/03/movies/when-superman-met-supermachine.html?mcubz=1|title=When Superman Met Supermachine|first=Ned|last=Martel|work=[[New York Times]]|date=December 6, 2004|accessdate=September 7, 2017}}</ref>

The film was nominated for a 2003 [[International Documentary Association]] award.

==See also==
*''[[Behind Deep Blue]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://nfb.ca/collection/films/fiche/?id=51405&v=h&lg=en&exp=$%7bgame%7d%2520AND%2520$%7bover%7d  ''Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071106061849/http://nfb.ca/collection/films/fiche/?id=51405&v=h&lg=en&exp=$%257Bgame%257D%2520AND%2520$%257Bover%257D |date=2007-11-06 }}
*{{IMDb title|0379296}}
*[http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review481.pdf ChessCafe review of ''Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine''] (PDF)

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Game Over: Kasparov And The Machine}}
[[Category:Computer chess]]
[[Category:2003 films]]
[[Category:2003 documentary films]]
[[Category:English-language Canadian films]]
[[Category:Canadian documentary films]]
[[Category:Films about chess]]
[[Category:National Film Board of Canada documentaries]]
[[Category:2003 in chess]]
[[Category:Garry Kasparov]]
[[Category:2000s English-language films]]
[[Category:2000s Canadian films]]
[[Category:English-language documentary films]]