Training Match With Rice Student Nears for Deep Blue

Media Advisory



CONTACT: Lisa Nutting

PHONE: (713)
831-4796

TRAINING MATCH WITH RICE STUDENT NEARS FOR DEEP
BLUE

Rice student Nathan Doughty is just four days away
from matching his chess skills against DB Junior, a smaller version of Deep
Blue, the IBM chess machine that is preparing for a million-dollar grudge match
against world champ Garry Kasparov.

The man-against-machine chess game will be featured during Rice’s Computer
and Information Technology Institute’s Distinguished Lecture Series, set for 4-6
p.m. on March 18 in McMurtry Auditorium of Anne and Charles Duncan Hall.

The chess demonstration is scheduled for 5-6 p.m., following a lecture titled
“Deep Blue-The IBM Chess Machine.” The lecture will be presented from 4 p.m. to
5 p.m. by Chung-Jen Tan, senior manager of the Parallel System Platforms
Department at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y.

Doughty, who began playing chess at age 11, defeated fellow members of the
Rice chess club for the chance to play DB Junior. The Will Rice College junior
played chess about 20 hours a week throughout junior and senior high school, he
said, but due to academic demands at Rice he only plays the game a few hours a
week.

“I’ve been preparing [for chess] all my life,” Doughty said. “It’s a great
honor [to be selected].”

To get to Anne and Charles Duncan Hall, take entrance 16 off of Rice
Boulevard and follow the road straight back to the three-story building; the
parking lot is located to the left. News Office representatives will be on hand
to help direct traffic. Media planning to attend the event are urged to arrive
at Duncan Hall by 3:30 p.m.

The event is open to the Rice community and the general public. Media
questions should be directed to Lisa Nutting at 831-4796.

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