
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, August 22, 1994                   TAG: 9408220110
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SAN JOSE, CALIF.                                LENGTH: Medium

MACHINE IS KING IN CHECKERS BOUT

By default, an intelligent machine became the No. 1 checkers champion in the world Friday after the reigning human champion became sick and was unable to complete a match.

Checkers champion Marion Tinsley, 67, fell ill Wednesday morning after playing Chinook, the checkers program created by a researcher at the University of Alberta in Canada, to a draw for six consecutive games.

The match was being watched closely by checkers fans and the artificial intelligence community, which seeks to learn from human vs. machine encounters to better develop computing technology. Computer programmers have struggled for years to come up with machines that could outwit humans, but they have had poor luck in beating the human experts in sophisticated games like chess. Checkers, a simpler game with fewer possible moves, is viewed as an easier challenge for the computer.

Tinsley had handily defeated an earlier version of Chinook two years ago, but the program has been painstakingly improved by researcher Jonathan Schaeffer.

Tinsley awoke feeling sick Wednesday and went to the hospital. On Thursday evening, his doctor advised him not to play any more of the intense checkers matches. That forced him to resign his title.

The title for the champion was transferred to Chinook and the Silicon Graphics Challenge XL computer, made by Silicon Graphics Inc. in Mountain View, Calif. But at Tinsley's urging, the No. 2 player, Don Lafferty, will play a 20-game match against Chinook for the world title in a tournament sanctioned by the American Checkers Federation and the British Draughts Federation.

by CNB