Fri 28 Nov
|The Book Nook
How Chess Built AI: The History of Computers That Learned to Think - Chess Journalist Peter Doggers
How did 64 squares drive AI? From Turing's tests to Deep Blue's 1997 win over Kasparov, the history of chess is the history of AI. Techniques forged on the chessboard now power modern LLMs. Join Peter Doggers to see where the game ends and the machine begins. Language: English
Time & Location
28 Nov 2025, 20:00 – 21:30
The Book Nook, Singel 82, 1015 AC Amsterdam, Netherlands
About the event
Chess isn't just a game; it's the "fruit fly of reasoning."
Since the 1940s, AI pioneers like Alan Turing and Claude Shannon used it as the ultimate testing ground.
They sought a path to non-human intelligence, and the chessboard became their laboratory. The decades that followed saw the rise of increasingly sophisticated algorithms and stronger computer programs, culminating in the dramatic 1997 moment: Deep Blue's victory over Garry Kasparov.
The shared history of chess and AI didn't stop there. Techniques first refined in those early chess programs are now foundational to the very core of modern AI, even within today's Large Language Models (LLMs).
Join Peter Doggers as he unpacks this fascinating journey, tracing the evolution of intelligence - both human and artificial - from the earliest work on the chessboard that shaped AI to the latest algorithms.