Kasparov Opens His Match Against the World With Pawn to E4

Garry Kasparov made his first move today, and now the whole planet is on the clock. The world chess champion kicked off the Kasparov vs. the World tournament on MSN by playing pawn to e4, acted out on a life-size chess board at a press conference in New York City’s Bryant Park, in front of hundreds of chess fans and journalists.

You probably remember Kasparov from 1997, when IBM challenged him to face its Deep Blue supercomputer in the Man vs. Machine match. This time the opponent is everybody: the tournament is open to anyone in the world, at any skill level, and MSN is calling it the largest interactive competition ever staged. To get in on it, log on to MSN.COM, click into games, and help the world team consult on its answer.

A few billion heads against one. I still like Kasparov’s odds.