Kasparov Vs Deep Blue

Game 6

Deep Blue - Kasparov
11 May 1997

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Ng5 Ngf6 6. Bd3 e6 7. N1f3 h6?? 8. Nxe6 Qe7 9. O-O fxe6 10. Bg6+ Kd8 11. Bf4 b5 12. a4 Bb7 13. Re1 Nd5 14. Bg3 Kc8 15. axb5 cxb5 16. Qd3 Bc6 17. Bf5 exf5 18. Rxe7 Bxe7 19. c4 1-0

7...h6 allows the common knight sacrifice. He has played this opening as White several times, most notably against Karpov so he would have been aware of the consequences! A common reply after 7.N1f3 is 7...Bd6.

I came to the board that day, but I didn't really want to play. I am sorry about my decision to play 7...h6. I simply didn't realize what I was doing when I played the move. It was a big mistake, and it shows the mood I was in. Maybe if I had gotten a nice tactical position in this game, then perhaps I could have fired up the gas. But it didn't happen that way...

Clearly, I hadn't really prepared the opening. I thought it would play something else. It is really hard for me to explain the whole thing... This was not a real game. It was something that was beyond my understanding. All I can say is that perhaps if I had one more day of rest between games 5 and 6, things might have gone differently. - Kasparov