Feng-hsiung Hsu
Encyclopedia
Feng-hsiung Hsu (nicknamed Crazy Bird) is a computer scientist
and the author of the book Behind Deep Blue: Building the Computer that Defeated the World Chess Champion. His work led to the creation of the Deep Thought Chess Machine, which led to the first chess playing computer to defeat Grandmasters in tournament play and the first to achieve a certified Grandmaster level rating.
Hsu was the architect and the principal designer of the IBM Deep Blue chess machine. He was the recipient of the 1990 Mephisto Award for his doctoral dissertation and also the 1991 ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award
for his contributions in architecture and algorithms for chess machines.
, and came to US after graduating from National Taiwan University
with B.S. in E.E.. He started his graduate work at Carnegie Mellon University
in the field of computer chess
in the year 1985. In 1988 he was part of the "Deep Thought" team that won the Fredkin Intermediate Prize for Deep Thought's Grandmaster-level performance. In 1989 he joined IBM to design a chess-playing computer and received a Ph.D. with honors from Carnegie Mellon University
.
In 1991, the Association for Computing Machinery
awarded him a Grace Murray Hopper Award
for his work on Deep Blue. In 1996, the supercomputer lost to world chess champion Garry Kasparov
. After the loss, Hsu's team prepared for a re-match. During the re-match with Kasparov, the supercomputer had double the processing power it had during the previous match. On May 11 1997, Kasparov lost the sixth and final game, and, with it, the match (2½-3½).
Prior to building the supercomputer Deep Blue that defeated Kasparov, Hsu worked on many other chess computers. He started with ChipTest
, a simple chess-playing chip, based on a design from Unix
-inventor's Ken Thompson
's Belle
, and very different from the other chess-playing computer being developed at Carnegie Mellon, HiTech
, which was developed by Hans Berliner
and included 64 different chess chips for the move generator instead of the one in Hsu's series. Hsu went on to build the successively better chess-playing computers Deep Thought
, Deep Thought II, and Deep Blue Prototype.
Hsu now manages the platforms and devices center of Microsoft Research Asia
, in Beijing
. He has stated the view that brute-force computation has eclipsed humans in chess, and it could soon do the same in the ancient Asian game of Go.
Computer scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....
and the author of the book Behind Deep Blue: Building the Computer that Defeated the World Chess Champion. His work led to the creation of the Deep Thought Chess Machine, which led to the first chess playing computer to defeat Grandmasters in tournament play and the first to achieve a certified Grandmaster level rating.
Hsu was the architect and the principal designer of the IBM Deep Blue chess machine. He was the recipient of the 1990 Mephisto Award for his doctoral dissertation and also the 1991 ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award
Grace Murray Hopper Award
The original Grace Murray Hopper Awards have been awarded by the Association for Computing Machinery since 1971. The award goes to a young computer professional who makes a single, significant technical or service contribution.-Recipients:* 1971 Donald E. Knuth* 1972 Paul H. Dirksen* 1972 Paul H...
for his contributions in architecture and algorithms for chess machines.
Career
He was born in TaiwanTaiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, and came to US after graduating from National Taiwan University
National Taiwan University
National Taiwan University is a national co-educational university located in Taipei, Republic of China . In Taiwan, it is colloquially known as "Táidà" . Its main campus is set upon 1,086,167 square meters in Taipei's Da'an District. In addition, the university has 6 other campuses in Taiwan,...
with B.S. in E.E.. He started his graduate work at Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
in the field of computer chess
Computer chess
Computer chess is computer architecture encompassing hardware and software capable of playing chess autonomously without human guidance. Computer chess acts as solo entertainment , as aids to chess analysis, for computer chess competitions, and as research to provide insights into human...
in the year 1985. In 1988 he was part of the "Deep Thought" team that won the Fredkin Intermediate Prize for Deep Thought's Grandmaster-level performance. In 1989 he joined IBM to design a chess-playing computer and received a Ph.D. with honors from Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
.
In 1991, the Association for Computing Machinery
Association for Computing Machinery
The Association for Computing Machinery is a learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership is more than 92,000 as of 2009...
awarded him a Grace Murray Hopper Award
Grace Murray Hopper Award
The original Grace Murray Hopper Awards have been awarded by the Association for Computing Machinery since 1971. The award goes to a young computer professional who makes a single, significant technical or service contribution.-Recipients:* 1971 Donald E. Knuth* 1972 Paul H. Dirksen* 1972 Paul H...
for his work on Deep Blue. In 1996, the supercomputer lost to world chess champion Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
. After the loss, Hsu's team prepared for a re-match. During the re-match with Kasparov, the supercomputer had double the processing power it had during the previous match. On May 11 1997, Kasparov lost the sixth and final game, and, with it, the match (2½-3½).
Prior to building the supercomputer Deep Blue that defeated Kasparov, Hsu worked on many other chess computers. He started with ChipTest
ChipTest
ChipTest was a 1985 chess playing computer built by Feng-hsiung Hsu, Thomas Anantharaman and Murray Campbell at Carnegie Mellon University. It is the predecessor of Deep Thought which in turn evolved into Deep Blue....
, a simple chess-playing chip, based on a design from Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
-inventor's Ken Thompson
Ken Thompson
Kenneth Lane Thompson , commonly referred to as ken in hacker circles, is an American pioneer of computer science...
's Belle
Belle (chess machine)
Belle was the name of a chess computer and its associated software, developed by Joe Condon and Ken Thompson at Bell Labs in the 1970s and 1980s. Belle was the first computer built for the sole purpose of chess playing. The strongest computer chess system of its time, Belle achieved a USCF rating...
, and very different from the other chess-playing computer being developed at Carnegie Mellon, HiTech
HiTech
HiTech was a chess machine built at Carnegie Mellon University under the direction of World Correspondence Chess Champion Dr. Hans J. Berliner, by Berliner, Carl Ebeling, Murray Campbell, and Gordon Goetsch....
, which was developed by Hans Berliner
Hans Berliner
Hans Jack Berliner , a Professor of , is a former World Correspondence Chess Champion, from 1965–68. He is a Grandmaster of Correspondence Chess, and an International Master for over-the-board chess. He directed the construction of the chess computer HiTech. Berliner is also a chess writer.-Life...
and included 64 different chess chips for the move generator instead of the one in Hsu's series. Hsu went on to build the successively better chess-playing computers Deep Thought
Deep Thought (chess computer)
Deep Thought was a computer designed to play chess. Deep Thought was initially developed at Carnegie Mellon University and later at IBM. It was second in the line of chess computers developed by Feng-hsiung Hsu, starting with ChipTest and culminating in Deep Blue...
, Deep Thought II, and Deep Blue Prototype.
Hsu now manages the platforms and devices center of Microsoft Research Asia
Microsoft Research Asia
Microsoft Research Asia, Microsoft’s fundamental research arm in the Asia Pacific region, was founded on November 5, 1998. In 2004, Technology Review named Microsoft Research Asia “the hottest computer lab in the world”....
, in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. He has stated the view that brute-force computation has eclipsed humans in chess, and it could soon do the same in the ancient Asian game of Go.
Books
- Behind Deep Blue: Building the Computer that Defeated the World Chess Champion. Princeton University PressPrinceton University Press-Further reading:* "". Artforum International, 2005.-External links:* * * * *...
, 2002. (ISBN 0-691-09065-3). Review by ChessBase.com
See also
- Game Over: Kasparov and the MachineGame Over: Kasparov and the MachineGame Over: Kasparov and the Machine is a 2003 documentary film by Vikram Jayanti about the match between Garry Kasparov, the highest rated chess player in history and the World Champion for 15 years , and Deep Blue, a chess-playing computer created by IBM...
- Deep Blue versus Garry KasparovDeep Blue versus Garry KasparovDeep Blue versus Garry Kasparov was a pair of famous six-game human-computer chess matches played between the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue and the World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov. The first match was played in February 1996 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Kasparov won the match 4–2, losing one...
- Deep Blue - Kasparov, 1996, Game 1Deep Blue - Kasparov, 1996, Game 1Deep Blue–Kasparov, 1996, Game 1 is a famous chess game in which a computer played against a human being. It was the first game played in the 1996 Deep Blue versus Garry Kasparov match, and the first time that a chess-playing computer defeated a reigning world champion under normal chess tournament...
- Deep Blue - Kasparov, 1997, Game 6Deep Blue - Kasparov, 1997, Game 6The Sixth game of the Deep Blue - Kasparov rematch, played in New York City on May 11, 1997 and starting at 3:00 p.m. EDT, was the last chess game in the rematch of 1997 of Deep Blue versus Garry Kasparov...
- ArimaaArimaaThe objective of the game is to move a rabbit of one's own color onto the home rank of the opponent. Thus Gold wins by moving a gold rabbit to the eighth rank, and Silver wins by moving a silver rabbit to the first rank...
External links
- Feng-hsiung Hsu at IBMIBMInternational Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
- Oral History of Feng-Hsiung Hsu. Interviewed by: Dag Spicer. Recorded: February 14, 2005 at Computer History MuseumComputer History MuseumThe Computer History Museum is a museum established in 1996 in Mountain View, California, USA. The Museum is dedicated to preserving and presenting the stories and artifacts of the information age, and exploring the computing revolution and its impact on our lives.-History:The museum's origins...
, Mountain View, CaliforniaMountain View, California-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south... - Feng-hsiung Hsu's papers at DBLP
- Chess, China, and Education: A Ubiquity Interview with F-H Hsu
- Open Letter from Feng-hsiung Hsu one of the main programmers of Deep Blue, and Open Letter from Owen Williams to Feng-hsiung Hsu on Deep Blue