Deep Blue's hardware-software synergy

It's true that powerful hardware forms the basis of the Deep Blue chess computer's capabilities. However, improved software-based search techniques and innovations in partitioning the problem for a multiprocessor also played important roles. Garry Kasparov perhaps summed it up best when he said Deep Blue was making "human" moves. This observation underscores the role software played in capturing the human expertise that enabled the hardware to perform as it did-a premise with intriguing implications for the future of computing. The lessons learned in developing Deep Blue are not simply chess-specific, but may have far-reaching applications in other domains.