Praggnanandhaa faced off against ChatGPT in an exhibition match during the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Las Vegas, USA. The Indian grandmaster, playing white, remained blindfolded throughout the game. ChatGPT, playing black, had a human assistant to input and execute its moves on the physical board.
ChatGPT opted for the Sicilian Defense, while Praggnanandhaa immediately tested the AI with the Alapin Variation. White sacrificed the e4 pawn, aiming to bring the queen to a4, forcing the capture of the knight. "Let's see if ChatGPT falls for the trap," the world number four remarked.
The chatbot avoided the trap and played reasonably well against Praggnanandhaa until it blundered on its ninth move (9...Nb4??). The AI reasoned that moving the knight to b4 aimed to "attack White's c2 pawn." However, Praggnanandhaa no longer had a pawn on c2. The 19-year-old expressed confusion at ChatGPT's mistake.
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The board position after ChatGPT's 9...Nb4 against Praggnanandhaa. (Source: unknown) |
The board position after ChatGPT's 9...Nb4 against Praggnanandhaa. (Source: unknown)
Moreover, the AI's move was a serious blunder, as the white queen could move to a4, checking and capturing the knight. The black knight could not retreat to c6 due to the white d5 pawn. Gaining a knight, Praggnanandhaa secured an early advantage.
ChatGPT made another illegal move on its 12th turn. The white bishop moved to b5, pinning and capturing the black queen on d7.
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The board position after Praggnanandhaa's 12.Bb5. (Source: unknown) |
The board position after Praggnanandhaa's 12.Bb5. (Source: unknown)
Despite the black knight no longer being on b4, ChatGPT moved its knight to c6 to protect the queen. Praggnanandhaa had to point out this error. Realizing its mistake, the AI resigned itself to castling, losing its queen. The match then became a matter of whether the chatbot would make further illegal moves or bring back captured pieces.
ChatGPT played legally until its 23rd move.
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The board position after 23.Bxe7. (Source: unknown) |
The board position after 23.Bxe7. (Source: unknown)
Black had no pieces left except its king and pawns. However, ChatGPT announced the move 23...Qxe7, bringing its queen back into play from thin air to capture the white bishop. Praggnanandhaa laughed but allowed the queen's "resurrection," as he still had a knight advantage. "It's fine, as long as it doesn't bring back more pieces, like a rook," he commented.
The two sides then traded queens, and ChatGPT played well in the endgame until it overlooked White's check.
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The board position after 36.Nd7. Praggnanandhaa checks with the knight, but ChatGPT advances its pawn to f4 instead of moving the king. (Source: unknown) |
The board position after 36.Nd7. Praggnanandhaa checks with the knight, but ChatGPT advances its pawn to f4 instead of moving the king. (Source: unknown)
"Praggnanandhaa, whatever you want to do now, we don't mind," ChatGPT's assistant said.
The 19-year-old laughed and replied, "I'll capture the black king."
Praggnanandhaa's move to capture the king was technically illegal. Players are not allowed to touch their opponent's king. If the opponent is in check and doesn't move their king, a player can notify the arbiter. The arbiter would then consider it a technical error, potentially leading to a loss for the opponent. However, as this was an exhibition match, capturing the king was inconsequential.
"ChatGPT played well until it made those mistakes and illegal moves. But I think it will improve," the Indian grandmaster remarked.
The match between Praggnanandhaa and ChatGPT. (Source: unknown)
A few days prior, Magnus Carlsen revealed he had also played a game against ChatGPT and won without losing any pieces. After the game, the AI estimated Carlsen's Elo rating to be between 1800 and 2000, compared to his actual rating of over 2800.
Praggnanandhaa, considered a chess prodigy, was the youngest player to defeat Carlsen in a rapid online tournament at the Airthings Masters, part of the Champions Chess Tour 2022, at the age of 16. His record was later broken by Gukesh Dommaraju.
ChatGPT is a chatbot developed by the American company OpenAI and launched in 11/2022. It is at the forefront of the AI race among leading tech companies worldwide, alongside Google's Gemini, China's Deepseek, and xAI's Grok. However, OpenAI cautions that the information ChatGPT provides, while sounding plausible and even evidence-based, can be entirely incorrect.
Xuan Binh
