Anand mocks Kasparov

BONN, May 11: India8217;s Viswanathan Anand, one of the world8217;s top five chess players, poked gentle fun at Garry Kasparov for being overawed by IBM8217;s Deep Blue supercomputer, saying he was treating the machine 8220;like God.8221;

Kasparov is 8220;clearly showing exaggerated respect8221; to his electronic adversary , Anand told Der Spiegel in an interview to be published by the German newsmagazine tomorrow.

8220;Kasparov played in such a defensive way against the computer 8230; I8217;ve never seen him like that before,8221; Anand said. 8220;One could have played more aggressively without being overly bold.8221;

8220;A defeat for Kasparov could only have one justification,8221; Anand said. 8220;It would not be the machine8217;s victory, but Kasparov8217;s over himself, because he has been too respectful and nervous.8221;