In the June 1997 issue of Chess Life the U.S. Chess Federation announced a limerick contest to help commemorate the upcoming Garry Kasparov vs. Deep Blue rematch. Prior to this I had never written a limerick before in my life! But it sounded like fun and one of many motto's in life is "How hard can it be?"

So I immediately walked across the street to the Mesa City Library and checked out every book on limericks that they had -- just to get a feel for them. After that, since I had been keeping up with this match, I felt I was as equipped as well as anyone else to write one!

It took a couple of weeks but below is one of my better efforts. It's sort of a "super limerick" -- it tells the complete story of the match.

Enjoy.

 

Kasparov vs. Deep Blue; A Limerick

by
Edward D. Collins

 

"Man versus Machine" it was billed
And each day the auditorium filled!
An interesting fight -
With Garry first to have White
Can anyone claim they weren't thrilled?
The first game proved Garry still King
"Deep Blue hasn't learned anything!"
Quickly out of its book
It later "won" Garry's Rook
Does this thing even belong in the ring?
But then Kasparov resigned in Game 2
And at the time nobody knew
Later shown he could draw
Did this stick in his craw?
Others may be wondering too!
"The printouts!" Kasparov cried
"Why was I so flatly denied?"
So they were then sealed
Only later revealed
One point each -- this match is now tied!
Games 3, 4, and 5 were all drawn
Deep Blue did indeed have some brawn!
It's now winner take all
So don't fumble the ball
(Or in our case don't fumble a pawn!)
Game 6 was the most startling yet
And I'm sure it cost many a bet
Deep Blue sacked a Knight
Quickly proved this was right
And so began all the talk on the "Net"
This chess match made worldwide news
And most thought that Deep Blue would lose
But with its three-and-a-half
If you do the math
You'll find Garry's the one with the "blues!" 
No machine has done it 'till now
Bested our champion in match play -- kapow!
While few thought it would
Deep Blue proved that it could
And Garry is wondering "How?"
"I was not in the mood to fight"
Said the champ to the press that night
"But let this be clear"
"I guarantee -- do you hear?"
"I will tear it to pieces!" -- he might!
So, in New York on the eleventh of May
Of '97, the records will say
A machine, no less
Sat down to play chess
And proved that it really can play!
"Rematch" was then heard through the land
It is something we ALL should demand
For if Deep Blue will square-off
One more time with Kasparov
The games would be certainly grand!
We really have nothing to fear
Computers can help us, it's clear
And although Deep Blue won
And had its day in the sun
I think "chess" was the real winner here!

 

Here's another one I wrote I'm kind of partial to:

"The printouts!" Kasparov cried
"Why was I so flatly denied?"
Because the answer would show
What you and I know
That Fischer was really inside!

You may recall that Garry tried out a couple of rather offbeat openings. With that in mind, I leave you with one more:

Garry not up to the job?
"What happened?" his fans cry and sob
He's been champion for years
Has respect from his peers
Next time why not try out the Grob!

Groan!!