Chess champion Kramnik beats 'Deep Fritz' computer

World human chess champion Vladimir Kramnik took the lead on Sunday over Deep Fritz, the latest computer star, by winning the second game in a match billed as the "Brains of Bahrain" contest.

Kramnik, playing white, exposed flaws in Deep Fritz's technique with a win in 57 moves. Kramnick now leads the eight-game competition 1.5-0.5 after drawing the opening game on Friday.

Kramnik, a 27-year-old Russian, will get $1 million if he wins, $800,000 if the match is drawn, and $600,000 if he loses.

German-developed Deep Fritz is capable of evaluating 3.5 million moves per second, but once again it was unable to break through Kramnik's rock-solid shield.

Under the new rules, Kramnik was given the computer two weeks before the start to practise against the new software and assess its style.

Sunday's game wasn't completely one-sided. Fritz, after early errors, fought back and startled Kramnik with some typical computer tactics.

"I never imagined (the 27th move) and the tactics that followed. Only a computer would find and play something like that," Kramnik said later.

"I was completely shocked."

The Fritz team was more than a little embarrassed, however, when their brainchild in move 12 returned its bishop to its original square. This bizarre move was something even the lowliest human player would never consider.

But it made perfect sense to Fritz, anticipating a move from Kramnik which would have won the computer a draw.

Kramnik didn't make a similar error and exposed Fritz's move for the blunder it was.

Kramnik also took advantage of the computer's poor opening play and took advantage of his structural and positional advantages until black made a controversial decision to resign.