We should probably not describe the computer as “creative” for finding the moves; instead, it did so more through the brute force of its calculation speed. But it also had another advantage: it did not let its hang-ups about the right way to play chess get in the way of identifying the right move in those particular circumstances. For a human player, this would have required the creativity and confidence to see beyond the conventional thinking. People marveled at Fischer’s skill because he was so young, but perhaps it was for exactly that reason that he found the moves: he had the full breadth
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