Google's Gemini AI backed out of a chess match against a 46 year-old Atari 2600 engine after suffering a crisis of confidence: 'Canceling the match is likely the most time-efficient and sensible decision'

Chess pieces — (Image credit: Michael H. via Getty.)

Remember when, as a child, you boasted about something you were really, really good at, then got called out on your skills and had to sheepishly retract? Awkward, wasn't it? Spare a thought for poor Google Gemini, then, which confidently boasted it was fantastic at chess before making excuses when it learned more about its near fifty-year-old competition.

That's according to Robert Caruso, a software engineer who's become known for pitting the Atari 2600's chess skills against LLMs, such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot. Speaking to The Register, Caruso claims that he sat down for a "pregame talk" with Google Gemini before its hotly-requested match up, and in a wonderful example of pre-match smack talk, appears to have psyched out the AI model entirely.

"What stands out is the misplaced confidence both AIs had", Caruso responded. "They both predicted easy victories—and now you just said you would dominate the Atari."

It's the modern version of Clippy, I swear. Anyway, the Atari 2600 Video Chess engine continues to be a thorn in the side of modern chess-attempting LLMs, and this time its reputation is such that it scared its opponent off the board before the match even began.

I suppose the question here is, does that make Gemini more intelligent than most LLMs, or less? Avoiding potential humiliation is a very human trait, after all, so I think Google's engineers would be quite pleased with its somewhat realistic, if perhaps a little cowardly, response.

I'm also fantastic at chess, by the way. I can't play any of you either, though. My dog ate my chessboard, all the trains are cancelled, and I've suddenly got an upset stomach. Maybe next time, yeah?

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Andy built his first gaming PC at the tender age of 12, when IDE cables were a thing and high resolution wasn't—and he hasn't stopped since. Now working as a hardware writer for PC Gamer, Andy spends his time jumping around the world attending product launches and trade shows, all the while reviewing every bit of PC gaming hardware he can get his hands on. You name it, if it's interesting hardware he'll write words about it, with opinions and everything.

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