WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Top-ranked chess player Garry Kasparov claimed a vital win against the computer X3D Fritz in the third of their four-game match on Sunday at the New York Athletic Club.

    The 40-year-old grand master, playing with the white pieces, dominated the match by seizing a winning position after only 16 moves and coasted until the computer's programmers resigned on its45th turn.

    "It was just a dominating performance by Kasparov," said John Fernandez, X3D's chess consultant, after more than four hours of play.

    Now Kasparov leveled the computer at 1 1/2 points with a draw in the first game on Nov. 11 and a defeat in the second on Thursday, as one point is awarded for a win and a half point for draws. The fourth and final game is scheduled on Tuesday.

    Winner of the match will collect 200,000 U.S. dollars and the prize for Kasparov is 175,000 U.S. dollars if the match ends in a tie.

    It's not the first time Kasparov has been challenged by a computer. He defeated IBM supercomputer Deep Blue in 1996, lost famously to an improved Deep Blue the next year and tied with Israeli-built world chess computer champion Deep Junior last February.

    X3D Fritz is German-made Fritz software, dominant in computer chess and sold commercially, combined with New York-based X3D Technologies company software that specialized in virtual reality.Enditem