It's back to the chess board for Gary Kasparov when he battles wits with Deeper Blue, a thinking computer that some say can out-wit the world champ. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the science of smart computers.

SEGMENT 1

C.J. Tan leads the research team responsible for Deeper Blue, the new and improved chess-playing computer set to square off against world chess champ Garry Kasparov. Tan tells Judith Strasser that people's fears of "superior" machine intelligence are unfounded. Tan is a computer scientist at IBM's Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York. Also, director of MIT's Laboratory for Computer Science, Michael Dertouzos talks with Steve Paulson about some of the nifty toys (like the electronic body net) that computer technology will make possible in the near future. Dertouzos is the author of "What Will Be: How the New World of Information Will Change Our Lives."

SEGMENT 2:

Journalist Jonathan Litttman is the author of "The Watchman: The Twisted Life and Crimes of Serial Hacker Kevin Poulson." Littman tells Jim Fleming how Poulsen's youthful computer adventures led to serious (and sometimes sleazy) criminal activity.

SEGMENT 3:

Po Bronson tells Steve Paulson about his book -- "The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest -- A Silicon Valley Novel." He says the Valley is rife with espionage, double-dealing and betrayal.

Distribution dates:

• week of 04/27/97 - hour 2