Aberdeen University is to set up postgraduate courses in chess which it hopes will lead to the development of supercomputers even smarter at the game than grandmasters like Gary Kasparov.

The Scottish University is launching Masters and three-year PhD courses this autumn with up to 40 places available.

Prospective applicants need to be as skilled in maths and computer studies as they are at chess, so only the brainiest need apply. The entrance exam will challenge candidates to play a game of chess at grandmaster level, which will test their skill at the sport.

Course director Peter Vas told Reuters that he hopes the course will create fresh innovations in the field of artificial intelligence, creating computers that can learn for themselves. Vas also wants to push back the boundaries of supercomputer research.

He hopes Russian grandmaster and former world chess champion Gary Kasparov will give guest lectures. ®