It's Boeing Vs. Microsoft -- Titans To Square Off In Big Chess Match

REDMOND - It's a clash of titans: Boeing vs. Microsoft.

In one corner, a giant of aerospace manufacturing. In the other, the heavyweight champ of computer software.

And while their battle in Redmond tomorrow won't have the hype or the megabucks purse of a Mike Tyson fight, it will probably last a little longer.

Representatives of the two companies will meet head to head, toe to toe, pocket protector to pocket protector on that most challenging of venues - the chessboard. "There's no trophy or prizes," said Casey Collins, vice president of Boeing's chess club. "Just bragging rights."

Collins should know. His team has bragged most, having won all but one of the five Boeing-Microsoft matches in recent years.

But tomorrow's event has a new twist. For the first time, the public is invited. The 6:30 p.m. event will be in the Cascade Room of Building 15 at Microsoft's Redmond campus.

About 20 members of each company's chess club will be paired off according to skill level. They'll play two timed games so each player gets a chance to make the first move.

At the same time on another board, the teams will play an "open consultation" game in which all team members can discuss each move. In addition, international chess master Georgi Orlov of Federal Way, the tournament director, will play members of the public in a simultaneous exhibition, as will his wife, U.S. Women's Champion Elena Donaldson.

Collins, 39, a contracts manager with Boeing's AWACS project, isn't worried about the presence of spectators on Microsoft's turf. Noting that Boeing's team comes from an area work force of about 60,000, four times that of Microsoft, Collins concluded: "We should be favored because of our deeper bench."