Not true. And it wouldn’t even make sense that that would be true. Yes, you need to go through a lot of options, but the key is picking the right move. You don’t need to search every option, or do it at a faster rate to make a better chess player. If that were the case, than people would never win as any human could never evan approach that level of depth. Also note the wiki article backs me up.
The trend seems to be less brute force, and more pattern recognition and strength evaluation. That’s why these programs can run on a mobile phone.
While I agree with your latter point to an extent, the comparison still makes no sense. It’s just an attempt to use big numbers to confound people. It’s like when people try to show how complex chess is by stating that the number of permutations is bigger than the number of atoms in the universe. That’s all well and good, but it tells us very little about how people actual play chess.
I can see how it’s easy to underestimate how good Kasparov is at chess, but that really doesn’t address the nature of this bet. People can typically hone their intellect at a faster pace and to a greater extent than they can their physical skills. Specifically, it is easier to develop a chess sense, than to be tall. In a 1-on-1 basketball game, all Jordan would do is back him down to the basket, then put in a layup. The ability to do that is primarily a function of him being taller, stronger, and quicker. Maybe Kasparov could theoretically match the latter two, but he can’t ever get taller. Nor is there are strategy, skill, or tactic he could emulate after being beaten ad infinitum.
Society has more numerous, and more effective tools to help people work smarter and think better, and because those tools can be used with greater leverage, the ability of a novice to become great at an intellectual pursuit absence disability, and given enough time is fairly high.
Second, in most intellectual pursuits, it is much easier to follow than lead. Kasparov changed the game. Now, younger people can follow that with far more ease than he did innovating. This is why a high school student knows more math than Euclid and many other great mathematicians of the past. It doesn’t mean they are smarter of more gifted. It just means they have the benefit of coming after things were figured out. While sports strategy is subject to the same effect, such strategy needn’t be used in a 1-on-1 game.
Third, Jordan has the benefit of learning from entities far better than Kasparov ever was. Those entities being computers. He can play them and learn. Kasparov can’t learn to be taller.