World records in chess

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This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

This is a list of world records in the sport of chess as achieved in organized tournament, match, or simultaneous exhibition play.

Contents

[edit] Longest game

The longest tournament chess game ever to be played under modern time rules was Nikolić - Arsović, Belgrade, 1989, which lasted for 20 hours and 15 minutes, ending in a 269-move draw. With modifications to the fifty move rule, this record is unlikely to ever be broken.

[edit] Shortest tournament game

The shortest decisive game ever played in master play that was decided because of the position on the board (i.e. not because of a forfeit or protest) is Đorđević - Kovačević, Bela Crkva 1984. It lasted for only three moves (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 c6 3.e3?? Qa5+ winning the bishop). Even shorter decisive games have occurred in amateur play, including two-move games ending in Fool's Mate (1.g4? e5 2.f3?? Qh4# and variants thereof).

There have been a number of forfeited games (which could technically be regarded as a loss in zero moves), the most notable examples being Game 2 of the 1972 World Chess Championship match between Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer, which Fischer defaulted, and Game 5 of the 2006 World Championship match between Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov, which Kramnik defaulted. A game between Fischer and Oscar Panno, played at the Palma de Mallorca Interzonal 1970, went 1. c4 resigns. Panno refused to play to protest the organizers' rescheduling of the game to accommodate Fischer's desire not to play on his religion's sabbath. Panno was not present when the game was to begin. Fischer waited ten minutes before making his move and went to get Panno to convince him to play. Fifty-two minutes had elapsed on Panno's clock before he came to the board and resigned. (An absence of sixty minutes results in a forfeit.)

Another record is held by the German Robert Hübner, who, in a World Students Team Championship game against Kenneth Rogoff played in Graz in 1972, agreed to make a draw after one move was played (1. c4) This was actually beneficial to the whole team, as it improved the player lineup at the other games, and Hübner could enjoy an easy tournament day. However, the arbiters insisted that they play some moves, so they made up a score sheet with ludicrous moves (according to the tournament book the game went 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Ng1 Bg7 4. Qa4 0-0 5. Qxd7 Qxd7 6. g4 Qxd2+ 7. Kxd2 Nxg4 8. b4 a5 9. a4 Bxa1 10. Bb2 Nc6 11. Bh8 Bg7 12. h4 axb4 draw agreed). The referees didn't accept that either — and as Hübner still resisted making a move, it was counted as a win for Rogoff.[1]

A game may be drawn in any number of moves, or even no moves, if the tournament officials (unlike those at Graz) do not object. According to ChessGames.com, in 1968 Dragoljub Janosevic and Efim Geller agreed to a draw before any moves.[2]

[edit] Latest first capture

The game between Filipowicz and Smederevac, Polanica Zdroj 1966, lasted 70 moves without a single capture. The game ended as a draw.

[edit] Longest decisive game without a capture

Nuber - Keckeisen, Mengen 1994 lasted 31 moves without a single capture. In the end Keckeisen resigned.

[edit] Greatest concentration of chess grandmasters

Beersheva, Israel, with eight grandmasters, has a higher percentage of grandmasters per capita than any other city worldwide; the city of 185,500 has one grandmaster per 23,188 residents. The majority of them are immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

[edit] Perfect tournament and match scores

In top-class chess it is rare for a player to complete a tournament or match with a 100 percent score. This outstanding result was however achieved at these tournaments by:

(Hooper and Whyld 1984, p. 67-68) (Soltis 2002, p. 81-83) (Sunnucks 1970, p. 76). Sunnucks also lists Alekhine's 10/10 score at Caracas 1939, but Soltis writes that it, and Buenos Aires 1926, which Alekhine won with the same score, were "weak events." (Soltis 2002, p. 81).

Perfect scores were achieved in matches by:

(Hooper and Whyld 1984, p. 67-68).

[edit] Most games lost

Most games lost in a single tournament: 31, N. M. MacLeod, New York, 1889 (Chernev 1974, p. 50) (Winter 1996, p. 3).

[edit] Lost all games by time control

Friedrich Sämisch lost all thirteen games in a Swedish tournament by time control.[citation needed]

[edit] String of games without a loss

Mikhail Tal had a string of 93 games without a loss.[citation needed]

[edit] Best and worst results in simultaneous exhibitions

In 1922, José Raúl Capablanca, the recently crowned World Champion, played 103 opponents simultaneously in Cleveland. He completed the exhibition in seven hours, scoring 102 wins and one draw (99.5%), the best result ever in a simultaneous exhibition on over 75 boards. (Damsky 2005, p. 235)

The best result in a simultaneous exhibition solely against grandmasters is World Champion Garry Kasparov's performance against a West German team consisting of Vlastimil Hort, Eric Lobron, Matthias Wahls, and Gerald Hertneck at Baden-Baden in 1992. Unusually for simultaneous exhibitions, half of the players (Lobron and Hertneck) played White. Kasparov beat Lobron and Wahls, and drew the other two players, for a 3-1 victory. (Damsky 2005, p. 247-49) Before the term "grandmaster" was in common usage or had an established meaning, Paul Morphy gave an arguably even more impressive exhibition. On April 26, 1859, at London's St. James Chess Club, Morphy played "five games simultaneously against a group of masters who could be described as among the top ten players of the day." Morphy defeated Jules de Rivere and Henry Bird, drew Samuel Boden and Johann Löwenthal, and lost only to Thomas Wilson Barnes. (Soltis 2002, p. 103)

In 1951, International Master Robert Wade gave a simultaneous exhibition against 30 Russian schoolboys, aged 14 and under. After seven hours of play, Wade had lost 20 games and drawn the remaining ten (16.7%). (Chernev 1974, p. 110)

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [2]

[edit] References

[edit] External links