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Active chess players in the world — 486,000 players are active on the 2015 FIDE players list. There are about 100,000 online people playing at any time in the Internet. There about 605 million people who play chess in the world, making it the second most popular sport in the world. (Soccer has 4 billion followers).
Best chess match player — William (Wilhelm) Steinitz (1836-1900) played 27 chess matches from 1862 to 1896, and won 25 of the 27 matches. He lost to Emanuel Lasker in 1894, and also lost a rematch in 1896-97. He won 160 games, lost 70, and drew 57 in match play. Best results of world chess championship matches — Garry Kasparov (1963- ) won the world chess championship 5 times, one drawn result, and one loss, between 1985 and 2000. In the five world championship matches, Kasparov had 21 wins, 19 losses, and 104 draws in 144 games. Best Selling Chess Book — Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess has sold over one million copies since its publication in 1972. It was written by Bobby Fischer (1943-2008) and co-authored by Stuart Margulies and Don Mosenfelder. Best Simultaneous Chess Exhibition — In 1922, Jose Raul Capablanca (1888-1942) played 103 opponents in Cleveland, Ohio, winning 102 games and drawing only one game (to C. Judson in 33 moves). The exhibition lasted 7 hours. Up to that time, it was the largest simultaneous exhibition played by a master. He set the record for the best winning percentage ever — 99.5% — in a large simultaneous exhibition. Best Simultaneous Chess Exhibition against grandmasters — In 1998, Garry Kasparov (1963- ) played against the Israeli chess team. Kasparov scored 7-1 against an all 2600+ rated chess team. Best Theoretical Novelty — In 1986, the judges of Chess Informant chose the novelty 18.f4!! as the best theoretical novelty in the game Miles-Beliavsky, Tilburg 1986. The game received 90 points, 10 out of a possible 10 from each of the 9 judges. Tony Miles — Alexander Beliavsky, Tilburg 1986 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 Bb7 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 g5 8.Bg3 Ne4 9.Qc2 d6 10.Bd3 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 f5 12.d5 Nc5 13.h4 g4 14.Nd4 Qf6 15.O-O Nxd3 16.Qxd3 e5 17.Nxf5 Bc8 18.f4!! Qxf5 19.e4 Qh5 20.fxe5 dxe5 21.c5 Kd8 22.d6 Qe8 23.dxc7 Kxc7 24.Qd5 Nc6 25.Rf7+ Bd7 26.Raf1 Rd8 27.R1f6 Kc8 28.cxb6 axb6 29.Qb5 1-0 Biggest chess calendar - chess-calendar.eu Biggest Chess Database — Chess DB (chess-db.com) has a chess database of 9,396,193 games based on 1,520,612 chess players and 562,725 chess tournaments. The ChessBse Mega Databs 2017 has 6.8 million games, including 70,000 annotated games. Biggest chess tournament — In 2012, Cebu City, Philippines drew 43,157 participants from public schools for a chess tournament, with the help of 750 trained teachers. Biggest payout open chess tournament — In October 2014, Millionaire Chess1, held in Las Vegas, has a total of $1,000,000 in prizes. There were 560 participants. The winner was Wesley So (1993- ). Briefest world chess champion — Mikhail Tal (1936-1992) was the briefest world chess champion. He was world chess champion for 1 year and 5 days. He was the 8th World Chess Champion from 1960 to 1961. Fastest time to arrange a chess set — In 2015, Alva Wei arranged a chess set into its classic chess arrangement in 32.42 seconds. The event was achieved in Renton, Washington. Fewest draws in a world championship — There was only one draw in the 1889 World Championship match between William Steinitz (1836-1900) and Mikhail Chigorin (1850-1908). It was the last game. Fewest games lost by a world champion — 34 games, by Jose Capablanca during his chess career from 1909 to 1939. He was unbeaten from Feb 10, 1916 to Mar 21, 1924. Fewest moves in a GM tournament- In 2003, Peter Szekely (1955- ) took just 130 moves to draw all 13 of his games (an average of 13 moves a game) in the Capablanca Memorial in Cuba. First American chess composer — Eugene Beauharnais Cook (1830-1915) was the first American chess composer of note. First American Chess Congress - 1857 in New York and won by Paul Morphy First American chess tournament — In 1843, the first documented American chess tournament was held, a local event in New York. First Anglo-American cable chess match - March 13-14, 1896. The USA team beat the Great Britain team 4.5 to 3.5. First black chess grandmaster - Maurice Ashley First Chess Boxing competition — 2003, in Berlin. Also in 2003, the first world Chess Boxing world championship was held in Amsterdam, won by Iepe Rubingh. First chess club in America — New York City Chess Club, founded in 1802, but soon disbanded. First chess game in space — played by the Soyuz-9 crew on June 9, 1970. The two-man crew of Andrian Nikolayev (1929-2004) and Vitali Sevastyanov (1935-2010) (White) played chess via radio with cosmonaut Viktor Gorbatko, who was part of the ground control at the Center of Flight Operations in Moscow, and General Nikolai Kamanin, head of the cosmonaut training program (Black). The game lasted 6 hours and ended in a draw after 35 moves. The mission, and the chess game, was commemorated in a stamp issued shortly after the mission was completed. Sevastyanov/Nikolayev - Gorbatko/Kamanin 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 e5 4.Bxc4 exd4 5.exd4 Nc6 6.Be3 Bd6 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.Nf3 0-0 9.0-0 Bg4 10.h3 Bf5(10...Bh5) 11.Nh4 Qd7 12.Qf3 Ne7 13.g4 Bg6 14.Rae1 Kh8 15.Bg5 Neg8 16.Ng2 Rae8 17.Be3 Bb4 18.a3 Bxc3 19.bxc3 Be4 20.Qg3 c6 21.f3 Bd5 22.Bd3 b5 23.Qh4 (23.g5 Nh5 24.Qg4 Qxg4 25.hxg4) 23...g6 24.Nf4 (24.Be5) 24...Bc4 25.Bxc4 bxc4 26.Bd2 Rxe1 27.Rxe1 Nd5 28.g5 Qd6 29.Nxd5 cxd5 30.Bf4 Qd8 31.Be5+ f6 32.gxf6 Nxf6 33.Bxf6+ Rxf6 34.Re8+ Qxe8 35.Qxf6+ Kg8 draw (the game can be found in Boys' Life, Dec 1971, p. 86) First chess magazine in England — The Philidorian, edited by George Walker in 1837-38. First chess match — the first match of consequence, the La Bourdonnais-McDonnell match was played at the Westminster Chess Club in London. The first match was 25 games. La Bourdonnais won the first match (+16-5=4). In October 1834, La Bourdonnais won overall in a series of 6 matches against Alexander McDonnell (1798-1835). He played 85 games (+46-26=13). William Greenwood Walker (1785-1839), the secretary of the Westminster Chess Club, recorded all the games. Over 3,500 moves were made. First computer program for playing chess — created by Alan Turing (1912-1954) in 1951. First computer to defeat a grandmaster — Deep Thought in November 1988 after defeating GM Arnold Denker at the US Open in Long Beach, California. First computer to defeat a reigning world chess champion in match play — Deep Blue, when it defeated Garry Kasparov in 1997. First correspondence chess match (recorded) — In 1804, the first authenticated correspondence match was played between a Dutch army lieutenant-colonel named Freidrich Wilhelm von Mauvillon (1774-1851) stationed at Breda, Netherlands, and one of his friends stationed at The Hague (Den Haag), Netherlands in 1804. Mauvillon's three correspondence chess games (winning two and drawing one) were published in his chess book in 1827. First correspondence chess match between clubs — On April 23, 1824, the first serious correspondence match began play between the London Chess Club and the Edinburgh Chess Club. Edinburgh started the first game with the White pieces. The two clubs were 400 miles away and the moves were transmitted by stagecoach, which took 3 days to deliver. The match ended on July 31, 1828. First correspondence chess match in the USA — 1835, New York Chess Club vs Federal City (Washington DC) Chess Club First correspondence chess match outside Europe — in 1828, between the Hyderabad Chess Club of India and the Madras Chess Club of India. First original American chess book — The Elements of Chess, was published in Boston in 1805 by William Pelham (1759-1827) and edited by William Blagrove (1750?-1810). Blagrove was the nephew of Pelham. The book recommended that the chess pieces be renamed. The king would be called Governor. The queen would be called General. The king's rook would be called First Colonel. The king's bishop would be called First Major. The king's knight would be called First Captain. The queen's rook would be called Second Colonel. The queen's bishop would be called Second Major. The queen's knight would be called Second Captain. The pawns would be called Pioneers. First mechanical chess clock — invented by Thomas Wilson in 1883. Prior to that, sandglasses were used. First opera with a chess theme — In 1810, the opera, Das Schachturnier (the chess tournament), was composed by Traugott Eberwein (1775-1831). First pocket chess set — 1845, designed by Peter Roget. First telegraph chess match — 1844, between Baltimore and Washington, DC. First text of Modern Chess - 1475, the poem Scachs d'amor First Undisputed World Chess Champion — William (Wilhelm) Steinitz (1836-1900), from 1886 to 1894. Grandmasters — The June FIDE rating list includes 1,555 grandmasters. There are 1,520 GMs that are male and 35 GMs that are female. Russia has 238 grandmasters, followed by the USA, with 93 grandmasters, then Germany with 91 GMs. Greatest Comeback in a World Championship — William Steinitz overcame a 1-4 deficit against Johannes Zukertort to win the world championship in 1886 Greatest Concentration of Resident Grandmasters — In 2005, Reykjavik, Iceland had 8 grandmasters living in that city of 114,000 people. Greatest number of checks — In Hannu Wegner — Sverre Johnson, Gausdal 1991, there were 141 checks in the game. White had 100 checks and Black had 41 checks. The game lasted 180 moves. Hannu Wegner — Sverre Johnson, Gausdal 1991 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Be7 6.Bxe7 Nxe7 7.dxc5 Nbc6 8.e3 Qa5+ 9.Nbd2 Qxc5 10.Nb3 Qb6 11.Be2 Bg4 12.O-O Bxf3 13.Bxf3 O-O 14.Qd2 Rfd8 15.Rfd1 Ne5 16.Nd4 N7c6 17.Be2 Rac8 18.Nxc6 Rxc6 19.Rac1 Rxc1 20.Qxc1 h6 21.Qd2 Qg6 22.Qc3 Qd6 23.h3 a6 24.Rd2 Kh7 25.Qc2+ g6 26.Qd1 Qc5 27.Bf1 Kg7 28.b3 Kh7 29.g3 d4 30.exd4 Rxd4 31.Rxd4 Qxd4 32.Qxd4 Nf3+ 33.Kg2 Nxd4 34.f4 Kg7 35.Kf2 Kf6 36.Bd3 h5 37.Ke3 Nf5+ 38.Kf3 Nd6 39.b4 Ke6 40.g4 hxg4+ 41.hxg4 Kd5 42.Ke3 Nc4+ 43.Bxc4+ Kxc4 44.Ke4 Kxb4 45.Ke5 Ka3 46.Kf6 Kxa2 47.Kxf7 b5 48.f5 gxf5 49.gxf5 b4 50.f6 b3 51.Kg7 b2 52.f7 b1=Q 53.f8=Q Qg1+ 54.Kh6 Qe3+ 55.Kh5 Qe5+ 56.Kh6 Qe6+ 57.Kh5 Qd5+ 58.Kh6 a5 59.Qf2+ Kb3 60.Qg3+ Kb4 61.Qb8+ Kc5 62.Qa7+ Kb5 63.Qb8+ Ka6 64.Qc8+ Kb6 65.Qb8+ Qb7 66.Qd8+ Qc7 67.Qd3 Qf4+ 68.Kh7 Qh4+ 69.Kg6 Qg4+ 70.Kh6 Qf4+ 71.Kh7 a4 72.Qb1+ Kc5 73.Qc2+ Qc4 74.Qf2+ Qd4 75.Qc2+ Kb4 76.Qb1+ Ka3 77.Qc1+ Qb2 78.Qc5+ Ka2 79.Qc4+ Qb3 80.Qe2+ Ka1 81.Kh6 Qb6+ 82.Kh5 Qc5+ 83.Kh6 a3 84.Qd1+ Kb2 85.Qd2+ Kb3 86.Qd3+ Kb4 87.Qd2+ Kb5 88.Qd3+ Kb6 89.Qd8+ Kc6 90.Qe8+ Kc7 91.Qf7+ Kb6 92.Qb3+ Ka5 93.Qa2 Ka4 94.Kh7 Qh5+ 95.Kg7 Qg5+ 96.Kh7 Qf5+ 97.Kg7 Qd3 98.Kh6 Kb4 99.Kh5 Qc4 100.Qd2+ Kb5 101.Qd7+ Ka5 102.Qd2+ Qb4 103.Qd8+ Qb6 104.Qa8+ Kb4 105.Qe4+ Kc3 106.Qe1+ Kb2 107.Qd2+ Ka1 108.Qd1+ Ka2 109.Qc2+ Qb2 110.Qc4+ Qb3 111.Qe2+ Kb1 112.Qe1+ Kb2 113.Qe2+ Qc2 114.Qe5+ Kb1 115.Qe1+ Ka2 116.Qe6+ Qb3 117.Qe2+ Kb1 118.Qe1+ Kb2 119.Qf2+ Qc2 120.Qf6+ Qc3 121.Qf2+ Kb3 122.Qb6+ Ka4 123.Qb1 Qh3+ 124.Kg5 Qg2+ 125.Kh5 Qd5+ 126.Kh6 a2 127.Qc2+ Kb5 128.Qb2+ Kc6 129.Qc3+ Kd7 130.Qg7+ Kd8 131.Qa1 Qd2+ 132.Kh5 Kc7 133.Qe5+ Kc6 134.Qe8+ Kc5 135.Qc8+ Kb4 136.Qb7+ Ka4 137.Qc6+ Kb3 138.Qb5+ Qb4 139.Qd3+ Ka4 140.Qd1+ Qb3 141.Qd4+ Kb5 142.Qd7+ Ka6 143.Qc8+ Ka5 144.Qd8+ Kb4 145.Qd6+ Kc4 146.Qe6+ Kc3 147.Qe5+ Kc2 148.Qe4+ Qd3 149.Qa4+ Kb1 150.Qb4+ Kc1 151.Qc5+ Kd1 152.Qg1+ Kd2 153.Qg5+ Ke1 154.Qh4+ Kd1 155.Qa4+ Qc2 156.Qd4+ Ke2 157.Qg4+ Kf1 158.Qf3+ Kg1 159.Qg3+ Kh1 160.Qf3+ Qg2 161.Qd1+ Kh2 162.Qd6+ Kg1 163.Qc5+ Qf2 164.Qg5+ Kh1 165.Qd5+ Kh2 166.Qe5+ Kh3 167.Qc3+ Qg3 168.Qa1 Qf3+ 169.Kh6 Qe3+ 170.Kg6 Qb6+ 171.Kh5 Qa5+ 172.Kg6 Qd2 173.Kh5 Kg2 174.Qg7+ Kh2 175.Qe5+ Kh1 176.Qa1+ Kg2 177.Qg7+ Kh3 178.Qa1 Qd5+ 179.Kh6 Qe6+ 180.Kh5 1/2-1/2 Greatest Tournament Score — In 1865, Gustav Neumann (1838-1881) had a perfect score and won 34 out of 34 games at Berlin. Highest Chess Rating (female) — In July 2005, Judit Polgar (1976- ) achieved a peak Elo rating of 2735. Highest Chess Rating — In 2014, Magnus Carlsen (1990- ) achieved a peak Elo rating of 2882. Garry Kasparov's highest Elo rating was 2851 in 1999. Highest computer rating — Komodo 10.1 64-bit 4CPU has an Elo rating of 3377. Highest Percentage of Draws in a Tournament — In 1999, 42 of the 45 games (93.3%) were drawn at the Petrosian Memorial, held in Moscow. Five of the 10 players drew every game. Highest Performance Rating — In 2014, Fabiano Caruana (1992- ) had a performance rating of 3102 at the Sinquefield Cup, held in St. Louis. Bobby Fischer had a performance rating of 3080 when he defeated Bent Larsen by the score of 6-0 in 1971. If one includes performances before the FIDE rating system, then Emanuel Lasker had a performance rating of 3190 at the 1883 New York International, where he scored 13 out of 13. Highest rated of 2700 - As of July 2017, there have been 106 people rated 2700 or over (source: 2700.com) Highest rated over 2800 - As of July 2017, there have been 12 people rated over 2800: Carlsen, Kasparov, Caruana, Aronian, So, Vachier-Lagrave, Anand, Kramnik, Topalov, Nakamura, Grischuk, and Mamedyarov (source: 2700.com) Highest chess tournament — In 1982, a chess tournament was held on Mount Everest at a base camp at 7,000 meters (22,965 feet). Eight players took place. Highest USCF Correspondence rating — In 1993, John Penquite (1935- 2007) had a USCF correspondence rating of 2939 after 58 straight wins with no losses or draws. Highest USCF rating — In 2017, Wesley So had a USCF rating of 2895. Highest World Champion Winning Percentage — From 1927 to 1944, Vera Menchik Stevenson (1906-1944) played 83 world championship games. She won 78 games, drew 4 games, and only lost one game, for a winning percentage of 96%. Largest age discrepancy — The largest age discrepancy in world championship matches is 32 years when Emanuel Lasker, age 26, played William Steinitz, age 58. In 1996, Vasily Smyslov, age 75, played Etienne Bacrot, age 13, for an age difference of 62 years. Largest chess board — In 2009, an outdoor chess board was made in Thuringia, Germany that was 1200 x 1200 feet in size. Each square measured 150 feet. The chess pieces were 30 to 60 feet in size. The board was built on a harvested field. In 2009, Ken Taylor and his father built the world's largest chess board in Medicine Hat, Canada. The board measures 19 feet, 4 inches on all sides. The record is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records. The king is 3 feet, 11 inches tall. All the pieces together weigh over 870 pounds. Largest chess club — The Sharjah Chess Club in the UAE, which opened on March 28, 2013, is the world's largest chess club. It covers an area of 34,000 cubic feet and can accommodate up to 500 players. The club hosted the first FIDE Grand Prix tournament for 2017. Largest chess library — The largest public library for chess is the J.G. White Collection at the Cleveland Public Library. It contains over 33,000 chess books and over 7,000 volumes of bound periodicals. The chess collection at the National Library of the Netherlands contains about 30,000 books. Largest Chess Library (private) — The largest private library for chess was owned by Grandmaster Lothar Schmid (1928-2013) of Germany. He had over 20,000 chess books. David DeLucia's library contains 8,000 chess books. Bill Wall's chess library contains over 7,000 chess books and chess ebooks. Largest Chess Olympiad — In 2016, the 42nd Chess Olympiad in Baku was the largest Chess Olympiad with 180 teams from 175 countries. There were 1,587 participants. Largest Chess Piece — In 2014, a chess king measuring 16 feet 7 inches tall, and 6 feet 8 inches in diameter was unveiled in Kalmthout, Belgium. The World Chess Hall of Fame in St. Louis has a chess king that is 14.5 feet in height and weighs 2,280 pounds. Largest chess tournament — In 1935-36, the USSR Trade Unions chess championship was held. It had 700,000 entrants, the largest of any chess tournament. Every year the United Kingdom organizes the UK Chess Challenge for schools. In 2004, the tournament had 71,000 children from over 2,000 schools participating, the largest chess tournament in the world. In 2017, the 6th Supernationals (high school, junior high school, and elementary) was held in Nashville, Tennessee with 5,577 participants. It is the largest rated tournament in history. Largest Collection of Chess Sets — Floyd Sarisohn is the owner of the largest chess set collection in the world. He owns over 670 chess sets and has been collecting for over 40 years. Akin Gokyay of Turkey owns 540 chess sets from 103 different countries. He began collecting chess sets in 1975. Largest Networked Chess Computer — In 2004, GM Peter Heine Nielsen (1973- ) played ChessBrain, a networked chess computer consisting of 2,070 computers across 56 countries. The game ended in a draw after 34 moves. Largest Rating Lead — In 1972, Bobby Fischer was rated 125 points higher (2785) than second-highest rated player, Boris Spassky (2660). Largest Tie for First Place — In 2000, 13 players tied for 1st place at the National Open, held in Las Vegas. Latest castling — In Neshewat — Garrison, Detroit 1994 and Somogyi — Black, New York 2002, Black castled on the 48th move. Latest First Capture — In 1969, in a game between Ken Rogoff (1953- ) and Arthur Williams, the first capture occurred on White's 94th move. Ken Rogoff — Arthur Williams, World Junior Championship, Stockholm 1969 1. c4 Nf6 2. d4 c5 3. d5 e5 4. Nc3 d6 5. e4 g6 6. h3 Bg7 7. Bd3 O-O 8. Nge2 Na6 9. Bg5 Nb4 10. Bb1 Na6 11. Qd2 Rb8 12. Bd3 Qd7 13. Rg1 Nb4 14. Bb1 Ne8 15. a3 Na6 16. g4 Bf6 17. Bh6 Bg7 18. Bg5 Bf6 19. Bh6 Bg7 20. Be3 Kh8 21. Bd3 Nf6 22. Ng3 Ng8 23. Rb1 Qe7 24. f3 Bd7 25. Nb5 Ra8 26. Nc3 Rab8 27. Bc2 Qe8 28. Qd1 Qe7 29. Ba4 Bc8 30. Bc2 Bd7 31. Qe2 Bf6 32. Qg2 Bg5 33. Bf2 Bf6 34. Bd3 Nc7 35. Qf1 Ra8 36. Qe2 Rfb8 37. Kf1 Na6 38. Qd2 Bg5 39. Be3 Bh4 40. b3 Bf6 41. Rb2 Qf8 42. Qc1 Bd8 43. Bf2 Ba5 44. Na2 Bd8 45. Nc3 Qh6 46. Be3 Qf8 47. Rh2 h6 48. Rhg2 Ba5 49. Na2 Bd8 50. Nf5 Kh7 51. Bf2 Bg5 52. Ne3 Nc7 53. h4 Be7 54. b4 b6 55. Bg3 Qe8 56. Rb2 Bf8 57. Kg2 Bg7 58. Qd1 Qd8 59. Kh2 Be8 60. Rgg2 Na6 61. Bc2 Bf6 62. Qe1 Nc7 63. Re2 Bd7 64. Ng2 Qe8 65. Bf2 Ba4 66. Bb1 Bd7 67. Qd2 Bc8 68. Bc2 Ba6 69. Bd3 Bg7 70. Re1 Bc8 71. Qd1 Ne7 72. Ne3 Bf6 73. Nc3 Ng8 74. Qa4 Bd7 75. Qd1 Qe7 76. Ng2 Qd8 77. Bc2 Kg7 78. Ba4 Bc8 79. Bc6 Bb7 80. Ba4 Ne7 81. Bc2 Ba6 82. Bd3 Bc8 83. Qd2 Ng8 84. Reb1 Bd7 85. Kg3 Be7 86. Be3 Kh7 87. Qe1 Qc8 88. Kh2 Bf8 89. Bf2 Be8 90. Be3 Na6 91. Na2 Be7 92. Nc1 Bd8 93. Nb3 Ne7 94. bxc5 (the first capture) bxc5 95. Nc1 Ba4 96. Rxb8 Rxb8 97. Rxb8 Qxb8 98. Qc3 Nc8 99. Bc2 Be8 100. Nd3 Nb6 101. Nb2 Nd7 102. Ba4 Qb6 103. Kg1 Kg8 104. Bc6 Nab8 105. Bb5 a6 106. Ba4 Qa5 1/2-1/2 Latest stalemate — In 1988, the game between Yasser Seirawan (1960- ) and Xu Jun ended in stalemate after 198 moves. The game was played at the Thessaloniki Chess Olympiad. Yasser Seirawan — Xu Jun, Thessaloniki 1988 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. dxc5 Qxc5 8. Nbd2 Nc6 9. Nb3 Qd6 10. g3 Nf6 11. Bg2 O-O 12. O-O Be6 13. Rc1 Rac8 14. Nbd4 Nxd4 15. Nxd4 Qb4 16. Rxc8 Rxc8 17. b3 h6 18. e3 Bg4 19. Qe1 Qa3 20. f3 Bd7 21. Qe2 a5 22. Rb1 h5 23. Bf1 g6 24. Rb2 b6 25. Rc2 Rxc2 26. Qxc2 Qd6 27. Qc3 Qe5 28. Qe1 Ne8 29. Qd2 Ng7 30. f4 Qd6 31. Bg2 Ne6 32. Ne2 Nc7 33. h3 Qc5 34. Kh2 Bf5 35. Nd4 Be4 36. g4 hxg4 37. hxg4 Nb5 38. Nxb5 Qxb5 39. g5 Bxg2 40. Kxg2 Qc5 41. Kf3 Qb5 42. Kf2 Qc5 43. Ke2 Kf8 44. Qb2 Qb5+ 45. Kd2 Qb4+ 46. Kd1 Qe4 47. Qh8+ Ke7 48. Qf6+ Kf8 49. Qxb6 Qb1+ 50. Kd2 Qxa2+ 51. Ke1 Qa1+ 52. Ke2 Qb2+ 53. Kd3 Qb1+ 54. Kd4 Qe4+ 55. Kc3 Qh1 56. Kb2 Qd1 57. Qc5+ Ke8 58. Qc3 Qe2+ 59. Kc1 Qb5 60. Kd2 Kd7 61. Ke1 Ke8 62. Kd2 Kd7 63. Qf6 Ke8 64. Qe5+ Kd7 65. Qc3 Ke8 66. Kc2 Kd7 67. Qd4 Ke8 68. Qc3 Ke7 69. Qf6+ Kf8 70. Qd8+ Kg7 71. Qd6 Kg8 72. Qa3 Qb6 73. Kd3 Kg7 74. Qa1+ Kg8 75. Qc3 Qa6+ 76. Kd4 a4 77. bxa4 Qxa4+ 78. Kxd5 Qd7+ 79. Kc4 Qe6+ 80. Kd3 Qd5+ 81. Qd4 Qb3+ 82. Ke2 Qc2+ 83. Kf3 Qb1 84. Ke2 Qc2+ 85. Qd2 Qb1 86. Qd8+ Kg7 87. Qd3 Qb7 88. Qd4+ Kg8 89. e4 Qb5+ 90. Kf2 Qb8 91. Ke3 Qb3+ 92. Qd3 Qb6+ 93. Kf3 Qg1 94. Qe3 Qf1+ 95. Kg3 Kh7 96. Qf2 Qd3+ 97. Qf3 Qd2 98. Kg4 Qd4 99. Qe2 Kg8 100. Kf3 Qc3+ 101. Qe3 Qc2 102. Qd4 Qc1 103. Qe3 Qd1+ 104. Kf2 Qc2+ 105. Qe2 Qc1 106. Kg3 Qg1+ 107. Kf3 Qh1+ 108. Ke3 Qc1+ 109. Qd2 Qc5+ 110. Kf3 Qb5 111. Qd1 Qc6 112. Qd8+ Kg7 113. Qd2 Kg8 114. Qd8+ Kg7 115. Ke3 Qc1+ 116. Qd2 Qg1+ 117. Kd3 Qb1+ 118. Ke3 Qg1+ 119. Ke2 Qb1 120. Qc3+ Kg8 121. Qc8+ Kg7 122. Qc4 Kg8 123. e5 Qb2+ 124. Ke3 Qb6+ 125. Ke4 Qb7+ 126. Kd4 Qa7+ 127. Kd3 Qa3+ 128. Ke4 Qa8+ 129. Ke3 Qa3+ 130. Kf2 Qb2+ 131. Kf3 Qa3+ 132. Ke2 Qb2+ 133. Kd3 Qa3+ 134. Ke4 Qa8+ 135. Qd5 Qa4+ 136. Qd4 Qa8+ 137. Ke3 Qa3+ 138. Qd3 Qc1+ 139. Qd2 Qa3+ 140. Kf2 Qb3 141. Qe3 Qc4 142. Kg3 Qd5 143. Qf3 Qc4 144. f5 gxf5 145. Qxf5 Qc1 146. Qf4 Qg1+ 147. Kh3 Qh1+ 148. Kg4 Qd1+ 149. Qf3 Qd4+ 150. Kf5 Qd7+ 151. Ke4 Qc6+ 152. Kf4 Qc4+ 153. Qe4 Qf1+ 154. Qf3 Qc4+ 155. Kg3 Qd4 156. Qf4 Qg1+ 157. Kf3 Qf1+ 158. Kg4 Qd1+ 159. Qf3 Qd4+ 160. Kf5 Qd7+ 161. Ke4 Qc6+ 162. Kf4 Qc4+ 163. Kg3 Qd4 164. Qe2 Qg1+ 165. Kh4 Qh1+ 166. Kg4 Qg1+ 167. Kf5 Qb1+ 168. Kf4 Qc1+ 169. Qe3 Qc4+ 170. Kg3 Qd5 171. g6 Qe6 172. gxf7+ Kxf7 173. Qc5 Qa6 174. Qf2+ Ke7 175. Qf5 Qh6 176. Kg2 Qg7+ 177. Kh3 Qh6+ 178. Kg3 Qg7+ 179. Kh4 Qh6+ 180. Kg4 Qe6 181. Qxe6+ Kxe6 182. Kf4 Ke7 183. Kf5 Kf7 184. e6+ Ke7 185. Ke5 Ke8 186. Kf6 Kf8 187. Kf5 Ke7 188. Ke5 Ke8 189. Kd6 Kd8 190. e7+ Ke8 191. Ke6 (stalemate) 1/2-1/2 Least Active world champion — For 21 years, from 1873 to 1894, world champion Wilhelm (William) Steinitz took part in only 2 tournaments. Bobby Fischer went for 20 years before playing in his last match. He played Spassky in 1972, and then did not play until September 2, 1992, when he played and won a match with Spassky again. Fischer never played another chess game again. Mikhail Botvinnik became world champion on May 16, 1948. He did not play a single tournament chess game until the next world championship in 1951. Botvinnik was undefeated in the first four games before losing to David Bronstein in the 5th game. Least amount of tournaments to make expert - Bobby Fischer had an expert rating after only 4 rated USCF events. Conrad Holt, age 12, had an expert rating after 11 events. Longest Analysis — In 2000, Gary Kasparov and King published "Kasparov Against the World." It was a 202-page book devoted to a single chess game played over the Internet. Longest calculation — Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946) wrote that he calculated 20 moves ahead in a combination while playing Black against Treybal at Pistyan in 1922. Garry Kasparov wrote that he calculated 18 moves ahead in a combination while playing White against Topalov at Wijk aan Zee in 1999. Kasparov called it his best game he ever played. Longest chess career — Zoltan Sarosy (1906-2017) of Canada played chess for 98 years (from age 10 to age 108). Walter Ivans (1870-1968) of Tucson, Arizona, started playing chess at the age of 10. He died at the age of 98. He played chess for 85 years. Walter Muir (1905-1999) played correspondence chess for 75 years. Mikhail Segal of Russia started playing chess at a young age. In 1920, he won the championship of the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. At 100, he was still playing chess. He died at the age of 101. Longest chess club president — In 1853, John Watkinson became president of the Huddensfield Chess Club in England. He remained its president for 70 years, when he died in 1923. In 1923, Lev Mogilyover became president of the Rubinstein Chess Club in Jerusalem. He remained its president for 70 years, when he died in 1993 at the age of 92. Alexander Kazantsev was the President of the Composition Committee of the USSR Chess Federation for 70 years, from 1926 to 1996. Longest Chess Game — In 1989, Ivan Nikolic and Goran Arsovic made 269 moves in a game lasting 20 hours and 15 minutes. The game was played in Belgrade and ended in a draw. There are at least 11 games over 200 moves from tournament play. In theory, the longest chess game can go up to 5,949 moves. Ivan Nikolic — Goran Arsovic, Belgrade 1989 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 Nbd7 7.O-O e5 8.Re1 Re8 9.Bf1 h6 10.d5 Nh7 11.Rb1 f5 12.Nd2 f4 13.b4 g5 14.Nb3 Bf8 15.Be2 Ndf6 16.c5 g4 17.cxd6 cxd6 18.a3 Ng5 19.Bf1 Re7 20.Qd3 Rg7 21.Kh1 Qe8 22.Nd2 g3 23.fxg3 fxg3 24.Qxg3 Nh3 25.Qf3 Qg6 26.Nc4 Bd7 27.Bd3 Ng5 28.Bxg5 Qxg5 29.Ne3 Re8 30.Ne2 Be7 31.Rbd1 Rf8 32.Nf5 Ng4 33.Neg3 h5 34.Kg1 h4 35.Qxg4 Qxg4 36.Nh6+ Kh7 37.Nxg4 hxg3 38.Ne3 gxh2+ 39.Kxh2 Rh8 40.Rh1 Kg6+ 41.Kg1 Rc8 42.Be2 Rc3 43.Rd3 Rc1+ 44.Nf1 Bd8 45.Rh8 Bb6+ 46.Kh2 Rh7+ 47.Rxh7 Kxh7 48.Nd2 Bg1+ 49.Kh1 Bd4+ 50.Nf1 Bg4 51.Bxg4 Rxf1+ 52.Kh2 Bg1+ 53.Kh3 Re1 54.Bf5+ Kh6 55.Kg4 Re3 56.Rd1 Bh2 57.Rh1 Rg3+ 58.Kh4 Rxg2 59.Kh3 Rg3+ 60.Kxh2 Rxa3 61.Rg1 Ra6 62.Rg6+ Kh5 63.Kg3 Rb6 64.Rg7 Rxb4 65.Bc8 a5 66.Bxb7 a4 67.Bc6 a3 68.Ra7 Rb3+ 69.Kf2 Kg5 70.Ke2 Kf4 71.Ra4 Rh3 72.Kd2 a2 73.Bb5 Rh1 74.Rxa2 Rh2+ 75.Be2 Kxe4 76.Ra5 Kd4 77.Ke1 Rh1+ 78.Kf2 Rc1 79.Bg4 Rc2+ 80.Ke1 e4 81.Be6 Ke5 82.Bg8 Rc8 83.Bf7 Rc7 84.Be6 Rc2 85.Ra8 Rb2 86.Ra6 Rg2 87.Kd1 Rb2 88.Ra5 Rg2 89.Bd7 Rh2 90.Bc6 Kf4 91.Ra8 e3 92.Re8 Kf3 93.Rf8+ Ke4 94.Rf6 Kd3 95.Bb5+ Kd4 96.Rf5 Rh1+ 97.Ke2 Rh2+ 98.Kd1 Rh1+ 99.Kc2 Rh2+ 100.Kc1 Rh1+ 101.Kc2 Rh2+ 102.Kd1 Rh1+ 103.Ke2 Rh2+ 104.Kf1 Rb2 105.Be2 Ke4 106.Rh5 Rb1+ 107.Kg2 Rb2 108.Rh4+ Kxd5 109.Kf3 Kc5 110.Kxe3 Rb3+ 111.Bd3 d5 112.Rh8 Ra3 113.Re8 Kd6 114.Kd4 Ra4+ 115.Kc3 Ra3+ 116.Kd4 Ra4+ 117.Ke3 Ra3 118.Rh8 Ke5 119.Rh5+ Kd6 120.Rg5 Rb3 121.Kd2 Rb8 122.Bf1 Re8 123.Kd3 Re5 124.Rg8 Rh5 125.Bg2 Kc5 126.Rf8 Rh6 127.Bf3 Rd6 128.Re8 Rc6 129.Ra8 Rb6 130.Rd8 Rd6 131.Rf8 Ra6 132.Rf5 Rd6 133.Kc3 Rd8 134.Rg5 Rd6 135.Rh5 Rd8 136.Rf5 Rd6 137.Rf8 Ra6 138.Re8 Rc6 139.Ra8 Rb6 140.Ra5+ Rb5 141.Ra1 Rb8 142.Rd1 Rd8 143.Rd2 Rd7 144.Bg2 Rd8 145.Kd3 Ra8 146.Ke3 Re8+ 147.Kd3 Ra8 148.Kc3 Rd8 149.Bf3 Rd7 150.Kd3 Ra7 151.Bg2 Ra8 152.Rc2+ Kd6 153.Rc3 Ra2 154.Bf3 Ra8 155.Rb3 Ra5 156.Ke3 Ke5 157.Rd3 Rb5 158.Kd2 Rc5 159.Bg2 Ra5 160.Bf3 Rc5 161.Bd1 Rc8 162.Bb3 Rc5 163.Rh3 Kf4 164.Kd3 Ke5 165.Rh5+ Kf4 166.Kd4 Rb5 167.Bxd5 Rb4+ 168.Bc4 Ra4 169.Rh7 Kg5 170.Rf7 Kg6 171.Rf1 Kg5 172.Kc5 Ra5+ 173.Kc6 Ra4 174.Bd5 Rf4 175.Re1 Rf6+ 176.Kc5 Rf5 177.Kd4 Kf6 178.Re6+ Kg5 179.Be4 Rf6 180.Re8 Kf4 181.Rh8 Rd6+ 182.Bd5 Rf6 183.Rh1 Kf5 184.Be4+ Ke6 185.Ra1 Kd6 186.Ra5 Re6 187.Bf5 Re1 188.Ra6+ Ke7 189.Be4 Rc1 190.Ke5 Rc5+ 191.Bd5 Rc7 192.Rg6 Rd7 193.Rh6 Kd8 194.Be6 Rd2 195.Rh7 Ke8 196.Kf6 Kd8 197.Ke5 Rd1 198.Bd5 Ke8 199.Kd6 Kf8 200.Rf7+ Ke8 201.Rg7 Rf1 202.Rg8+ Rf8 203.Rg7 Rf6+ 204.Be6 Rf2 205.Bd5 Rf6+ 206.Ke5 Rf1 207.Kd6 Rf6+ 208.Be6 Rf2 209.Ra7 Kf8 210.Rc7 Rd2+ 211.Ke5 Ke8 212.Kf6 Rf2+ 213.Bf5 Rd2 214.Rc1 Rd6+ 215.Be6 Rd2 216.Rh1 Kd8 217.Rh7 Rd1 218.Rg7 Rd2 219.Rg8+ Kc7 220.Rc8+ Kb6 221.Ke5 Kb7 222.Rc3 Kb6 223.Bd5 Rh2 224.Kd6 Rh6+ 225.Be6 Rh5 226.Ra3 Ra5 227.Rg3 Rh5 228.Rg2 Ka5 229.Rg3 Kb6 230.Rg4 Rb5 231.Bd5 Rc5 232.Rg8 Rc2 233.Rb8+ Ka5 234.Bb3 Rc3 235.Kd5 Rc7 236.Kd4 Rd7+ 237.Bd5 Re7 238.Rb2 Re8 239.Rb7 Ka6 240.Rb1 Ka5 241.Bc4 Rd8+ 242.Kc3 Rh8 243.Rb5+ Ka4 244.Rb6 Rh3+ 245.Bd3 Rh5 246.Re6 Rg5 247.Rh6 Rc5+ 248.Bc4 Rg5 249.Ra6+ Ra5 250.Rh6 Rg5 251.Rh4 Ka5 252.Rh2 Rg3+ 253.Kd4 Rg5 254.Bd5 Ka4 255.Kc5 Rg3 256.Ra2+ Ra3 257.Rb2 Rg3 258.Rh2 Rc3+ 259.Bc4 Rg3 260.Rb2 Rg5+ 261.Bd5 Rg3 262.Rh2 Rc3+ 263.Bc4 Rg3 264.Rh8 Ka3 265.Ra8+ Kb2 266.Ra2+ Kb1 267.Rf2 Kc1 268.Kd4 Kd1 269.Bd3 Rg7 1/2-1/2 Longest Decisive Chess Game — In 2016, Alexandre Danin defeated Sergei Azarov after 239 moves. The game was played in the Czech Republic. This broke the previous record of 237 moves (Fressinet-Kosteniuk, Villandry 2007), won by Black. Alexandre Danin — Sergei Azarov, Czech Republic 2016 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nxc6 Qf6 6. Qd2 dxc6 7. Nc3 Bd4 8. Bd3 Ne7 9. O-O Ng6 10. Ne2 Bb6 11. Nf4 Ne5 12. Be2 Ng4 13. Nd3 Be6 14. h3 Ne5 15. Nxe5 Qxe5 16. Qf4 Qc5 17. c3 O-O-O 18. Be3 Qd6 19. Rfd1 Qxf4 20. Bxf4 Rxd1+ 21. Bxd1 Rd8 22. Bg4 Re8 23. Re1 a5 24. Kf1 Bc5 25. Be3 Bf8 26. f3 b5 27. Kf2 a4 28. Rd1 Bd6 29. Bd4 g6 30. Bxe6+ fxe6 31. e5 Be7 32. Be3 c5 33. f4 c4 34. a3 h5 35. g3 c5 36. Kf3 Rh8 37. Ke4 Kc7 38. Rg1 Kd7 39. Rg2 Rh7 40. Rd2+ Kc6 41. Rg2 Kd7 42. Bf2 Rh8 43. g4 hxg4 44. hxg4 Rh3 45. f5 gxf5+ 46. gxf5 exf5+ 47. Kxf5 b4 48. Bg3 Rh5+ 49. Ke4 Ke6 50. Bf4 Rh3 51. Rg6+ Kf7 52. Ra6 bxc3 53. bxc3 Rxc3 54. Kf5 Rf3 55. e6+ Kg7 56. Ra7 Kf8 57. Ke4 Rd3 58. Be5 Bh4 59. Rh7 Bd8 60. Kf5 Rf3+ 61. Kg6 Re3 62. e7+ Ke8 63. exd8=Q+ Kxd8 64. Kf6 c3 65. Ke6 Kc8 66. Rc7+ Kb8 67. Rxc5+ Kb7 68. Kd5 c2 69. Bb2 Re2 70. Rc4 Rh2 71. Kc5 Rh6 72. Kd5 Rh5+ 73. Be5 Rh3 74. Bd6 Rd3+ 75. Ke6 Rd2 76. Bf4 Rf2 77. Bc1 Rg2 78. Ke5 Rh2 79. Rc3 Kb6 80. Kd4 Kb5 81. Rc8 Rg2 82. Kc3 Rg6 83. Kb2 Rg2 84. Rb8+ Ka6 85. Rd8 Kb5 86. Rd4 Rh2 87. Bd2 Kc5 88. Rd8 Rh3 89. Bb4+ Kb5 90. Rd5+ Kb6 91. Rd2 Kb5 92. Kxc2 Rh5 93. Rf2 Rg5 94. Bd2 Rc5+ 95. Kb2 Rd5 96. Rg2 Rc5 97. Rg4 Rc4 98. Rg8 Re4 99. Ra8 Rg4 100. Ra5+ Kb6 101. Bb4 Rg2+ 102. Kc3 Rg3+ 103. Kb2 Rg2+ 104. Kc1 Rg1+ 105. Kd2 Rg2+ 106. Ke1 Kc6 107. Rxa4 Kb5 108. Ra8 Ra2 109. Rc8 Rg2 110. Kd1 Ka4 111. Ra8+ Kb3 112. Be7 Rg7 113. Ra7 Rg2 114. Rb7+ Ka4 115. Rb4+ Ka5 116. Bd8+ Ka6 117. Bf6 Rf2 118. Bc3 Rg2 119. Bd2 Rh2 120. Kc2 Rg2 121. a4 Rh2 122. Rd4 Rg2 123. Kb3 Rg6 124. Bb4 Rh6 125. Kc4 Rg6 126. Re4 Rh6 127. Bc5 Kb7 128. Kb5 Rg6 129. Re7+ Kb8 130. Bb6 Rg8 131. Ba7+ Ka8 132. Bc5 Rg6 133. Rd7 Rh6 134. Rg7 Re6 135. a5 Re8 136. Ka6 Rd8 137. Rf7 Kb8 138. Ba7+ Ka8 139. Bb6 Rc8 140. Be3 Rc6+ 141. Kb5 Rc8 142. Ra7+ Kb8 143. Rg7 Ka8 144. Bc5 Rb8+ 145. Kc4 Rc8 146. Rd7 Re8 147. Bb6 Rc8+ 148. Kd5 Rg8 149. Kd6 Rg6+ 150. Kc5 Rg5+ 151. Kc6 Rg6+ 152. Kb5 Rg8 153. Rd1 Re8 154. Rh1 Rg8 155. Rh2 Re8 156. Rh3 Rg8 157. Rh5 Re8 158. Rh2 Rg8 159. Bc5 Rb8+ 160. Kc4 Rg8 161. Bd6 Rc8+ 162. Kd5 Rg8 163. Kc6 Rc8+ 164. Bc7 Rg8 165. a6 Ka7 166. Rh3 Rf8 167. Rh7 Ka8 168. Rh1 Ka7 169. Rb1 Rg8 170. Rf1 Re8 171. Bb6+ Ka8 172. Kb5 Rg8 173. Bc5 Rb8+ 174. Kc4 Rg8 175. Rf4 Rh8 176. Rg4 Re8 177. Rg3 Rh8 178. Rg2 Re8 179. Rg6 Rh8 180. Rf6 Re8 181. Rf5 Rg8 182. Rf4 Rh8 183. Rf3 Rg8 184. Rf2 Rh8 185. Rf1 Rg8 186. Re1 Rh8 187. Re2 Rg8 188. Re3 Rh8 189. Re4 Rg8 190. Re5 Rh8 191. Re6 Rg8 192. Re1 Rh8 193. Rd1 Rg8 194. Rd2 Rh8 195. Rd3 Rg8 196. Rd4 Rh8 197. Rd1 Rg8 198. a7 Rh8 199. Rg1 Re8 200. Kb5 Rh8 201. Rg2 Re8 202. Bd6 Rc8 203. Kb6 Rh8 204. Kc6 Rc8+ 205. Bc7 Rh8 206. Rf2 Rg8 207. Rh2 Rf8 208. Rh5 Rg8 209. Rh1 Rf8 210. Rb1 Rf2 211. Bd6 Rc2+ 212. Kd7 Kxa7 213. Bc7 Rg2 214. Kc8 Rg8+ 215. Bd8 Rg6 216. Rb5 Rh6 217. Bc7 Rc6 218. Ra5+ Ra6 219. Rc5 Rg6 220. Rc1 Ka6 221. Rb1 Rh6 222. Kd7 Rh3 223. Rb6+ Ka7 224. Rb1 Ka6 225. Kc8 Rh5 226. Rb8 Rc5 227. Rb2 Rh5 228. Rb8 Rf5 229. Rb6+ Ka7 230. Rc6 Rf8+ 231. Bd8 Rg8 232. Rc7+ Ka8 233. Rc1 Rg7 234. Bc7 Rg8+ 235. Kd7 Rg7+ 236. Kc6 Rg6+ 237. Bd6 Rg7 238. Rh1 Rh7 239. Re1 1-0 Longest chess game in terms of time — The game Stepak-Mashian, Israel 1980 was 193 moves and lasted 24 hours and 30 minutes. Longest Chess Marathon — The longest chess marathon is 44 hr 21 min and was achieved by Joan Oliver Marquet and Antonio Nadal Tur (both Spain) in Palma, Spain, from January 16-18, 2016. Magne Sagafos and Joachim Berg-Jensen (both from Norway) played chess for 40 hours and 42 minutes in Stavanger, Norway on June 22-24, 2015. Longest Chess Marathon by Correspondence — Reinhart Straszacker and Hendrik Roelof van Huyssteen, both of South Africa, played their first game of correspondence chess in 1946. They played correspondence chess for 53 years, until Straszacker's death in 1999. During that time, they played 112 correspondence games, with both men winning 56 games each. Longest Chess Olympiad Competitor — GM Eugenio Torre (19510 ) of the Philippines, has played in 23 Chess Olympiads from 1970 to 2016, more than any other player in history. He played in his first Chess Olympiad in 1970 and has won 3 bronze medals for his results on board 1. He played Board 1 in 18 Chess Olympiads. Swedish GM Gideon Stahlberg played for his country from 1928 to 1964, a total of 36 years, usually on Board 1. He played in 13 Olympiads. Longest game without a capture — In 2000, Meijfroidt-Lenoir lasted 72 moves without a capture before White lost on time. Longest chess player name — Lionel Adalbert Bagration Felix Kieseritsky. Longest chess problem — The longest solution to a composed chess problem requires 545 moves. It was created by a computer in 2009. Longest consecutive captures in a row — In Blodig-Wimmer, Germany 1988, and Rudd-Roberson, Swansea 2006, there were 17 captures of chess pawns and pieces in a row (17 half moves). Longest gap between world championship matches — In 1910, Emanuel Lasker had a title match for the world chess championship. His next title match came in 1921, 10 years, 3 months and 8 days after his last world championship match. Longest tournament — In 1889 in New York (6th American Chess Congress), 20 players played a double round robin. 430 games were played from March 25, 1889 to May 18, 1889. Drawn games had to be replayed. In addition, the players who shared 1st and 2nd places (Chigorin and Weiss, each scoring 29-9) had to play a match for first prize ( 4 more games - all drawn). The match lasted 9 days. Weiss played the most games with 47 games. There were 38 regular rounds, 8 replay rounds, and a 4-game playoff for first, making it 50 total rounds for the top two players. Longest world champion — Emanuel Lasker was world chess champion for 26 years and 337 days, from 1894 to 1921. Longest World Championship Game — In the 5th game of the 1978 World Championship match between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi, Korchnoi stalemated Karpov on the 124th move. Viktor Korchnoi — Anatoly Karpov, (game 5), Baguio City, Philippines, 1978 1. c4 Nf6 2. d4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. Nge2 d5 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. Nxc3 cxd4 8. exd4 dxc4 9. Bxc4 Nc6 10. Be3 O-O 11. O-O b6 12. Qd3 Bb7 13. Rad1 h6 14. f3 Ne7 15. Bf2 Nfd5 16. Ba2 Nf4 17. Qd2 Nfg6 18. Bb1 Qd7 19. h4 Rfd8 20. h5 Nf8 21. Bh4 f6 22. Ne4 Nd5 23. g4 Rac8 24. Bg3 Ba6 25. Rfe1 Rc6 26. Rc1 Ne7 27. Rxc6 Qxc6 28. Ba2 Qd7 29. Nd6 Bb7 30. Nxb7 Qxb7 31. Qe3 Kh8 32. Rc1 Nd5 33. Qe4 Qd7 34. Bb1 Qb5 35. b4 Qd7 36. Qd3 Qe7 37. Kf2 f5 38. gxf5 exf5 39. Re1 Qf6 40. Be5 Qh4+ 41. Bg3 Qf6 42. Rh1 Nh7 43. Be5 Qg5 44. Qxf5 Qd2+ 45. Kg3 Nhf6 46. Rg1 Re8 47. Be4 Ne7 48. Qh3 Rc8 49. Kh4 Rc1 50. Qg3 Rxg1 51. Qxg1 Kg8 52. Qg3 Kf7 53. Bg6+ Ke6 54. Qh3+ Kd5 55. Be4+ Nxe4 56. fxe4+ Kxe4 57. Qg4+ Kd3 58. Qf3+ Qe3 59. Kg4 Qxf3+ 60. Kxf3 g6 61. Bd6 Nf5 62. Kf4 Nh4 63. Kg4 gxh5+ 64. Kxh4 Kxd4 65. Bb8 a5 66. Bd6 Kc4 67. Kxh5 a4 68. Kxh6 Kb3 69. b5 Kc4 70. Kg5 Kxb5 71. Kf5 Ka6 72. Ke6 Ka7 73. Kd7 Kb7 74. Be7 Ka7 75. Kc7 Ka8 76. Bd6 Ka7 77. Kc8 Ka6 78. Kb8 b5 79. Bb4 Kb6 80. Kc8 Kc6 81. Kd8 Kd5 82. Ke7 Ke5 83. Kf7 Kd5 84. Kf6 Kd4 85. Ke6 Ke4 86. Bf8 Kd4 87. Kd6 Ke4 88. Bg7 Kf4 89. Ke6 Kf3 90. Ke5 Kg4 91. Bf6 Kh5 92. Kf5 Kh6 93. Bd4 Kh7 94. Kf6 Kh6 95. Be3+ Kh5 96. Kf5 Kh4 97. Bd2 Kg3 98. Bg5 Kf3 99. Bf4 Kg2 100. Bd6 Kf3 101. Bh2 Kg2 102. Bc7 Kf3 103. Bd6 Ke3 104. Ke5 Kf3 105. Kd5 Kg4 106. Kc5 Kf5 107. Kxb5 Ke6 108. Kc6 Kf6 109. Kd7 Kf7 110. Be7 Kg8 111. Ke6 Kg7 112. Bc5 Kg8 113. Kf6 Kh7 114. Kf7 Kh8 115. Bd4+ Kh7 116. Bb2 Kh6 117. Kg8 Kg6 118. Bg7 Kf5 119. Kf7 Kg5 120. Bb2 Kh6 121. Bc1+ Kh7 122. Bd2 Kh8 123. Bc3+ Kh7 124. Bg7 1/2-1/2 Longest Decisive but Captureless Game — 31 moves, played by Nuber-Keckeisen, Germany 1994. Reinhard Nuber — Roland Keckeisen, Germany 1994 1.e4 b6 2.d4 e6 3.Bd3 Bb7 4.Nf3 g6 5.O-O Bg7 6.Nbd2 Ne7 7.Re1 O-O 8.Nf1 d6 9.Qe2 Nd7 10.Bg5 Qe8 11.Rad1 a5 12.c3 Rc8 13.Ng3 Kh8 14.Qd2 Ng8 15.h3 e5 16.Bc2 h6 17.Be3 Rd8 18.Nh2 Kh7 19.f4 f6 20.Qf2 Ne7 21.Rd2 Rh8 22.f5 g5 23.Bd1 Rb8 24.Bh5 Qf8 25.Ng4 Ba6 26.Red1 b5 27.b4 a4 28.a3 Bb7 29.Rd3 Nc6 30.Bg6+ Kg8 31.Qa2+ 1-0 Longest-Running Chess Column — Hermann Helms (1870-1963) wrote a chess column for 62 years, from 1893 to 1955, in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Leonard Barden (1929- ) wrote a daily chess column for the London Evening Standard from June 1956 to July 2010, a total of 54 years and 1 month. As of 2016, Barden has written weekly for the Guardian newspaper for 61 years. It has been uninterrupted since September 1955. He overtook Tom Widdows, who wrote weekly for the Worcester News from October 1945 until April 2006. George Koltanowski (1903-2000) wrote a chess column for 51 years and 9 months, totaling over 19,000 chess columns. Longest running chess match — The longest running annual match in chess is the Cambridge University-Oxford University varsity chess match. The traditional series began in 1873, with the help of Wilhelm Steinitz organizing the event. The event was originally suggested by Howard Staunton in 1853. There has been 135 matches from 1873 to 2017. Cambridge has won 59, Oxford has won 53, and 22 have been drawn. Longest running state chess championship — America's longest running state championship is the New York State Chess championship, which began its first tournament in 1878. In September 2016, the New York State Championship was being played for the 138th time. The winner was IM Alexandr Ostrovskiy. Longest running chess tournament — As of 2017, the Hastings International Chess Congress is in its 92nd series as an annual British tournament. The Congress was first held in 1920/21 and won by Frederick Yates. In 2016/17 Deep Sengupta of India won the 92nd Hastings Premier tournament. In additon, there have been four Summer Congress events, held in 1895, 1919, 1922, and 1995. Longest series of draws in the world championship — In 1984/85, Kasparov and Karpov had a sequence of 17 consecutive draws (from game 10 to game 26). Longest Time Ranked World Number One in Chess — Judit Polgar was ranked number 1 in the world for women for 26 years, 28 days. She was ranked #1 in women's chess from February 1, 1989 to March 1, 2015. Garry Kasparov was rated No.1 in the world for 19 years, from 1986 to 2005. Longest Undefeated Streak — William (Wilhelm) Steinitz (1836-1900) was undefeated in chess for 9 years and 283 days, from 1873 to 1882, and had a 25-game winning streak. Capablanca went 8 years without a loss (1916-1924), playing 63 games. Longest World Championship Match — The longest world championship match was the 1984-85 Karpov-Kasparov match, held in Moscow. It lasted 48 games and 159 days. Losses on time — In 1969, Fritz Saemisch (1896-1975) lost all 15 games on time at a chess tournament in Busum, Germany. He then lost all 13 games on time at Linkoping, Sweden. Marathon blitz chess — In 1994, FIDE master Graham Burgess played 500 games of blitz chess (5-minute chess) in 3 days. He won over 75% of his games. Marathon chess — In 1983, Roger Long and Graham Croft played chess non-stop for 200 hours in Bristol, England. They played 189 games with Long winning 96 to 93. Most active chess player - International Master Jay Bonin has played over 25,000 USCF-rated tournament games. Since 1991, he has played over 3,300 USCF-rated tournaments. Most active chess player in one year — In 1995, Robert Smeltzer of Dallas played 2,266 USCF-rated games in one year, the most ever. Most adjournments — In 1968, the Geller-Sofrevski game was adjourned 7 times. The game lasted 154 moves with nearly 20 hours of play. In 1967, Anatoly Lein had 8 adjourned games out of his first 10 games. He later had another 3 adjourned games of the remaining 5 games. Most Autographs — In 2006, Anatoly Karpov signed 1,951 copies of his chess book in one day. The event was held in Mexico City. Most blindfold games played consecutively — In December 1960, George Koltanowski played 56 opponents blindfold consecutively (not simultaneously) in San Francisco. He won 50 and drew 6. The exhibition lasted 9 hours. Most blindfold games played simultaneously - On Dec 3, 2016, Timur Garayev played 48 opponents at the same time in a record blindfold simultaneous play. He won 35, drew 7, and lost 6. Most chess articles — Edward Winter has published over 10,500 chess articles in his Chess Notes. Most chess books written — Raymond Keene has authored over 140 books on chess, more than any other author. Other chess authors of over 100 chess books include Fred Reinfeld, Eric Schiller, and Eduard Gufeld. Reinfeld wrote 102 chess books and 260 books in total from other subjects. Most chess games ever completed in simultaneous exhibitions — 13,545 games, played by Capablanca between 1901 and 1940. Most Chess Games Played by a Grandmaster — Viktor Korchnoi (1931-2016) has the most games in the chessgames.com database — 4,418 (4,641 games at 365chess.com), followed by Anatoly Karpov with 3,540 games (3,683 gamees at 365chess.com). Most Chess Games of an Individual Recorded in a Database — Bill Wall (1951- ) has over 50,000 recorded chess games in his collected database of pgn games, played from 1969 to 2017. (see http://billwall.phpwebhosting.com/) Most Chess Games in a Simultaneous Blindfold Exhibition — In December 2016, Timur Gareyev played 48 opponents blindfolded, winning 35, losing 6, and drawing 7 in over 20 hours of play. In 2011, Mark Lang of Germany played 46 opponents blindfolded, breaking the record of 45 games played by Miguel Najdorf at Sao Paolo in 1947. Janos Flesch of Hungary claimed he had played 52 games (31 wins, 3 draws, 18 losses), but the exhibition was not properly monitored. Most Chess Games Lost in a Tournament — In 1889, Nicholas MacLeod lost 31 games in the 6th American Chess Congress, held in New York. Most Chess Oscars — Garry Kasparov has won the Chess Oscar a record 11 times. Most common chess ending — rook and three pawns vs. rook and two pawns. Most games simultaneously, winning all games — In 1966, Jude Acers played 114 opponents at the Louisiana State Fair, and won all 114 games. Most Consecutive Games of Chess — The record for the most consecutive games played with different opponents is 1,131 by Grandmaster Susan Polgar in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida on August 1-2, 2005. She won 1,112 games, drew 16 games, and lost 3 games in 16.5 hours. Her winning record was 99.03%. This beat the old record. In 2001, Anna-Maria Botsari of Greece played 1,102 games, winning 1,095 games and drawing 7. Most consecutive tournament victories — Garry Kasparov placed 1st or equal 1st in 15 individual tournaments from 1981 to 1990. Most consecutive wins in classical tournament games — FIDE Master David Lucky (1960- ) of Idaho has won 42 consecutive classical tournament wins, without any draws, and no losses. These were all played in either State Championships, or in State qualifying tournaments from 2013 to 2017. Most consecutive wins in classical and blitz games — In 2015-2017, FIDE Master David Lucky (1960- ) of Idaho has won 72 consecutive classical tournament and official USCF blitz wins, without any draws, and no losses. In the 1995 Colorado Open, FM David Lucky and NM Todd Bardwick played a 12 hour continuous game (no adjornments)....the longest game between masters in the U.S. In this game, David developed his g1 knight on move 43! That may also be a record for a player of such strength taking that long to develop that knight. Lucky - Bardwick 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ndf3 Qb6 8.g3 cxd4 9.cxd4 Bb4+ 10.Kf2 g5 11.h3 gxf4 12.Bxf4 f6 13.Kg2 Be7 14.Rh2 Nf8 15.Kh1 Bd7 16.exf6 Bxf6 17.Rd2 O-O-O 18.Rc1 Be8 19.Rc5 a6 20.Qe2 Kd7 21.Ne5+ Bxe5 22.Bxe5 Nxe5 23.Qxe5 Ng6 24.Qg7+ Kd6 25.Bg2 Rd7 26.Qf6 Rf8 27.Rxd5+ Kc7 28.Rxd7+ Bxd7 29.Rc2+ Kb8 30.Qg7 Qd6 31.Qxh7 Ne7 32.Qe4 Nd5 33.Qe5 Qxe5 34.dxe5 Ne3 35.Rd2 Bb5 36.g4 Kc7 37.b3 a5 38.a4 Nxg2 39.axb4 Ne3 40.Rd3 Nd5 41.Rf3 Rb8 42.Rf7+ Kb6 43.Nf3 Rc8 44.g5 Rh8 45.h4 Ne3 46.Kh2 Nf5 47.Kh3 Kb5 48.Rxb7+ Kc6 49.Rf7 Kd5 50.g6 Ke4 51.Rh7 Rg8 52.Ng5+ Kxe5 53.h5 Rb8 54.Nf3+ Kf4 55.Nd2 Rd8 56.Nc4 Rd3+ 57.Kh2 Rxb3 58.Rf7 Kg5 59.g7 Nh6 60.Rf8 a4 61.Rh8 Rb7 62.Rxh6 Rxg7 63.Rh8 Rc7 64.Ne5 a3 65.Kg3 a2 66.Nf3+ Kf6 67.Ra8 Rc5 68.h6 Kg6 69.Rxa2 Kxh6 70.Kf4 Rf5+ 71.Kg4 Kg7 72.Re2 Kf6 73.Nd4 Re5 74.Rf2+ Kg6 75.Nf3 Re4+ 76.Kg3 Ra4 77.Ne5+ Kg5 78.Rf8 Rb4 79.Kf3 Ra4 80.Ke3 Rb4 81.Nf3+Kg6 82.Nd4 Rb1 83.Kf4 Rf1+ 84.Nf3 Kg7 85.Ra8 Kf6 86.Ra6 Rb1 87.Nd2 Rb7 88.Ne4+ Ke7 89.Nc5 Rb1 90.Ke5 Re1+ 91.Ne4 Kd7 92.Rd6+ Ke7 93.Rxe6+ Kd7 94.Rh6 Kc7 95.Kd5 Rd1+ 96.Kc4 Kd7 97.Rg6 Ke7 98.Ra6 Kf7 99.Nc3 Rd2 100.Nd5 Rd1 101.Rd6 Kg7 102.Kc5 Rd2 103.Re6 Kf7 104.Kd6 Rd1 105.Re2 Kg6 106.Ke6 Rg1 107.Nf4+ Kg7 108.Ke7 Rg4 109.Re4 Rg1 110.Re6 Rg5 111.Rf6 Ra5 112.Rg6+ Kh7 113.Rg4 Ra7+ 114.Kf6 Ra6+ 115.Ne6 Rb6 116.Rh4+ Kg8 117.Ra4 Kh7 118.Ra8 Rd6 119.Ra1 Rb6 120.Ra2 Rd6 121.Rh2+ Kg8 122.Rh6 Ra6 123.Kf5 Ra5+ 124.Kg6 Ra6 125.Kh5 Ra1 126.Rf6 Rh1+ 127.Kg6 Rg1+ 128.Ng5 Rg2 129.Re6 Kf8 130.Re1 Rg4 131.Re3 Rg1 132.Kf6 Rf1+ 133.Nf3 Ra1 134.Nd4 Rf1+ 135.Nf5 Rf2 136.Ra3 Ke8 137.Rd3 Rf1 138.Rd2 Rf4 139.Ke5 Rf1 140.Nd6+ Ke7 141.Ra2 Re1+ 142.Ne4 Kf7 143.Ra7+ Kg6 1/2-1/2 Most Consecutive Wins by a grandmaster — From 1963 to 1965, GM Bobby Fischer had 24 consecutive wins, a modern record (Steinitz had 25 consecutive wins from 1873 to 1882). Most Consecutive Wins against Masters — In 1970-1971, Bobby Fischer won 20 consecutive wins against masters. Most correspondence chess games — In 1988, Stan Vaughan played 1,124 correspondence games at once. The prior record was 1,001. In 1948, Robert Whller of Hillsboro, California played 1,001 correspondence games at once. Most drawing Grandmaster — GM Ulf Andersson of Sweden has drawn 74% of his games against top-level opposition, winning 10%, and losing 16%. The most drawing World Champion was Tigran Petrosian (1929-1984), who drew more than half his total games of chess. Most Chess Olympiad gold medals — Vasily Smyslov won 10 chess Olympiad gold medals, 5 European Championship gold medals, the World Championship gold medal, 4 USSR Team Championship gold medals, 2 Spartakiad gold medals, 1 All-Union Chess Olympiad gold medal, and 2 European Club Cup gold medals, for a total of 25 gold medals in chess. Most decisive Interzonal victory — In 1952, Alexander Kotov scored 16.5 points out of 20 games (82.5%) at the Stockholm Interzonal. The largest margin of victory at an Interzonal was Bobby Fischer scoring 18.5 points out of 23 games, 3.5 points ahead of the second-place finishers. Most frequently visited chess website - chess.com (source: Alexa Internet rankings) In 2014, the site announced that over a billion live games had been played on the sitem including 100 million correspondence games. It was launched in June 2007 (I was one of its first members). Most insulting chess prize — In 1926, Aron Nimzowitsch (1896-1935) defeated Paul Johner at Dresden and won the brilliancy prize. It consisted of 5,000 cigarettes. Nimzowitsch did not smoke and was almost allergic to tobacco smoke. Most Grandmasters by Country — Russia has 217 grandmasters, the most of any country. Most Grandmasters in one tournament — In 1989, the Belgrade Grandmaster's Association (GMA) had 98 grandmasters participating, the most grandmasters in one tournament. Most military bases played — Former Air Force officer Bill Wall has played chess on 56 military bases (Anderson AB, Guam; Andrews AFB, MD; Arnold AFB, TN; Beale AFB, CA; Brooks AFB, TX; Camp Robinson, AR; Cape Canaveral AFS, FL; Charleston AFB, SC; Clark AB, PI; Concord Naval Weapons Station, CA; Eglin AFB, FL; Eielson AFB, AK; Elmendorf AFB, AK; Fort Belvoir, VA; Fort Benjamin Harrison, IN; Fort Huachuca, AZ; Fort Jackson, SC; Fort Knox, KY; Fort Leavenworth, KS; Fort Lewis, WA; Fort Meade, MD; Fort Sam Houston, TX; Griffiss AFB, NY; Gunter AFB, AL; Hanscom AFB, MA; Heidelberg Army Base, Germany; Hickam AFB, HI; Hill AFB, UT; Kadena AB, Okinawa; Kelly AFB, TX; Kirtland AFB, NM; Lackland AFB, TX; Langley AFB, VA; Los Angeles AFS, CA; MacDill AFB, FL; Mare Island, CA ; Maxwell AFB, AL; McChord AFB, WA; McCoy AFB, FL; Medina Annex, TX; Moffett Field NAS, CA; Navy Base, Guam; Nellis AFV, NV; Norfolk Naval Station, VA; Offutt AFB, NE; Onizuka AS, CA; Patrick AFB, FL; San Diego Navy Base, CA; Schriever AFB, CO; Scott AFB, IL; Shaw AFB, SC; Sheppard AFB, TX; Skaggs Island, CA; Travis AFB, CA; U Tapao AB, Thailand; Wright-Patterson AFB, OH; Zayed Military City; UAE) Most National Championship Wins — IM Carlos Armando Juarez Flores (1965- ) has won the national championship of Guatemala 28 times, including 15 times in a row, between 1980 and 2016. Most participation in a chess tournament. Edgar McCormick (1914-1991) played in the U.S. Open 37 times, more than anyone else. Most Players in a Multi-Simultaneous Exhibiition — In 2010, 20,500 people participated on a simultaneous exhibition held in Ahmadabad, India. Most queens — In Sumpter-King, Australia 1965, there were 7 queens on the board at the same time. The game later proved to be spurious. In Szalanczy-Nguyen, Budapest 2009, 6 Queens were on the board at the same time. Emil Szalanczy — Thi Mai Hung Nguyen, Budapest 2009 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Qd2 Nbd7 9. f3 Be7 10. g4 O-O 11. g5 Nh5 12. O-O-O Nb6 13. Kb1 Rc8 14. Rg1 g6 15. Qf2 Nc4 16. Bxc4 Rxc4 17. Nd5 Bxd5 18. Rxd5 b5 19. Qd2 Qc7 20. Rd1 Rc8 21. c3 Rb8 22. Bc5 Nf4 23. Bxd6 Bxd6 24. Rxd6 b4 25. cxb4 Rcxb4 26. Rd8+ Kg7 27. Rxb8 Qxb8 28. Nc5 Rd4 29. Qc2 Rxd1+ 30. Qxd1 Qb5 31. Na4 Nh3 32. Nc3 Qc4 33. Qd6 Qf1+ 34. Kc2 Qxf3 35. Qxe5+ Kg8 36. b4 Qg2+ 37. Kb3 Nxg5 38. Ka4 Nf3 39. Qf6 h5 40. Ka5 Nxh2 41. a4 Ng4 42. Qd8+ Kh7 43. Kxa6 Qg3 44. Nd5 h4 45. Qf8 Qf2 46. b5 h3 47. b6 h2 48. b7 h1=Q 49. b8=Q Qa1 50. Qbe8 Qg7 51. Qfe7 g5 52. a5 Nh6 53. Qc6 Ng8 54. Qec7 g4 55. Kb7 g3 56. a6 g2 57. a7 g1=Q 58. a8=Q (6 queens on the board) Qb1+ 59. Nb6 Nf6 60. e5 Ng4 61. Qae8 Qff5 62. Qce7 Nh6 63. Kc7 Qbe4 64. Nd5 Qfxe5+ 65. Qxe5 Qgxe5+ 66. Qxe5 Qxe5+ 67. Kd8 Kg7 68. Ne7 Qb8+ 69. Kd7 Qa7+ 70. Kd6 Qa3+ 71. Kd7 Qd3+ 72. Ke8 Qh3 73. Qd5 Qg4 74. Qe5+ f6 75. Qd5 Qa4+ 1/2-1/2 Most Simultaneous Games — In 2011, Ehsan Ghaem-Maghami of Iran played 604 players in 25 hours. He won 580, drew 16, and lost 8 games. Most state titles — Howard Ohman (1899-1963) won the Nebraska State Chess Champions 25 times. Most titles — John Kalish (1937-2001), won the national championship of Okinawa 25 consecutive times, from 1959 to 1984. Ortwin Sarapu (1924-1000) won the New Zealand championship 20 times. Ingrid Larsen won the Danish women's championship 17 times. Arkadijs Strazdins (1923-2007) won the New Britain, Connecticut chess club championship 30 times, from 1952 to 1994. From 1952 to 1975, he had won it 23 times in a row. Most Tournament Victories — John Curdo (1931- ) of Massachusetts has won over 900 tournaments (as of February 2017) over the course of his career. He has won the Massachusetts championship 17 times. Most Tournament Victories by a Grandmaster — Anatoly Karpov has won over 170 chess tournaments, more than any Grandmaster in history. Most Unbeaten Consecutive Games — Bill Martz (1945-1983) played 104 consecutive USCF-rated games without a loss. Most Unbeaten Consecutive Games by a Grandmaster — From October 23, 1973 to October 16, 1974, Mikhail Tal was unbeaten in 95 tournament games. During that period, he won 46 and drew 49. He lost to Kirov at Novi Sad on Oct 16, 1974. Most Unbeaten Consecutive Games by a World Champion — From 1929 to 1931, Alexander Alekhine played 54 unbeaten consecutive games as world champion. Most US chess championships — Bobby Fischer won the U.S. Chess Championship 8 times. Gisela Gresser (1906-2000) won the women's U.S. Chess Championship 9 times. Most valuable chess set — The world's most valuable chess set in the world is the Faberge chess set, owned by Dr. George Dean. The jewel Royale chess set is valued at $9.8 million. It was manufactured in Great Britain by Boodles, a jewelry company. It is made of solid gold and platinum and features diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and even black and white pearls (748 diamonds, 73 rubies, 146 sapphires). Most voluminous chess book — In 2001, V. Linder wrote Kings of the Chess World. It is 973 pages. Wins against the most world champions — Paul Keres (1916-1975) defeated 9 world chess champions in his career. Most wins in a world championship match — In 1929, Alexander Alekhine had 11 wins in his world championship match with Efim Bogoljubow (1889-1952). Most world championship career wins — Emanuel Lasker had 52 career wins in world championship play. Most world championship games — Mikhail Botvinnik (1911-1995) played 157 world championship games. He won 36, lost 39, and drew 82. Number of chess players — The World Chess Federation (FIDE) estimates there are over 700 million chess players in the world. It is estimated that there are over 200 million people who have played chess on the Internet. It is estimated that there are 45 million chess players in the United States. There are 8 million FIDE registered chess players in 188 countries. Oldest active player — Zoltan Sarosy (1906-2017) of Canada was still actively playing chess at the age of 108. He died on June 19, 2017 at the age of 110 years and 300 days. He started playing chess in public parks at the age of 10. He played chess for 98 years. Lourenco Joao Cordioli (1916-2015) of Brazil was still active in chess tournaments until he died in May, 2015 at the age of 98. Oldest American college chess team — Yale, founded in 1857. Oldest American intercollegiate chess match — Amherst vs. Williams College, 1859. Oldest candidate — Vasily Smyslov (1921-2010) played in the Candidates Final match at the age of 63 years. He lost to Kasparov, but remained No. 3 in the world. Oldest chess association — the Yorkshire Chess Association, founded in 1841. Oldest chess author — David Lawson (1886-1980) wrote Paul Morphy: The Pride and Sorrow of Chess at the age of 89. Oldest chess book published in America — Chess Made Easy, printed and sold by James Humphreys (1748-1810) of Philadelphia in 1802. It is a reprint of an earlier London edition of Philidor's Analyse du jeu des echecs. It contained 97 pages. The American book also contained Benjamin Franklin's essay, The Morals of Chess. Oldest Russian chess book — Pravila dlia Shashechnoi Igrie (Rules for the Game of Chess) published in 1791. It was a translation from a previous book. The first original Russian chess book was published by Ivan Butrimov (1782-1851) in 1821. It was entitled O Shakhmatnoi Igrie (On Chess Games). Oldest Scottish chess club — the Edinburgh Chess Club, established in 1822. Oldest surviving chess book — the Repeticion de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez con 101 Juegos de Partido ("Repetition of Love and the Art of Playing Chess"), written by Luis Ramirez de Lucena (1464-1530) in 1496 and published in Salamanca, Spain in 1497. Oldest chess club in Britain — the Manchester Chess Club, was founded in 1817. A chess club was organized at the Salopian coffee-house in 1770. Oldest chess club in the U.S. — the Mechanics Institute Chess Club in San Francisco, founded in 1854. It was destroyed by earthquake and fire in 1906 and re-started in 1909. Oldest chess club still in existence — Zurich Chess Club, founded in 1809. Oldest chess column — a chess column was first published by Egerton Smith in the Liverpool Mercury on July 9, 1813. In 1823, a chess column appeared in the weekly medial journal, Lancet, edited by Dr. Thomas Wakley (1795-1862). It was entitled, "Origin of the game of chess." Dr. Wakley recommended chess as "the only game to which the medical student may profitably devote any portion of his time and attention." Due to the lack of popularity, it disappeared after less than a year. The final chess column appeared on March 28, 1824, consisting of solutions to chess problems previously published in the Lancet. Oldest chess column in America — appeared in the New York Spirit of the Times in 1845. Oldest chess magazine — Le Palamede, first published in Paris in 1836 by La Bourdonnais and Mery. Oldest chess magazine in the English language — Chess Player's Chronicle, first published in 1840. Oldest chess magazine in continuous publication — the British Chess Magazine, was established in 1881 by John Watkinson. Oldest chess magazine in Russia — Shakmatny Listok, was first published in 1859. Oldest modern chess game — played in 1485 by Francisco de Castelliz and Narcisi Vinoles. Oldest chess painting — around 1183, the oldest painting of a chess game appeared in the Palatine Chapel in the Norman Palace in Palermo, Italy. Oldest chess piece — The oldest recorded chess piece is dated around 790 CE. It was found in Persia. Chessmen were found at Nashipur (Bangladesh) and have been dated to 900 CE. Oldest chess piece in Europe — The chess pieces of St. Genadio, Spain are the oldest chess pieces found in Europe. They date to the late 9th century A.D. Oldest chess photograph — 1843, showing two chess players. Oldest chess player — Zoltan Sarosy (1906- ), a Canadian chess master from Toronto, is still playing chess at the age of 110. He is the oldest living man in Canada. Jane Lady Carew (1797-1901) was a chess player who lived to 104. Aaron Schwartzman (1908-2013) was a chess master who lived to the age of 104. In 1934, he won the championship of South America. Jared Moore (1893-1995) was a chess player who lived to the age of 101. He was the oldest player to play correspondence chess. He was active in postal chess until he was 100 years old. In 1914, Joseph Henry Blackburne tied for 1st in the British Championship at the age of 72. In 1988, Smyslov was 67 when he played in the 55th USSR Championship. Oldest chess poem — the Versus de scachis, written around 997. Oldest chess problem — The oldest chess problem on record is dated around 600 CE. Oldest chess problem society — the British Chess Problem Society, was formed in 1918. Oldest chess stamp — issued in Bulgaria in 1947 to commemorate the Balkan Games. Chess was one of the sports. Oldest chess team competition in the USA — the Pan-Am Intercollegiate Championship, first held in 1946. Oldest Complete Chess Set — The oldest complete chess set is the Lewis chessmen, discovered in the isle of Lewis in 1831 and dated back to 1120. Oldest correspondence chess organization in America — the Correspondence Chess League of America (CCLA), founded in 1909. Oldest Grandmaster — Arthur Dake (1910-2000) was the oldest competitive chess grandmaster. He was still playing in rated chess tournaments at the age of 89. Yuri Averbakh, born in 1922, is the oldest grandmaster in the world. In 2003, Yuri Shabanov (1937- ) was awarded the Grandmaster title at the age of 66 after winning the World Senior Championship. Oldest Honorary Grandmaster — In 1996, Enrico Paoli (1908-2005) was awarded the honorary grandmaster title at the age of 88. His played his last official chess tournament at the age of 94. Jacques Mieses (1865-1954) was given an honorary grandmaster title in 1950 at the age of 85. Oldest international chess tournament — the London International, won by Anderssen in 1851. Oldest master — Oscar Shapiro (1910-2000) became a chess master at the age of 74. In 1991, Bernard Friend became a chess master for the first time at the age of 71. Gyorgy Negyesy (1893-1992) was a Hungarian master who died just short of his 99th birthday. He was the longest-lived master. Oldest modern chess manuscript — the Gottingen manuscript, dated 1471. Oldest modern chess tournament — the Ries Divan knockout, organized in London in 1849 and won by Buckle. Oldest movie with a chess scene — In 1903, R.W. Paul (Paul's Animatograph Works of England) made a silent movie called A Chess Dispute. It featured two men playing chess, and then getting into a fight over a disputed move. The oldest movie with a chess theme is Chess Fever, made in 1925. Oldest national champion — In 2011, Viktor Korchnoi won the Swiss championship at the age of 80. He was the oldest active GM on the tournament circuit. In 1948, Edith Price won the British Ladies' Championship at the age of 76. Oldest national chess association — Canadian Chess Association, founded in 1872. Oldest printed chess book — The oldest printed book with chess content is Summa Collationum by John of Walyes in 1470. Oldest reference to chess in America — Esther Singleton's history of Dutch settlers in 1641. Oldest reference to chess in Europe — the will of Ermengaud I, dated 1008. Oldest reference to chess in Persian literature — the Shahnama, written by Firdausi in 1011. Oldest source of chess rules — the Latin poem 'Carmina Rhythmica de Ludo Schalmat,' written by Abraham ibn Ezra (1092-1167) around 1150. Oldest state champion — Harlow Daly (1883-1979) won the chess championship of Maine at the age of 85. In 1961, Robert Scrivener (1881-1969) won the chess championship of Mississippi at the age of 80. Oldest world champion — William Steinitz was 58 years, 10 days when he lost his title to Emanuel Lasker on May 26, 1894. Perfect scores — Gustav Neumann went 34-0 at Berlin in 1865. Henry Atkins went 15-0 at Amsterdam in 1899. Emanuel Lasker went 13-0 at new York in 1893. Capablanca went 13-0 at new York in 1913. Alekhine went 11-0 in the Moscow Championship in 1919-1920. Bobby Fischer went 11-0 in the US Championship in 1963-64. Richest chess master — Joop J. van Oosterom (1937-2016) of the Netherlands was a billionaire. He was the 19th World Correspondence Chess Champion. Richest chess match — In 1992, Fischer won $3,650,000 for defeating Spassky, who took home $1.35 million in their world championship match. In 1990, Kasparov won $1.7 million for defeating Karpov, who took home $1.3 million in their world championship match. Shortest chess career — Carlos Torre Repetto (1904-1978) played international chess for less than one year, in 1925. He then gave up the game. Rudolf Charousek (1873-1900) only played in 4 international tournaments, and then had to give up chess because of his tuberculosis. He died at the age of 27. Miss Fatima played for 2 years, winning the British Women's Chess Championship in 1933. She then left England and returned to India, never to be heard of again. Shortest Decisive Chess Game — In 1970, Bobby Fischer played 1.c4 at the Palma de Mallorca Interzonal against Oscar Panno. Panno resigned without making a move after 60 minutes as part of a protest. The shortest game is a Fool's mate in two moves. Here are a few games ending in two moves. NN — Hamlisch, Vienna 1890 — 1.f4 e6 2.g4?? Qh4 mate (repeated in NN — Richard Buchanan, Dayton 1981 and Lance Darling — Richard Wood, Washington State 1983 Sperber — Bender, Baden, Germany 1992 — 1.f4 e5 2.g4?? Qh4 mate 0-1 NN — Bill Wall, FICS 2011 — 1.h3 e5 2.f4?? Qh4+ and White resigned (3.g3 Qxg3 mate) 0-1 Shortest Decisive Chess Game in Tournament Play — There are a few games from serious tournament play that have ended in 3 moves. Eric Schiller — Howery Pack, Port Washington, NY 1969 — 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Ke7?? 3.Qxe5 mate (repeated in Jorgensen-Thorn, Denmark 1978) Walter Mayfield — William Trinks, Omaha 1959 — 1.e4 g5 2.Nc3 f5?? 3.Qh5 mate 1-0 (shortest game from a U.S. Open) Rhoda Masiyazi — Akua Esee, Tromso, Norway 2014 — 1.e4 g5 2.f4 f6?? 3.Qh5 mate 1-0 (shortest game from a Chess Olympiad) Zoran Dordevic — Milorad Kovacevic, Bela Crkva 1984 — 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 c6 3.e3?? Qa5, winning the bishop. White resigned. (this game was repeated in Vassallo — Gamundi, Salamanca 1998) Shortest Chess Game in the World Championship — Bobby Fischer forfeited game 2 in the 1972 world championship match with Boris Spassky. Kramnik forefeited game 5 in the 2006 world championship match with Veselin Topalov. Mikhail Botvinnik and Tigran Petrosian drew their 21st match games in the 1963 world chess championship after 10 moves. Tigran Petrosian — Mikhail Botvinnik, (game 21) Moscow 1963 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Qxd1+ 7.Kxd1 Bg4 8.Be2 Nd7 9.Be3 e5 10.Nd2 1/2-1/2 Shortest Decisive Chess Game in the World Championship — Boris Gelfand resigned to Viswanathan Anand after 17 moves in game 8 of the 2012 World Chess Championship. Anand — Gelfand, (game 8), Moscow 2012 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 c5 4.d5 d6 5.e4 Bg7 6.Ne2 O-O 7.Nec3 Nh5 8.Bg5 Bf6 9.Bxf6 exf6 10.Qd2 f5 11.exf5 Bxf5 12.g4 Re8+ 13.Kd1 Bxb1 14.Rxb1 Qf6 15.gxh5 Qxf3+ 16.Kc2 Qxh1 17.Qf2 1-0 Shortest Stalemate — The shortest composed stalemate is 10 moves, composed by Sam Loyd (1841-1911). 1.e3 a5 2.Qh5 Ra6 3.Qxa5 h5 4.Qxc7 Rah6 5.h4 f6 6.Qxd7+ Kf7 7.Qxb7 Qd3 8.Qxb8 Qh7 9.Qxc8 Kg6 10.Qe6. The shortest genuine stalemate is 27 moves, played by Mario Sibilio against Sergio Mariotti in 1982. Mario Sibilio — Sergio Mariotti, Ravenna 1982 1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 c5 4.b4 cxb4 5.d4 Nh6 6.a3 bxa3 7.c3 Nf5 8.Nxa3 Nc6 9.Nb5 a6 10.g4 Bd7 11.Bg5 Be7 12.gxf5 axb5 13.fxe6 fxe6 14.Rxa8 Qxa8 15.Rg1 Qa3 16.Bxb5 Bxg5 17.Rxg5 Qxc3+ 18.Kf1 O-O 19.Bxc6 Bxc6 20.Kg2 Ba4 21.Qe2 Bc2 22.Ne1 Be4+ 23.f3 Rxf3 24.Nxf3 Bxf3+ 25.Qxf3 Qd2+ 26.Kh3 Qxg5 27.Qf8+ Kxf8 (stalemate) 1/2-1/2 Slowest chess move — In London 1851, Elijah Williams took 2 hours and 30 minutes over one move. In 1980, International Master Francisco Trois took 2 hours and 20 minutes for his 7th move against Luis Santos at Vigo, Spain. He only had two possible moves to consider with his knight. Smallest chess book — Sakkvilagbajnokok by Karoly Molnar. It measures 6 cm by 4 cm and is a 243-page hardback on world chess champions. Smallest Hand-Made Chess Set — In 2008, Malla Siva of India created a chess set 0.7 inches square. The pieces were from 0.16 to 0.26 inches tall. Smallest Machine-Made Chess Set — In 2010, students at Texas Tech created a chess board 0.017 inches (435 microns) square, equivalent to the diameter of four human hairs. Strongest Chess Tournament — 2014 Sinquefield Cup (won by Fabiano Caruana), held in St. Louis, with the average rating of 2802. The 2015 Sinquefield Cup had an average rating of 2795. The 2016 Sinquefield Cup had an average rating of 2779. Youngest American chess champion — Bobby Fischer, at the age of 14. Youngest arbiter — The youngest international arbiter of a major tournament was Sophia Gorman (Rohde) who, at age 19, was an arbiter at the FIDE World Candidates tournament. Youngest Candidate for the World Championship — Bobby Fischer was the youngest Candidate for the World Chess Championship at the age of 15. Youngest Chess Author — Daniel Naroditsky (1995- ) wrote Mastering Positional Chess: Practical Lessons of a Junior World Champion in 2010 at the age of 15. Murray Chandler wrote A White Pawn in Europe in 1975 at the age of 15. Youngest chess editor — Max Lange (1832-1899) who became the chess editor of the Magdeburger Schachzeitung in 1849 at the age of 17. Youngest Chess Grandmaster — Sergey Karjakin (1990- ) became a GM at the age of 12 years, 212 days in 2002. Youngest Chess Grandmaster, USA - Samuel Sevian became a GM at the age of 13 years, 10 months, and 27 days. Youngest Chess Grandmaster (female) — Hou Yifan (1994- ) became a GM at the age of 14 years, 184 days in 2008. Youngest Chess Olympiad player — In 1986, Heidi Cueller played for the women's Guatemala chess team in the chess Olympiad at Dubai. She was 10 years old. In 1970, 11 year old Schermann of the Virgin Islands played at Siegen. 12 year old Kiem Tjing-Tjin-Joe of Surinam played in the 1982 Chess Olympiad. Youngest Chess Olympiad team — In 2002, the average age of the Azerbaijan team at Bled was 16 years, 5 months. Youngest composer of a published problem — Elliot Eichholtz, age 5, who had a chess problem published in the 1917 American Chess Bulletin. Youngest country champion — Niaz Murshed won the championship of Bangladesh at the age of 12 years and 309 days. Henrique Mecking won the championship of Brazil at the age of 13. In 2000, Humpy Koneru won the British Ladies' Championship at the age of 13 years and 4 months. Nigel Short tied for 1st in the British championship at the age of 14. Bobby Fischer won the U.S. Championship at the age of 14. Youngest expert — In September 2016, Abhimanyu Mishra from New Jersay became and expert at the age of 7 years, 6 months and 22 days. On April 16, 2011, Awonder Liang (born April 9, 2003) became the youngest chess expert (rated over 2000) in the United States Chess Federation (USCF) at the age of 8 years and 7 days. Youngest Chess Olympiad gold medallist — Judit Polgar won a gold medal in the 1988 Saloniki Chess Olympiad at the age of 11. In 2000, Alexander Grischuk won a gold medal at the age of 17 in the Istanbul Olympiad. In 1992, Vladimir Kramnik won a gold medal at the age of 17 in Manila Olympiad. Youngest International Master — In 2016, R. Praggnanandhaa became the youngest International Master in history at the age of 10 years, 10 months, and 19 days. He made IM norms in Cannes, Moscow, and Delhi. Youngest master — In 2013, Alekhine Nouri (born in 2005) became the youngest FIDE Master at the age of 7. Etienne Bacrot, born in 1983, became the youngest FIDE master at the age of 10 at the time. In 2016, Christopher Yoo became America's youngest master at the age of 9 years and 11 months. In 2015, Maximillian Lu became a USCF master at the age of 9 years, 11 months and 2 days. In 2010, Samuel Sevian became a USCF master at the age of 9 years, 11 months and 11 days. On March 23, 2013, Awonder Liang of Wisconsin, born April 9, 2003, became a master at the age of 9 years, 11 months and 13 days. Youngest national champion — Arturo Pomar won the championship of the Balearic Islands at the age of 11. Youngest national junior champion — Bobby Fischer was the youngest national junior champion at the age of 13. Youngest player in a national championship — In 1995, Irina Krush played in the U.S. Women's Championship at the age of 11. In 1976,Nigel Short qualified to play in the British Championship at the age of 11. In 1995, Luke McShane played in the British Championship at the age of 11. Youngest player of a published game — Jose Capablanca had one of his games published when he was 4 years old. Youngest player to defeat a master — On June 24 2017, Eddison Chen (born October 7, 2009), age 7 years and 8 months, defeated a chess master Cory Evans, rated 2225. In 2011, Awonder Liang, age 8, beat an International Master. In 2012, Joaquin Perkins (1598), age 8, beat Pablo Pena (2220), In 2017, Abhimanyu Mishra, age 8, beat a master, Peter Minear, rated 2357. In 1993, Irina Krush, age 9, beat a chess master rated 2257. Youngest Player to Defeat a Grandmaster — In 1999, David Howell, age 8, became the youngest player to beat a grandmaster. He defeated GM John Nunn in London. In 2012, Awonder Liang, aged 9 years, 3 months and 20 days, defeated GM Larry Kaufman in Washington, DC. In 2014, Nodirbek Abdusattorov (born 2004), age 9, defeated two grandmasters. Youngest state champion — In August, 1948, Charles "Kit" Crittenden of Raleigh, NC, won the North Carolina chess state championship at the age of 14. In 2014, Joey Kelly won the Kansas State Chess Championship at age 14. Youngest World Chess Champion — Hou Yifan became world women's chess champion at the age of 16 years, 300 days in 2010. Youngest World Chess Champion (male) — Ruslan Ponomariov, born October 11, 1983, became the youngest world chess champion on January 23, 2002 at the age of 18 years, 104 days. Garry Kasparov became undisputed world chess champion at the age of 22 years, 210 days in 1985. Thanks to Tim Steiner of the Midwest Chess Academy for finding new records and updating old records. Please report broken or duplicate links to the Webmaster. Official Website Copyright 2017 by William D. Wall All Rights Reserved |
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