Longest chess game evr!
The longest
chess game ever played in a tournament setting was between Ivan Nikolic and Goran Arsovic in Belgrade in 1989, lasting 269 moves and over 20 hours before ending in a draw. This game is recognized as the longest recorded tournament game in terms of moves.
In terms of time, the longest game was Stepak-Mashian from Israel in 1980, which lasted 24 hours and 30 minutes and consisted of 193 moves. The longest game in a world championship match was Game 6 of the 2021 World Chess Championship between and Ian Nepomniachtchi, which lasted 136 moves and approximately 7 hours and 47 minutes.
Theoretically, the longest possible chess game is constrained by the 75-move rule and the 5-fold repetition rule, which are now automatic under FIDE regulations introduced in 2014. According to calculations, the longest possible game is 8,848.5 moves long, after which a draw is automatically declared via the 75-move rule. Some sources suggest a theoretical maximum of 5,949 moves, but this is based on older interpretations that did not account for the automatic draw rules.
The longest decisive FIDE-rated game is Billy Fellowes vs Peter Lalić, played in London in 2024, which lasted 272 moves.
