How long is TOO long? 269 moves?! 20 hours?!
Ever wonder what the longest chess match in history was? It's a question I've been pondering myself lately, as my own Chess.com daily tournament is being held hostage by yours truly (and a few others). My opponent and I just began turn 39 and we have entered what will be a very, very lengthy rook-pawn endgame.
This got me thinking about the longest games ever recorded. The answer, as the title suggests, is a staggering 269 moves. Played in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in 1989, the match between Ivan Nikolić and Goran Arsović lasted a grueling 20 hours and 15 minutes, only to end in an anticlimactic draw.
It's fascinating how sports rules often evolve to prevent such endurance tests. I was reminded of my other favorite sport: boxing. In the "good old days," boxing matches could last for hours. The longest recorded boxing match, an incredible 110 rounds, took place in 1893 between Andy Bowen and Jack Burke. After fighting for 7 hours and 19 minutes, both boxers were too exhausted to continue, and the match, like the legendary chess game, also ended in a draw. Over the years we have seen boxing evolve and matches are now capped at 12 rounds.
So, did chess follow suit after that marathon 269-move match? It turns out, it did. At the time of the 1989 match, FIDE rules allowed for 100 moves without a capture or pawn movement before a draw could be claimed. This has since been reduced to 50, a change directly influenced by games like Nikolić versus Arsović.
While the Nikolić-Arsović match holds the record for the most moves, it isn't the longest game in terms of time. That title belongs to a 1980 match in Tel Aviv between Yedael Stepak and Yaakov Mashian, which lasted an astounding 24 hours and 30 minutes, though it "only" reached 193 moves. Stepak ultimately won when Mashian resigned on the 193rd move.
I'd love to hear from all of you in the comments. What's the longest game you've ever played online, either in terms of moves or time? I'm looking forward to reading your stories.
