Personally, I'm in 2 games right now that we started back on July 18th. That's over 6 months. I'm pretty sure that's MY longest. Quite probably my slowest too, but I don't see that stat for individual games, so I don't know.
Longest and Slowest Chess Game
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Jan 29, 2009
0
#3
I read somewhere about a postal game which was begun by two men and finished by their sons after both men had passed away. I don't remember any of the details and I can't seem to find anything about it now. Maybe someone else has heard of this.
Wow wormrose, that's interesting. I'll have to do some research. Ahhhh, William you make your fellow turtles proud.
Jan 30, 2009
0
#5
A bit of googling gave me the following. It's not an exact answer to your questions, but it comes close.
Correspondence games
Slowest
C.N. 3435 quoted a paragraph from page 215 of CHESS, 17 May 1957:
‘H. Jarvis, Croydon, played postal chess from 1931 (when he went on holiday to Germany) onwards, with Eberhardt Wilhelm, secretary of the international correspondence chess organization. When the war started, it was Mr Jarvis to move. Naturally the game was abruptly interrupted, and after the war ended it was two years before normal postal services were resumed. Wilhelm thereupon wrote and pointed out that it had been Mr Jarvis’ move for eight years and said that if he did not reply by return he would claim the game. Mr Jarvis had the move ready; he despatched a move at once and the games were duly concluded. So the one move took eight years. “Is this a record” asks Mr Jarvis “for the longest time ever taken to play a chess move?”’
Assuming that the other moves weren't played at break-neck speed, it's probably a good candidate for the game with the slowest average moves as well, though we can't really be sure.
On another note:
The same C.N. item also gave a game which took about 16 years and was widely published in the mid-1870s:
Karl Brenzinger – Francis Eugene Brenzinger
Correspondence, 1859 – 18 March 1875
Two Knights’ Defence
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 Ng5 d5 5 exd5 Na5 6 Qe2 Nxc4 7 Qxc4 Bd6 8 d3 O-O 9 Nc3 h6 10 Nge4 Kh8 11 O-O Nh5 12 d4 f5 13 Nxd6 cxd6 14 dxe5 dxe5 15 Qe2 Qe8 16 Nb5 f4 17 f3 Ng3 18 hxg3 fxg3 19 f4 Bd7 20 Nd6 Qe7 21 Ne4 Qh4 22 Nxg3 Qxg3 23 Rf3 Bg4 24 Rxg3 Bxe2 25 Re3 Bc4 26 d6 Rxf4 27 Re1 Rd4 28 b3 Bb5 29 c4 Bc6 30 c5 Rg4 31 Re2 Rf8 32 Be3 Kg8 33 a4 Rb4 34 Rb2 Kf7 35 Bd2 Rg4 36 Bc3 Ke6 37 b4 Rf3
38 Bxe5 Kxe5 39 b5 Be4 40 Rd2 Rfg3 41 Raa2 Bxg2 42 d7 Bc6+ 43 Kh2 Bxd7 44 Rxd7 Rg6 45 Re2+ Kf6 46 Rde7 (This mistake was attributed to impatience after Black took seven months over his 45th move.) 46...Rg2+ 47 Rxg2 Rxg2+ 48 Kxg2 Kxe7 49 Kf3 h5 50 a5 Kd7 51 White resigns.
(to be found at: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3560 , which includes a diagram; emphasis mine)
Here is something I would like to know. What was the longest chess game ever played and what was the slowest (per move) game ever played. Yes, there is a difference between the two (as any true chess turtle would know). Help me out fellow turtles!