World records in chess

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 with a 269 move draw.

Shortest tournament game

The shortest decisive game ever played in a tournament is often considered to be Đorđević - Kovačević, Bela Crkva 1984. It lasted for only 3 moves (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 c6 3.e3 Qa5+ winning the bishop).

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.

Longest decisive game without a capture

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

Greatest Concentration of Chess Grandmasters

Beersheva, Israel has a higher percentage of grandmasters per capita - eight - than any other city worldwide, the majority of them immigrants from the former Soviet Union; the city of 183,000 has one grand master per 22,875 residents.

Perfect tournament score

In top class chess it is rare for a player to complete a tournament with a 100% score. This outstanding result was however achieved by;

* Emanuel Lasker at New York in 1893 (he scored 13 out of 13)
* Jose Raoul Capablanca at New York in 1913 (13/13)
* Jose Raoul Capablanca again at New York in 1914 (11/11)
* Alexander Alekhine at Caracas in 1939 (10/10)
* Bobby Fischer at the US Championship of 1963/64 (11/11)