The 4 Longest Chess Games In History

Think you have played some long chess games? Check out the games in this article and see if your marathon games match up! Warning! All but one of these games is over 200 moves!

Here are the top-four longest-rated chess games ever played:

• Ivan Nikolic vs. Goran Arsovic
• Alexandre Danin vs. Sergei Azarov
• Lauren Fressinet vs. Alexandra Kosteniuk
• Viktor Korchnoi vs. Anatoly Karpov

1) Ivan Nikolic vs. Goran Arsovic (269 moves)

Game one is the longest recorded and rated chess game in history. This single game took over 20 hours to end in a draw! The FIDE rule at that time allowed playing to win for up to 100 moves without a piece being captured or a pawn move being made in some endings including rook and bishop vs rook. Today no exceptions are allowed in the general 50-move rule.

The endgame of this game is the famous rook and bishop vs. rook, which is known to be extremely difficult.

2) Alexandre Danin vs. Sergei Azarov (239 moves)

Game two is the longest recorded and rated chess game where one of the players won. This game came with extra pressure as Danin had to win the game in order for his team to draw the match in the Czech league!

3) Laurent Fressinet vs. Alexandra Kosteniuk (237 moves)

Game three is the runner up for the longest game with victory. Like game one, this game ended with the famous rook and bishop vs. rook endgame! 116 of the moves involved this endgame. Fressinet could have claimed a draw under the 50-move rule, but neither player was writing down the moves.

The amazing part of this game is that it was played under a rapid time control.

4) Viktor Korchnoi vs. Anatoly Karpov (124 moves)
Game four is included in this list for being the longest game ever played in a world championship match.

The game technically could have lasted longer, but Korchnoi's 124th move produced stalemate on the board!

Now, it's your turn. Which has been your longest chess game?

 Please share it in the comments section!