English Chess Forum

I was looking at "100 Classics of the Chessboard" for its section on endgame studies and was reminded of the game Hamppe - Meitner, Vienna, 1870 or 1872 which ends in perpetual check on move 18.

According to MegaBase 2019 the same game with the same result has happened 46 times since 1870.

This set me thinking : how many standard drawing games (that have happened multiple times) are there for those who wish to pre-arrange a draw ?

I watched the Golding brothers play out the Sam Loyd 10 move stalemate at the 2019 Berkshire Megafinal and this appears 6 times in MB 2019. This is the one that starts 1.e3 a5 2. Qh5.

i.e.

1.e3 a5 2.Qh5 Ra6 3.Qxa5 h5 4.Qxc7 Rah6 5.h4 f6 6.Qxd7+ Kf7 7.Qxb7 Qd3 8.Qxb8 Qh7 9.Qxc8 Kg6 10.Qe6

There is also the other Sam Loyd stalemate 1. d4 e5 2. Qd2 e4 etc. This has happened around 6 - 10 times in MB 2019 depending on move order.

i.e.

1. d4 e5 2. Qd2 e4 3. a4 a5 4. Qf4 f5 5. h3 Qh4 6. Qh2 Bb4+ 7. Nd2 d6 8. Ra3 Be6 9. Rg3 Bb3 10. c4 c5 11. f3 f4 12. d5 e3.


and there is the example from Frederick Rhine :

1.d4 c5 2.dxc5 f6 3.Qxd7+ Kf7 4.Qxd8 Bf5 5.Qxb8 h5 6.Qxa8 Rh6 7.Qxb7 a6 8.Qxa6 Bh7 9.h4 Kg6 10.Qe6

However, I am more interested in the ones that end in perpetual check as a means of completing a pre-arranged draw.

Can you help please ?

I remember being part of a team plotting to repeat the moves of the famous Sax vs Seirawan, Brussels World Cup 1988 game, which ended in perpetual after just 13 or so moves. We thought a certain strong player might enjoy the beauty of that game and be happy to repeat it, knowing he played the variation. Despite "wasting" a White, it worked a treat for our team as we won the match by virtue of that half-point "lost".

I bet that game has been used a few times for quick peace!

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 c5 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.e5 Ng4 8.e6 fxe6 9.Ng5 Bxb5 10.Nxe6 Bxd4 11.Nxd8 Bf2+ 12.Kd2 Be3+ etc.

Geoff Marchant wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 19, 2019 5:44 pm

I bet that game has been used a few times for quick peace!

Over 250 times!

White can play for a small edge by taking the Bishop on b5 at move 11 instead of the Queen on d8.

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 c5 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.e5 Ng4 8.e6 fxe6 9.Ng5 Bxb5 10.Nxe6 Bxd4 11.Nxd8 Bf2+ 12.Kd2 Be3+ etc.

Thanks Roger!

This one's even more popular:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O Bg4 6. h3 h5 7. c3 Qd3 8. hxg4 hxg4 9. Nxe5 Bd6 10. Nxd3 Bh2+

Richard James wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 20, 2019 12:35 am

This one's even more popular:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O Bg4 6. h3 h5 7. c3 Qd3 8. hxg4 hxg4 9. Nxe5 Bd6 10. Nxd3 Bh2+

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O Bg4 6. h3 h5 7. c3 Qd3 8. hxg4 hxg4 9. Nxe5 Bd6 10. Nxd3 Bh2+

Of course, the Hamppe-Meitner game was "refuted" yonks ago - Heidenfeld pointed out more than one missed White win in his book "Draw!".

Matt,

That is the main point underlying my post.

I was hoping to discover all of the popular "games" that players use to play a pre-arranged draw.

John Upham wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 20, 2019 3:25 pm

I was hoping to discover all of the popular "games" that players use to play a pre-arranged draw.

There's one in the Open Spanish, but not forced as 10 Kh1 is also possible and the theory main line. After the scary looking 10. .. Qh4, the sequence runs 11. Rxe4 dxe4 12. Qd8+ Qxd8 13. Nxd8 Kxd8 14. Kxh2 reaching an ending that some are prepared to play as Black.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Nxe4 6. d4 exd4 7. Re1 d5 8. Nxd4 Bd6 9. Nxc6 Bxh2 10 Kxh2 Qh4+ 11. Kg1 Qxf2

There's also the repetition in the Zaitsev.

Another pre-arranged drawing game appears to be a variation of the Vienna Game as follows :

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. d3 Bb4 6. dxe4 Qh4+ 7. Ke2 Bxc3 8. bxc3 Bg4+ 9. Nf3 dxe4 10. Qd4 Bh5 11. Ke3 Bxf3 12. gxf3 Qe1+ 13. Kf4 Qh4+ 14. Ke3


which has occurred some 38 times first being seen in Donner - Kramer, Wijk aan Zee, 1952.

I thank James Pratt for drawing (?) my attention to this.

John Upham wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 20, 2019 3:43 pm

Another pre-arranged drawing game appears to be a variation of the Vienna Game as follows :

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. d3 Bb4 6. dxe4 Qh4+ 7. Ke2 Bxc3 8. bxc3 Bg4+ 9. Nf3 dxe4 10. Qd4 Bh5 11. Ke3 Bxf3 12. gxf3 Qe1+ 13. Kf4 Qh4+ 14. Ke3


which has occurred some 38 times first being seen in Donner - Kramer, Wijk aan Zee, 1952.

I thank James Pratt for drawing (?) my attention to this.

A well known example is Nunn - Speelman, London 1980, where the last round draw gave Speelman his first GM norm.

You might find some here - http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscol ... id=1008234 - if you look at those that are said to end in perpetual check.

Richard James wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 20, 2019 12:35 am

This one's even more popular:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O Bg4 6. h3 h5 7. c3 Qd3 8. hxg4 hxg4 9. Nxe5 Bd6 10. Nxd3 Bh2+

That's the one "played" by the Kosintseva sisters about a dozen times I think

Matt Mackenzie wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 21, 2019 10:17 pm

Richard James wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 20, 2019 12:35 am

This one's even more popular:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O Bg4 6. h3 h5 7. c3 Qd3 8. hxg4 hxg4 9. Nxe5 Bd6 10. Nxd3 Bh2+

That's the one "played" by the Kosintseva sisters about a dozen times I think

This has been used for a pre-arranged draw 363 times according to MB 2019.

The sisters have played this 8 times to date. More to follow no doubt !

John Upham wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 21, 2019 10:32 pm

The sisters have played this 8 times to date. More to follow no doubt !

No, because Nadezhda has emigrated to the US, is married with a daughter, and now plays rarely, with no rated games since 2016, although she has done some work for Chessbase.

Tatiana remained in Russia and now plays even more rarely.with no rated games since 2015. She entered the women's world rapid/blitz championship at St Petersburg last December, but withdrew before the start. Her only recent recorded chess activity was a 56-board simul against children in Yalta last September:
http://ruchess.ru/news/all/grossmeyster ... h_v_yalte/