Editing List of world records in chess

{{Short description|None}}
{{For|the American record label|Chess Records}}
The world records in [[chess]] listed here are achieved in organized [[chess tournament|tournament]], match, or [[simultaneous exhibition]] play.
{{chess notation|pos=toc}}

==Game length records==

===Longest game===
The longest decisive FIDE-rated game is Billy Fellowes vs Peter Lalić, London 2024, which lasted for 272 moves, at the Third Kingston Invitational.<ref>{{cite web |title=Billy Fellowes vs Peter D Lalic (2024) |url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2753406 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240831195529/https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2753406 |archive-date=August 31, 2024 |access-date=August 31, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Krabbé Chess records">{{cite web |last=Barden |first=Leonard |date=August 23, 2024 |title=Leonard Barden on chess |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/23/chess-carlsen-and-niemann-impress-as-paris-grudge-rematch-approaches |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240830075242/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/23/chess-carlsen-and-niemann-impress-as-paris-grudge-rematch-approaches |archive-date=August 30, 2024 |access-date=August 31, 2024 |website=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=McShane |first=Luke |date=August 28, 2024 |title=Marathon |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/marathon/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240831204302/https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/marathon/ |archive-date=August 31, 2024 |access-date=August 31, 2024 |website=The Spectator}}</ref>

The longest game played in a [[World Chess Championship|world championship]] is the [[Carlsen versus Nepomniachtchi, World Chess Championship 2021, Game 6|6th game]] of the [[2021 World Chess Championship]] between [[Magnus Carlsen]] and [[Ian Nepomniachtchi]], which Carlsen won in 136 moves by resignation. The game lasted nearly 8 hours.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-12-04|title=After 136 moves, Magnus Carlsen wins the longest game in World Chess Championship history|work=ABC News|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-04/magnus-carlsen-wins-longest-game-world-chess-history/100674464|access-date=2021-12-04}}</ref>

===Shortest game===
====Shortest decisive game====
The fewest moves required to deliver checkmate in chess is two, in what is known as the [[fool's mate]] (1.g4 e5 2.f3{{chesspunc|??}} Qh4{{chessAN|#}} and variants thereof). This happens in amateur play.

In a tournament game at [[Chess handicap|odds]] of {{chessgloss|pawn and move}}, White delivered [[checkmate]] on move 2: W. Cooke–"R____g", Cape Town Chess Club handicap tournament 1908 (remove Black's f-pawn) 1.e4 g5?? 2.Qh5#.<ref>[[Edward Winter (chess historian)|Edward Winter]], [http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/#5857._Maxim Chess Note 5858] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170429230555/http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/ |date=April 29, 2017 }}.</ref> The same game had previously been played in Leeky–Mason, Dublin 1867.<ref>{{Harv|Winter|2003|p=99}}</ref>

If one counts forfeited games as a loss in zero moves,<ref>It counts as a loss for tournament score, but not for rating calculations where a forfeit is treated as an unplayed game.</ref> then there have been many such forfeits, with some notable examples being [[World Chess Championship 1972#Game 2|Game 2]] of the [[World Chess Championship 1972|1972 world championship match]] between [[Boris Spassky]] and [[Bobby Fischer]], which Fischer defaulted,<ref>{{Harv|Brady|1973|pp=244–45}}</ref> and Game 5 of the [[FIDE World Chess Championship 2006|2006 world championship match]] between [[Vladimir Kramnik]] and [[Veselin Topalov]], which Kramnik defaulted.<ref>''[[Chess Informant]]'', Volume 98, Šahovski Informator, 2007, p. 295.</ref>

Under [[FIDE]] rules instituted around 2008, a player who is late for the beginning of a round loses the game,{{outdated-inline||Carlsen arrived late for his first fame in the Blitz World Championship 2022 and only had his clock started, he still won that game|date=January 2023}}  as does a player who has a forbidden electronic device (by default any device). The former rule was used at the 2009 Chinese Championship to forfeit [[Hou Yifan]] for arriving five seconds late for the beginning of a round.<ref>[http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2009/06/new-rule-good-or-bad-you-decide.html New rule. Good or bad? You decide.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217170147/http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2009/06/new-rule-good-or-bad-you-decide.html |date=February 17, 2012 }} susanpolgar.blogspot.com. Retrieved on October 25, 2009.</ref> The latter rule was used to forfeit [[Aleksander Delchev]] against [[Stuart Conquest]] after the move 1.d4 in the 2009 European Team Championship.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5867|title=Novi Sad: another loss by ringtone|date=October 25, 2009|publisher=ChessBase News|access-date=October 25, 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20091027000000/http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5867|archive-date=October 27, 2009}}</ref>

The German [[grandmaster (chess)|grandmaster]] [[Robert Hübner]] also lost a game without playing any moves. In a World Student Team Championship game played in Graz in 1972, Hübner played one move and offered a draw to [[Kenneth Rogoff]], who accepted. However, the arbiters insisted that some moves be played, so the players played the following game: 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Ng1 Bg7 4.Qa4 0-0 5.Qxd7 Qxd7 6.g4 Qxd2+ 7.Kxd2 Nxg4 8.b4 a5 9.a4 Bxa1 10.Bb2 Nc6 11.Bh8 Bg7 12.h4 axb4 (draw agreed).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1543378|title=Robert Huebner vs. Kenneth S Rogoff (1972) Going Rogoff|website=www.chessgames.com|access-date=May 4, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170714010853/http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1543378|archive-date=July 14, 2017}}</ref> The arbiters ruled that both players must apologize and play an actual game at 7 p.m. Rogoff appeared and apologized; Hübner did neither. Hübner's clock was started, and after an hour Rogoff was declared the winner.<ref>{{Harv|Alexander|1973|pp=80–81}}</ref> Wang Chen and [[Lu Shanglei]] both lost a game in which they had played no moves. They agreed to a draw without play at the 2009 Zhejiang Lishui Xingqiu Cup International Open Chess Tournament held in Lishui, Zhejiang Province, China. The chief arbiter declared both players to have lost the game.<ref>[[Susan Polgar]] Daily Chess News and Information, [http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2009/09/double-forfeit.html Double forfeit] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719182714/http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2009/09/double-forfeit.html |date=July 19, 2011 }} (based on Polgar's translation of Chinese-language [http://sports.sina.com.cn Sina Sports] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091009235623/http://sports.sina.com.cn/ |date=October 9, 2009 }}, published September 21, 2009). Retrieved on 2009-09-29.</ref>

More rarely, a player might decide to protest by resigning a game rather than forfeiting. A game between Fischer and [[Oscar Panno]], played at the [[Palma de Mallorca]] [[Interzonal]] 1970, went: 1.c4 Black resigns. Panno refused to play to protest the organizers' rescheduling of the game to accommodate Fischer's desire not to play on his religion's [[Shabbat|Sabbath]]. Panno was not present when the game was to begin. Fischer waited ten minutes before making his move and went to get Panno to convince him to play. Fifty-two minutes had elapsed on Panno's clock before he came to the board and resigned.<ref>{{Harv|Brady|1973|p=179}}</ref><ref>{{Harv|Wade|O'Connell|1973|pp=344, 410}}</ref> (At the time, an absence of sixty minutes resulted in a forfeit.)<ref>{{Harv|Brady|1973|p=245}}</ref>

The shortest decisive tournament game between masters that was decided because of the position on the board (i.e. not because of a forfeit or protest) is Z. Đorđević–M. Kovačević, Bela Crkva 1984. It lasted only three moves (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 c6 3.e3{{chesspunc|??}} Qa5+ winning the bishop), and White resigned.<ref name="Krabbé Chess records"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1243482|title=Zoran Djordjevic vs. Milorad Kovacevic (1984)|access-date=June 17, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150509190148/http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1243482|archive-date=May 9, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Harv|Fox|James|1993|p=177}}</ref> This was repeated in Vassallo–Gamundi, [[Salamanca]] 1998.<ref name="Krabbé Chess records"/> (In a number of other games, White has played on after 3...Qa5+, occasionally drawing<ref>[[Tim Krabbé]], [http://www.xs4all.nl/~timkr/chess2/diary13txt.htm Entry No. 257] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060525222703/http://www.xs4all.nl/~timkr/chess2/diary13txt.htm |date=May 25, 2006 }}. Retrieved on May 4, 2009.</ref> or even winning<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1705074|title=Carl D Latino vs. Steven R Dumas (2010)|access-date=June 17, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150617164240/http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1705074|archive-date=June 17, 2015}}</ref> in this line.)

The shortest game ever lost by a grandmaster because of the position on the board was by GM [[Yair Kraidman]], who lost in four moves against IM Hagen Poetsch at the 2013 Vienna Open (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6?? apparently thinking that White captured with the Knight instead of the Queen).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2465327|title=Hagen Poetsch vs Yair Kraidman (2013)}}</ref> The shortest game ever lost by a grandmaster without such a mistake was by future world champion [[Viswanathan Anand]], who resigned on move 6 against [[Alonso Zapata]] in 1988 (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Bf5?? 6.Qe2 winning a piece, since 6...Qe7 is answered by 7.Nd5 Qe6{{chesspunc|?}} 8.Nxc7+).<ref name="Barden2017">{{cite news | title = Hou Yifan resigns after five moves in protest over her Gibraltar pairings | journal = [[The Guardian]] | last1 = Barden | first1 = Leonard | author-link = Leonard Barden | date = February 3, 2017 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/feb/03/hou-yifan-resigns-after-five-moves-gibraltar | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170208040441/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/feb/03/hou-yifan-resigns-after-five-moves-gibraltar | archive-date = February 8, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1018015|title=Alonso Zapata vs. Viswanathan Anand (1988)|publisher=Chessgames.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110227105748/http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1018015|archive-date=February 27, 2011}}</ref>

====Shortest draw====
A game may be [[draw (chess)|drawn]] by mutual agreement in any number of moves. Traditionally, it has been common for players to agree to a "[[grandmaster draw]]" after playing about 10–15 moves of known [[chess opening theory|opening theory]] and making no serious effort to win. This is usually done to preserve energy in a tournament, after a devastating loss in the previous round of the tournament, or in the final round when no prize money is at stake. There has been some debate over the ethics of the practice, and recently there has been a trend away from such games, with many tournaments adopting [[Draw by agreement#Steps taken to discourage draws or short draws|measures to discourage short draws]].<ref>
In the [[World Chess Championship 2016]] and [[World Chess Championship 2018|2018]], the players were not permitted to agree a draw before move 30. In the [[World Chess Championship 2021|2021 World Championship]], this was extended to move 40.</ref> If the tournament officials (unlike those at Graz and Lishui) do not object, a game may even be agreed drawn without a single move being played. [[Tony Miles]] and [[Stewart Reuben]] did the same thing in the last round of the [[Luton]] 1975 tournament, "with the blessing of the controller", in order to assure themselves of first and second places respectively.<ref name="Whyld 1986 124">{{Harv|Whyld|1986|p=124}}</ref><ref>{{Harv|Fox|James|1993|p=178}}</ref>

====Shortest stalemate====
{{Chess diagram
|tright
|
|  |  |  |  |  |bd|nd|rd
|  |  |  |  |pd|  |pd|qd
|  |  |  |  |ql|pd|kd|rd
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |pd
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |pl
|  |  |  |  |pl|  |  |  
|pl|pl|pl|pl|  |pl|pl|  
|rl|nl|bl|  |kl|bl|nl|rl
|Shortest possible stalemate after 10.Qe6
}}
The shortest known [[stalemate]], composed by [[Sam Loyd]], involves the sequence 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 (''diagram''). The shortest stalemate with all of the pieces on the board, composed by Charles H Wheeler,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter08.html#CN_3679|title=Chess Notes by Edward Winter|access-date=June 17, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708184953/http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter08.html#CN_3679|archive-date=July 8, 2015}}</ref> occurs after 1.d4 d6 2.Qd2 e5 3.a4 e4 4.Qf4 f5 5.h3 Be7 6.Qh2 Be6 7.Ra3 c5 8.Rg3 Qa5+ 9.Nd2 Bh4 10.f3 Bb3 11.d5 e3 12.c4 f4 (minor variations are possible). The shortest known route to a position where both players are stalemated, discovered by Enzo Minerva and published in the Italian newspaper ''[[l'Unità]]'' on August 14, 2007, is 1.c4 d5 2.Qb3 Bh3 3.gxh3 f5 4.Qxb7 Kf7 5.Qxa7 Kg6 6.f3 c5 7.Qxe7 Rxa2 8.Kf2 Rxb2 9.Qxg7+ Kh5 10.Qxg8 Rxb1 11.Rxb1 Kh4 12.Qxh8 h5 13.Qh6 Bxh6 14.Rxb8 Be3+ 15.dxe3 Qxb8 16.Kg2 Qf4 17.exf4 d4 18.Be3 dxe3.

===Fewest moves played in a tournament===
In the Premier I group at the 2003 Capablanca Memorial tournament, [[Péter Székely]] took just 130 moves (an average of 10 moves per game) to draw all 13 of his games.<ref>{{Harv|Winter|2008}}</ref>

==Game play records==
===Latest first capture===
In [[Kenneth Rogoff|Rogoff]]–[[Arthur Howard Williams|Williams]], [[World Junior Chess Championship]], [[Stockholm]] 1969, the first capture (94.bxc5) occurred on White's 94th move.<ref name="Krabbé Chess records"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1709732|title=Kenneth Rogoff vs. Arthur Howard Williams (1969) "Trade Restrictions"|access-date=June 17, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413165825/http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1709732|archive-date=April 13, 2015}}</ref> Filipowicz–Smederevac, [[Polanica Zdroj]] 1966, was drawn in 70 moves under the [[fifty-move rule]], without any piece or pawn having been captured.<ref name="Whyld 1986 124"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1710666 |title=Andrzej Filipowicz vs Petar Smederevac |publisher=Chessgames.com |access-date=July 20, 2020}}</ref>

====Latest first capture in a decisive game====
{{Chess diagram
 |tright
 |
 |  |  |  |  |nd|bd|rd|nd
 |  |  |  |bd|qd|rd|  |kd
 |  |  |  |pd|  |pd|pd|pd
 |  |  |pd|pl|pd|  |pl|  
 |pd|pd|pl|  |pl|pl|  |pl
 |  |  |  |bl|  |ql|nl|nl
 |pl|pl|  |  |  |  |  |rl
 |  |  |bl|  |  |  |rl|kl
 |Yates–Znosko-Borovsky, 1927, after White's 40th move
}} 
In the decisive game [[Frederick Yates (chess player)|Yates]]–[[Eugene Znosko-Borovsky|Znosko-Borovsky]], [[Royal Tunbridge Wells|Tunbridge Wells]] 1927, the first capture occurred on Black's 40th move.<ref>The game appears in "The Game of Chess" by [[Harry Golombek]], Penguin Books, first published 1954, on page 119. The game is only given from move 40 onwards, but the diagram showing the position on move 40 shows all pieces and pawns present.</ref>

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 Na5 9.Bc2 c5 10.d4 Qc7 11.h3 0-0 12.Nbd2 Bd7 13.Nf1 Nc6 14.d5 Nd8 15.g4 Ne8 16.Ng3 g6 17.Kh2 Ng7 18.Rg1 f6 19.Be3 Nf7 20.Rg2 Kh8 21.Qd2 Qc8 22.Rh1 Rg8 23.Rhg1 a5 24.Kh1 b4 25.c4 a4 26.Bd3 Qa6 27.Qe2 Raf8 28.Nd2 Qc8 29.f3 Ne8 30.Ndf1 Kg7 31.Bc1 h6 32.Ne3 Kh7 33.Rh2 Nh8 34.h4 Rf7 35.Nd1 Bf8 36.Nf2 Bg7 37.f4 Bf8 38.Qf3 Qd8 39.Nh3 Qe7 40.g5 (''diagram'') Bxh3 41.f5 hxg5 42.hxg5 Rgg7 43.Rxh3+ Kg8 44.fxg6 Rxg6 45.Nf5 Qd7 46.Rg2 fxg5 47.Rgh2 Bg7 48.Rxh8+ Bxh8 49.Qh5 Rff6 50.Qxh8+ Kf7 51.Rh7+ Ng7 52.Rxg7+ Rxg7 53.Qxg7+ {{chessAN|1–0}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chesstempo.com/gamedb/game/1862370|title=Yates, Frederic D – Znosko-Borovsky, Eugene 1927, Tunbridge Wells, Tunbridge Wells|access-date=June 17, 2015}}</ref>

===Latest castling===

The latest castling occurred on Black's 48th move in Neshewat-Garrison, Michigan 1994<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1819049|title=Michael Neshawat vs. R. Raymond Garrison (1994)|website=www.chessgames.com|access-date=May 30, 2021}}</ref> and Somogyi-Black, New York 2002.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1819050|title=Somogyi vs. Richard Black (2002)|website=www.chessgames.com|access-date=May 30, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://timkr.home.xs4all.nl/records/records.htm|title=Chess Records |website=timkr.home.xs4all.nl |access-date=May 30, 2021}}</ref>

===Theoretical novelties===

The book ''1000 TN!! The Best Theoretical Novelties'' contains the games with the ten highest-ranked {{chessgloss|theoretical novelty|theoretical novelties}} (TNs) that appeared in each of Volumes 11 through 110 of [[Chess Informant]].<ref>''[[Chess Informant]]'', ''1000 TN!! The Best Theoretical Novelties'', 2012, p. 3.</ref> The earliest such novelty occurred on White's fourth move in [[Anatoly Karpov|Karpov]]–[[Tony Miles|Miles]], Bugojno 1978, namely 1.c4 b6 2.d4 e6 3.d5 Qh4 4.Nc3{{chesspunc|!}}<ref>''1000 TN!! The Best Theoretical Novelties'', p. 94</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1068064|title=Anatoly Karpov vs. Anthony Miles (1978)|access-date=June 17, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150617164137/http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1068064|archive-date=June 17, 2015}}</ref> The latest occurred on Black's 34th move (34...Kd5!) in [[Yuri Shulman|Shulman]]–[[Mihail Marin|Marin]], Reykjavík Open 2009.<ref>''1000 TN!! The Best Theoretical Novelties'', pp. 579–80.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1542350|title=Yury Shulman vs. Mihail Marin (2009)|access-date=June 17, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150508113420/http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1542350|archive-date=May 8, 2015}}</ref> The only game to receive a perfect rating from ''Chess Informant'''s panel of judges was Miles–[[Alexander Beliavsky|Belyavsky]], Tilburg 1986, which featured the novelty 18.f4{{chesspunc|!!}} It received 90 points, 10 out of a possible 10 from each of the 9 judges.<ref>''1000 TN!! The Best Theoretical Novelties'', p. 311.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1097836|title=Anthony Miles vs. Alexander Beliavsky (1986) "Big Fun"|access-date=June 17, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150617164238/http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1097836|archive-date=June 17, 2015}}</ref>

==National records==

===Most grandmasters===
Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia holds the record for greatest number of grandmasters. In the November 2018 rating list, 229 of the 1645 grandmasters were from Russia.

===Greatest concentration of resident grandmasters===
In 2005, [[Reykjavík]], [[Iceland]], with eight grandmasters ([[Jón Loftur Árnason|Jón L. Árnason]], [[Jóhann Hjartarson]], [[Margeir Pétursson]], [[Friðrik Ólafsson]], [[Thröstur Thórhallsson]], [[Helgi Grétarsson]], [[Hannes Stefánsson]], and [[Bobby Fischer]]) had a higher percentage of resident [[International Grandmaster|grandmasters]] per capita than any other city worldwide;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2790|title=The Beer Sheva Chess Club|work=Chess News|date=10 December 2005 |access-date=June 17, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109220455/http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2790|archive-date=November 9, 2012}}</ref> the city of 114,000<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/iceland/towns/|title=All Urban Settlements (Iceland)|website=www.citypopulation.de}}</ref> had, therefore, one grandmaster per 14,000 residents.

===Most rated players===
As of November 2018, Germany has the highest number of active FIDE-rated players with 11,813. Russia, by comparison, has 11,313.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ratings.fide.com/advseek.phtml|title=FIDE Advanced players search|website=ratings.fide.com}}</ref>

===Strongest team===
The USSR team that participated in the 13th Olympiad (Munich 1958) had been claimed{{who|date=January 2020}} as the strongest team ever. It was composed of four world champions ([[Mikhail Botvinnik]], [[Vasily Smyslov]], [[Mikhail Tal]] and [[Tigran Petrosian]]), one world championship challenger ([[David Bronstein]]) and [[Paul Keres]], four times runner-up in the [[Candidates Tournament]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.olimpbase.org/1958/1958urs.html|title=13th Chess Olympiad, Munich 1958, Soviet Union|website=www.olimpbase.org}}</ref>

==Tournament records==
===Perfect tournament scores===<!-- This section is linked from [[José Raúl Capablanca]], [[Emanuel Lasker]], [[Henry Ernest Atkins]], and [[William Pollock (chess player)]] -->
In top-class chess it is rare for a player to complete a tournament or match with a 100 percent score. Some examples are:
*[[Gustav Neumann]] at Berlin 1865 (34/34)<ref name="Fox 1993 129">{{Harv|Fox|James|1993|p=129}}</ref>
*[[William Pollock (chess player)|William Pollock]] at Belfast 1886 (8/8)<ref>{{Harv|Di Felice|2004|p=101}}</ref><ref>{{Harv|Winter|1998}}</ref>
*[[Emanuel Lasker]] at New York 1893 (13/13)
*[[Henry Ernest Atkins|Henry Atkins]] at Amsterdam 1899 (15/15)
*[[José Raúl Capablanca]] at New York 1913 (13/13, including one default)
*[[Dawid Janowski]] at Paris 1914 (9/9)
*[[Alexander Alekhine]] at Moscow 1919–20 (11/11)
*[[Boris Kostić]] at Hastings 1921–22 (7/7)<ref>{{Harv|Cload|Keene|1991|pp=123–24}}</ref>
*[[Bobby Fischer]] in New York at the US Championship of 1963/64 (11/11)<ref>Hooper and Whyld call Fischer's achievement "the most remarkable achievement of this kind", noting that the 1963/64 U.S. Championship was "a tournament of about category 10." 
{{Harv|Hooper|Whyld|1992|p=81}}</ref>
*[[Alexander Beliavsky]] at [[Alicante]] 1978 (13/13)<ref name="Hooper 1992 81">{{Harv|Hooper|Whyld|1992|p=81}}</ref><ref>{{Harv|Soltis|2002|pp=81–83}}</ref><ref>{{Harv|Sunnucks|1970|p=76}}</ref><ref>Sunnucks also lists Alekhine's 10/10 score at Caracas 1939, but Soltis writes that it, and Buenos Aires 1926, which Alekhine won with the same score, were "weak events". {{Harv|Soltis|2002|p=81}}.</ref>
*[[Sandro Mareco]] at Montevideo 2017 (9/9)
*[[Karen H. Grigoryan]] at Famalicão 2019 (9/9)<ref>{{cite web |title=VII Torneio Internacional Cidade de Famalicão |url=http://chess-results.com/tnr459618.aspx?lan=1&art=1&fed=ARM&flag=30 |website=chessresults.com |access-date=29 December 2024}}</ref>

[[William Lombardy]] is the only player ever to achieve a perfect score in the [[World Junior Chess Championship]], open to players under the age of 20 as of January 1 in the year of competition. He scored 11–0 at [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=82996 Toronto 1957].<ref>{{Harv|Fox|James|1993|pp=17–18}}</ref><ref>{{Harv|Kažić|1974|pp=273–74}}</ref><ref>Lombardy 2011, back cover)</ref>

[[Vera Menchik]] won four consecutive [[Women's World Chess Championship]] tournaments with perfect scores, a total of 45 games (8–0 at [[4th Chess Olympiad|Prague 1931]], 14–0 at [[5th Chess Olympiad|Folkestone 1933]], 9–0 at [[6th Chess Olympiad|Warsaw 1935]], and 14–0 at [[7th Chess Olympiad|Stockholm 1937]]).<ref name="Hooper 1992 81"/><ref>{{Harv|Kažić|1974|pp=261–63}}</ref> She only played 43 of the 45 games, since Harum, the Austrian contestant, was unable to reach Folkestone and thus forfeited all of her games in that double [[round-robin tournament|round robin]] event.<ref>{{Harv|Sergeant|1934|p=324}}</ref>

Alekhine scored 9–0 on {{chessgloss|first board}} for France at the [[3rd Chess Olympiad]] ([[Hamburg]], 1930), and [[Dragoljub Čirić]] scored 8–0 as second reserve (the sixth player on his team) for Yugoslavia at the [[17th Chess Olympiad|17th Olympiad]] ([[Havana]], 1966), but each played only about half of the possible games.<ref>{{Harv|Kažić|1974|pp=16, 95}}</ref> [[Robert Gwaze]] scored 9–0 on first board for [[Zimbabwe]] at the [[35th Chess Olympiad|35th Olympiad]] ([[Bled]], 2002).<ref>{{Harv|Hook|2008|p=177}}</ref>

[[Valentina Gunina]] won the Women's section of the 2010 Moscow Blitz tournament with a 17/17 score.<ref name="chessbase-moscow-blitz">[http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6648 His fifth samovar – Morozevich wins 64th Moscow Blitz] {{webarchive|url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20100903000000/http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6648 |date=September 3, 2010 }}, "WGM Valentina Gunina with a truly astounding result", "an incredible 100% result, winning all seventeen games she played".</ref>

[[Wesley So]] scored 9/9 in the 2011 Inter-Provincial Chess Team Championship, with a performance rating of 3037,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://chess-results.com/tnr47104.aspx?art=9&lan=1&snr=17 |title=Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com – Tournament-Database |publisher=Chess-results.com |access-date=December 9, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20131211061940/http://chess-results.com/tnr47104.aspx?art=9&lan=1&snr=17 |archive-date=December 11, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://chess-results.com/tnr47104.aspx?art=20&lan=1&snr=4 |title=Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com – Tournament-Database |publisher=Chess-results.com |access-date=December 9, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20131209235939/http://chess-results.com/tnr47104.aspx?art=20&lan=1&snr=4 |archive-date=December 9, 2013 }}</ref> won the gold medal in men's blitz at the SEA Games 2011 at Indonesia with a score of 9/9 and a rating performance of 3183,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://chess-results.com/tnr60057.aspx?art=9&lan=1&fed=PHI&turdet=YES&flag=30&snr=7 |title=Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com – Tournament-Database |publisher=Chess-results.com |date=November 21, 2011 |access-date=December 9, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20131209141916/http://chess-results.com/tnr60057.aspx?art=9&lan=1&fed=PHI&turdet=YES&flag=30&snr=7 |archive-date=December 9, 2013 }}</ref> and won the 2013 Calgary International Blitz Championship with a score of 9/9.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.calgaryinternationalchessclassic.com/IStandings.html |title=2013 Calgary International Chess Classic – International – Standings |publisher=Calgaryinternationalchessclassic.com |access-date=December 9, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131107044000/http://www.calgaryinternationalchessclassic.com/IStandings.html |archive-date=November 7, 2013 }}</ref>

The youngest player to obtain a perfect score in a National Blitz Chess Championship anywhere in the world is [[Jack Mizzi]], who in September 2023 won 9/9 games at the Malta Open Blitz Championship, with a performance rating of 2602,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - Malta Open Blitz Championship 2023 |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr806963.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=9 |access-date=2023-10-15 |website=chess-results.com}}</ref> when he was 17 years 4 months old.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Insurance |first1=Atlas |last2=Cauchi |first2=Mattea |date=2023-10-13 |title=Jack Mizzi wins the Atlas Youth Athlete of the Month Award for September 2023 {{!}} Atlas Insurance Malta {{!}} People You Can Trust |url=https://www.atlas.com.mt/atlas-youth-athlete-of-the-month/jack-mizzi-wins-the-atlas-youth-athlete-of-the-month-award-for-september-2023/ |access-date=2023-10-14 |website=Atlas Insurance Malta |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=SportsDesk |date=2023-10-06 |title=Jack Mizzi in record run at the Malta Blitz Chess Championship |url=https://sport.timesofmalta.com/2023/10/06/jack-mizzi-in-record-run-at-the-malta-blitz-chess-championship/ |access-date=2023-10-14 |website=SportsDesk |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Maltese chess prodigy sets new blitz record |url=https://bard.google.com/share/6a88b6719c85 |access-date=2023-10-14 |website=bard.google.com |language=en}}</ref>

===Most tournament victories===
As of December 2011, [[John Curdo]] had won 865 tournaments.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chess Chat with John Curdo|url=http://www.chesscafe.com/video/video.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120502041915/http://www.chesscafe.com/video/video.htm|archive-date=May 2, 2012|access-date=January 8, 2012}}</ref> When he died in 2022, he was credited with winning 1,009 tournaments.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rizzitano |first=James |date=2022-11-02 |title=FM John Curdo, 1931-2022 |url=https://new.uschess.org/news/fm-john-curdo-1931-2022 |access-date=2022-12-28 |website=US Chess.org |language=en}}</ref>

===Most wins in a national championship===
As of 2017, Carlos Juárez has won the [[Guatemalan Chess Championship]] 27 times.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cdag.com.gt/carlos-juarez-y-carolina-mazariegos-monarcas-nacionales-de-ajedrez-2014/|title=Carlos Juárez y Carolina Mazariegos monarcas nacionales de Ajedrez 2014|access-date=June 17, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20150617044941/http://cdag.com.gt/carlos-juarez-y-carolina-mazariegos-monarcas-nacionales-de-ajedrez-2014/|archive-date=June 17, 2015}}</ref>

===Most decisive Interzonal victory===
The highest percentage score at an [[Interzonal]] was 82.5% (16½ points out of 20 games), scored by [[Alexander Kotov]] at the 1952 Stockholm Interzonal. The largest margin of victory was achieved by [[Bobby Fischer]], who won the Palma de Mallorca Interzonal in 1970 with 18½ points out of 23 games, 3½ points ahead of second-place finishers [[Bent Larsen]], [[Efim Geller]] and [[Robert Hübner]].

===Most games won===
Gustav Neumann won 34 of his games, also a perfect score, at the [[List_of_world_records_in_chess#Perfect_tournament_scores|aforementioned Berlin 1865 tournament]].<ref name="Fox 1993 129"/>

===Most games lost===
[[Nicholas MacLeod]] holds the record for the most games lost in a single tournament: he lost 31 games at the [[American Chess Congress#Sixth American Chess Congress|Sixth American Chess Congress]] at New York 1889, while winning six and drawing one.<ref>{{Harv|Chernev|1974|p=50}}</ref><ref>{{Harv|Fox|James|1993|pp=168–69}}</ref><ref>{{Harv|Winter|1996|p=3}}</ref> MacLeod was only 19, and the tournament, a 20-player double-[[Round-robin tournament|round robin]], was one of the longest tournaments in chess history. The most games lost by a player who lost ''all'' of his games in a tournament was by [[Colonel Moreau]]. At Monte Carlo 1903, Moreau lost all 26 of his games.<ref>{{Harv|Fox|James|1993|p=169}}</ref><ref>{{Harv|Whyld|1986|p=125}}</ref>

===Lost all games on time===
At the [[Büsum]] 1969 tournament, [[Friedrich Sämisch]] lost all 15 games by exceeding the [[time control]].<ref>[[Edward Winter (chess historian)|Edward Winter]], [http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter109.html#8237._Samisch_at_Busum_and_ Chess Note 8237] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328143225/http://chesshistory.com/winter/winter109.html |date=March 28, 2014 }}.</ref><ref>"Saemisch . . . was brought in as a last minute substitute. He made chess history by losing every game on time." The Chess Player, ''Modern Opening Chess Theory as Surveyed in Busum 1969 Complete with All the Games'' (1969), p. 1.</ref> He lost all 13 of his games at the [[Linköping]] 1969 tournament the same way.<ref>{{Harv|Hooper|Whyld|1992|pp=352–53}}</ref>

===Most world champions in a tournament===
[[Nottingham 1936 chess tournament|Nottingham 1936]] included five past, current, and future world champions: reigning champion [[Max Euwe]]; [[Alexander Alekhine]], who had lost the title to Euwe the prior year, and would regain it the following year; former champions [[Emanuel Lasker]] and [[José Raúl Capablanca]]; and [[Mikhail Botvinnik]], who would win the championship in 1948. This record was equaled by [[Moscow 1971 chess tournament|Moscow 1971]] and the 1973 [[Soviet Chess Championship]], each of which included former champions [[Vasily Smyslov]], [[Mikhail Tal]], and [[Tigran Petrosian]]; [[Boris Spassky]], who was champion from 1969 to 1972; and future champion [[Anatoly Karpov]].<ref>[[Chess Informant]], Volume 12, Šahovski Informator, 1972, p. 235.</ref><ref>B. Cafferty and [[Mark Taimanov|M. Taimanov]], ''The Soviet Championships'', Cadogan Books, 1998, p. 160. {{ISBN|1-85744-201-6}}.</ref>

===Largest tie for first===
Thirteen players tied for first with 5–1 scores at the National Open held on March 17–19, 2000 in Las Vegas: grandmasters [[Jaan Ehlvest]], [[Alexander Goldin]], [[Alexander Baburin]], [[Pavel Blatny]], [[Eduard Gufeld]], [[Yuri Shulman]], [[Alex Yermolinsky]], [[Gregory Kaidanov]], [[Dmitry Gurevich]], [[Alexander Stripunsky]], and [[Gregory Serper]], and International Masters [[Rade Milovanovic]] and Levon Altounian.<ref>[[Robert Byrne (chess player)|Robert Byrne]], [https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/23/nyregion/chess-gufeld-is-one-of-lucky-13-at-top-of-the-national-open.html?src=pm CHESS; Gufeld is One of Lucky 13 at Top of the National Open] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170423155343/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/23/nyregion/chess-gufeld-is-one-of-lucky-13-at-top-of-the-national-open.html?src=pm |date=April 23, 2017 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', April 23, 2000. Retrieved on October 9, 2011.</ref>

===Highest performance rating in a classical tournament===

The highest performance rating in history is 3385, achieved in [[Chess 960]] by [[Magnus Carlsen]], after a 9/9 performance at the Grenke Open in 2025.<ref>{{citeweb|url=https://www.ft.com/content/8740b894-8904-48f4-8330-1a8a914520f2|title=Chess: Carlsen sets historic record with 9 out of 9 at Grenke Open|date=22 April 2025}}</ref>

In standard chess, [[Karen H. Grigoryan]] achieved a performance rating of 3103, when he scored a perfect 9/9 at the 2019 Cidade de Famalicão tournament.<ref name="ACF">[http://chessfed.am/news/2019/8/GM-Karen-Grigoryan-shows-highest-elo-performance-in-chess-history GM Karen Grigoryan shows highest elo performance in chess history], Armenian Chess Federation, August 3, 2019</ref><ref>[http://chess-results.com/tnr459618.aspx?lan=1&art=1&fed=ARM&flag=30 VII Torneio Internacional Cidade de Famalicão], chess-results.com</ref> At top level, [[Fabiano Caruana]] achieved a 3098 performance rating at the 2014 [[Sinquefield Cup]].<ref name="ACF" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://chess-results.com/tnr143628.aspx?lan=1&art=1&wi=821|title=Sinquefield Cup 2014 results|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122235126/http://chess-results.com/tnr143628.aspx?lan=1&art=1&wi=821|archive-date=January 22, 2018|access-date=January 22, 2018}}</ref>

===Longest consideration for a move===
{{Chess diagram
|tright
|
|rd|  |bd|qd|kd|  |  |rd
|pd|pd|pd|pd|  |pd|pd|pd
|  |  |  |  |  |nd|  |  
|  |  |  |  |nd|  |  |  
|  |  |pl|pl|pl|  |  |  
|  |  |nl|  |  |  |  |  
|pl|pl|  |  |  |kl|pl|pl
|rl|  |bl|ql|  |bl|  |rl
|Trois thought for 2 hours 20 minutes deciding between 7...Neg4+ and 7...Ng6.
}}
Before the introduction of [[chess clocks]], it was common for players to take more than an hour to decide on a move. Among the players who had a reputation for playing particularly slowly (taking over 2 hours for a move) are [[Alexander McDonnell (chess player)|Alexander McDonnell]] and [[Elijah Williams (chess player)|Elijah Williams]], however, it was not normal practice to time a player's moves so claims about the slowness of a player in an untimed game must be considered unverified.

In [[Vigo]], Spain in 1980, the Brazilian International Master [[Francisco Trois]] spent 2 hours and 20 minutes over his 7th move, deciding which of two viable moves to make. After blitzing out another 21 moves in serious time trouble, he resigned. His opponent, [[Luis Santos (chess player)|Luis Santos]], asked him after the game, "How can you think for over two hours when there are only two possible moves? I don't understand." Trois replied, "Neither do I."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Gude |first=Antonio |date=July 1980 |title=1 Open Internacional Ciudad de Vigo – Hernandez, Eslon y Castro Compartieron el Triunfo |trans-title=Vigo International Open – Hernandez, Eslon and Castro Share First Place |url=http://www.historiadelajedrezespanol.es/revistas/el_ajedrez/El_ajedrez_07.pdf#page=18 |url-status=live |magazine=El Ajedrez |language=es |location=Vigo |issue=7 |page=316 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423095454/http://www.historiadelajedrezespanol.es/revistas/el_ajedrez/El_ajedrez_07.pdf#page=18 |archive-date=23 April 2021 |access-date=23 April 2021 |via=historiadelajedrezespanol.es}}</ref>
{{-}}

==Match records==
===Perfect scores===
Perfect scores were achieved in matches by:
*[[Howard Staunton]] over [[Daniel Harrwitz]] in 1846 (7/7)
*[[Wilhelm Steinitz]] over [[Joseph Henry Blackburne]] in 1876 (7/7)
*Capablanca over Kostić in 1919 (5/5)<ref name="Hooper 1992 81"/>
*Fischer over [[Mark Taimanov]] in 1971 (6/6) (quarter-final [[Candidates Match]])
*Fischer over [[Bent Larsen]] in 1971 (6/6) (semi-final [[Candidates Match]])

===Highest percentage of draws in matches===
At the [[World Chess Championship 2018]] between [[Magnus Carlsen]] and [[Fabiano Caruana]], all 12 classical games ended in draws (100%). Only in the tiebreaks, there were three decisive rapid games.

==Playing records==

===Consecutive wins against masters===
[[Bobby Fischer]] won 20 consecutive games, all in competitions at late stages of the [[World Chess Championship|world championship]] cycle. (Some commentators give this as 19, discounting Fischer's game against [[Oscar Panno]], who resigned after Fischer's first move as a protest.){{Citation needed|date=April 2022}} Fischer won his last seven games at the 1970 [[Palma de Mallorca]] [[Interzonal]] (including the one-move game against Panno), then swept [[Mark Taimanov]] 6–0 in the quarterfinals followed by [[Bent Larsen]] by the same score in the semifinals. In the Candidates Match final, Fischer beat former World Champion [[Tigran Petrosian]] in the first game before Petrosian snapped the streak by winning the second match game.<ref>{{Harv|Soltis|2002|pp=43, 73}}</ref>

[[Wilhelm Steinitz]] won his last 16 games at [[Vienna 1873 chess tournament|Vienna 1873]], including a two-game playoff against [[Joseph Henry Blackburne]] at the end. He played no serious chess until an 1876 match against Blackburne that Steinitz swept 7–0. After a long period of inactivity, Steinitz played at [[Vienna 1882 chess tournament|Vienna 1882]], where he won his first two games before finally ending his winning streak with a draw. Steinitz's 25-game winning streak over nine years has never been equaled.<ref>{{Harv|Soltis|2002|p=42}}</ref>

[[Vera Menchik]] won 59 consecutive games at the Women's World Championships tournaments over nine years,<ref>{{citeweb|url=https://en.chessbase.com/post/tenth-vera-menchik-memorial|title=Tenth Vera Menchik Memorial|date=10 March 2025}}</ref><ref>See [[Women's World Chess Championship 1930]], [[Women's World Chess Championship 1931]], [[Women's World Chess Championship 1933]], [[Women's World Chess Championship 1935]], [[Women's World Chess Championship 1937 tournament]] and [[Women's World Chess Championship 1939]]</ref> but she was a much superior player to all other women players of her time, to the point that [[Alexander Alekhine]] said it was unfair to ask her to defend her title in these tournaments.<ref>{{citeweb|url=https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/women.html|title=Chess and Women|author=Edward Winter}}</ref> She lost many games to the top male players during the streak, as well as a few games in matches against [[Sonja Graf]].

===Longest unbeaten streak===
The longest confirmed unbeaten streak at an elite level belongs to [[Magnus Carlsen]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/oct/08/chess-carlsen-extends-record-unbeaten-streak-before-key-game-with-caruana|title=Carlsen extends record unbeaten streak after beating world No 2 Caruana|last=Barden|first=Leonard|date=October 8, 2020|work=The Guardian|access-date=October 9, 2020|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> who achieved an unbeaten streak of 125 games in the classical time format. His streak started after a loss on July 31, 2018, in the [[Biel Chess Festival|Biel tournament]] against [[Shakhriyar Mamedyarov]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1926282|title=Shakhriyar Mamedyarov vs Magnus Carlsen (2018) State of Shakh|website=www.chessgames.com|access-date=October 20, 2019}}</ref> and ended on October 10, 2020, when he lost to [[Jan-Krzysztof Duda]] in a game at the [[Norway Chess|Altibox Norway Chess Tournament]].<ref>[https://2700chess.com/games/duda-carlsen-r5-the-stavanger-region-2020-10-10 ''Round 5 of the 2020 Altibox Norway Chess Tournament: Jan-Krzysztof Duda vs Magnus Carlsen''].</ref> The streak consists of 42 wins and 83 draws. It includes three wins in the Norwegian Chess League against opponents rated more than 500 Elo points lower, which Carlsen prefers not to count.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/nov/22/chess-magnus-carlsen-wont-count-norway-league-games ''Chess: Magnus Carlsen ‘won’t count’ Norway league games in record streak'']. ''The Guardian'', November 22, 2019</ref> Carlsen's streak broke the previous record of 100 games by [[Ding Liren]], who went unbeaten from August 2017 to November 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Peterson|first=Macaulay|date=Nov 11, 2018|title=Ding defeated! Tiviakov celebrates!|url=https://en.chessbase.com/post/ding-defeated|website=Chessbase}}</ref> Ding in turn had taken the record from [[Mikhail Tal]], who managed 95 games unbeaten in 1973–74.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Copeland (SamCopeland)|first=Sam|title=Ding Liren Breaks Mikhail Tal's 95-Game Undefeated Streak|url=https://www.chess.com/news/view/ding-liren-breaks-mikhail-tals-95-game-undefeated-streak|access-date=2021-06-04|website=Chess.com|date=5 November 2018 }}</ref>

[[Bogdan Lalić]]'s unbeaten streak of 155 games<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ara.org.ar/chs/ajedrez/lalic.html|title=Record: Bogdan Lalić's unbeaten streak of 155 games|website=www.ara.org.ar}}</ref> (against less elite players than those Carlsen faced) is confirmed to have taken place between 2010 and 2011, according to the FIDE ratings website.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ratings.fide.com/profile/409081|title=Bogdan Lalić: FIDE Profile|website=ratings.fide.com}}</ref>

In [[correspondence chess]], Denny Marbourg achieved an unbeaten streak of 169 games, according to the [[ICCF U.S.A.]] website.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iccfus.com/221219News.htm|title=ICCF-US 2023-1 Rating List Top 50 List|website=ICCF-U.S.}} Retrieved December 22, 2022.</ref>

==Rating records==
{{see also|Comparison of top chess players throughout history}}
[[FIDE]] (chess's international governing body) adopted [[Elo rating]]s in 1970. Players who peaked before this year therefore do not feature in rating records.

===Highest rating===
The highest rating ever achieved is 2882, by [[Magnus Carlsen]] on the May 2014 list and once again on the August 2019 list.<ref name="August 2019 FIDE rating list">{{cite web|url=https://ratings.fide.com/toparc.phtml?cod=557|title=August 2019 FIDE rating list|access-date=October 21, 2019}}</ref>

:{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%;"
|+Progression of highest rating record
!Player
!Rating
!Year-month first achieved
|-
| [[Bobby Fischer]]
| align=center | 2760
| 1971–01
|-
| Bobby Fischer
| align=center | 2785
| 1972–01
|-
| [[Garry Kasparov]]
| align=center | 2800
| 1990–01
|-
| Garry Kasparov
| align=center | 2805
| 1993–01
|-
| Garry Kasparov
| align=center | 2815
| 1993–07
|-
| Garry Kasparov
| align=center | 2820
| 1997–07
|-
| Garry Kasparov
| align=center | 2825
| 1998–01
|-
| Garry Kasparov
| align=center | 2851
| 1999–07
|-
| [[Magnus Carlsen]]
| align=center | 2861
| 2013–01
|-
| Magnus Carlsen
| align=center | 2872
| 2013–02
|-
| Magnus Carlsen
| align=center | 2881
| 2014–03
|-
| Magnus Carlsen
| align=center | 2882
| 2014–05
|}

Carlsen also holds the highest unofficial "live rating" of 2889.2, achieved on April 21, 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.2700chess.com/ |title=Live Chess Ratings – 2700chess.com |access-date=October 12, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151011081700/http://www.2700chess.com/ |archive-date=October 11, 2015 }} Retrieved on April 24, 2015.</ref>

===Largest rating lead===
On the July 1972 FIDE rating list, [[Bobby Fischer]]'s [[Elo rating system#FIDE ratings|rating]] of 2785 was 125 points ahead of the second-highest rated player, then-reigning World Champion [[Boris Spassky]] (2660).<ref>[http://chess.eusa.ed.ac.uk/Chess/Trivia/AlltimeList.html All Time Rankings] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091126000035/http://chess.eusa.ed.ac.uk/Chess/Trivia/AlltimeList.html |date=November 26, 2009 }} – lists the top 10 from 1970 to 1997.</ref> Kasparov's biggest lead at his peak was 82 points in January 2000.<ref name="TWIC 270">[https://theweekinchess.com/html/twic270.html The Week in Chess 270] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121140443/https://theweekinchess.com/html/twic270.html |date=November 21, 2008 }}, [[The Week in Chess]], January 10, 2000. Retrieved on December 30, 2006.</ref> In both the January and July 1990 rating lists, Kasparov was rated 2800 while Karpov was the only player rated 2700+, with third place being at 2680 although the identity of the third-place player changed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://2700chess.com/top20-for-any-month|title=Top 20 for any month|access-date=December 3, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171204061415/https://2700chess.com/top20-for-any-month|archive-date=December 4, 2017}}</ref> [[Magnus Carlsen]]'s biggest lead was 74 points in October 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ratings.fide.com/toparc.phtml?cod=277|title=Top 100 Players October 2013 FIDE Top players archive|access-date=June 17, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150417065504/http://ratings.fide.com/toparc.phtml?cod=277|archive-date=April 17, 2015}}</ref>

[[Jeff Sonas]] of [[Chessmetrics]] calculates that in April 1876 [[Wilhelm Steinitz]] was the top-ranked player in the world, with a rating record 199 points above that of [[Henry Bird (chess player)|Henry Bird]], the second-ranked player.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.chessbase.com/post/the-greatest-che-player-of-all-time-part-i|title=The Greatest Chess Player of All Time – Part I|work=Chess News|date=24 April 2005|access-date=June 17, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150304221056/http://en.chessbase.com/post/the-greatest-che-player-of-all-time-part-i|archive-date=March 4, 2015}}</ref>

===Longest duration as number one===
Garry Kasparov was the world's highest-rated player on FIDE's rating list for a record 255 months, a number that is well ahead of all other world number ones since the inception of the list.<ref name="KasparovProfile">{{cite web |title=The chess games of Garry Kasparov |url=http://www.chessgames.com/player/garry_kasparov.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118121310/http://www.chessgames.com/player/garry_kasparov.html |archive-date=January 18, 2017}}</ref> Before the list, Emanuel Lasker was the world's highest-rated player for 292 months between June 1890 and December 1926 according to Chessmetrics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/PlayerProfile.asp?Params=199510SSSSS3S073076000000111000000000000010100|title=Chessmetrics Player Profile: Emanuel Lasker|website=www.chessmetrics.com}}</ref>

==Age-related records==
===Youngest world champion ===
* Youngest undisputed world champion: [[Gukesh Dommaraju|D Gukesh]]; 18 years 6 months 14 days, [[World chess championship|title won 2024]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Graham |first1=Bryan Armen |title=Gukesh Dommaraju becomes youngest world chess champion after horrific Ding Liren blunder |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/dec/12/gukesh-dommaraju-india-wins-world-chess-championship-youngest-champion-ding-liren |website=The Guardian |access-date=12 December 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241212150924/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/dec/12/gukesh-dommaraju-india-wins-world-chess-championship-youngest-champion-ding-liren |archive-date=12 December 2024}}</ref>
* Youngest disputed [[FIDE World Chess Championships (1998–2004)|FIDE world champion]]: [[Ruslan Ponomariov]]; 18 years, 3 months and 13 days, [[FIDE World Chess Championship 2002|title won 2002]]
* Youngest [[Women's World Chess Championship|Women's World Chess Champion]]: [[Hou Yifan]]; 16 years, 9 months and 27 days, [[Women's World Chess Championship 2010|title won 2010]]

===Youngest grandmaster===
The youngest player to be awarded the [[grandmaster (chess)|grandmaster]] title by FIDE is [[Abhimanyu Mishra]]. In 2021, he qualified for the title at the age of 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days. See [[List of youngest grandmasters]] for the history of this record.

===Oldest grandmaster===

{{section incomplete||Who was the oldest player to receive the GM title by the "standard method" of achieving 3 norms?|date=June 2022}}
Several players have been awarded honorary or retrospective grandmaster titles based on their past achievements. The oldest of these was [[Andreas Dückstein]], who was awarded the title in 2024 at the age of 96.

Apart from retrospective awards, a number of players have achieved the title by winning the [[World Senior Chess Championship|World Senior Championship]]. The oldest player to gain the title in this way was [[Yuri Shabanov]], who won the 2003 event and was awarded the title at the age of 66.

===Oldest combined age of players in a match===
In 2014, GM [[Viktor Korchnoi]] (1931-2016) played a two-game match against GM [[Wolfgang Uhlmann]] (1935-2020). Korchnoi won both games. The combined age of the two players was 162 years, which is almost certainly a record for a standard time control match between Grandmasters. At a rapid time control, Korchnoi played a four-game match against GM [[Mark Taimanov]] (b. 1926) in November 2015. Korchnoi won the match 2–1 with one draw. The combined ages of the players was 174. This was the first time since 1980 that Korchnoi had played in an official or friendly match with an opponent older than himself.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.luzernerzeitung.ch/sonderthemen/beiuns|title=BeiUns Nachrichten|website=[[Luzerner Zeitung]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jun/06/viktor-korchnoi-obituary|title=Viktor Korchnoi obituary|work=The Guardian|date=6 June 2016 |access-date=October 16, 2010}}</ref>

===Youngest player to defeat a grandmaster===

On February 18, 2024, [[Ashwath Kaushik]], aged 8 years, 6 months, and 11 days, beat Grandmaster [[Jacek Stopa]] at the 22nd Burgdorfer Stadthaus Open in Switzerland.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Svensen |first1=Tarjei |title=8-Year-Old Ashwath Beats Chess Grandmaster, Sets New World Record |url=https://www.chess.com/news/view/8-year-old-ashwath-kaushik-beats-chess-grandmaster-sets-new-record |website=Chess.com |date=19 February 2024 |access-date=20 February 2024}}</ref>

===Oldest player to defeat a grandmaster===

In the [[List_of_world_records_in_chess#Oldest_combined_age_of_players_in_a_match|aforementioned rapid match]] in November 2015 between Mark Taimanov and Viktor Korchnoi, Taimanov was approximately 89 years and 9 months old when he won one of the match games against Korchnoi. The oldest known player to beat a grandmaster in a tournament game at standard time controls is [[Anthony Saidy]]. In Round 3 of the National Open Chess Championship in Las Vegas, played sometime between June 17 and 19, 2019,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vegaschessfestival.com/national-open/|title=National Open|access-date=2020-10-26}}</ref> Saidy, aged 82 years and 1 month, beat grandmaster [[Vladimir Belous]] (age 25).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201906168902.1-10439949|title=2019 National Open Chess Championship|publisher=United States Chess Federation|access-date=2020-10-26}}</ref>

==Simultaneous and blindfold records==

===Best and worst results in simultaneous exhibitions===

In 1922, [[José Raúl Capablanca]], the recently crowned [[World Champion]], played 103 opponents simultaneously in [[Cleveland, Ohio|Cleveland]]. He completed the exhibition in seven hours, scoring 102 wins and one draw (99.5%), the best result ever in a simultaneous exhibition on over 75 boards.<ref>{{Harv|Damsky|2005|p=235}}</ref><ref>{{Harv|Chernev|1974|p=8}}</ref>

The best result in a simultaneous exhibition solely against [[grandmaster (chess)|grandmasters]] is former World Champion [[Garry Kasparov]]'s performance against an [[Israel]]i team consisting of [[Boris Alterman]], [[Alexander Huzman]], [[Ilya Smirin]], and [[Emil Sutovsky]] at [[Tel Aviv]] in 1998.<ref>[[Chessgames.com]], [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1016404 Kasparov's super simuls] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140718014502/http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1016404 |date=July 18, 2014 }}</ref> Adding to the difficulty Kasparov played Black in half the games; usually in exhibitions the exhibitor plays White on all boards. A second round was played 2 days later with colors reversed. Kasparov scored 7–1 against an all 2600+ rated team and considers it one of the peak performances of his career.

[[Paul Morphy]] also gave an impressive exhibition. On April 26, 1859, at London's St. James Chess Club, Morphy played "five games simultaneously against a group of masters who could be described as among the top ten players of the day", scoring 3–2. He defeated [[Jules Arnous de Rivière]] and [[Henry Bird (chess player)|Henry Bird]], drew with [[Samuel Boden]] and [[Johann Löwenthal]], and lost only to [[Thomas Wilson Barnes]].<ref>{{Harv|Soltis|2002|p=103}}</ref>

The worst result in a simultaneous exhibition given by a [[master (chess)|master]] occurred in 1951, when [[International Master]] [[Robert Wade (chess player)|Robert Wade]] gave a simultaneous exhibition against 30 Russian schoolboys, aged 14 and under. After 7 hours of play, Wade had lost 20 games and [[drew (chess)|drawn]] the remaining 10.<ref>{{Harv|Kotov|1964|p=66}}</ref><ref>{{Harv|Chernev|1974|p=110}}</ref><ref>{{Harv|Fox|James|1993|pp=170–71}}</ref><ref>GM [[Alexander Kotov]] wrote that former World Champion [[Max Euwe]] warned new arrivals in Moscow, "Just don't give exhibitions against Pioneers" (i.e. students at the [[Pioneers Palace|Palaces of the Pioneers]]) {{Harv|Kotov|1964|p=66}}.</ref>

The absolute worst result in a simultaneous exhibition was two wins and 18 losses (10%) by Joe Hayden, aged 17, in August 1977. Hayden wanted to set an American record by playing 180 people simultaneously at a shopping center in Cardiff, New Jersey, but only 20 showed up to play. Hayden lost 18 of the games (including one to a seven-year-old). His two wins were scored against his mother and a player who got tired of waiting and left mid-game, thus forfeiting the game.<ref>{{Harv|Fox|James|1993|pp=190–91}}</ref>

===Most games in blindfold exhibitions===
The record for the most games played in a blindfold simultaneous exhibition is 48, set by [[Timur Gareyev]] in December 2016, when he played 48 opponents over 20 hours, scoring 35 wins, 7 draws and 6 losses.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.chessbase.com/post/48-blindfold-boards-the-tale-behind-the-record|title=48 blindfold boards – The tale behind the record|publisher=Chessbase|date=January 14, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170602094823/http://en.chessbase.com/post/48-blindfold-boards-the-tale-behind-the-record|archive-date=June 2, 2017}}</ref>

===Most players taking part in a multi-simul===
20,500 players played simultaneously on December 24, 2010, in Ahmadabad, India. Then-World Champion [[Viswanathan Anand]] was a guest of honor for this event and participated in the simul.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/simultaneous-chess-playing-record-set-in-india/ | work=The New York Times | title=Simultaneous Chess-Playing Record Set in India | date=December 26, 2010 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104105622/http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/simultaneous-chess-playing-record-set-in-india/ | archive-date=January 4, 2014 }}</ref>

===Most simultaneous games===
On February 8–9, 2011, Iranian grandmaster [[Ehsan Ghaem-Maghami]] played for 25 hours against 604 players, winning 580 (97.35%) of the games, drawing 16, and losing 8.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/4-tournaments/5055-world-record-604-board-simultaneous-chess-exhibition-by-gm-ehsan-ghaem-maghami-iri.html |title=World Record 604 Board Simultaneous Chess Exhibition by GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami (IRI) |publisher=Fide.com |date=February 10, 2011 |access-date=December 9, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721164434/http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/4-tournaments/5055-world-record-604-board-simultaneous-chess-exhibition-by-gm-ehsan-ghaem-maghami-iri.html |archive-date=July 21, 2015 }}</ref>

==Writing-related records==

===Longest-running chess column===
[[Leonard Barden]]'s daily chess column for the ''[[London Evening Standard]]'' began in June 1956, and was published daily in the printed newspaper until July 30, 2010, a total run of 54 years and 1 month. It then continued online until January 31, 2020, for a total of 63 years, 7 months and 27 days without missing a day.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.chessbase.com/post/barden-on-the-longest-running-chess-column |title=Barden on the longest running chess column |publisher=chessbase.com |date=October 25, 2010 |access-date=May 16, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512073026/http://en.chessbase.com/post/barden-on-the-longest-running-chess-column |archive-date=May 12, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/staticpage/chess/ |title=Chess – with Leonard Barden |work=Evening Standard |date=April 17, 2015 |access-date=May 16, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180404200842/https://www.standard.co.uk/staticpage/chess |archive-date=April 4, 2018 }}</ref>

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==External links==
* [http://www.xs4all.nl/~timkr/records/records.htm Tim Krabbé's chess records page]
* [[Edward Winter (chess historian)|Edward Winter]], "[http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/records.html Chess Records]"

{{Chess}}
{{records}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:World Records In Chess}}
[[Category:History of chess]]
[[Category:Sports world records|Chess]]