Longest decisive game ever played?

[LawrenceCooper]

https://chess24.com/en/community/chess- ... ver-played

[Keith Arkell]

I'll just check my scorebooks...

[LawrenceCooper]

I'll just check my scorebooks...

Some of my games against you seemed that long but I suspect they weren't

[Keith Arkell]

There was a game between Hartston and Basman, possibly in a British Ch playoff, which came down to this same ending. White's mistake in the game in this thread was to push his a pawn up the board. Crucially he loses the option to check on the a file. I think he finally realised that when he decided to jettison it after spending ages getting it to a7.

[Roger de Coverly]

There was a game between Hartston and Basman, possibly in a British Ch playoff, which came down to this same ending.

The Slater Young Masters at Southend in 1968.

At the end Basman falls into a drawing cheapo, whilst 80 Rh7 is mate in 12 according to engines.

As Keith suggests, the winning idea is to give up the pawn in circumstances where the RB v R ending is won.

[Event "Tournament"] [Site "Southend (England)"] [Date "1968.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Basman Michael J (ENG)"] [Black "Hartston William R (ENG)"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B88"] [WhiteElo "2338"] [BlackElo "2430"] [Annotator ""] [Source ""] [Remark ""] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.Re1 Bd7 10.Ndb5 Qb8 11.Bf4 Ne5 12.a4 a6 13.Nd4 Qc7 14.Qe2 Rac8 15.Rad1 Kh8 16.h3 Rg8 17.Nf3 Bc6 18.Bg3 g5 19.Nxe5 dxe5 20.Nd5 exd5 21.exd5 Bd7 22.Bxe5 Qd8 23.d6 Bf8 24.Bxf7 Rg7 25.Bb3 Rg6 26.Bd5 Qb6 27.a5 Qxa5 28.Qf3 Bg7 29.Bf7 Rh6 30.Qxb7 Qb5 31.Qa7 Rf8 32.Bb3 Rg6 33.Ra1 g4 34.h4 Bc8 35.Ba4 Qb7 36.Qxb7 Bxb7 37.d7 Ne4 38.Rad1 Bxe5 39.d8Q Rxd8 40.Rxd8+ Rg8 41.Rd7 Ba8 42.Rxe4 Bxe4 43.Re7 Bxb2 44.Rxe4 g3 45.fxg3 Rxg3 46.Kf2 Rg6 47.g4 h6 48.Rc4 Bf6 49.h5 Bh4+ 50.Kf3 Re6 51.Rc8+ Kg7 52.Bb3 Rd6 53.Ke4 Kf6 54.Rc7 a5 55.Bd5 Bg3 56.Ra7 Be1 57.c4 Bb4 58.Kd4 Rd8 59.c5 Rc8 60.c6 Bd6 61.Rxa5 Rc7 62.Be4 Re7 63.Rf5+ Kg7 64.g5 hxg5 65.h6+ Kg8 66.Rxg5+ Kh8 67.Ra5 Re8 68.Ra7 Bf4 69.Rf7 Bh2 70.Bf5 Kg8 71.Rd7 Bf4 72.Bh7+ Kh8 73.Bg6 Rc8 74.Kd5 Rf8 75.Ke6 Kg8 76.Bh7+ Kh8 77.Bd3 Kg8 78.c7 Bxc7 79.Rxc7 Kh8 80.Ke7 Rf7+ 1/2-1/2

[Keith Arkell]

Ah thanks Roger - yes that was it!

I think in the featured game the position was actually drawn when Black took the a-pawn. The position is always winning with the a-pawn on the board( barring stalemates and freak set ups) , but the method can be quite complex, whereas if you force the Black King back while resisting pushing the a pawn up the board the win is quite simple. However, Mike Basman's pawn was already up the board so he would have had to be a bit clever to convert (and I'm sure he would have been had he not allowed the stalemate).

[Jonathan Rogers]

Mate in 12 from 80 Rh7+ - how do you do that, then?

Sorry, I mean, Keith, how have you done that?

[Roger de Coverly]

This is how Houdini would have finished things off in the Basman - Hartston game.

[Event "Tournament"] [Site "Southend (England)"] [Date "1968.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Basman Michael J (ENG) - Houdini from move 80"] [Black "Hartston William R (ENG)"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B88"] [WhiteElo "2338"] [BlackElo "2430"] [Annotator ""] [Source ""] [Remark ""] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.Re1 Bd7 10.Ndb5 Qb8 11.Bf4 Ne5 12.a4 a6 13.Nd4 Qc7 14.Qe2 Rac8 15.Rad1 Kh8 16.h3 Rg8 17.Nf3 Bc6 18.Bg3 g5 19.Nxe5 dxe5 20.Nd5 exd5 21.exd5 Bd7 22.Bxe5 Qd8 23.d6 Bf8 24.Bxf7 Rg7 25.Bb3 Rg6 26.Bd5 Qb6 27.a5 Qxa5 28.Qf3 Bg7 29.Bf7 Rh6 30.Qxb7 Qb5 31.Qa7 Rf8 32.Bb3 Rg6 33.Ra1 g4 34.h4 Bc8 35.Ba4 Qb7 36.Qxb7 Bxb7 37.d7 Ne4 38.Rad1 Bxe5 39.d8Q Rxd8 40.Rxd8+ Rg8 41.Rd7 Ba8 42.Rxe4 Bxe4 43.Re7 Bxb2 44.Rxe4 g3 45.fxg3 Rxg3 46.Kf2 Rg6 47.g4 h6 48.Rc4 Bf6 49.h5 Bh4+ 50.Kf3 Re6 51.Rc8+ Kg7 52.Bb3 Rd6 53.Ke4 Kf6 54.Rc7 a5 55.Bd5 Bg3 56.Ra7 Be1 57.c4 Bb4 58.Kd4 Rd8 59.c5 Rc8 60.c6 Bd6 61.Rxa5 Rc7 62.Be4 Re7 63.Rf5+ Kg7 64.g5 hxg5 65.h6+ Kg8 66.Rxg5+ Kh8 67.Ra5 Re8 68.Ra7 Bf4 69.Rf7 Bh2 70.Bf5 Kg8 71.Rd7 Bf4 72.Bh7+ Kh8 73.Bg6 Rc8 74.Kd5 Rf8 75.Ke6 Kg8 76.Bh7+ Kh8 77.Bd3 Kg8 78.c7 Bxc7 79.Rxc7 Kh8 80.Rh7+ Kg8 81.Re7 Kh8 82.Bg6 Ra8 83.Kf6 Ra6+ 84.Kg5 Ra5+ 85.Bf5 Ra8 86.Be6 Ra5+ 87.Kf6 Re5 88.Re8+ Kh7 89.Bf5+ Rxf5+ 90.Kxf5 Kxh6 91.Re7 Kh5 92.Rh7#

[Keith Arkell]

Mate in 12 from 80 Rh7+ - how do you do that, then?

Sorry, I mean, Keith, how have you done that?

Haha, Roger saved me from that one, but I do know the method, and have had very similar finishes to this. Hard to do it in precisely the 12 moves though.

[Stewart Reuben]

In the game posted by Lawrence, 203...Rc6+ draws. 230 Rc5 wins. I have no doubt there were other immediate results I didn't notice. Why did Black resign the final position, or did he lose on time?

[JustinHorton]

. Why did Black resign the final position

Presumably Re8 - Bc5+ - Ra8 can't be avoided without abanonding the seventh rank and allowing Ra1?