Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Mathematics/2009 September 26

= September 26 =

Chess outcomes
If draws by agreement or timeout (other than those known to have been book draws) are excluded, what percentage of international-tournament chess games are won by white, and what percentage by black? Neon Merlin  03:06, 26 September 2009 (UTC)


 * There is an article on First-move_advantage_in_chess. Bo Jacoby (talk) 08:05, 26 September 2009 (UTC).


 * There are also stalemates, draws due to repeated board position, draws due to insufficient material to mate, and draws due to no piece taken in (50?) moves. Did I miss any ? StuRat (talk) 13:12, 26 September 2009 (UTC)


 * No, you didn't miss any. It is 50 moves, though some exceptional material balances were tried with more moves for a while, and also a pawn move restarts the count.Julzes (talk) 15:28, 26 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Interesting. I wonder what the most number of moves is, in a chess game that eventually resulted in a win.  And, in the case of running out the clock, doesn't the player who still has time left win ? StuRat (talk) 15:12, 27 September 2009 (UTC)


 * If the player with time left does not have mating material, it is a draw. These really are not mathematics questions, by the way.Julzes (talk) 16:49, 27 September 2009 (UTC)


 * According to Krabbé's Chess Records, Kosteniuk defeated Fressinet in 237 moves (Villandry 2007, rapid) but Fressinet could have claimed a 50-move draw much earlier (remember, that has to be claimed). — JAO • T • C 12:06, 28 September 2009 (UTC)
 * And, as list of world records in chess reports, Fressinet's election was informed; having earlier in the tournament protested Viktor Korchnoi's invoking the fifty-move rule, arguing (unsuccessfully) that such a draw cannot be had in a blitz game in which moves are not recorded, he admirably subjugated self-interest to consistency. 76.230.224.226 (talk) 19:10, 28 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Good catch. That makes me wonder, though, as Krabbé has the moves of the record game. Were they recorded by someone else? Wouldn't it then be possible to consult that official? Or maybe the game was filmed to be recorded later? — JAO • T • C 09:05, 30 September 2009 (UTC)
 * If you count theoretical positions that were not actually played out, Fifty-move rule mentions a winning position which requires 517 moves for a capture. -- Meni Rosenfeld (talk) 17:13, 28 September 2009 (UTC)