Introduction
In this article I will explain how many moves there are in the typical chess game, how many ways a chess game can unfold and provide an explanation as to why there are so many ways for a chess game to play out. Chess is an extremely dynamic board game, and it is extremely rare to come across two chess games that are the same as there is an enormous number of ways a chess game can unfold. The question of just how many ways a chess game can unfold has been of interest to the chess community for many years. Alot of research and calculation has gone into finding out the answer to this question and the results are mind blowing to say the least. A fact that is unknown to most chess players is that after just a few moves are made in chess the number of ways the game can unfold is astonishingly high.
A large part of improving in chess regardless of the level you currently play at is knowing how many opportunities are at your fingertips at any given moment during a chess game. The greatest chess players are aware of this phenomenon and are able to use it to their advantage when faced with challenging positions on the chess board which sets them apart from most amateur chess players. Armed with this knowledge your success rate in chess could and should increase exponentially over time with practice whilst enhancing your overall understanding of the game. Although most chess games might seem to follow a similar pattern, making a small alteration to your usual train of thought during a chess game can completely change the trajectory of the game which can be to your advantage as well as to your detriment. Every move you make in chess is important and every move you make should be carefully considered which is one of the things that makes chess so exciting.
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Is There an Infinite Number of Possible Moves in Chess?
Although there is an insanely large number of ways a chess game can unfold because of the many ways a chess game can start the actual number of moves that can be played in a chess game is not infinite. The estimated number of moves that are possible in a chess game is 10120 which is also known as Shannon’s number.
At the start of every chess game each player can move their chess pieces in 20 ways, each chess player has the option to move one of their pawns one or two squares forward which amounts to 16 moves and their knights in two directions, forward two squares and one square to either the right or left, which amounts to 4 moves which totals 20 moves per player. The mathematical calculation for this is 20 x 20 which means that after each player has completed the first move of the game, there are around 400 ways the chess game could have unfolded. On average in any position in a typical chess game, there are around 30 legal moves that each player can make. By calculating the number of moves each chess player can make at any time in the game, which is 30 x 30, the result is that on average there are 900 ways a chess game can unfold after the first move has been made. The average chess game is around 40 moves however in chess one move consists of a move from each player and a single move from each player is called a ply. The calculation for the number of moves in a chess game or the number of ways a chess game can unfold is 3080 which is equivalent to 10120.
As a chess game progresses the number of ways the game could unfold increases as follows 20, 400, 8902, and by the fourth move there are just under 200,000 (197,742) ways the game could have unfolded. As more chess pieces are developed during the opening stages of the game the number of possible moves each player could have made increases exponentially. Within an average chess game consisting of only 40 to 160 moves there are billions to trillions of ways the game can unfold, and many chess game variations have not yet been discovered. In situations where both players have lost the entirety of their pieces except their kings there are rules that state that a draw or stalemate must be proclaimed. There are also rules such as the 50-move rule which states that if within 50 moves neither player has made a capture or advanced a pawn the game should be stopped. A chess game can go on almost endlessly without any significant strides being made by either player, so the 50-move rule was introduced to stop this from happening. Taking the 50-move rule into account the number of moves that can be played in a chess game is 11,800.
Over the decades there has been much mathematical research to assign a number to the possible moves in a chess game. This research led to the Shannon number being ascribed to the number of moves that’s possible within a chess game named after the research led by the American mathematician Claude Shannon. Claude Shannon wrote a paper called programming a computer to play chess where he calculated that for each game of chess there are 10120 ways the game can unfold. In the first moves of chess there are 900 ways a game can unfold and by the 10th move there are 69 trillion ways the game could have unfolded. This is the maths behind the Shannon number however other studies have been conducted on the number of moves that exist within a chess game that took various aspects of the game into consideration. Victor Allen a Dutch computer scientist considered the capturing of pieces in the average chess game and further consolidated the Shannon number into a smaller more precise number 1050. These number do not consider the actuality of the game and consist of mostly senseless games that would result in a loss if played or a stalemate at best.
Earlier studies on the possible number of moves in a chess game conducted by the English mathematician Godfrey Hardy yielded even larger numbers. Godfrey Hardy’s estimates for the number of moves in a chess game that could be played was 10^10^50. To put this in perspective there are 1080 atoms in the observable universe. These calculations would mean that in total when playing a game of chess there are more ways that the game can unfold than there are atoms in the observable universe excluding the atoms in the universe that cannot be observed. When considering making sensible moves in chess with the goal of winning the number of available moves totals roughly 1040. Although some chess games may look similar it is highly unlikely that you have ever played or witnessed the exact same chess game. Even if only sensible moves were made in chess, if everyone on the planet were to play a new chess game every day it would still take trillions of years for every variation of a chess game to be played. What is even more striking is that every single chess game that has been played throughout history only makes up a tiny fraction of the chess games that can be played.
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How Many Moves Are There In an Average Chess Game?
The average chess game consists of around 80 to 160 moves with shorter games consisting of around 40 moves which is half the number of moves in an average chess game. Most chess games are played between amateur chess players whereas professional chess games make up a small percentage of the total number of chess games that’s played around the world. Amateur chess games typically take 80 to 160 moves to complete whilst professional chess games usually take under 50 moves to complete.
The number of moves in the average chess game varies depending on several factors which includes your level of experience, your opponent’s level of experience, your ability to spot and take advantage of opportunities that present themselves during chess games, the openings and type of openings that’s used during chess games, each chess players approach to risks and rewards and each chess players playing style. It’s common for chess games between high rated chess players with Elo ratings that are over 2000 to end within 40 moves or less which is mainly because higher rated chess players tend to have a greater understanding of the positions they are likely to encounter on the chess board and how to manoeuvre when faced with positions that are likely to end in a win, lose or draw. Higher rated chess players are also much more likely to manage their time efficiently, make less blunders and mistakes and make decisive moves early in the game that can dictate the overall outcome of the game. When faced with unfavourable positions on the chess board higher rated chess players are also incredibly good at remaining calm and limiting the number of blunders and mistakes they make going forward which can result in slightly longer chess games that exceed 40 moves but rarely over 50 moves.
On the other hand, amateur chess players whose chess games make up the majority of the chess games that’s played around the world typically take much longer to finish due to several reasons. Amateur chess players are much more likely to make blunders and mistakes during chess games and are usually less effective at spotting and taking advantage of opportunities when they present themselves. Also, amateur chess players tend to be less familiar with the patterns that are likely to form on the chess board which is one of the reasons why they tend to make more blunders and mistakes. Most amateur chess games can take anywhere from 80 to 160 moves to reach completion although there are instances where they can be much shorter as well as much longer than the average amateur chess game. Strong amateur chess players are more likely to finish their chess games within the range of 40 to 80 moves whereas amateur chess players with less experience might require up to 160 moves and more for their chess games to reach completion. Becoming familiar with common chess board patterns, tactics, and strategies as well as what to do when faced with them is a skill that all professional chess players have mastered along their journey which can be achieved by anyone that is willing to put in the time and effort that is required to understand them.
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How Many Moves Does It Take To Complete A Chess Opening?
Some simple chess openings can take between 3 to 6 moves to complete whilst more complex chess openings can take up to 12 moves or more to complete. There are dozens of chess openings and each chess opening requires making a specific number of moves in a specific order and utilises a different strategy to achieve a specific goal.
There are dozens of openings in chess and the amount of moves it takes to complete each chess opening differs depending on the complexity of the opening. Some chess openings are simple and require very few moves to complete whilst other chess openings are complicated and require a greater number of moves to complete. The most effective chess openings aim to accomplish a specific goal which includes to control the centre of the chess board, to develop chess pieces as quick as possible and castle to protect the king, to prevent an opponent from using certain tactics, to initiate a particular strategy and much more. The least effective chess openings usually have little to no strategic benefits and can negatively affect your chances of winning the game which is why they are rarely used in chess games and frowned upon by most experienced chess players. Some examples of effective chess openings that can be completed within a few moves includes the London system which takes 6 moves to complete, the Spanish/Ruy Lopez which takes 3 moves to complete, the Italian which takes 4 moves to complete, the Reti opening which takes 4 to 5 moves to complete, the Pirc defence which takes 4 moves to complete and the Caro Kann which takes 4 to 5 moves to complete. Some examples of less effective chess openings that can be completed within a few moves includes the Grob which takes 1 move to complete, the Bongcloud which takes 2 moves to complete, the fool’s mate that arises from the birds opening which takes 1 move to complete but could cause you to lose the game in 2 moves, the hippo which takes 10 moves to complete, the orangutan which takes 1 move to complete and the sodium attack which also takes 1 move to complete.
Each chess opening is unique and the number of moves that’s needed to complete each chess opening varies as well as the strategic advantages they offer in chess games, the weak points in an opponent’s structure they target and the goals they aim to accomplish. The number of moves it takes to complete a chess opening will not in most cases have any impact on its effectiveness in chess games because the effectiveness of a chess opening is mostly dependent on the tactical or strategical benefits it has to offer. For example, Kings pawn openings which are initiated by making the move pawn to E3 or E4 are the most effective because they keep the king protected from direct checks with the move E4 being the most effective because it also allows you to control the centre of the chess board within the first move of the game. Kings pawn openings are also highly effective because they allow you to bring out the queen and the light squared bishop within the first few moves of the game. The most popular kings pawn openings in chess are the Spanish/Ruy Lopez, the Italian opening, the Vienna gambit, and the scotch opening.
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How Long Can A Chess Game Go On For?
A chess game can theoretically go on endlessly however rules such as the 50-move rule prevents this from happening by allowing chess players to end the game if either side has not moved a pawn or made any captures within 50 moves. Chess games can also be ended if both sides do not have enough chess pieces to checkmate their opponent and if a position is repeated at least three times at any point during a game.
A game of chess can go on endlessly however the 50-move rule eliminates the possibility of a game carrying on without any major advances being made by either side. Resetting the 50-move clock by either capturing an opponent’s piece or advancing a pawn is the only way for a chess game to be extended. Up to 50 moves can be made without moving a pawn or capturing a piece, there are 30 pieces in total that can be captured by either side excluding the kings, there are 16 pawns on the chess board (8 pawns on each side) that can reset the 50-move clock and pawns are able to move 6 times and can reset the 50-move clock 7 times in total. To calculate just how long a chess game can go on for is expressed with the equation 50[30+(16 x 6)]. By calculating these numbers, we arrive at the number 6300 as the number of moves that can be played in the longest chess game. However, it is improbable that a chess game will ever carry on for 6300 moves because this equation assumes that pawns are able to move freely around the chess board which is not the case. At the start of chess games pawns can move 4 times, up to the 6th rank without obstruction however once they reach the 6th rank, they can only proceed further by capturing one of the opponent’s pawns which will in theory result in the loss of 42 potential 50 move clock restarts and this will prevent the chess game from reaching the maximum length of 6300 moves. To prevent this from happening 4 of each chess players pawns must move forward and capture an opponent’s piece, excluding their pawns. By doing this they will form a double pawn structure but more importantly they will be able to move without obstruction to the other side of the chess board and preserve the ability to restart the 50-move clock. This is because each pawn is worth 7 clock restarts whilst every other chess piece is only worth 1.
Additionally, by capturing an opponent’s piece each pawn will have taken away a chess piece that could have reset the 50-move clock 8 times and so the previous calculation will need to be adjusted to reflect this change (50[30+(16 x 6)]-8 x 50). By subtracting 8 which represents the number of captured chess pieces and multiplying by 50 which represents the total moves that can be made before the 50 move clock is restarted, the result is that 400 moves will be taken away from the previous total of 6300 moves for the longest possible chess game which would bring the total to 5900 for the longest possible chess game. Whilst this number is close it is not the actual number of moves that is realistically possible in a chess game due to an important feature of the 50-move rule which is that 50 moves in a chess game consists of 100 half moves or ply’s or tempi/tempo as it is commonly known in chess which is one move per chess player. The 50-move rule must be considered again because a chess game will have reached a draw before the 5900-move mark under normal conditions, to play the longest chess game possible deliberate sacrifices must be made. A chess games 50 move clock can restart 117 times before a point is reached in the game where each side has only 24 remaining moves with only a few chess pieces left on the board in which a draw can be made which is expressed with the equation 117 x 50 + 48 = 5898. In total the longest a chess game can go on for whilst adhering and utilising the 50-move rule is 5898 moves. The longest tournament chess game that has ever been played with the intention of winning the game took place in 1989 in Belgrade between Ivan Nikolic and Goran Arsovic, the game was 269 moves long, lasted 20 hours and 15 minutes and resulted in a draw.
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Is It Possible To Win A Chess Game In Under 10 Moves?
There are some chess openings that if used correctly and poorly defended against will allow you to win a chess game in under 10 moves. The fried liver attack and the birds opening are excellent examples and if used correctly they will allow you to successfully win a chess game in under 10 moves.
The fried liver attack is a strategy that arises from opening chess games with the Italian opening with the whites and consists of first moving a central pawn into the middle of the board with the move pawn to E4 in which an opponent playing with blacks will usually respond with the move pawn to E5. The next move in the fried liver attack is knight to F3 which opponents usually respond to with the move knight to C6 to protect their pawn on E5. The next move for the whites is to move the light squared bishop to the C4 square. The next move for the blacks is particularly important for the whites to pay attention to because it will determine if the fried liver attack will be able to be carried out successfully. Following sound chess piece development principles, the blacks will typically make the move knight to F6 which develops both knights but more importantly it allows the whites to carry out the fried liver attack successfully. In most cases an experienced opponent playing with the blacks will be aware of the pattern on the chess board by this point and will initiate the Traxler counterattack with the move bishop to C5 to prevent the whites from carrying out the fried liver attack successfully. If the opponent playing with the blacks responds first with the move bishop to C5 instead of the move knight to F6 the fried liver attack can be easily defended against. The next move for the whites carrying out the fried liver attack in response to the blacks making the move knight to F6 is to make the move knight to G5 which paired with the light squared bishop on the C4 square targets the black king’s pawn on the F7 square. From this position there are several ways to checkmate your opponent however the most common way arises when an opponent playing with the blacks responds with the move pawn to D5 to block the path of the light squared bishop.
The best response for the whites is to capture the black’s pawn on D5 with the pawn on E4 which after capturing the black’s pawn on D5 then also threatens to capture the blacks knight on the F6 square. The blacks will usually capture the white’s pawn on D5 with their knight on F6 which will bring the whites one step closer to a checkmate in under 10 moves. The next move for the whites is to make the move knight to F7 which threatens both the blacks queen and rook, and which can only be captured by the black’s king with the move king to F7. After the blacks captures the knight on F7 with the king the next move for the whites is to deliver a check with the move queen to F3 which also threatens to capture the blacks knight on D5 with the help of the white’s light squared bishop. At this point the blacks have very few options however the most common move for blacks is to get the king out of check with the move king to G8. The final move for whites which delivers a checkmate is to capture the blacks knight on D5 with the move bishop to D5 which can only be defended in two ways, and each will lead to a checkmate. The only moves the blacks can make in this position is to capture the white’s light squared bishop with the queen which can then be captured by the white’s queen and this move will also put the blacks king in check again with only one remaining move. The second move the blacks can make in this position is to block the check with their light squared bishop which will also lead to a checkmate after the white’s uses their light squared bishop to capture the blacks light squared bishop. This will take a maximum of 10 moves and a minimum of 8 moves depending on how the blacks chooses to respond during a game.
The birds opening is a chess opening for the whites that will allow an opponent that is playing with the blacks to checkmate the whites in under 10 moves. Checkmating an opponent that opens with the birds opening with the whites is also called the fools mate because it can happen less than 5 moves into the game and is the result of the whites making an unforgiveable blunder early in the game. The birds opening is played by the whites opening the game with the move pawn to F4 which is a terrible move because it immediately weakens the whites king and allows an opponent to easily attack as well as making it impossible for any of the white’s chess pieces to be developed aside from the knights. The birds opening also prevents the whites from controlling the centre of the chess board which is one of the main characteristics of a good chess opening because controlling the centre of the chess board, which is the D4, E4, D5 and E5 squares will limit the amount of space your opponent will have to manoeuvre and limit their ability to safely develop their chess pieces.
The blacks will usually respond to the whites initiating the birds opening with the move pawn to E5 which immediately attacks the white’s pawn on F4. The most common next move for the whites is to make the move pawn to G3 to support their pawn on F4 which is the worst move to make that will lead to a checkmate in a few moves. The next move for the blacks is to capture the white’s pawn on F4 with their pawn on E5 and the whites usually responds by capturing the black’s pawn on F4 with their pawn on G3. The final move for the blacks that checkmates the whites is the move queen to H4 which cannot be defended. This is a checkmate in 3 moves which is also known as the fool’s mate that arises from the bird’s opening which is one of the only chess openings that will allow an opponent to deliver a checkmate in under 5 moves. The only way to recover from the birds opening with the whites is by making the move knight to F3 on the second move instead of making the move pawn to G3 which will prevent the queen from moving to the H4 square to deliver a checkmate.
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Why Is Every Chess Game Unique?
Every chess game is unique because there are numerous ways for a chess game to unfold and unless the moves made in a chess game are deliberately repeated to resemble a previous chess game it is highly unlikely for the same game to be played multiple times. One move has the potential to completely change the outcome of a chess game as well as the uniqueness of a chess game. In addition, playing the same chess game by repeating every move made in a previous game would require excellent memorisation skills and precision.
Every chess game is unique because there are so many ways a game of chess can unfold and so it is highly unlikely that anyone has ever played the same game of chess twice. The only way to play the same chess game multiple times would be to deliberately repeat the moves that have taken place in previous chess games whether they were your own chess games or the chess games of others which would require exceptional memorisation skills and precision. There are a vast number of ways a chess game can unfold and changing even one move in a chess game has the potential to completely change the trajectory and outcome of a game. The total number of chess games that are yet to be played goes into the billions and could quite possibly go into the trillions. It would take an insane amount of time for each variation of a chess game to be played even if everyone on earth were to spend a lifetime trying to accomplish that goal. In addition, all the chess games that have ever been played throughout history only makes up a tiny fraction of the number of possible chess game variations. This is an incredible fact to be aware of as a chess player because knowing just how many ways there are to play a chess game can be extremely beneficial as it will open your mind to the endless possibilities in chess.
There are also some reasons why you would not want to play the same game of chess especially in professional tournaments, the main reason being that it would allow an opponent to predict your moves which would allow them to successfully implement a counterattack. This is one of the reasons why there are so many chess openings and within each chess opening there are dozens of variations. Experienced chess players tend to find it challenging to beat other experienced chess players because advanced chess players in most cases have studied many of the most popular chess openings and can almost predict what move an opponent is likely to make next which makes it almost impossible for them to gain an advantage. One of the main ways for an experienced chess player to mitigate this is by utilising openings and opening variations that their opponent may be less familiar with and therefore less prepared to handle in a chess game. After reaching a certain level in chess being able to memorise chess openings becomes less important as having an open mind and being able to utilise creativity, strategy, and tactics. In chess unpredictability is one of the major keys to success which will allow you to always stay a few moves ahead of your opponents.
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Conclusion
It is surprising how many ways there are for a chess game to unfold and how many moves a chess game can potentially be, what is even more surprising is that such a large number of possibilities are within a board with 64 squares. Several numbers have been ascribed to the total number of moves that is possible in a chess game with the largest number being 10^10^50, the median number being 10120 and the smallest number being 1040 for a reasonable game with the most sensible moves being made. Essentially, a chess game can potentially have more possible outcomes than there are atoms in the observable universe of which there are 1080. The longest possible chess game can potentially be 5898 moves long even though the likelihood of a chess game being so long is slim as each player would have to prioritise playing the longest chess game possible instead of actually winning the game whilst making deliberate sacrifices all throughout the game.
The longest professional chess game that has ever been played was only 269 moves long and each chess player was actually attempting to win the game. Within a game of chess there are infinite possibilities, a chess game can be short which is evident when examining openings such as the fried liver attack within the Italian opening and the birds opening or extremely long which is evident from the calculations of the longest possible chess game. What is even more striking about chess is that even though chess is one of the oldest board games in history that is played every day there are still billions to trillions of chess game variations that have still not been played and that would take eons to uncover even with the help of everyone on the planet. As a chess player understanding the infinite possibilities that exists within a chess game will increase your ability to implement creative tactics and strategies in your chess games and ultimately make you a better chess player.
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