Saturday 25 May 2013

Quickest Stalemate

I was asked today what is the shortest possible game that ends in Stalemate. The answer has been known for quite a while, with Sam Lloyd finding that 10 moves is all that is needed (Game given below). This solution is not unique btw. The shortest stalemate without captures is 12 moves (also found by Lloyd), while the fastest 'double stalemate' (neither side can move) is 18 moves (found by Enzo Minerva and published in 2007).


Stalemate Study - Sam Lloyd
Study

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Actually Loyd has only one l. :) Don't usually point out spelling mistakes, but it's Sam Loyd.

AO