Re: Maximum possible chess moves

"Jose Capco" <cliomseerg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes in article <1136715547.178769.234290@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> dated 8 Jan 2006 02:19:07 -0800:
>I dont know if this has already been discussed before, but I'll just
>write the problem here. It could be placed in a more suitable
>newsgroup, but I only frequently post here and this is still a
>combinatoric problem.
>
>We were discussing with a few fellow chessmates in the the chess-server
>(FICS) about the longest possible chess moves that can be done
>deliberately by two chess player while still following the rules of
>chess. Most important to note is the 50 move rule, which says that a
>game is a draw if upon the 50th move there is no pawn move or exchange
>of pieces and the draw is claimed after the 50th move (and we assume
>this will be done if it happens). Someone came with a wild number 5980
>or a few figures higher, but I couldnt follow his line of thought. I
>thought I pose this problem here for the combinatorics and chess
>enthusiast :)

So these 2 players are cooperating to get the longest game, but if either of
them gets a chance to call a draw, he will? It doesn't quite make sense,
but here are some numbers for you.

# of pawns = 16
# of possible moves per pawn = 6
# of pieces available to be captured = 30

50 * (16*6 + 30) = 6300

That's an overestimate, because you can't move both both opposing pawns on
the same file 6 moves each unless some of the moves are captures. But we're
counting captures separately and they can only be 30, so...

50 * (8*(6+5) + 30) = 5900

You lose half a move every time you switch which player is preventing the
draw, so this is an overestimate.

--Keith Lewis klewis {at} mitre.org
The above may not (yet) represent the opinions of my employer.
.

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