Home favorite Abdusattorov, ranked higher and playing white, faced Erdogmus on board six. At just 14, the Turkish player was already ranked 79th in the world, according to the FIDE September 2025 rankings. His live Elo rating had risen to 2,658, placing him 59th globally, after an impressive start to the tournament.

Abdusattorov (left) during his draw against Erdogmus in round 5 of the FIDE Grand Swiss in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on 8/9/2025. Photo: FIDE

Abdusattorov (left) during his draw against Erdogmus in round 5 of the FIDE Grand Swiss in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on 8/9/2025. Photo: FIDE

Abdusattorov gained an advantage after the opening, with his two bishops against Erdogmus's two knights, on an open board. The 20-year-old held a winning advantage for about 5 hours but made a mistake on move 70 that equalized the position, despite white being a pawn up. After 117 moves, Erdogmus reached a queen and pawn versus queen endgame. In this scenario, black would have to continuously check to force a draw, without exchanging queens.

Other matches had finished about 5 hours after the round began. However, Abdusattorov didn't let the 14-year-old off easily. He continued to play, hoping the Turkish player would make a mistake. However, that didn't happen.

In chess, if 50 consecutive moves are made without a pawn move or a capture, the game is declared a draw under the 50-move rule. The last pawn move was by white on move 137. This meant the players would draw if there was no pawn move or queen capture by move 187. However, due to deep thought, Erdogmus didn't appeal to the arbiter until move 188. At that point, the arbiter didn't immediately agree.

Erdogmus returned to his seat, and each player made another move. Then, the 14-year-old prodigy stopped the clock and called the arbiter over. He expressed his dissatisfaction that the arbiter hadn't intervened and declared a draw earlier. After carefully reviewing the scoresheet, the arbiter declared a draw, and Erdogmus shook Abdusattorov's hand. Applause followed.

This was the longest game in the tournament's history, both in terms of time and number of moves. The world record for the longest rated chess game is 272 moves, between Billy Fellowes and Peter Lalic in August 2024. However, these two players were accused of playing solely to set a record.

The longest game in world chess championship history took place between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi in 2021, lasting 136 moves and nearly 8 hours, with victory going to the world number one.

The 2025 Grand Swiss, held from 4/9 to 15/9, is the strongest Swiss-system tournament of the year, featuring 115 players, including 114 Grandmasters. After 5 rounds, Erdogmus is in sixth place and Abdusattorov is in tenth, both with 3.5 points. The 9-round tournament will select two players to compete in the 2026 Candidates Tournament. That tournament will feature eight players, with one challenger emerging to face world champion Gukesh Dommaraju.

Xuan Binh