The Knights' Game
The Knights' Game was a chess game between GM Anish Giri with the white pieces and GM Matthias Bluebaum with the black pieces. It was played on the 6th round of the Candidates Tournament 2026. It ended in a draw by agreement after 84 moves.
It is known and joked about due to it having many knight moves: out of 168 plies (or half-moves), 83 of them were knight moves, almost half of the game.
Opening
The game started with an English Opening (1. c4), but retransposed to a Queen's Gambit Declined after Giri played 3. d4 (1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4).
By move 9, the queens were traded, weakening Black's pawn structure, however greatly raising the probability for the game to be a draw.
13. Bg2 was a novelty, leaving the game out of known theory. In the first 26 plies, only 4 were knight moves.
Middlegame & Knight folly
White then castled, and Black moved his king to g7.
From move 18 to 20, White transferred their knight from c3 to a4 to b2, leaving the knight in a position with better future prospects. White then transferred their other knight from e2 to c3, then their knight on b2 to d3. The c3 knight then went to a4, then c5, from move 25 to 27. White's plan was probably to play b4, however, White never did.
On move 27, Black counter-knighted, moving their knight from b6 to c8, then d6 to e8, and repeating the d6-e8 path two more times (from move 30 to move 38).
On move 28, White moved their d3 knight to b2, then a4, and on move 30, White moved their c5 knight to d3, then f4. At the same time, white moved the a4 knight to c3, but brings it back to a4 on move 33, then the f4 knight goes to d3, and the a4 knight goes to c5. Then, white proceeds to move their f4 knight to d3, and c5 knight to a4. White follows up by moving the a4 knight to b6, attacking the a8 rook, moving the f4 knight to d3 and then back to f4, and then on move 43, moves the b6 knight to a4, then to c5 on move 45, then on move 47 to 48, from a4 to c3. During that time, Black keeps moving their knight from d6 to e8.
On move 49, White proposes a trade of bishops, breaking the soon to happen 50 move rule. Black then, on move 50, plays f5, to free a spot for their e8 knight to go to f6.
On move 54, black brings their f6 knight to e4, proposing a trade of knights. However, White refuses, moving their c5 knight to a4. Black retreats to f6, then White brings their knight to c3. From move 55 to 61, Black only does e4-f6 cycles with their knight.
White brings the c3 knight back to e2, refusing another exchange, then on move 59-60, brings the b2 knight from a4 to c3.
On move 61, Black brings back their knight to e4, proposing another trade of knights, but White doesn't move their knight away, and instead brings their king to f3. Black doesn't take the knight on c3 however, and simply goes back to f6. White then moves their king to c4, and Black breaks the cycle, playing Kh6, adding an extra layer of defense to the h5 pawn.
From move 63 to 64, White brings their f4 knight to d3, then e2, meanwhile Black plays Ne4, Kg7, then lands the knight on f6 on move 65. Another f6-e4 cycle starts from move 65 to 70. From move 68 to 69, White moves their c1 rook to d1, then d3, potentially protecting the a3 pawn a bit more after b4 is played. On move 71, Black breaks the cycle, playing Ra6.
On move 72, White interestingly moves their king to f1, potentially planning to move it to the center, but brings it back to g2 2 moves later. Black continues the f6-e4 cycle from move 72 to 78, before moving their rook from a7 to a6, then b6. From move 75 to 78, White moves their c2 knight to e1, then f3, then d2 then b1. On move 78, Black plays his last knight move, moving it from f6 to e4.
Both sides then play 6 plies without any knight move from move 79 to 81, instead giving their rooks a better position.
White finishes up the game by playing, on move 82 to 84, Nec3, then Na4, then Nac3. Black plays Rb6, and both players agree to a draw.
Aftermath
Following the draw, Matthias Bluebaum, one of the underdogs of the tournament, is at 2.5/6, putting him in 5th place out of 8.
Anish Giri is at 3/6, putting him in 3rd place, tied with Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu.
PGN
1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 Bf5 7. Qf3 Bg6 8. Bxf6
Qxf6 9. Qxf6 gxf6 10. h4 h5 11. Nge2 Bd6 12. g3 Nd7 13. Bg2 Kf8 14. O-O Kg7 15.
a3 a5 16. b3 Rhe8 17. Rfc1 Ra7 18. Na4 Bf5 19. Bf3 Kh6 20. Nb2 Ra6 21. Nc3 Ra7
22. Kg2 Bg6 23. Be2 Rea8 24. Nd3 Bf5 25. Na4 Be4+ 26. Kf1 Bf5 27. Nac5 Nb6 28.
Nb2 Be7 29. Nba4 Nc8 30. Nd3 Nd6 31. Nc3 Bg6 32. Nf4 Ne8 33. Na4 Nd6 34. Nc5 Ne8
35. Ra2 Bd6 36. Nfd3 Be7 37. Na4 Nd6 38. Nf4 Ne8 39. Nb6 Rd8 40. Nd3 Nd6 41. Nf4
Re8 42. Kg1 Bd8 43. Na4 Be7 44. Bf1 Bf5 45. Nc5 Rea8 46. Kh2 Ne8 47. Na4 Nd6 48.
Nc3 Ne8 49. Bd3 Bxd3 50. Nxd3 f5 51. Kg2 Nf6 52. Na4 Bd6 53. Nac5 Kg7 54. Rcc2
Ne4 55. Na4 Nf6 56. Nc3 Ne4 57. Ne2 Nf6 58. Nb2 Ne4 59. Na4 Nf6 60. Nac3 Ne4 61.
Kf3 Nf6 62. Nf4 Kh6 63. Nd3 Ne4 64. Ne2 Kg7 65. Rc1 Nf6 66. Kg2 Ne4 67. Ne1 Nf6
68. Rd1 Ne4 69. Rd3 Nf6 70. Nc2 Ne4 71. Rb2 Ra6 72. Kf1 Nf6 73. Ra2 Ne4 74. Kg2
R6a7 75. Ne1 Nf6 76. Nf3 Ne4 77. Nd2 Nf6 78. Nb1 Ne4 79. Rb2 Ra6 80. Rd1 Rb6 81.
Rc1 Rba6 82. Nec3 Rb6 83. Na4 Rba6 84. Nac3 Rb6 1/2-1/2 [1]
References
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