Longest Journey (starts with a single move)

What is the greatest distance travelled by a single chess piece in the course of an actual game (in terms of chess squares)? It should be possible to calculate it from the move history.

Why do you want to know something like this?

Several reasons.

1. To determine on which pieces the felt will wear out first. I prefer to apply preventative maintenance - to avoid the risk of scratching the chess board. This is part of a wider study into which pieces generally travel furtherest - and that depends on playing style. I actually tag all of my chess pieces so that I can distribute the wear. I ensure, for instance, that the same pawns are not always placed on the same files. Queenside traffic is acknowledged to be heavier, on average, than kingside.

I'll answer your question once our ongoing game is over. It's your move. :))

I'ld say it's a bet in between the Knight and the Bishop,all depends on your favour and on the actuall game that you play,but then again if you manage to get in to a good end game,then I'ld say in between the Lady and the castlle!

That seems to have narrowed the field down, No-one thinks an individual pawn is the greatest traveller - though if the pawn moves were totalled, they might give some of the other pieces a run for their money. Now there just remains the matter of the distance itself.

It's a game I played when i was 9 in an official tournament

I think you need to be concerned with number of squares touched rather than distance travelled if wear and tear is your concern. A queen may travel from one side of the board to the other, passing six squares on her way, but will only rest upon two squares. A king making the same journey would be forced to rest on eight squares thus wearing out much more rapidly.

This may be the reason for hypermodern chess. When it was invented felt supplies may have been unusually low due to the recent world war so hypermodern chess was invented to reduce wear and tear by not moving the slow pawns as much.

oh like that.. then my game is not suitable (btw i was black!!!)

You were black? both players were pretty bad. If you're that bad now, I wanna play you. I'm 12, and I didn't make moves like that 3 years ago. I knew how to checkmate with a rook and a queen

 lol no im way better now, that was somewhat my first real tournament so my first real win!!! before that i only knew chess for like a month xD

and id love to play u if u want

Sharukin, your observations raise several new concerns.

First, 'number of squares touched' is a function of 'playing style': whether one is a 'wood lifter' or a 'wood pusher/slider'. Players may switch to a 'sliding' style as the board position becomes more open or with age. I doubt whether Fischer or Morphy did much sliding - but social mores were very different back then. 

Secondly, the 7 squares 'slid over' by a Queen - in a single action, may result in greater damage to the felt than 7 individual squares of King movement, when you factor in the heat due to friction. Several such successive Queen moves ought to examined to see they whether they contravene Health & Safety legislation (which will vary on a country-by-country basis).

Thirdly, the felt is by no means the part most at risk. Several players I know, when capturing a piece, knock it over with the capturing piece. This frequently leads to chipping, and is one of the reasons why I have largely abandoned wood in favour of denser materials, such as steel. The surface colourant is still at risk (or en prise, as we say in the jargon).

Fourthly, though a wood-pusher would almost never capture by 'knock-over', they frequently move onto the capture square before removing the captured piece. En route, they often shove a few other pieces aside. So now we have to consider the effects of 'accidental' movement in terms of felt wear, surface scratching, and subsequent adoubes.

Fifthly, the wear-and-tear is not confined to physical OTB. Mouse ball deterioration will be a concern for electronic players. The sliding/lifting nuances will not come into play, but infra red and bluetooth will ameliorate the situation.

All valid points. This is the reason I am currently moving to play by telepathic means. However, this raises the possibility of excessive wear and tear on neurons. There is also the possibility of cheating by coupling extra brains in tandem. I did try using an old Soviet era brain I found in a second hand shop but unfortunately it appears to be the brain of an obscure cold war KGB officer rather than a GM. Last time I hooked it up I became convinced that my local supermarket was a CIA operations centre and tried to infiltrate it.

I was told to disable the old brain but discovered that this had been done some time previously. Possibly the night before in the pub. Unfortunately the new brain seems to have come out in sympathy with the old one and refuses to work until the old brain is reinstated.

Reminscent of an old movie: The Man With Two Chess Sets.

The only thing I can say is: I doubt it will be a pawn...

...and, by the way, how will you count a knight?

Nominally 3, but arguably 2. How do you move yours?

Castling long could count as 5.

Are they using a magnetic chess set for that game in the Space Shuttle?

wait do squares that are passed over count (for instance the squares a knight crosses)

It occurs to me that a move of any piece could be as long as the player wishes provided he does not let go of the piece!