King v King

The recent game from the Russian Teams Championship between Peter Svidler and Ian Neponiachtchi seems to have set some sort of new record. On move 40 Svidler player Kxf4 leaving only the 2 kings on the board. Technically the game should have stopped on move 39 after Nepo played Kxc7 (there is no mate possible after this), but I suspect Svidlers move came before an arbiter could step in.
The record in question is the shortest game to end this way. Now this game isn't the shortest, but it is one of the shortest. The shortest game to end with KvK was only 17 moves, but this was clearly a collaboration between the two players (  Haimovich and Zifroni). The next shortest game (in my database) is 35 moves, one of 10 that finish before move 40. However the players in these games were either unrated or lower rated, but of course a game is still a game.
Therefore the Svidler Nepo game might not be the shortest KvK game, but it is certainly the shortest GM game to end this way. The nearest rival looks to be a 43 move game, and unless there is some implicit collusion in the future, this may be a record that stands for quite a while.


Svidler,Peter (2762) - Nepomniachtchi,Ian (2703) [E60]
TCh-RUS Men 2016 Sochi RUS (1.1), 01.05.2016

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 c6 5. Bg2 d5 6. Qb3 O-O 7. Nc3 Qb6 8. O-O Rd8 9. Rd1 Bf5 10. Bf4 Qxb3 11. axb3 Bc2 12. Rdc1 Bxb3 13. c5 Ne4 14. e3 Nd7 15. Nxe4 dxe4 16. Nd2 Bd5 17. Bxe4 Bxe4 18. Nxe4 f5 19. Ng5 e5 20. dxe5 Bxe5 21. Rd1 Bxf4 22. Ne6 Bg5 23. Nxd8 Rxd8 24. f4 Be7 25. Rxa7 Nxc5 26. Rxd8+ Bxd8 27. b4 Ne6 28. Rxb7 Bc7 29. Kf2 Kf8 30. h3 Ke7 31. b5 cxb5 32. Rxb5 h5 33. g4 hxg4 34. hxg4 fxg4 35. Kg3 g5 36. Kxg4 gxf4 37. exf4 Nxf4 38. Rb7 Kd7 39. Rxc7+ Kxc7 40. Kxf4 1/2-1/2