I plugged this end position into my CM program: CM vs CM, and the game continues for 63 additional moves and ends in a draw.

Cheers CG.

(I mean, after the b-pawn falls that is. (thanks Gregor for pointing out this to all of us))

The black queen just continually harasses the white king and the game continues for 63 moves and ends in a 3 move draw on my CM. (63 moves of perfect 10 ply engine play)

This was my initial assumption, and I just proved it to myself for the second time. Wether or not Geller saw this drawish nature or not is not so much dependant on playing 63 perfect drawing moves as it is already having played 73 grueling moves against Boris Spassky. Although the year is 1959 and Geller is in his prime, how would you feel after not only 60 moves against Spassky, but 10 additional moves only to lose a pawn? Spassky played perfect.

Then to sit there and analyze wether or not you can draw....no one here can say. Geller probably did resign, and this wouldnt suprise me.

BUT....just run it through whatever engine du jour is popular and see for yourself, there is no clear win. This game is a draw.

<Jan-26-09 ughaibu:>

Hey, why dont you just think about what I said and come back in 5 years....sheesh....LOL!

white wins the b pawn, then slowly advances all of his pieces and wins the g pawn, then the h pawn, then makes a queen. the black queen will not be able to stop it, and there will be no perpetual checks because white has a small army of 3 pieces to escort the king.

no way black will draw this. it might take 50+ moves for white to win, but he WILL win, the queen is no match for the 3 pieces here.

Also, I already said Geller probably resigned, so why are you picking a fight with me? I never said I would win, lose, or draw this game---I said I plugged the end position into a computer and it drew. Go back and reread.

MD---please feel free to add something else to your statements, something to the effect of "because". What follows would be why you think something. Give it a try sometimes. Its not that difficult. Not that I dont enjoy your 1 line statements, though, because I really do.

I am going to nominate "white slowly marches his 3 minor pieces up the board and makes a queen" for post of the year. I mean, life is just so simple sometimes. You really just need to look past some things, like for example, your opponent possesses a queen and can deliver check on 25 different squares. (blacksburg would never ever play 50 moves with 3 minor pieces against a queen and allow himself to get one of those minor pieces forked, now would he?) Since it is so simple, and you are so convinced that white has an easy win, just play it out, and post your 50 moves here so we can all see for ourselves. Im sure you will get it on the first try. Oh, and let us know what type of program if any you play against, time controls, etc. TIA.

ughaibu, I am not an expert. This should probably be pretty clear to you, so why are you challenging me to show you Geller's clear draw? Yes, I decline your offer. I dont have anything to show you, other than several CM vs CM games which draw. Since CM does not have the the depth of other programs (thanks blacksburg for pointing out the obvious) I dont think me posting games consisting of 60 to 120 additional moves resulting in a draw would qualify as evidence, since I find CM usually is limited to a depth of 10 moves. It would help me if a more advanced player can show me some other more advanced engine vs engine with a win for white, or human vs engine, etc.

<xrt999> calm down, dude. you're basically just arguing with everyone here, people are trying to help you, and you're taking it personally. you're wrong, even Geller agrees that you're wrong, otherwise he wouldn't have resigned, and we were trying to help you, but noooo, you have to get all sarcastic and passive aggressive. hey guess what, i can do that too.

click for larger view

All passive-agressiveness and inferred sarcasm aside, despite being a pathetic outdated 10ply engine, it still calculates around 200-300,000 positions per move in a Q vs B-B-P-P endgame (as in this latest try). When thinking about the fist move as black (move 75) it gives me 1,020,000 total possible moves that it considered. So, although my engine is weak by current standards, when a human says "white just marches his pieces up the board", no, this isnt what happens. This game is not a slam-dunk win for white.

Furthermore, posters are assuming Geller resigned, which I have already agreed with twice. But, it might have more to do with not wanting to continue a grueling 75 move game with Boris Spassky, rather than just sitting there and saying to yourself "based on theoretical play, white will win". After all, at move 59, the material is the same at move 75.

So, based on what I am reading from "experts" here, I have some lingering unanswered questions:

a)Geller thought he was still in the game with the b pawn at move 59? If he didnt think so, he would have resigned.

b)Since the pawn on b3 is NOW going to fall at move 75, the game is over? Geller played move 59 through 75 based on the b-pawn? Then he resigned, according to the "experts" here.

c)Why didnt Geller resign at move 59 then?