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Long Game of Chess

Chess is typically thought of as being a fairly slow game where each opponent carefully considers all possible options and their consequences before making a move.

But few, if any, games of chess took as long as the one between Hugh P. Harrison and his aunt Annie Paton, who lived 20 miles (32 km) apart from each other in England.  That game was played by sending their moves back and forth through the mail for twenty years.  It ended in 1940 when Mrs. Paton died.  The game was left unfinished, so let’s just call it a draw.

Two Men Playing Chess
Two Men Playing Chess, circa 1920-1925. Library of Congress image.
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