Chess

Out of the office

What do grandmasters do when they want to take the day off ?

Without even a wink or a nod, they adopt opening moves that hint, “How about a draw today?”

The latest way to do this begins when Black meets 1 e4 with 1 . . . e5 and then 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Nf6 4 O-O Nxe4 5 d4 Nd6.

White signals his lack of ambition with 6 dxe5. To avoid getting the worst of it, Black replies 6 . . . Nxb5 7 a4 Nbd4.

That leads to 8 Nxd4 d5 9 exd6 Nxd4 10 Qxd4 Qxd6.

White can continue 11 Qe4+ Qe6 12 Qd4 Qd6 13 Qe4+ Qe6 14 Qd4 Qd6.

Under tournament rules, repeating a position three times allows a player to legitimately claim a draw.

In 2021 this “game” was shamelessly played 30 times by the world’s elite players.