Is 39 moves the longest a chess game can go moving only pawns?
Solution 1:
Edit: This is an improved version of my previous 39-move solution (using Ross Millikan's suggestion to let the pawns advance as far as possible befrore being captured).
- c3 b6
- c4 b5
- c5 b4
- c6 b3
- g3 e6
- g4 e5
- g5 e4
- g6 e3
- axb3 dxc6
- fxe3 hxg6
- h3 a6
- h4 a5
- h5 a4
- h6 a3
- h7 a2
- hxg8N axb1N
- b4 g5
- b5 g4
- b6 g3
- b7 g2
- bxa8N gxh1N
- b3 g6
- b4 g5
- b5 g4
- b6 g3
- b7 g2
- bxc8N gxf1N
- e4 c5
- e5 c4
- e6 c3
- e7 c2
- exf8N cxd1N
- e3 c6
- e4 c5
- e5 c4
- e6 c3
- e7 c2
- d3 f6
- d4 f5
- d5 f4
- d6 f3
- exd8N f2+
Solution 2:
You can do better by having pawns move more before being captured.
1-4 b2-b6 g7-g3
5 hg ab
6-9 g3-g7 b6-b2
10 g7xh8N b2xa1N
11-15 g2-g7 b7-b2
16 g7xf8N b2xc1N
17-21 a2-a7 h7-h2
22 a7xb8N h2xg1N
23-26 e2-e6 c7-c3
27 dc fe
28-31 c3-c7 e6-e2
32 c7xd8N e2xd1N
33-37 c2-c7 e7-e2
38 f2 e2xf1N
39-42 f3-f7+ d7-d3