Fastest King vs King endgame What is the fastest possible game that ends in a King vs King endgame? Please post a game and tell me the number of half-moves you've achieved. By some simple logic, I can prove that this number is greater than 32 half-moves. There are 30 pieces to be captured, and the first capture can only be made on the 3rd half-move or later.

An example of such a game could be this:

[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 c6 3. dxc6 Qa5 4. cxb7 Qxa2
5. bxa8=Q Qxa1 6. Qxa7 Qxb2 7. Qxb8 Qxb1 8. Qh5 Qxc2
9. Qxh7 Qxc1+ 10. Ke2 Qxd2+ 11. Kf3 Qe1 12. Qxh8 Qxf1
13. Qxg7 Qxg1 14. Qxg8 Qxh1 15. Qxf7+ Kd7 16. Qxf8 Qxh2
17. Qxe7+ Kxe7 18. Qxc8 Qxg2+ 19. Ke2 Qxf2+ 20. Kxf2 Kd6
21. Qd7+ Kxd7
1/2-1/2


achieving the result in 42 half-moves.
This is a famous task, originally tackled by Sam Loyd and only improved a century later.  See http://www.chessvariants.com/problems.dir/twokingstask.html, which gives the refinement by Ponzetto:

[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Bd3 Qxa2 4.Bxh7 Qxb1 5.Bxg8 Qxc2 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Rxa7 Qxc1 8.Rxb7 Rxh2 9.Rxb8 Rxg2 10.Qxc1 Rxg1+ 11.Rxg1 Rxb8 12.Qxc7 Rxb2 13.Qxc8 Rxd2 14.Qxf8+ Kxf8 15.Rxg7 Rxf2 16.Rxe7 Kxe7 17.Kxf2


For reference, here's the original Loyd solution:

[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
1. c4 d5 2. cxd5 Qxd5 3. Qc2 Qxg2 4. Qxc7 Qxg1 5. Qxb7 Qxh2 6. Qxb8 Qe5 7. Qxc8+ Rxc8 8. Rxh7 Qxb2 9. Rxh8 Qxa2 10. Rxg8 Qxd2+ 11. Kxd2 Rxc1 12. Rxg7 Rxb1 13. Rxf7 Rxf1 14. Rxf8+ Kxf8 15. Rxa7 Rxf2 16. Rxe7 Rxe2+ 17. Kxe2 Kxe7


[ ETA: Incidentally, while the linked article leaves it as an open problem, it seems like it would be a very straightforward task to show that 16.5 is optimal; at least at first glance I don't see any lines that have captures by both sides on all four half-moves in moves 2 and 3, which would imply that some form of 'off move' along the lines of White's 3. Bd3 is a strict necessity within the first few moves. ]