Draw By Agreement - Grandmaster Draw

Grandmaster Draw

A "Grandmaster draw" is a draw in a few number of moves, usually without much battle, usually between high-ranked players. British expert P. H. Clarke talked about the positive aspects of a short draw:

Unless you are of the calibre of Botvinnik – and who is – you cannot hope to play at full power day after day. The technical draws are a necessary means of conserving energy. As such, they contribute to raising the standard of play rather than lowering it (Evans 1970:85–86).

All of the games of the second Piatigorsky Cup were annotated by players, including the short draws. Their comments on two short draws follow (Spassky versus Petrosian and Reshevsky versus Portisch), followed by comments on some other short draws.