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The FIDE Rules Of Chess can be found at http://www.fide.com/component/handbook/?id=32&view=category |
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Interpreting the Rules Recording the Moves Question : Do I have to keep score ? Answer : Yes, unless ….. We will come to the "unless" a bit later. Law 8.1 states that, "In the course of play each player is
required to record his own moves and those of his opponent in the correct
manner, move after move, as clearly and legibly as possible, in the algebraic
notation, on the scoresheet prescribed for the competition." This Law raises a number of issues. Note that simply ticking the moves on the scoresheet is not sufficient. It should be possible to replay the game from the scoresheet. "Move after move". There is a bit of flexibility here. A later clause explains, "A player may reply to his opponent’s move before recording it, if he so wishes." Suppose white’s scoresheet is up-to-date after he has made his 20th move. Black makes his 20th and white replies instantly with his 21st. That is okay. Black, who is keeping his scoresheet up-to-date move-by-move, makes his 21st. White must not make his 22nd until his own scoresheet is complete up to and including his own previous move. "as clearly and legibly as possible". This can be exploited. The player can say that is the best he can do and that he can read it. Some of the East European players have scoresheets which are virtually unreadable and afterwards the players have to be consulted by the official who is responsible for inputting the games onto Chessbase for worldwide distribution because he finds it impossible to reconstruct the game. Viktor Korchnoi is one of the worst offenders. At the other end of the scale some players produce immaculate scoresheets even when short of time. Sofia Polgar and the young English star David Howell come to mind in this respect. "in the algebraic notation". This is a change which has occurred during my time as an arbiter. I will normally turn a blind eye to this requirement, especially if the offender is of mature years and is using English descriptive which he has used throughout his playing career. However if the opponent objects and says the law requires algebraic notation to be used, then I would have to enforce the letter of the law. "on the scoresheet prescribed for the competition". At international events and often at congresses, the organisers wish to have copies of all the games for publicity purposes. Duplicate scoresheets are provided. The top copy is handed in with the result clearly shown and the player retains the second copy. Many players like to record their games directly into their scorebook. This can be exploited and my mind goes back to a Cheshire Congress at least fifteen years ago. An incident occurred in the Open between two very strong players who had met frequently over a great many years. Both have now passed away. One was recording his moves in his scorebook and during the opening was seen turning back a few pages and glancing at the openings played in previous encounters. Not surprisingly the opponent objected. The offender was given a stern warning that any repetition would lead to the loss of the game under Law 12.2 ""During play the players are forbidden to make use of any notes, sources of information …". Now we come to the "unless" mentioned at the top of the page. What are the exceptions to the requirement to keep score ? The first is simple to understand and occurs very frequently. If a player has less than five minutes left before the time control, he is excused from keeping score. However "Immediately after one flag has fallen the player must update his scoresheet completely before making another move." Even in a quickplay finish the moves must be recorded until the player has less than five minutes remaining. Sometimes one player may have to record 20 or 30 moves because he has more than five minutes left, whilst the opponent is excused. I think this is a little unfair but that is the rule. If both players have been unable, through severe time pressure, to record the moves, then once a flag has fallen, both clocks should be stopped and the players must reconstruct the game, moving to another board if necessary. If only one player has an incomplete scoresheet, he must update it without stopping the clocks. He is entitled to borrow the opponent’s scoresheet for this purpose but only when it is his own move. The second exception is if a player is physically unable to record the moves or if for religious reasons is not allowed to do so on his religion’s Holy day. In these cases the arbiter is empowered to reduce the player’s time before the start of the game. Forty moves in two hours might become forty in one hour fifty minutes instead. Do these Laws apply even in a local league ? Yes, unless the league states otherwise. What other laws are there ? Of course a bit of common sense regarding their application is necessary, but if it comes to a dispute then these are the Laws which will be consulted. I could go on ! Use of the Clock The Laws of Chess state that the position of the clock shall be decided by the event arbiter. At a congress the arbiter wishes to be able to see as many clocks as possible, so they are placed all facing the same way. Most players are right-handed, so since White has the advantage of first move, as some sort of compensation, the clock is generally placed on Black’s right hand. In a team match there is usually no arbiter and it is customary for the players of one team to sit side-by-side on the same side of the line of tables. With the clocks on Black’s right hand side, this means that the clocks will face alternately to the left and to the right, but generally on Black’s right unless both players agree to the contrary. The clock must be stopped with the same hand that made the move on the board. If the move made delivers checkmate or causes a draw by stalemate, then the game ends the instant the hand quits the piece. Provided the flag has not fallen, the result is either a win or a draw for the player who has just moved. In all other cases the move is not deemed to have been completed until the player has stopped his clock. It follows from the above, that where a player makes his last move before the time control but his flag then falls before he has stopped his clock, he has lost on time provided it is not checkmate or stalemate. A player must not be prevented from stopping his clock even if the opponent replies instantly. This latter situation can arise where one player has time in hand and is not rushing but the other player is very short of time. |