Questions tagged [rules]
Questions relating to the rules of chess
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"Premove" in OTB game
Lately, a player'o'mine caused a minor kerfuffle by his habit of touching a piece to counter blitz even when the opponent had not finished the move.
Interestingly, I found nothing in the rules (...
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Official knight move rule definition
Not a trivial question: How would you define the knight move rule on a d-dimensional chessboard (say an 8 X 8 X ... X 8 board) by extending the official knight move rule that states how a knight moves ...
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When can 'il vaticano' be played?
I have found that il vaticano can be played when two bishops have two pawns of the other color inbetween them, where they can capture one pawn each and then swap locations.
Can the move be played both ...
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My FIDE Initial Rating Calculation Problem
I’m working on path to get my initial FIDE rating. I joined 8 local FIDE rated tournaments with result as follow.
Rating = Result
Rapid Ratings November 2022
1083 = 0
Rapid Ratings March 2023
1142 =...
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How do arbiters handle touch move complains where players deny?
So, two cases. Player A (A) and Player B (B)
Case 1
B touches a piece. A sees it. B plays something else. A complains to arbiter that B didn't play the touched piece. Arbiter didn't see that B ...
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Question on FIDE Rating List Submission
I am playing in a tournament on the 19th-20th of this month and I have a question regarding FIDE rating change for the end of the month when the new list is published.
I have done very well in some ...
CommunityBot
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Does taking tranquilizers count as cheating in chess?
In the second episode of The Queen's Gambit, from Wikipedia's summary:
After her overdose, Beth is forbidden to play chess. Time passes and Beth is adopted as a teenager by suburban couple Alma and ...
CommunityBot
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What are FIDE really hoping to achieve by the proposed rating changes from January 2024?
FIDE have published a new article: FIDE seeks public discussion about proposed rating changes. They say:
In the past decade, certain innovations have caused rating deflation, a concern that has been ...
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What are the rules of Quantum Chess?
The game Quantum Chess, as seen in the video where Paul Rudd defeats Hawking, has no "set of rules" written down. You either have to do the in-game tutorial, watch a video on the game and pick them up....
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Can Rook pawn still get win when opponent clock run out?
White has Rook pawn and King vs Black king just jumping from corner and back. But the game played on clock and black king clock run out. White avoided threefold and stalemate and moved his king to ...
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What are the possible results of a game?
What is the range of possible results of a chess game?
I am asking this question, because I am developing an XML schema for recording chess games; sort of like an XML version of PGN, and I need a way ...
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Who has the edge in "gg chess"?
EDIT: I think a better name is gg chess, because "gg" (good game) is what folks frequently say at the end of a game.
At major chess events, at the end of a drawn game, the players & ...
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Is it ethical to take a draw in a winning position, if a draw is good enough?
Follow-up question to Is it ethical to take a zero-moves draw in the last round of a tournament if one is already assured of first place? I'm concentrating on this particular scenario from that ...
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Are there any rules for transgender players in chess?
Wikipedia's article on transgender people in sports indicates there's considerable controversy about male-to-female players competing in women's competitions. The controversy is over physical prowess ...
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Minimum break between rounds
I am an assistant arbiter in an open tournament which is happening over the weekend, with 1 round on Friday, and 2 rounds on Saturday and Sunday.
There were 5.5 hours between the two rounds on ...
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FIDE and USCF: If an arbiter is watching a chess game and observes that a rule has been violated, should the arbiter intervene?
FIDE and USCF: If an arbiter is watching a chess game and observes that a rule has been violated, should the arbiter intervene? Or should the arbiter intervene only if a player complains? Some people ...
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How to calculate USCF's Modified Median (with or without byes)?
The calculation is described in the "USCF Chess Rule Book", chapter 34E1,
34E1. Modified Median
The Median system, also known as the Harkness system for inventor Kenneth Harkness, evaluates ...
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FIDE and USCF: What do the rules say when a player insults an arbiter?
FIDE and USCF: What do the rules say when a player insults an arbiter?
This is an uncommon situation. In general, chess players are very polite people. 30 years ago, I was in training with Paul Klein, ...
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Time Trouble, Arbiter Trouble
Yesterday. Our club's summer tournament. One specialist A is in time trouble as always (to his defense, 90+30+no bonus) and no longer writes. The other specialist B still has 10 minutes and writes ...
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USCF rule for wrongly agreeing to stalemate? [duplicate]
In a USCF tournament game, after I moved and hit my clock, my opponent said "Is that stalemate?", reaching out his hand to shake on the result. I said "I think so," and shook his ...
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Why no notation for "Resigns" or "Lost on time"?
Suppose a chess game was decisive but didn't go to checkmate. Why does its notation not say whether the loser resigned or lost on time?
There are plenty of NAG symbols; even some ($136-$139) relating ...
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How is this a draw?
I was playing a game on chess.com. It is this game: https://www.chess.com/live/game/84265198943
It ended in a draw right as I was about to flag my opponent. I can not figure out why.
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How much would chess change if Black always had the last move?
In a hypothetical minor variant, could White's first-move advantage be compensated for by Black's right to last move?
Normally, White wins have White play N+1 plies to Black's N. How would the game ...
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Threefold repetition in view of castling rights
In view of castling rights, an aspiring rules lawyer could ask: when does threefold repetition support a draw claim? Technical example:
[fen ""]
[title "Illustration of castling rights&...
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Correct swiss pairings for a group of 4 players
Say we have a situation that's not super uncommon in swiss tournaments. There are four people currently tied with the most points, where #1 and #3 have just played White (for example), while #2 and #4 ...
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Noisy opponent -- your responsibility?
My opponent seemed to me (then a teenager) an elderly guy but I think he was just in his 50s or 60s.
Anyway, he literally was audibly and somewhat loudly talking to himself, saying, "If I go ...
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A player falls asleep during the game and his friend wakes him -- illegal?
I witnessed this: a player who burnt the candle at both ends fell asleep during the game and his friend woke him up. His opponent vehemently objected. How should this have been handled?
I do not ...
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Why did I lose -> I thought I can swap king and castle to avoid checkmate? [duplicate]
[FEN "6nN/Bp1k2pp/2n5/p7/Q4R1P/5pP1/P3qN2/4K2R w K - 0 1"]
As you can see my king got checkmated through the enemy's queen and pawn.
My question is, why is this a checkmate? I haven't moved ...
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Can Loss by Checkmate be Avoided by Invoking the 50-Move Rule Immediately After the 100th Half-Move?
The FIDE Laws of Chess state the 50-move rule as follows:
9.3 The game is drawn, upon a correct claim by a player having the move, if:
9.3.1 he/she indicates his/her move, which cannot be ...
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When (if ever) was it a rule that pawn promotion was optional?
I'm reading a very old chess book ("The Chess Pocket Manual" by G.H.D. Gossip, copyright 1894), and I find this passage in it's section on "The Laws of Chess":
When a Pawn has reached the eighth ...
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What to do if opponent has poor hygiene?
Are there regulations on what to do when your opponent has poor hygiene and it negatively influences your performance?
I do not want to be disrespectful or shame anyone, but bad breath or body odor ...
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Does the touch move rule apply in Blitz?
At a casual club where I play, one guy insists on playing five minute Blitz games (most of us play untimed games otherwise). Since a player's move isn't complete until they press their clock, he ...
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Could I get in trouble for insulting an arbiter during a tournament round?
Suppose that, during a round of an official FIDE-rated tournament, I insult the arbiter privately (they notice), without distracting any of the other players. Could I get expelled from the tournament ...
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Running out of time before playing a forced move that would draw the game
What happens if a player runs out of time before playing a forced move that would end in a draw? I suspect it is a loss, but it would be fair to be a draw.
7K/6P1/8/8/8/8/1k4p1/8 b - - 0 1
1... g1=Q ...
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What is Indian Castling exactly?
Western castling doesn’t exist in historical Indian Chess (Chaturanga). Instead, in some versions, there is a cool move whereby each king can once in the game make a knight's move.
I read that it is ...
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Nonstandard game results
Any standard chess game will end in 1:0,0:1,or 1/2:1/2. Can you give some games where very nonstandard results occurred (word of mouth is OK, but solid evidence is better)?
By §E10.2, any individual ...
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Detailed History of Touch Move Rule
What were the different versions of the touch-move rule over history?
There are various chess problems, particularly from 19th century, which depend upon it, and they seem to make different ...
CommunityBot
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Running out of time mid promotion to checkmate. Who wins?
In a casual blitz game I had with my friend, my last move was to promote a pawn, to ladder mate my opponent (there was already a rook on the 7th). I moved the pawn, but while I was reaching for the ...
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Is a Finite State Machine a good way to model chess?
A very common model in programming is the Finite State Machine (FSM) (see here for a great worked example.)
Is a FSM a good way to model chess? What are the best ways to go about it? What chess ...
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Confusing question about the "Pawn" [duplicate]
I enjoy playing chess and thought that I knew all of the "rules." However, I just found out now something interesting but remain very confused regarding what exactly the "Pawn" is ...
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Can a pawn move 2 spaces if doing so would cause en passant mate?
You cannot place your King in check, the en passant could be refused and because you are not placing your King in check directly it seems you can move your pawn 2 spaces. However, just like castling, ...
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Time control for casual clock simul at home
I have hosted a simul at our house last Sunday against 5 players who were friends and acquaintances of mine. It was fun, but it took a bit too long, because I allowed everyone to use as much time as ...
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Are there any official rules which govern the announcement of pairings for a FIDE rated tournament?
Are there any specific rules for the pairing announcement, like they have to be announced "x" hours before the start of the next round? Or does it completely depend upon the tournament ...
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Why isn't chess played white 1 move, black 2 moves, white 2 moves and so on?
In turn based games like chess, the player playing the first move has an advantage the whole game. One way to "remedy" this is to let the player starting the game make one move (and have the ...
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What is the state of the new FIDE Arbiter Refresher Courses?
Related question here asking about the changes for the changes in the regulations for FIDE arbiters (FA and IA) which came into force two years ago.
Previously the rules regarding inactivity for ...
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How is white allowed to castle 0-0-0 in this position?
I always thought the rules are you can’t castle if an enemy piece is watching the space between your king and the rook you want to castle with. But according to chess.com castling long is allowed in ...
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Can Nepo and Ding receive computer analysis from teammates between tiebreak rounds?
In round 4 of the tiebreaks for the 2023 world championship (LiChess), Nepo played the surprise 13.Bb1. I'm wondering if Nepo's teammates may have done a computer analysis of this position, which ...
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Le Petit Tourette
A kid I occasionally see on tournaments has a tic - he makes compulsive noises. Kids obviously have more understanding of such stuff - noone ever complained about being disturbed or made any ado about ...
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Can I capture my own pieces?
This may seem like a very amateur question, but I was playing chess with my dad, and when my dad won, I realized that I could've captured my own pawn in order to evade checkmate. I tried to do this ...
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Does 'dead position' consider the 75 moves rule?
In 5.2.2 of the FIDE laws it says:
The game is drawn when a position has arisen in which neither player can checkmate the opponent’s king with any series of legal moves. The game is said to end in a ‘...
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