Questions tagged [rules]
Questions relating to the rules of chess
631
questions
0
votes
1
answer
164
views
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 ...
- 3,695
8
votes
4
answers
7k
views
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, ...
2
votes
1
answer
88
views
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 ...
- 94.5k
4
votes
0
answers
234
views
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 ...
- 176
2
votes
0
answers
68
views
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 ...
10
votes
3
answers
2k
views
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 ...
- 105
7
votes
1
answer
233
views
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 ...
3
votes
1
answer
114
views
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 ...
- 94.5k
4
votes
2
answers
4k
views
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 ...
- 17.1k
7
votes
4
answers
3k
views
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 ‘...
- 11k
7
votes
1
answer
356
views
Ignoring Touch Move results in an Illegal Move?
I just wanted to clarify the following incident:
When touching a piece without expressing the intend to adjust its position (cf. 4.2.1 FIDE Laws of Chess), such that it has to be moved because there ...
- 94.5k
11
votes
2
answers
261
views
Black beginning (specifically, the Immortal)
By CPT (or better: the Chess version thereof) if a game is opened by Black, you can transpose it to the standard version (by swapping board, colors and move rights) and there is no visible difference. ...
- 94.5k
14
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Does a draw on the board need to be declared before the time flag is reached?
I was participating in a FIDE-rated rapid tournament a while back (15+0, if it matters for the rules), and had finished my match, and was watching another board. White had about 10 seconds remaining ...
- 283
6
votes
3
answers
731
views
Can't a pawn capture onto the last rank to promote?
I do not play chess much. Recently a friend reached out to play some online games. We ran into an odd situation that I cannot find a rule on.
His White pawn was at g2 and my Rook was still at h1. He ...
- 24.8k
39
votes
1
answer
10k
views
When was it possible for a player's king to be attacked by 3 of the opponent's pieces?
According to the current FIDE Laws of Chess:
3.9.1 The king is said to be 'in check' if it is attacked by one or more of the opponent's pieces, even if such pieces are constrained
from moving to ...
- 17.1k
5
votes
1
answer
575
views
Would move sealing make sense in chessboxing? Or do the chessboxing people explain why they don't have?
In chessboxing, I think that every switch from a chess round to a boxing round is kind of an adjournment. Yet, I notice chessboxing doesn't have move sealing. Some ways a switch is not quite an ...
- 1
22
votes
5
answers
6k
views
What stops me from pumping up my rating by playing a 200 game match against a much weaker (>400 point difference) player?
This question is inspired by this extract from a question about minimum rating gain:
One of the top 10 players in the world (say Magnus Carlsen), wants to increase his rating to 3000. He has a good ...
- 15.8k
6
votes
1
answer
602
views
Is it ethical to take a zero-moves draw in the last round of a tournament if one is already assured of first place?
Suppose I'm playing in a small, 6-round tournament. I win the first five rounds, which also guarantees at least a share of 1st regardless of the results of the last round. What are the ethics of play ...
- 17.1k
3
votes
1
answer
361
views
Candidates 2013: could Ivanchuk have legally/ethically offered a draw (and thus make Kramnik champion)?
In the last round of the Candidates of the 2013 World Championship, there were two players left in contention. Kramnik (black vs. Ivanchuk) needed to outperform Carlsen (white vs. Svidler). In the ...
- 17.1k
-3
votes
2
answers
463
views
Iuri Shkuro is part of the top peak FIDE blitz rating list (2800+) apparently by 'farming'
There's a Sep2020 reddit post by user ChessAddiction entitled 'How the Elo rating system works, and why "farming" lower rated players is not cheating.' I also ask about farming here: When is ...
- 1
1
vote
1
answer
292
views
USCF and FIDE: Is it legal to organize a tournament with the Monrad System? Monrad: rank 1 versus 2, in the first round. Swiss: 1 versus 5
We started to use the Monrad system:
https://rankedin.ladesk.com/043159-2152--Monrad
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss-system_tournament
We are organizing a monthly tournament valid for ELO rating ...
- 18.4k
16
votes
3
answers
4k
views
What are the main changes in the latest (January 2023) version of the FIDE Laws of Chess?
FIDE has released its latest version of the Laws of Chess - FIDE Laws of Chess taking effect from 1 January 2023.
What are the main differences from the previous version(Laws of Chess: For ...
- 17.1k
5
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Can someone press the clock without making a move to avoid getting flagged in 2022?
As the title says let's say it is a 1 hour 30 minute game with 30 seconds increment/move. Now if someone deliberately presses the clock at the last second without moving to avoid flagging and get the ...
- 17.1k
15
votes
8
answers
3k
views
Why can't a piece (that isn't a pawn) capture en passant?
Why can't a piece (that isn't a pawn) capture en passant? When a pawn makes a two-square move, the en passant rule says that on the next move, any pawn that could have captured it on the single-...
-2
votes
3
answers
702
views
How is this checkmate? I’m new to chess
I’m new to chess.
How is this checkmate?
[FEN ""]
[Date "Dec 31 2019"]
[White "User 21050 (Lvl 3 500pts)"]
[Black "Computer (Level 20 3000+pts)"]
1.Nf3 a5 2.Ng5 h5 3.Nxf7 g6 4.Nxh8 g5 5.Ng6 Ra6 6....
- 3,695
2
votes
1
answer
67
views
Simultaneous tournament games
The status: I just qualified for German DPEM. All "big" tournaments, since a few years, have been collected on the "Schachgipfel". Last year I played very well in the DSenEM (a win ...
- 94.5k
3
votes
3
answers
486
views
Should FIDE introduce a minimum rating for arbiters?
As it stands right now, FIDE does not have any minimum Elo rating requirement for arbiters. In fact, there's no test to check whether one can play chess or not before being awarded a FIDE arbiter-...
- 146
11
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Official rules for castling in Chess960? (Is there a loophole?)
Note: this is another rules-lawyering question.
I first ask for an official source I am calling into question the phrasing of the rules. Then I consider a few plausibly official sources, and point ...
7
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Can you use the copycat strategy in correspondence chess?
The copycat strategy is a rather silly one that guarantees a 50% score. Basically, you play White in one game and Black in the other game. You copy moves from one game to the other. So for example, if ...
- 17.1k
10
votes
2
answers
250
views
Do I have to make a move on a DGT board at the start of the game when opponent is not present?
In a situation when you are playing on a DGT board as white and your opponent has not yet arrived at the board, should we still make the move on the board after the game has started?
Let's say your ...
- 51
100
votes
12
answers
51k
views
Why is it illegal to castle with both hands?
I was watching the match between Ian Nepomniachtchi vs Hikaru Nakamura and Nakamura used both hands to castle.
Why is it illegal to castle using both hands? What's wrong with that?
- 2,262
20
votes
9
answers
8k
views
How to balance the game for uneven players
I want to play chess with my wife, but we have different ranks (I am approximately 1900, and she is ~1500 (probably less based on comments)). Normally, our games are boring for me.
I tried to balance ...
- 18.4k
1
vote
1
answer
292
views
What are the rules of Glinski's Hexagonal Chess?
Wladyslaw "Bill" Glinski was a Pole who came to London immediately after the end of WW2. He developed what is probably the most popular version of hexagonal chess, a variant played on an ...
- 94.5k
6
votes
1
answer
153
views
Cheating Protocols
Does FIDE (or any national federations) have any set protocols regarding detection of cheating? Or maybe a formal process for adjudicating suspicion? From what I can tell, the arbiter at St. Louis ...
- 1,242
10
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Opponent replies to a half made move - what should the arbiter do?
In round 1 of the recently concluded 4th EJCOA IM norm tournament this game was played:
[Title "Rajat Makkar vs Neil Berry 4th EJCOA IM Norm 2022"]
[fen ""]
[Startply "36"...
- 18.4k
2
votes
2
answers
176
views
Am I obligated to tell my opponent the position of my piece he displaced in blitz?
In a blitz game, my opponent displaced 3 pieces upon capturing. He arranged 2 correctly but could not figure the position of the third piece. Am I obligated to say the position of the 3rd piece when ...
- 1,772
2
votes
1
answer
116
views
Tournaments with not-everyone-treated-equal
Less "radical": see also this question.
Usually, in tournaments rules hold uniformly for each participant. Here are some examples that might violate the rule:
A: Those who can't notate (...
- 1,772
5
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What happens after repeated incorrect draw claims?
Assume, one player is in severe time trouble and his opponent chooses to play on. He has a strong feeling that they may have reached the same position for the third time but doesn't have the time to ...
- 101
0
votes
1
answer
136
views
In the endgame, black had only two blocked pawns. It is his turn. Is it stalemate or must he move his king?
In the endgame, Black had only two blocked pawns. It is his turn. Is it stalemate or must he move his king?
My opponent claimed that the king cannot move if all other remaining pieces are blocked.
- 3,695
10
votes
1
answer
814
views
Mate with both hands: Result?
Constructed case: In a tournament (LoC Tournament Rules apply, no rapid, no blitz) White plays d7-d8Q by placing the new Queen on d8 with the right hand and removing the pawn d7 with the left. White ...
- 94.5k
32
votes
4
answers
193k
views
Is it possible to checkmate with knight and king against king?
I would like to clarify two things:
Is it possible to checkmate with only a knight and a king against a lone king?
What will happen when one side has a king and knight and the other has just a king, ...
- 507
1
vote
1
answer
222
views
USCF: Insufficient material to win on time
It is my understanding that the United States Chess Federation (USCF) has the rule: Insufficient material to win on time.
Does this rule apply to all time controls?
Does the player need to claim the ...
- 18.4k
14
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Do I have the right to resign on my first move or within 10 moves?
In chess, does a player have the right to resign within the first ten moves of the game? More specifically, I am curious if I can resign immediately on my first move. Additionally, do I have my right ...
- 3,695
3
votes
1
answer
837
views
Overruling last round color check in Swiss
Spinoff from here
FIDE Swiss pairing rules state that last round color check in Swiss may be overruled by the organizer. They don't state what overrules. Probably it is not in the whim of the ...
- 17.1k
4
votes
1
answer
183
views
Is it possible to play all games with white pieces in a team tournament?
Let's say there's a team tournament like European Club Cup. We have one player who can win games with white pieces(called Player A). And another player who can hold for a draw with black pieces(called ...
- 94.5k
5
votes
1
answer
79
views
Can a tournament be FIDE rated if it has multiple time controls based on player ratings
If we ran a weekly club tournament that has different time controls for different games based on both players' ratings as set forth in the FIDE regulations, would the tournament qualify as a Standard ...
- 94.5k
6
votes
2
answers
722
views
USCF: Should the arbiter start a time-forfeit claim?
I will be an USCF arbiter soon and I am checking the current USCF version of chess rules. Here is the link on the USCF website at 4/9/2022: USCF chess rules
In my perspective, you would have to go to ...
- 1,242
10
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Do you lose/gain rating if you withdraw in the middle of an OTB tournament?
Magnus just withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup. Does that affect his rating at the end of the tournament? Will he gain or lose rating based on at the time he left the tournament in the next fide update?...
- 3,587
7
votes
1
answer
388
views
USCF: Can the arbiter adjudicate a draw using the threefold repetition rule WITHOUT a player claim?
Please give me your perspective and experience about USCF sudden death and non-sudden death time controls. My understanding is the following:
In general, the arbiter should not intervene unless a ...
- 17.1k
3
votes
1
answer
119
views
USCF: Does the arbiter have the duty to write the moves of the players if they are not recording their moves? Or is that not allowed?
In general, the players have to write their moves. However, there are some situations when they are allowed to skip this obligation. In those situations, does an USCF arbiter have the duty to write ...
- 17.1k