Sunday, May 17, 2009

Chess Rules Blog

Welcome to the "Chess Rules" blog. This blog is intended as a platform for the discussion of the FIDE Rules of Chess, past, present and future. I don't expect it to be a blog with a lot of topics, but I do hope the comments section will contain a lot of discussion.
The only thing I would like to see in regards comments is that they have a name attached to them (rather than just anonymous). The name can be a pseudonym or as something as simple as "Dave", just as long as there is some indentifying mark.

6 comments:

Reasonable Person said...

Hi Shaun,

First, thank you for setting up this blog.I am not sure if anyone is supposed to initiate a topic...but if so, here goes. A local club has reportedly banned the act of players drinking out of a water bottle during games , instead instituting a rule that players must use a cup / mug e.g pour soft drinks out of the purchased bottle into a cup. This apparently follows a complaint from one of its long-standing members that he was distracted by the act of players drinking out of bottles (strangely, this complaint seems to only emanate when said player loses the game). Several players have been recipients of this complaint, though in most, if not all, cases, their act would not have constituted a distraction by any objective measure. It seems to only affect the particular sensitivities of this complainant, and therefore, presumably to appease this person, the club has instituted a total ban on the use of drinking bottles during a game. The irony is that some players may also find the act of pouring a drink into a cup during a game distracting in itself etc. So, my question is this: do the FIDE rules (or ACF ones, for that matter) assess complaints of distraction objectively or subjectively i.e. in the latter case, it would regard the complaint as valid if the complainant is distracted, regardless of the fact that objectively, a reasonable person would not have been distracted in the same scenario. If the latter were to be true, then surely, all sorts of frivolous complaints would be upheld e.g. I might complain that the act of players holding their heads in their hands is particularly distracting to me etc. etc. I look forward to your view and advice. Thanks.

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RaymentW said...

Hey Shaun, I think this is a great idea. I have had a site on the basic rules of chess for ten years. I get tons of questions about the rules, mainly from people just learning. I usually just write them back, a public forum is a great way to help people too shy to send an email. Thanks. Will

Chess for Concentration said...

thats good for chess lover

Chad Phillips said...

I couldn't find a place to ask questions, so I am posting it here - hope that's OK.

I'm coaching an elementary school team, and I've seen in matches more than once where one player announces checkmate when it is not checkmate. In one instance, it was said so convincingly that the other player hung his head in defeat and reached out to shake hands. The other chess coach and I looked at each other and we decided to inform him that it wasn't checkmate and direct him to continue playing. Is there a rule guiding this sort of situation?

What if the non-checkmated player had admitted defeat, but then noticed that it wasn't checkmate on his own?
What if there was a clock involved and the "losing" player also stopped the clock?

I would really appreciate some guidance on this because it seems to be happening a lot!
Thanks,

Anonymous said...

Anon comments are a very good option, if moderated well. Otherwise there cold be a lot of trouble from others. Similarly to no FIDE Chess Rules document being signed by anyone in person(s). Thank you.