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Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Don't Be cRule - How to Properly Offer a Draw

Proper Offering of Draws

Many junior (and even some experienced players…) think that it’s okay to just throw a draw offer at their opponent at any time, or, worse, to ask for a draw every couple of moves.  A player may offer a draw to their opponent, but there is a proper protocol to follow.    Hopefully these notes will help you know when it’s legal to offer a draw, how to do it, and when you should just hold off on offering a draw to your opponent.

Remember that when the clock is running, the player who is on-move has the right to not have their thinking disturbed.  This includes being disturbed with a draw offer from their opponent.  A draw offer should be made on your time, after making your move on the board (formally, this is called “determining” your move in the rules) and before pressing your clock (formally “completing” your move).

Note that any draw offer made is live and cannot be withdrawn.  This includes offers made incorrectly, say when their opponent is on-move.

If an offer is made prior to making a move, the opponent can request that the opponent make their move before considering it.  Note that this is not necessary to state – the offer made cannot be withdrawn, and if made prior to making a move, the offering player’s clock will be running.  Eventually the offering player will have to make a move or they will flag.  If they don’t realize this, and ask for a decision (such as “Well, do you accept?”), their opponent is still within their rights to see a move first (and can reply with something like “Let’s see a move first.”).  Even here, it’s important to note that the offer cannot be withdrawn.

Once any offer is made, the opponent can consider it, on their time, and either accept it or reject it verbally or by making a move themselves.

Etiquette for draw offers

What follows here are not hard rules, but good guidelines, especially in a social environment like club play.

·       In all cases, ASSUME BEST INTENT from your opponent.  Players at different strengths or even just different temperaments see different things in a position.  One player may think (correctly or not!!) that a particular King and Pawn formation is dead drawn.  The other doesn’t realize this, or perhaps knows how to convert a complex position.  Either way, they have a right to play on, and it doesn’t mean they are being disrespectful by declining.  Even if a position is theoretically drawn, your opponent may still ask you (by declining a draw) to prove it.  The use of delay clocks means that time should not be an issue in clearly drawn situations.

·       One general rule is “Offer a draw if you think your opponent won’t know how to make any progress.”  This can happen for several reasons, and changes based on the strength of your opponent.  Note that this doesn’t mean you should offer a draw when you’re worse.  It’s OK to offer a draw if you see that your worse, BUT don’t think your opponent will see why or know how to beat you in that position.

·       In general, if you’re down material without counterplay, don’t offer a draw, and certainly don’t offer it more than once.  If you’re clearly worse, your opponent knows you will take a draw and will offer one if they prefer it (say, down on time or winning requires particularly difficult technique).

·       If you have offered a draw and it was declined, consider it like “passing the speaking stick” – your opponent should be the next to offer the draw if no progress has been made, or the position hasn’t significantly changed.  You’ve signaled that you’re likely to be okay with a draw.  When they come to realize that it’s drawn, they will offer the draw back to you.  This is one of the things that is covered by rule – Rule 20G allows TD to impose a penalty for annoying behavior, which would include multiple draw offers when worse or without significant changes in the position.

TL;DR for offering a draw

  • DO
    • Be on move
    • Make your move first
    • Offer a draw to your opponent
    • Finally, hit your clock to complete your move
  • DON'T
    • Don't offer another draw unless circumstances of the position or clock have materially changed
    • Don’t take offense at a draw request or a declined offer.  Remember, players see different possibilities (correct or not) in a position based on their relative strength and experience

Monday, December 9, 2024

Don't Be cRule - Getting a Ruling During a Game

How to get a ruling during a game, and game interruptions generally

There are many reasons that a game may get interrupted, some out of the players’ control – clock is defective, board shifts and piece locations are disrupted, as well as some under the player’s control – claim of draw or win or any rule or conduct question that can’t be resolved by the players alone.  

Once anything happens that causes you to deviate from normal game play, the player noticing an issue has the right to stop the running clock until that issue is resolved – this note primarily follows Rules 21F and 16Q as well as others for specific instances.  Note that simply offering a draw, rather than a draw claim, is done with the clocks running, while the offering player is on move.

With clocks stopped, state your view, and in the overwhelming majority of cases, the players will agree (“Yes, I inadvertently knocked that R over, let me replace it on a1”).  If players can resolve it yourselves, that’s the ideal path.  Take the agreed action, restart the clocks and continue.  Note also that, frequently, for small issues like the one above, the entire process can be resolved within just a few seconds, and the players may not feel the need to stop clocks.  This is certainly acceptable.

Note that in many cases, a player loses the right to make a claim or obtain a ruling if they do not make that claim immediately.  One such case is for an illegal move (Rule 11D), where the player can make a claim up until the point where they complete their next move.

In all cases, ASSUME BEST INTENT from your opponent.  If there is a disagreement about a rule or how to proceed, please don’t let this escalate into something personal.  You’re both deeply invested in achieving exactly opposite goals over the board.  Emotions frequently get involved.  Don’t let that translate into any animus towards the player.  Chess is a civil abstraction of a violent conflict that occurs over the board played between gentlemen and ladies (quaint, I know, but it’s an aspiration…).  Retain your composure and earn that reputation IRL while the issue gets resolved.  Arguing about an issue only guarantees that you’ll just be having the same disagreement, only louder.  Please consider the players around you.  Fortunately, there’s always a party you can appeal to for a binding resolution to your issue:  The Tournament Director (TD).

At this point, clocks are stopped, you’ve exchanged a few words to establish that you disagree about how to proceed.  Stop there.  The initiating player should find a TD and explain the issue.  The TD will come to the table and make sure by talking to both players that a) they understand the facts, and that b) they understand the resolution requested by each player.  If both players do not agree on the facts, the TD has resources allowing them to get as close as possible to the unbiased truth of the situation, including consulting with spectators or other players in some cases.

The TD at this point will refer to the rules if needed, find and apply the appropriate rule(s) and issue their judgment allowing play to proceed.   For the course of play, this judgment is binding on both players and the game will continue accordingly. 

Players have the right to appeal a ruling but note that the TD may reserve a decision on the appeal and ask that play continue before it is heard.  If this occurs please continue the game under protest.  If the appealing player wins, the appeal becomes moot.  Review Rule 12H for more details.

TL;DR for getting a ruling

  • ·       Stop the clock
  • ·       State the issue to your opponent and quickly resolve if possible ** preferred outcome **
  •         Don’t argue about anything – there's no point, the TD will resolve the issue
  •         Get a TD
  •         Explain the case
  •         TD will issue ruling
  •         Play will proceed from there


Don’t Be cRule – New Post Series

I’ll occasionally be posting on rules matters that show up in WCC or other local events as TDs discuss them. 

I hold a Local TD certification but there are a number of Senior TDs in our local rota, and I certainly rely on them when necessary (with attribution). 

I’ll usually cover one or two topics in each post, and I’ll try to begin with OTB ground rules and common scenarios. Even if you’re an experienced player, it may help (or even save you ½ point here and there) to be well acquainted with these… 

Items on my initial list to cover include:
  • Getting rulings during a game
  • How to offer a draw properly
  • How to claim a draw properly (not the same thing as above...)
  • Keeping score, taking notes, electronic scoresheets
You can always drop me a line at chess@demastri.com if you want to see anything covered.


John DeMastri

Archive:

Thursday, December 5, 2024

Early Winter Swiss - Round 2 projected pairings

Open - Round 2 Pairing Sheet, Page 1

Board             White                                                                          Black

101. ___ Mishra, Ashish Kumar (1.0,1942)         ___ Nickell, James W (1.0,1506)

102. ___ Klandrud, Kevin (1.0,1612)                    ___ Seaman, Christopher (1.0,1232)

103. ___ Worman, Quinn (1.0,1106)                    ___ Coons, James Jay (0.5,1789)

104. ___ Mccutchin, Clark O. (0.5,1900)            ___ Simonis, Thomas A (0.5,1325)

105. ___ Grochowski, Robin J (0.5,1765)           ___ Chaveriat, Lee (0.5,1272)

106. ___ Albiter Benitez, Abra (0.5,1445)           ___ De Mastri, John (0.5,1671)

107. ___ Sabarish, Shashwath (0.5,764)            ___ Gendloff, Elie (0.0,1635)

108. ___ Kerns, Benjamin (0.0,1645)                  ___ Gundlach, Mike (0.0,1061)

109. ___ Kakumanu, Veda Anish, (0.0,795)       ___ Reed, Adisa M (0.0,1471)

 

Reserve - Round 2 Pairing Sheet, Page 1

Board             White                                                  Black

201. ___ Klass, Ralph F (1.0,558)            ___ Mohapatra, Devyanshu (1.0,922)

202. ___ Dasari, Gautham (1.0,nnnn)      ___ Akkina, Jaswanth (1.0,605)

203. ___ Butler, Michael S (0.5,824)        ___ Landey, Charles N (0.5,848)

204. ___ Everette, Samuel (0.0,762)       ___ Mading, James E (0.5,698)

205. ___ Yadav, Kush (0.0,400)               ___ Jampani, Aaditya V (0.0,nnnn)

Please Wait Borowski, Thomas Anton (0.0,141)


Early Winter Swiss - Crosstables after round 1

Open Cross Table

No. Gr Name                                             St Rate Rd 1     Score

1. Mishra, Ashish Kumar (1) .................. OH 1942 W16     1.0

2. Klandrud, Kevin (9) ............................ WI 1612 W17      1.0

3. Nickell, James W (10) ........................ WI 1506 W18      1.0

4. Seaman, Christopher (15) ................. WI 1232 W14      1.0

5. Worman, Quinn (16) .......................... WI 1106 W15      1.0

6. Mccutchin, Clark O. (2) ...................... WI 1900 -H-        0.5

7. Sloan, Nicholas (3) ............................ WI 1794 -H-        0.5

8. Coons, James Jay (4) ........................ WI 1789 D11      0.5

9. Grochowski, Robin J (5) .................... WI 1765 D12      0.5

10. De Mastri, John (6) ............................ WI 1671 D13    0.5

11. Albiter Benitez, Abraham (12) ............ WI 1445 D8      0.5

12. Simonis, Thomas A (13) .................... WI 1325 D9      0.5

13. Chaveriat, Lee (14) ............................ WI 1272 D10    0.5

14. Kerns, Benjamin (7) ........................... WI 1645 L4       0.0

15. Gendloff, Elie (8) ................................ WI 1635 L5       0.0

16. Reed, Adisa M (11) ............................ WI 1471 L1       0.0

17. Gundlach, Mike (17) .......................... WI 1061 L2       0.0

18. Kakumanu, Veda Anish, Jr (18) ......... WI 795 L3         0.0

Reserve Cross Table

No. Gr Name                                             St Rate Rd 1     Score

1. Mohapatra, Devyanshu (2) ................ WI 922 W7         1.0

2. Akkina, Jaswanth (4) ......................... WI 605 W9         1.0

3. Klass, Ralph F (5) .............................. WI 558 W8         1.0

4. Dasari, Gautham (8) .......................... WI nnnn W6        1.0

5. Panzarella, Kevin (1) ......................... WI 959 -H-          0.5

6. Everette, Samuel (3) .......................... WI 762 L4          0.0

7. Yadav, Kush (6) ................................. WI 400 L1           0.0

8. Borowski, Thomas Anton (7) ............. WI 141 L3           0.0

9. Jampani, Aaditya V (9) ...................... WI nnnn L2         0.0


Friday, November 29, 2024

Turkey quads 2024

Quad 1 - 4
-----------------------------------------------------------------
 Pair | Player Name                     |Total|Round|Round|Round| 
 Num  | USCF ID / Rtg (Pre->Post)       | Pts |  1  |  2  |  3  | 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
    1 | AETHELRED MAGNI HILD TEMPLIN    |2.5  |W   4|W   2|D   3|
   WI | 16614292 / Q: 1721   ->1732     |     |B    |W    |B    |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
    2 | BENJAMIN ALLAN CORCORAN         |2.0  |W   3|L   1|W   4|
   WI | 12911710 / Q: 1534   ->1574     |     |W    |B    |B    |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
    3 | THOR HEIDREK TEMPLIN            |1.5  |L   2|W   4|D   1|
   WI | 12481499 / Q: 1557   ->1566     |     |B    |W    |W    |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
    4 | ELIE GENDLOFF                   |0.0  |L   1|L   3|L   2|
   WI | 12493180 / Q: 1583   ->1532     |     |W    |B    |W    |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Quad 5 - 8
-----------------------------------------------------------------
 Pair | Player Name                     |Total|Round|Round|Round| 
 Num  | USCF ID / Rtg (Pre->Post)       | Pts |  1  |  2  |  3  | 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
    1 | REID ALEXANDER PEZEWSKI         |2.5  |D   3|W   4|W   2|
   WI | 14306385 / Q: 1406   ->1450     |     |W    |B    |B    |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
    2 | KEVIN KLANDRUD                  |1.5  |D   4|W   3|L   1|
   WI | 15938368 / Q: 1362   ->1365     |     |W    |B    |W    |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
    3 | CHRISTOPHER SEAMAN              |1.5  |D   1|L   2|W   4|
   WI | 12631974 / Q: 1200   ->1257     |     |B    |W    |W    |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
    4 | JAMES W NICKELL                 |0.5  |D   2|L   1|L   3|
   WI | 11300855 / Q: 1500   ->1500     |     |B    |W    |B    |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Quad 9 - 12
-----------------------------------------------------------------
 Pair | Player Name                     |Total|Round|Round|Round| 
 Num  | USCF ID / Rtg (Pre->Post)       | Pts |  1  |  2  |  3  | 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
    1 | CHARLES N LANDEY                |3.0  |W   4|W   3|W   2|
   WI | 12531107 / Q:  667   -> 801     |     |W    |B    |W    |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
    2 | SAMUEL EVERETTE                 |2.0  |W   3|W   4|L   1|
   WI | 31836507 / Q:  575P14-> 657P17  |     |W    |B    |B    |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
    3 | VEDA ANISH KAKUMANU JR.         |1.0  |L   2|L   1|W   4|
   WI | 30466766 / Q:  602   -> 589     |     |B    |W    |W    |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
    4 | JAMES E MADING                  |0.0  |L   1|L   2|L   3|
   WI | 12780703 / Q:  690   -> 593     |     |B    |W    |B    |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Quad 13 - 16
-----------------------------------------------------------------
 Pair | Player Name                     |Total|Round|Round|Round| 
 Num  | USCF ID / Rtg (Pre->Post)       | Pts |  1  |  2  |  3  | 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
    1 | DEVYANSHU MOHAPATRA             |2.5  |D   4|W   3|W   2|
   WI | 30263431 / Q:  530   -> 659     |     |B    |W    |B    |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
    2 | THOMAS A SIMONIS                |2.0  |W   3|W   4|L   1|
   WI | 12717181 / Q: Unrated->1211P10  |     |B    |W    |W    |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
    3 | ARNAV ARUN                      |1.0  |L   2|L   1|W   4|
   WI | 31559132 / Q:  334P23-> 382     |     |W    |B    |B    |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
    4 | JASWANTH AKKINA                 |0.5  |D   1|L   2|L   3|
   WI | 30298526 / Q:  479   -> 450     |     |W    |B    |W    |
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

WCC Late Fall Swiss - Final Results

Hi all: Please find below the final results for this event.

Congrats to Abraham for a 2152 performance rating, and a clean win in the Open section. Very well done - you were 1.5 points clear of an 1800 norm if you'd have been able to play the last round, and a 2000 norm was in reach with a round 4 win. More to work for :) Congrats in the open section to Shravan as well for scoring 2.5 (no byes) and a performance rating of about 1709! Well done

Congrats to Devyanshu, Michael B and Shashwath for a three-way tie for first in the Reserve section. Very well done to you all, as well.

Please see the final USCF rating report below. These are always available in the MSA section of the US Chess website, this is the link for this report. I've modified the tables we use here to show most of the information displayed in that report. I will use this format going forward.

Remember, next week, Kevin is running a rated Quick Quad (G25, iirc), so drop your family in front of the TV, and come play chess!!

Thanks - John D

============

No. Player Name State USCF ID Pre Post Norm R1 R2 R3 R4 Total
1 Abraham Albiter Benitez WI 30432498 1445 1632 W 2
W
W 12
B
W 3
W
H
 
3.5
2 Ashish Kumar Mishra OH 16280074 1942 1938 1600 L 1
B
W 18
W
W 11
B
W 9
W
3.0
3 Benjamin Kerns WI 31621823 1645 1699 1600 W 22
B
W 9
W
L 1
B
W 10
W
3.0
4 Evan C Seghers WI 13712498 2111 2115 W 7
B
W 11
W
H
 
U
 
2.5
5 Robert Lee Murphy WI 12558337 1895 1901 H
 
W 15
W
W 14
B
U
 
2.5
6 Nicholas Sloan WI 12772484 1794 1779 B
 
D 14
W
L 10
B
W 13
W
2.5
7 Kevin Klandrud WI 15938368 1612 1610 1200 L 4
W
D 8
B
W 20
W
W 16
B
2.5
8 Shravan Sabarish WI 31184590 1342 1458 1400 L 11
B
D 7
W
W 15
B
W 14
W
2.5
9 Aaron Paul Krause WI 12422831 1924 1900 1400 W 13
W
L 3
B
W 19
W
L 2
B
2.0
10 Clark O. Mccutchin WI 12539124 1900 1900 H
 
D 19
B
W 6
W
L 3
B
2.0
11 James Jay Coons WI 12551569 1789 1781 1200 W 8
W
L 4
B
L 2
W
W 20
B
2.0
12 John De Mastri WI 12580948 1671 1631 W 21
B
L 1
W
L 13
B
W 18
W
2.0
13 James W Nickell WI 11300855 1506 1523 1200 L 9
B
W 22
W
W 12
W
L 6
B
2.0
14 Elie Gendloff WI 12493180 1635 1612 W 20
W
D 6
B
L 5
W
L 8
B
1.5
15 Michael Lawrence WI 12937940 1400 1400 H
 
L 5
B
L 8
W
W 21
B
1.5
16 Lee Chaveriat WI 15201114 1272 1275 H
 
U
 
W 22
B
L 7
W
1.5
17 Christopher Seaman WI 12631974 1232 1244 H
 
U
 
U
 
W 22
B
1.5
18 Mike Gundlach WI 30499807 1061 1097 H
 
L 2
B
W 21
W
L 12
B
1.5
19 Robin J Grochowski WI 11164412 1765 1760 H
 
D 10
W
L 9
B
U
 
1.0
20 Quinn Worman WI 31975179 1106P11 1128P15 L 14
B
W 21
W
L 7
B
L 11
W
1.0
21 Charles Raddatz WI 31919132 1265P8 1142P12 L 12
W
L 20
B
L 18
B
L 15
W
0.0
22 Randy Quist WI 12849330 1027 1002 L 3
W
L 13
B
L 16
W
L 17
W
0.0

RESERVE
No. Player Name State USCF ID Pre Post Norm R1 R2 R3 R4 Total
1 Devyanshu Mohapatra WI 30263431 922 912 W 10
B
L 7
W
W 12
B
W 5
B
3.0
2 Michael S Butler WI 31347931 824 852 D 11
W
W 3
B
W 9
W
H
 
3.0
3 Shashwath Sabarish WI 31378607 764 797 W 8
B
L 2
W
W 6
B
W 7
W
3.0
4 Shivasanjith Sendhilkumar WI 30468092 1005 967 H
 
L 10
W
W 11
B
W 9
B
2.5
5 Veda Anish Kakumanu Jr. WI 30466766 795 798 W 12
B
D 9
W
W 7
B
L 1
W
2.5
6 Samuel Everette WI 31836507 762 724 L 7
B
W 8
W
L 3
W
W 10
B
2.0
7 Jaswanth Akkina WI 30298526 605 700 W 6
W
W 1
B
L 5
W
L 3
B
2.0
8 Thomas Anton Borowski WI 30471236 141 231 L 3
W
L 6
B
W 13
W
W 13
W
2.0
9 James E Mading WI 12780703 698 680 W 13
W
D 5
B
L 2
B
L 4
W
1.5
10 Mark Rodman WI 31919446 609P16 634P19 L 1
W
W 4
B
H
 
L 6
W
1.5
11 Abigail Liu WI 17062691 546P17 566P19 D 2
B
U
 
L 4
W
H
 
1.0
12 Ralph F Klass WI 14366034 558 541 L 5
W
W 13
B
L 1
W
U
 
1.0
13 Aaditya V Jampani WI 32020397 Unrated 101P4 L 9
B
L 12
W
L 8
B
L 8
B
0.0