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Note that any draw offer made is live and cannot be withdrawn.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  Note that this is not necessary to state – the offer made cannot be withdrawn, and if made prior to making a move, the offering player’s clock will be running.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  Even here, it’s important to note that the offer cannot be withdrawn.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

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

chess@demastri.com

Archive:

Dec '24 - Getting a Ruling During a Game

Dec '24 - How to Properly Offer a Draw

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

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    |
-----------------------------------------------------------------

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