Graham Borrowdale wrote:
I must admit to getting slightly annoyed by the 180-strength player (not old) who always castles using 2 hands, but it is only once every game, and I would say that most club players pick up a queen, put it on the queening square, then remove the pawn from the 7th rank, when queening a pawn, which would seem to be incorrect.
Actually Graham it is OK to do that, so long as you do not press the clock before removing the pawn. This is one of the laws that hasn't changed.
4.6 The act of promotion may be performed in various ways:
4.6.1 the pawn does not have to be placed on the square of arrival,
4.6.2 removing the pawn and putting the new piece on the square of promotion may occur in
any order.
4.6.3 If an opponent’s piece stands on the square of promotion, it must be captured.
...
7.5.2 If the player has moved a pawn to the furthest distant rank, pressed the clock, but not
replaced the pawn with a new piece, the move is illegal. The pawn shall be replaced by
a queen of the same colour as the pawn.
7.5.3 After the action taken under Article 7.5.1 or 7.5.2, for the first completed illegal move
by a player, the arbiter shall give two minutes extra time to his opponent; for the second
completed illegal move by the same player the arbiter shall declare the game lost by this
player. However, the game is drawn if the position is such that the opponent cannot
checkmate the player’s king by any possible series of legal moves.
The things people do wrong about promotion are:
a) Using both hands; (now illegal);
b) Trying to use an upturned rook instead of a queen. [Whatever he intended, he has promoted to a rook.]
c) putting the pawn on the 8th (usually saying check) and pressing the clock. That is illegal and loses immediately in rapid or blitz, in classical the opponent gets extra time and the pawn can only be made into a queen [as 7.5.2 states].
As for castling, in a recent FIDE-rated rapid tournament, an opponent played ...Ra8-d8, let go of the rook, picked up his K and put in on c8. I called the arbiter who ruled that Rd8 had been played. My opponent didn't deny it but refused to continue the game, just got up and let his time run out. Maybe other players would have let this go but it was a FIDE-rated event. If he had done a Nakamura with both hands then I suppose I would have had to let it go unless there were witnesses.
This seems to be the general problem. Many trivial, or sometimes gross offences, in club or minor tournament play have to be ignored because there are no witnesses or one doesn't want to disturb team-mates in league matches where there is rarely a non-playing captain.
Like adjusting pieces without saying j'adoube or offering draws out of turn.