Arbiter Question

[James Hooker]

This happened a few years ago, but I never really knew the answer of what should have happened.

It was a fairly informal quickplay tournament held at a club.

The round only has 1 game still going, so everyone in the room was watching this game.

So nearing the late middlegame stage of the game, Player A makes an illegal move. Neither of the players notice, but the arbiter does. As the arbiter is walking towards the board to interject (literally a couple of feet) , Player B resigns because Player A's illegal move was a stone cold game winner, if it wasn't illegal of course.

So what should happen with the game according the the rules?


What happened here is that the illegal move was pointed out, time added to Player B's clock and the game was re-started. Player B ended up winning the game, but I have always wondered if the wrong decision was made.

[IM Jack Rudd]

Oooh, this is an interesting one, in that it depends on whether you consider the illegal move to have been found "during the game". (If you consider it has, then 7.5.1 applies, and the arbiter's decision was right; if you consider it hasn't, then 5.1.2 applies, and it was wrong.)

[IM Jack Rudd]

On balance, because the arbiter immediately stepped over to intervene, I think I'd rule that the illegal move had been found during the game.

[James Hooker]

Thanks!

I was technically the arbiter, but more just trying to run the tournament and just using my basic arbiter knowledge gleaned from years of play.

I noticed the illegal move as soon as it happened and was walking towards the board to intervene when Player B resigned and they were shaking hands as I actually got to the board.

Player A was graded roughly 110 , and player B was graded roughly 170 (old ratings as was a few years ago)

I always wondered if I was wrong and had ruined the 110 rated player one of their best victories!

[NickFaulks]

I always wondered if I was wrong and had ruined the 110 rated player one of their best victories!

No. You were right and you ruined the game.

edit : Later thought. Were you really the official arbiter? It sounds as though you may have been just a spectator whose decision would be respected in the event of a dispute. I am regularly in that position myself and I would not call an illegal move.

[James Hooker]

I always wondered if I was wrong and had ruined the 110 rated player one of their best victories!

No. You were right and you ruined the game.

edit : Later thought. Were you really the official arbiter? It sounds as though you may have been just a spectator whose decision would be respected in the event of a dispute. I am regularly in that position myself and I would not call an illegal move.

I was the arbiter in the sense that I was running the tournament, but I am no arbiter myself, was just doing my best. This is Cornwall, finding people to run anything are few and far between. As I say though, it was just a quickplay event held on a club night.

[John Upham]

This is Cornwall, finding people to run anything are few and far between. As I say though, it was just a quickplay event held on a club night.

James,
I am told that this generic issue is, at last, being addressed.

Yury Krylov is making inroads and the management and provision of qualified arbiters is undergoing root and branch improvement.

One of these steps is to increase the pool of arbiter assessors. The lack of these has held back arbiter development for many years.

Expect an announcement in the next few weeks.

[Paul Cooksey]

Just out of curiosity, a variation on James question.

If in this position white plays Re8 checkmate and claims the game is over, how are the laws applied?

mateinone.jpg (38.51 KiB) Viewed 3964 times

[IM Jack Rudd]

The rules for checkmate, stalemate, and anything else that immediately ends the game all include the clause "provided the move that brought the position about was legal". Re8 wasn't legal, so you intervene, give black two minutes, and restart the clock, with white's being touch-move on the rook.

[Paul Cooksey]

Even if Black does not claim anything?

[IM Jack Rudd]

Yes. Illegal moves are a mandatory arbiter intervention if spotted.

[Paul Cooksey]

thanks

[Paul McKeown]

So nearing the late middlegame stage of the game, Player A makes an illegal move. Neither of the players notice, but the arbiter does. As the arbiter is walking towards the board to interject (literally a couple of feet) , Player B resigns because Player A's illegal move was a stone cold game winner, if it wasn't illegal of course.

If this was Player A's second illegal move, then resignation would have course have been nugatory, a second illegal move immediately ending the game.

I think as an arbiter one should always bear in mind that a game of chess is played between two players, and not between two players and an arbiter. Nevertheless, in formal competition, it is clear that the Laws state that an illegal move must be corrected, so the game should rewind to before the illegal move and continue from there, as Jack has said, with the proviso as Jack has also stated that the arbiter was already intending to intervene before the resignation. However, in an informal event, particularly one which is rapid or blitz, it would be best to check beforehand what level of arbiter intervention is desired, before laying out the Laws all too heavily.

The rules for checkmate, stalemate, and anything else that immediately ends the game all include the clause "provided the move that brought the position about was legal". Re8 wasn't legal, so you intervene, give black two minutes, and restart the clock, with white's being touch-move on the rook.

Law 5.1.2 also states that resignation immediately ends the game. It might be useful if it also explicitly stated what is meant to happen in the case that the opponent's previous move was illegal, to avoid any potential conflict with the requirement that illegal moves be corrected, as illustrated by James's interesting and thought-provoking post.

[NickFaulks]

Yes. Illegal moves are a mandatory arbiter intervention if spotted.

But what is an arbiter? That, I think, is the point of this thread.

I have always opposed rules based on "if an arbiter happens to be in the vicinity and notices..." but I am in a minority here. I still think there is a problem if the friend of a player goes to the arbiters' desk and says, you need to look at board 46. What should they do?

[Tim Spanton]

At Hastings a few years ago I saw aboard where Black had played ...Bb4 without moving either the e or g pawn. I reported this to the arbiters' desk. Should I not have done so?