English Chess Forum

At a recent league match a player became ill and an ambulance was called. He clearly could not continue his game and offered his opponent a draw which was accepted. The game was even so the offer was quite fair anyway and it had no bearing on the match result. However, is there a ruling on this? It would have been a brave man who declined the draw in such circumstances but what if this was the decisive game in the match and the opponent was clearly winning? What if winning the league or cup depended on it? A friend of mine found an occasion where such a situation arose and there were consequences. In the European Team Championships in 2011 in the match between Azerbaijan and France, one of the Azerbaijani players collapsed unconscious. During the break in play the French team offered their opponents a 2-2 draw which was accepted. However, it was pointed out later that this was very generous of the French as least two of the games at that point were in their favour. The Azerbaijan team went on to finish the tournament in second place while the French came 19th.

In a league match, if I were the opponent and didn't want a draw, I'd probably seal my next move and try to get the game resumed at a point when my opponent had recovered.

Something similar once happened in a Yorkshire league match (for reasons of confidentiality I won't give the teams or the exact circumstances). In this case the match was abandoned and replayed at a later date with the games already completed graded as friendlies.

The laws of chess don't have any specific provision for players being taken ill that I can see. The common sense approach would be to stop the clocks while the situation is assessed and if the player is too ill to continue a null game seems a fair result unless perhaps the position is so decisive that one player would have likely resigned within the next few moves. I think ultimately it's a judgement call for the teams, captains and players involved.

The France-Azerbaijan match has been mentioned on this forum before, such as what David Sedgwick said here. My recollection from a news article I can't find right now is that the incident in question was distressing enough that the Azeri players would have not wanted to continue in any case. See also what Lawrence Cooper said here.

Law 12.2.6
The arbiter shall take special measures in the interests of disabled players and those who need medical attention.
there have been various solutions over the years
The healthy player has resigned
Agreed drawn
Adjourned
Abandoned as a null result
But I cannot remember the unwell player immediately losing the game. He might well have done so, after adjourning and finding it impossible to continue.
Also I have experience of the arbiter requiring adjournment, against the wishes of the player who was unwell. (Immediately the doctor saw him, he was hospitalised.)

Stewart Reuben wrote: ↑

Mon May 13, 2019 12:55 pm

But I cannot remember the unwell player immediately losing the game. He might well have done so, after adjourning and finding it impossible to continue.

Penrose in the 1970 Olympiad (against Andorra)?

Stewart Reuben wrote: ↑

Mon May 13, 2019 12:55 pm

But I cannot remember the unwell player immediately losing the game. He might well have done so, after adjourning and finding it impossible to continue.

Roger de Coverly wrote: ↑

Mon May 13, 2019 12:57 pm

Penrose in the 1970 Olympiad (against Andorra)?

Penrose made a losing blunder before he fainted. I think that either he, or team captain Alexander, resigned the game.

Wholly reliable eyewitness account

JustinHorton wrote: ↑

Wed May 15, 2019 12:53 pm

Wholly reliable eyewitness account

I just read that and was about to post a link. It is very entertaining (I'd not read it before).

Olaf Ulvestad was not a Norgwegian emigre, he was American, of Scandanavian heritage, born in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Bob Hunt

Surprising that the article got Ulvestad wrong since he wasn't just any old American (or Norwegian) but famously defeated Bronstein in the USA-USSR match at Moscow 1946
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1033629
where Bronstein blamed his defeat on obeying Botvinnik's pre-match order not to play the King's Gambit.

Leonard Barden wrote: ↑

Wed May 15, 2019 1:54 pm

Surprising that the article got Ulvestad wrong

Yes, that must surely be my error, I'll correct that when I can.

The player who falls ill should lose - as they do in tennis. End of story.

Stewart Reuben wrote: ↑

Mon May 13, 2019 12:55 pm

Law 12.2.6
The arbiter shall take special measures in the interests of disabled players and those who need medical attention.
there have been various solutions over the years
The healthy player has resigned
Agreed drawn
Adjourned
Abandoned as a null result
But I cannot remember the unwell player immediately losing the game. He might well have done so, after adjourning and finding it impossible to continue.
Also I have experience of the arbiter requiring adjournment, against the wishes of the player who was unwell. (Immediately the doctor saw him, he was hospitalised.)

Happened at London Classic last year

i saw a report earlier today that Korobov was on fire. Any idea how that was dealt with ?

Nigel Short > The player who falls ill should lose - as they do in tennis. End of story.<

Law 12.2.6
The arbiter shall take special measures in the interests of disabled players and those who need medical attention. Beginning of story.

Balinas PHI was feeling very unwell at one Lloyds Bank Masters. The clock was stopped temporarily and he was taken off to a quiet area. Karl Burger stopped his game temporarily. Danny Kopec, Balinas's opponent said, 'I'm not going to resign just because he isn't well'. 'Nobody is suggesting you should,' I responded. He then went over to Balinas and offered a draw, which was accepted. The diagnosis was that the Filipino had had an anxiety attack and he breathed into a paper bag which relieved the symptoms.

Correspondence chess, If a player dies, his games are adjudicated.

Ask not why chess isn't like other sports, but why other sports aren't like chess.