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Winning on time dishonestly
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2026 2:38 pm
by MJMcCready
Hi there, I was watching something with Bill Hartston commentating and he recalled how several Yugoslavian players had a very bad habit. He said they would get to the 39th move and then falsely write an extra move on their scoresheet and then walk away from the board, as it to give the impression the time control had been reached, duping their opponent to relax and then lose on time. He singled out one GM in particular but never said his name, does anyone know who it was? Was it Milan Matulović? How often did that sort of thing go on and are there other ways to win on time dishonestly?
Re: Winning on time dishonestly
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2026 2:45 pm
by Joey Stewart
I recall seeing players in the past hide their scoresheet under the table while their opponent was in desperate time trouble and not notating so they weren't able to know when they reached time control and carried on blitzing past it until they lost and then "catching up the moves" to 39
Re: Winning on time dishonestly
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2026 2:47 pm
by MJMcCready
Joey Stewart wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2026 2:45 pm
I recall seeing players in the past hide their scoresheet under the table while their opponent was in desperate time trouble and not notating so they weren't able to know when they reached time control and carried on blitzing past it
That's a bad thing to do. I know many liked to hide their moves when it was legal to write them down before you played them but not the whole scoresheet.
Re: Winning on time dishonestly
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2026 3:59 pm
by Roger de Coverly
MJMcCready wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2026 2:38 pm
are there other ways to win on time dishonestly?
It was a known piece of gamesmanship made almost obsolete by the use of increments. But players should leave themselves enough time to know how many moves had been played. Getting into extreme time trouble can of itself be a form of gamesmanship as it can disrupt the opponent's rhythm.
A more recent one with digital clocks was to play an illegal move. The premise being that the arbiter would take so long to give extra time to the opponent that you gain valuable thinking time. I don't think it has been implemented yet, but there was a FIDE proposal to subtract time from the offender instead of adding it to the opponent. This would have the effect with a two minute penalty that an illegal move with less than two minutes on the clock would result in a loss on time.
Re: Winning on time dishonestly
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2026 4:12 pm
by MJMcCready
Roger de Coverly wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2026 3:59 pm
MJMcCready wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2026 2:38 pm
are there other ways to win on time dishonestly?
It was a known piece of gamesmanship made almost obsolete by the use of increments. But players should leave themselves enough time to know how many moves had been played. Getting into extreme time trouble can of itself be a form of gamesmanship as it can disrupt the opponent's rhythm.
A more recent one with digital clocks was to play an illegal move. The premise being that the arbiter would take so long to give extra time to the opponent that you can valuable thinking time. I don't think it has been implemented yet, but there was a FIDE proposal to subtract time from the offender instead of adding it to the opponent. This would have the effect with a two minute penalty that an illegal move with less than two minutes on the clock would result in a loss on time.
So what you are saying is that these Yugoslavian players that Hartston mentioned weren't the only ones who deliberately wrote an extra move on their scoresheet to trick their opponents into thinking they had made the time control?
Re: Winning on time dishonestly
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2026 4:32 pm
by Ian Thompson
MJMcCready wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2026 2:38 pm
are there other ways to win on time dishonestly?
A variation on the theme you mention was to space the moves out a bit on the scoresheet, so, by the time you were writing a move down on line 40 on the scoresheet, it wasn't move 40. It was only move 39, or less.
Re: Winning on time dishonestly
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2026 4:48 pm
by MJMcCready
Ian Thompson wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2026 4:32 pm
MJMcCready wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2026 2:38 pm
are there other ways to win on time dishonestly?
A variation on the theme you mention was to space the moves out a bit on the scoresheet, so, by the time you were writing a move down on line 40 on the scoresheet, it wasn't move 40. It was only move 39, or less.
Crafty.
Re: Winning on time dishonestly
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2026 5:11 pm
by Brendan O'Gorman
Didn't Korchnoi beat a very young Carlsen by entering one move twice on his score sheet? The time control was 40 moves. Korchnoi (White) entered his 39th move in the space for his 40th move. Carlsen, in time trouble, made his 39th move and relaxed, thinking he'd made 40 moves. He lost on time. I don't think it was ever established whether the double move was accidental or deliberate.
Re: Winning on time dishonestly
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2026 5:30 pm
by Matt Mackenzie
This was also done the other way round - back in the days when the main time control was after 40 moves some players allegedly had the habit of "missing out" a move somewhere, so especially if their opponent was in time trouble and relying on that person's scoresheet to tell them how many moves they had made they might make an extra one quickly "just in case". And from time to time, this turned out to be the fatal mistake.
A certain Hungarian GM who passed away a few years ago was reportedly quite well known for doing this.
Re: Winning on time dishonestly
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2026 8:53 pm
by Geoff Chandler
Re Carlsen v Korchnoi. " The official site says Magnus lost on time because he had missed out a line in his scoresheet by mistake and therefore thought he had already made 40 moves."
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/kibitzi ... 3&reply=58
Recall Magnus losing on time because he did not know the time control rules.
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1794915
Re: Winning on time dishonestly
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2026 9:18 pm
by Roger de Coverly
Geoff Chandler wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2026 8:53 pm
RRecall Magnus losing on time because he did not know the time control rules.
It can happen particularly with digital clocks that only add extra time when the previous time control runs out.For example you are playing 90 minutes with 30 second increments. Your opponent thinks it's 40 moves in 90 minutes with an extra 30, again with increments.You reach move 40 and your opponent has a think confident erroneously that there's extra time on its way.
Re: Winning on time dishonestly
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2026 11:35 pm
by John Clarke
Matt Mackenzie wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2026 5:30 pm
A certain Hungarian GM who passed away a few years ago was reportedly quite well known for doing this.
If you're thinking of the one
I'm thinking of, his particular trick was to leave blank the first line in the second column on his scoresheet. More subtle than doing it right from the first move. He was warned about it once at Hastings, but apparently paid little heed.
Re: Winning on time dishonestly
Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2026 9:55 am
by Joey Stewart
Actually I did think of another potential way to win really unfairly on time with dgt clocks - if an opponent is desperately rushing to make a time control play a sequence of captures fast but "forget" to press your own clock during the moves so the move counter is off and they end up flagging while thinking there is bonus time due.
Not that I'm ever planning to do this, I might like to say, but it is a very viable way to exploit the horrible design of those clocks that your time HAS to run out for you to even discover if you made your time control instead of just instantly showing it on screen
Re: Winning on time dishonestly
Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2026 4:44 pm
by MJMcCready
I was surprised to learn that even titled players can resort to such underhand tactics to get a win. I thought that sort of thing only really went on at club level.
Re: Winning on time dishonestly
Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2026 8:24 pm
by Jon Mahony
MJMcCready wrote: ↑Mon Aug 03, 2026 4:44 pm
I was surprised to learn that even titled players can resort to such underhand tactics to get a win. I thought that sort of thing only really went on at club level.
They are the worst ones sometimes
Tony Miles was not averse to some gamesmanship.