A minor yet irritating point of chess etiquette

[JustinHorton]

Why do so many players neglect to set up the pieces again when they have finished in the analysis room?

[Niall Doran]

Short answer: couldn't be arsed.

Longer answer: Lack of respect for whoever has to tidy up at the end, and lack of pressure from their peers to encourage them to do so.

[Alan Walton]

Personally to me it has just become second nature to reset the pieces, all children at 3Cs are told to do this before they leave the board on a club night, and if they do move away from the board without resetting the pieces they are called back

[Paul Dargan]

Never mind the analysis room - can be an issue in the tournament halls in the Middle East sometimes.


Paul D

[NickFaulks]

Personally to me it has just become second nature to reset the pieces

Same as counting them back into the box when you've finished, which seems to have fallen out of fashion.

[Alex Holowczak]

One of the biggest mistakes an arbiter can make at the end of a tournament is to appear to be seeking something to help with while others are packing away. For that arbiter will soon be dispatched to the analysis room...

[Graham Borrowdale]

One thing for me is those helpful people who insist on putting the pieces back in the boxes on completed boards when there are still games in progress, usually mine, and usually during time trouble.

[Niall Doran]

One thing for me is those helpful people who insist on putting the pieces back in the boxes on completed boards when there are still games in progress, usually mine, and usually during time trouble.

Which happens for several reasons:

- It's easier to get stuff put away when people are still around, if you wait until after the prize-giving, everyone will have buggered off, including most of your club 'mates'.
- If you make people wait for the prize-giving while you put away stuff, people (myself included) get annoyed at having to hang around.

It still shouldn't happen though.

[Joey Stewart]

Hell with the analysis boards, 80% of players will not pack up any sets at all after a game (I guess they Believe that the chess faries do it each week).


Seriously though, many analysis games degenerate into a free for all chess brawl when team mates start putting their 'ideas' into the mix, so it's not surprising that the gets left in a state

[Niall Doran]

I think if players are asked nicely, at the start of the round, to reset the pieces at the end of the game, they'll do so.

[JustinHorton]

Even more minor but more irritating - players who use another scoresheet as a rest for their own, so that when somebody else comes to use that scoresheet, they find there's another game on the carbon copy mixed in with their own.

[Barry Sandercock]

I played an 11 year old junior recently. He continually held on to the piece when putting it on a square. Looked round the board for a minute or so, then moved it back and moved it to a different square, still holding it and again looked round the board, eventually deciding where to put it. This happened move after move. Is there any rule for this ? I`ve never come across this before, in 75 years of playing chess.

[Graham Borrowdale]

I played an 11 year old junior recently. He continually held on to the piece when putting it on a square. Looked round the board for a minute or so, then moved it back and moved it to a different square, still holding it and again looked round the board, eventually deciding where to put it. This happened move after move. Is there any rule for this ? I`ve never come across this before, in 75 years of playing chess.

Probably not a rule against it - although I am sure some here might find something appropriate - but I think this is quite common practice amongst inexperienced players, generally juniors, perhaps below competition standard. So, pick up the queen, play it to h5 without letting go, look around, notice a knight on f6, move it to f3, another look around, finally let go. It reminds me of those school lunchtime chess club games, although I have to say I have come across it in blitz games. I agree it would be off-putting, but it is probably not breaking any rules as such.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I played an 11 year old junior recently. He continually held on to the piece when putting it on a square. Looked round the board for a minute or so, then moved it back and moved it to a different square, still holding it and again looked round the board, eventually deciding where to put it. This happened move after move. Is there any rule for this ? I`ve never come across this before, in 75 years of playing chess.

Probably not a rule against it - although I am sure some here might find something appropriate - but I think this is quite common practice amongst inexperienced players, generally juniors, perhaps below competition standard. So, pick up the queen, play it to h5 without letting go, look around, notice a knight on f6, move it to f3, another look around, finally let go. It reminds me of those school lunchtime chess club games, although I have to say I have come across it in blitz games. I agree it would be off-putting, but it is probably not breaking any rules as such.

Arguably it is against 11.3a:

"During play the players are forbidden to use any notes, sources of information or advice, or analyse any game on another chessboard."

Moving a piece and then examining the resulting position before letting the piece go, is clearly a form of analysis being carried out by moving the pieces. The rules technically only state that you shouldn't analyse on another chessboard, but clearly this is intended to apply to the board the game is being played on as well. I do sometimes do this (briefly) myself when wanting to avoid blundering, though I know I shouldn't. 99% of the time I do play the move. If I have doubts, I put the piece back where it came from, apologise to my opponent, and carry on thinking. I would try not to do this too often, and certainly not twice in the same move.

A more concrete example would be where the king is in check and has to move. The player could move the king to all the possible squares, hold it there, and examine the resulting positions while attempting to work out which one is best (rather then work it out by thinking about it). That would clearly not be allowed. Same if it is the queen or any other piece.

[Brian Towers]

I played an 11 year old junior recently. He continually held on to the piece when putting it on a square. Looked round the board for a minute or so, then moved it back and moved it to a different square, still holding it and again looked round the board, eventually deciding where to put it. This happened move after move. Is there any rule for this ? I`ve never come across this before, in 75 years of playing chess.

Even when it is not your turn you are entitled to see the full board with the pieces in their correct positions. If this really does disturb you then you should tell your opponent and ask him to stop. If he refuses or continues then tell the arbiter who will warn for a first offence and then escalate to time penalties if the offending behaviour continues.