FIDE Laws of Chess

[NickFaulks]

So an illegal move should still lose in blitz.

That has been my view for years. However, I go on to argue that if this applies in a blitz games when the players have four minutes each, why not at the end of a standard game when they have one minute each? What's the difference?

[Alex Holowczak]

The proposal is that from 1st January 2018, two illegal moves lose in all three speed formats of chess, not one.

That would seem to be sensible, but it doesn't appear to be what is suggested in the document I have just downloaded from the FIDE website: "Appendix 2, FIDE Laws of Chess, Amendments proposed by RC". The last paragraph seems to suggest that you still lose after the 1st illegal move in a rapidplay game (If an arbiter is present and intervenes or the opponent claims a win).

Indeed, that is what that document says. But it's not the right document. This is what was presented to the meeting here in Antalya: http://rules.fide.com/images/stories/RC ... ndices.pdf

But it isn't as clear as I first presented it earlier, and it isn't clear that this is the final version that will be presented to the Executive Board.

[Mike Gunn]

So an illegal move should still lose in blitz.

That has been my view for years. However, I go on to argue that if this applies in a blitz games when the players have four minutes each, why not at the end of a standard game when they have one minute each? What's the difference?

This is a fair point. Perhaps illegal move loses in any form of chess when you are down to less than 2 minutes on the clock? (Last time period only.)

[Alex Holowczak]

So an illegal move should still lose in blitz.

That has been my view for years. However, I go on to argue that if this applies in a blitz games when the players have four minutes each, why not at the end of a standard game when they have one minute each? What's the difference?

This is a fair point. Perhaps illegal move loses in any form of chess when you are down to less than 2 minutes on the clock? (Last time period only.)

I think the problem with that approach - for now - is that you have to draw the line somewhere. If you're still using analogue clocks, how can you accurately tell whether or not you have less than 2 minutes on the clock? It's easy if you're less than 1 minute 30, but what if it's very close?

[David Williams]

You could have a rule that an illegal move loses unless you have an up-to-date scoresheet - in any version of the game.

[Jesper Norgaard]

The proposal is that from 1st January 2018, two illegal moves lose in all three speed formats of chess, not one.

That would seem to be sensible, but it doesn't appear to be what is suggested in the document I have just downloaded from the FIDE website: "Appendix 2, FIDE Laws of Chess, Amendments proposed by RC". The last paragraph seems to suggest that you still lose after the 1st illegal move in a rapidplay game (If an arbiter is present and intervenes or the opponent claims a win).

Indeed, that is what that document says. But it's not the right document. This is what was presented to the meeting here in Antalya: http://rules.fide.com/images/stories/RC ... ndices.pdf

But it isn't as clear as I first presented it earlier, and it isn't clear that this is the final version that will be presented to the Executive Board.

It may be the wrong version of the document, because it seems to define that if the arbiter sees the illegal move, he will handle it as a Standard game today, small time addition to the opponent (1 or 2 minutes), only the second illegal move loses. But if the opponent sees the illegal move first, he can claim a win. I presume that is just a misunderstanding, so the desired outcome is that the opponent can now claim an illegal move, not a win, and the mechanics is the same as if the arbiter had noticed it first.