An Arbiter's Notebook
by Geurt Gijssen

Rapid Rules

Among the questions received in the last month was a question
from Ramon Etxeberria, The Basque Country (Spain), concerning
the following position:

White: Kg6, Qe5, Bh6
Black: Kf8, Bh8

Black, in a Blitz game, moved 1... Bxe5. The move is illegal but
after it White does not have 'mating potential'. Ramon asks if it
therefore should be declared a draw?

The answer clearly is no, because it is White who can claim a win
after the illegal move. Let me repeat Article C3 of the Laws of
Blitz games:  An illegal is completed once the opponent's clock has
been started. The opponent is then entitled to claim a win before
making his own move. Once the opponent has made his own move,
an illegal move cannot be corrected. 

Another question came from Jorge Laplaza, Argentina

It would be very interesting to know your opinion about when you
think a player can claim for a draw in those cases where, in blitz or
'finish' 5 minutes, a player is completely winning but he believes
his opponent wants to win on time. For example, a player has a
blocked pawn and his opponent two rooks (may be more) can he
claim a draw before his flag is down? What are the limits? And, if
the arbiter is not a master, can he decide? Thank you.

If this happened  in a Blitz game (and in a blitz game all moves
must be made in a fixed time limit of  less than 15 minutes) such
claims would be impossible under the Laws of Chess. In the last
phase of a game played by the Quickplay Finish Rules or in a
Rapid game (in a "rapid game" all moves must be made in a fixed
time limit of between 15 to 60 minutes) such a claim is possible.
Mr. Laplaza's implication has merit; the arbiter must understand
the position. And he is completely right that this can be a problem.

Interestingly enough, I had already prepared some positions in
which the arbiter has to decide whether it is a draw or not. 

In every one of the following positions, Black has the move and
claims a draw.

Position 1     
White: Kf5, Bf2; pawn - g2
Black: Kh4, Bg8; pawn - f7

Black explains to the arbiter that his opponent cannot win by
normal means, noting opposite coloured bishops and so on. Let us
see what can happen: 1...Kh5, 2. g4+ Kh6 3. Kf6! Kh7 (if 3...Bh7
4. Be3 mate) 4. g5 Kh8 5. Bd4 Kh7 (if 5...Bh7, 6 Kxf7 mate) 6.
Bc3 Kh8 7. g6! fxg6 8. Kxg6 mate.

Position 2
White: Kd1, Rc4; pawns - a3, b7
Black: Ka4, Rb2; pawns - a6, c6

Black explains to the arbiter that after taking the pawn on a3 he
even has the better position, because he can capture the pawn on b7
as well. 1...Kxa3 (if 1...Ka5, then 2. Rb4) 2. Rc3+ (Black repeats
his claim) 2...Ka4 (if 2...Ka2, then 3. Rc2 and White wins easily) 3.
Rc1!! a fantastic move, after which Black is lost, for if 3... Rxb7,
then 4. Ra1+, Kb3 (or Kb4 or Kb5) 5. Rb1+ and the Black Rook
will be taken; after a King move on the a-file, again Ra1+, the
King has to go to the b-file and White wins.

Position 3
White: Kf5, Rh8; pawn - h7
Black: Kh4, Rb6; pawn - d7

After 1...Rh6, Black claimed a draw, explaining to the arbiter that
White cannot make any progress. Let us see what happened. 2. Re8
Rxh7 (forced) 3. Kg6 Rh5 (only move) 4. Re4+ and White wins.

Position 4
White: Kc8, Qa4, Re4, Re5
Black: Ka8, Ra5, Ra7

1....Rxa4 and Black, who was short of time, claimed a draw. The
arbiter informed the players to play a few moves. And then an
incredible thing happened. 2. Rb5 and suddenly there is a threat of
mate on b8. 2...R7a5 3. Reb4!! and it is clear that White is
winning. If a Black Rook takes a White one, then the remaining
White Rook, will take the other Black Rook and mate the Black
King. And after 3...Ka7 it is also over. 4.Rb7+ Ka8 (if 4...Ka6,
then 5. R4b6 mate) 5. Ra8+ Ka7 6. R4b7+ Ka6 7 Ra8 mate.

Position 5
White: Ka1, Rc8, Nd5;  pawns - h4, h5
Black: Ka4, Qd8; pawn - d6

The last White move was R3c8. Black who saw that 1...Qxc8
would lose immediately to 2. Nb6+, claimed a draw, but the arbiter
refused. Black played 2...Qxh4, but after 3. Rc4+ he resigned:
4...Qxc4 5. Nb6+. By the way, 2... Qa5 also loses after 3. Ra8,
Qxa8 4. Nb6+.

Position 6
White: Kb6, Ne5; pawn - f7
Black: Ka8, Ba4, Nb8

White's last move was f7 and Black intended to resign, but
discovered the fantastic move 1...Be8. If White plays 2. fxe8Q or
2. fxe8R it is stalemate. Also 2. f8Q or 2. f8R, after 2...Nd7+ 3.
Nxd7 gives the same result, but 2. fxe8B wins, because Black will
lose his Knight.

Position 7
White: Kc1, Rh1, Nb7
Black: Ka1, Rd8; pawn - c4

After 1...Rd4 Black claims a draw. In Black's opinion White
cannot win by normal means. In fact, the last move is a blunder. 2.
Rh8 and suddenly there is a mate threat - 3. Ra8. The next Black
move is forced: 2...Ka2. White plays 3. Ra8+ and 3...Kb3 4. Na5
Kc3 5. Nc6 with the threat of 6. Ra3 mate forces White to resign.

Position 8
White: Ke6, Rc7; pawns - f4, f7
Black: Kf8, Rh8, Nh7

After 1...Kg7 Black claimed a draw, but after the forced sequence
2. f8Q+ Kxf8 3. Rc8+ Kg7 4. Rxh8 Kxh8 4 Kf7!! he resigned.

Position 9
White: Kh8, Ne6; pawn - d7
Black: Kh6, Nc4; pawns - f5, g6, h5  

Clearly, Black has only one move, 1...Ne5 and this is what he
played. Immediately he claimed a draw, pointing out, that 2... Nf7
guarantees at least a draw. But the arbiter ordered the game to
continue. He was not convinced. 2. Nd8, threatening 2...Nxd7 3.
Nf7 does not work. Black simply plays simply 3...h4. But 2. Ng5!!
with the threat 3. Nf7 mate finishes the game immediately. If Black
takes 2...Kxg5, then 3.d8Q+ is decisive.

I hope the reader understands that these positions are not game
fragments, but endgame studies. I had intended to prove that it is
impossible in a very limited time to assess positions and that
Article 10 of the Laws of Chess is very dangerous. In the
meantime, I had the opportunity to show you some nice studies. I
found these studies in some books and articles of Robert Timmer.

Now, some good news - The FIDE Executive Council decided in
its meeting in Bled to accept my proposal, that the time limit in the
Olympiad in Elista should be 100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50
minutes for 20 moves and finally 10 minutes for the remaining
moves with 30 seconds added after each move from the outset.
This means Article 10 will not apply.        