The Chess Cafe is proud to welcome International Arbiter
extraordinaire Geurt Gijssen (pronounced Hurt Hayshun) as a
new monthly columnist. One of the most respected arbiters in
the world today, Gijssen has been the Chief Arbiter in dozens
of world class events, including the Kasparov-Karpov title
matches in 1987 (Seville) and 1990 (New York/Lyon); Karpov-
Kamsky 1996 (Elista); and the recent championship tournament
in Groningen/Lausanne. From 1990-1994, he was Chairman of
the FIDE Arbiters Committee and since 1994, he has been
Chairman of the FIDE Rules Committee. We hope you will
enjoy his essays and anecdotes from...

An Arbiter's Notebook
by Geurt Gijssen

The King En Prise!

Since the tournament held at The Hague-Moscow in 1948 to
determine a successor to Alekhine who had died in 1946, the
world championship has always been decided by match play. It
was usually a twenty-four game match, with the champion
retaining the title in the event of a drawn match. 

As a result of recent problems finding a sponsor for both 
championship matches and qualifying tournaments and matches,
FIDE recently decided to combine candidates events and the
final match into one large knock-out tournament. Ninety-eight
players competed in the cycle just completed. The revolutionary
format was characterized by short matches without adjourn
ments, quicker time controls and tie-breaking rapid games
(G/25) as well as blitz games (G/5:4). The Fischer time control
mode was used in every stage of the games. The first part of the
tournament took place in Groningen, The Netherlands, with the
championship in Lausanne, Switzerland. I was the chief arbiter.

To acquaint the players with the details of the new format (in
particular the new time limits) a players' meeting was held
immediately prior to the first round. During this players' meet
ing, I was asked to clarify many points, especially what would
happen if a player in a blitz game, while his King was in check, 
made a move that did not remove the King from check. I have
also received several letters on the same topic.

These questions all concern Article C3 of the new Laws of
Chess, which came into effect on July 1st, 1997. The complete
text of Article C3 reads as follows:

An illegal move 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.

In the discussion at Groningen and in the letters I received, the
question always was: If a player leaves his king in check, may
his opponent then capture the king?

I am also a member of FIDE's Rules Committee. In the most
recent meetings of this committee, this topic was debated for
quite a while. Our final decision was that the king could not be
taken. It was the opinion of the majority of the Rules Commit
tee, that in blitz games the same rules that apply in "normal"
and rapid games should also apply in blitz games. (A "blitz"
game is considered any game that must be played to conclusion
in fifteen minutes or less.) Our decision and recommendation
was ultimately also accepted by the FIDE General Assembly.

I thought that this "new" rule might cause some problems,
especially during the first year after the Laws came into effect,
because, as many amateurs can attest,  it has not been unusual
to allow the capture of a king not removed from check in blitz
games. However, I am sure that the problem will be solved very
quickly, if at the start of events, all chief arbiters in tournaments
where blitz games may occur announce that capturing the king
is not permitted. This should, within a year, much like the
change in the castling rule, which now requires the king to be
touched and moved first. Now nobody moves the rook first and
then the king when castling.

It is both worthwhile and interesting to review what should
happen when a player's King is in check, but the move then
made does not remove the King from the check. The correct
procedure when a player leaves his king in check is:

1. The opponent (the one able to "capture" his opponent's king)
stops the clocks;
2. The arbiter is summoned;
3. The situation is explained; 
4. The win claim is made; and
5. If the arbiter determines that the claim is valid, the win is
awarded to the claimant..

What happens if a king is actually captured, however, was not
discussed by the Rules Committee. I have spoken about this
with several arbiters.

One had a very creative solution. He did not like to declare the
game won for the player who captured his opponent's king,
because the capture itself could be considered an illegal move.
He announces before the start of each event that the game must
be continued with only one king on the board (!). Several very
curious situations may then arise. First, it is clear that the player
without a king cannot lose by mate. Second, only the player
without a king may lose is by overstepping the time limit.
According to my colleague, however, the allowing of the cap
ture of the king should not last long. However, in my opinion,
this "solution" is too radical.

Another arbiter was of the opinion that the capture of the king
should not be strictly forbidden, but should only be evidence of
the illegal move. It is my opinion that this will cause problems
as soon as the "kingless" player might claim a win. A solution
for the time being is probably that the game is lost for the
player who left his king in check and that the opponent gets
only a half point.

It is my opinion that the current rule, as implemented by the
FIDE Rules Committee, is the best, using the procedure I de
scribed above. Then it is very clear how and what happens; the
arbiter's decision is relatively easy. Of course, any organiser of
a private tournament may have his "own" rules, and there may
be nothing wrong with that, provided all the rules are fully
explained first, but I think it is more pleasant for chessplayers
to always play in blitz tournaments according to the same
standard rules.

The moral of the story: Do not take your opponent's king!

Have an interesting question for Mr. Gijssen? Perhaps he will
respond to it in a future column. Send it to hwr@chesscafe.com. 
Please include your name and country of residence.

Copyright 1998 Geurt Gijssen. All Rights Reserved.