Can the Threefold Repetition Rule be viewed as a tactic?

I have been told that for a player to claim a draw with the threefold repetition rule, both players must have made the same move (the one claiming a draw about to make the third ply). My understanding is that this rule is rather a tactic that can be used to seek a draw when in a losing position, and that its up to the opponent to force a different ply. So only one player needs to repeat a ply three times. Am I correct? 

I read somewhere that the rule involves three repeated "moves" (i.e. 6 plies); but the term 'move' is often used interchangeably with ply. 

 

It's not necessarily moves, but the position has to repeat three times. The positions do not have to be consecutive and moves may or may not repeat.

 

https://www.chess.com/terms/threefold-repetition-chess

To be clear, the threefold repetition does not occur from playing the same move, but rather if the same board position is reached three times.  This is an important distinction because identical board positions can be reached by playing different moves and may occur on either opponent's move.

Threefold repetition generally is not really a tactic because it does not improve a person's position.  However, perpetual check is a tactic as it can provide counterplay from a losing position and does conclude in a threefold repetition.  

Threefold repetition: https://www.chess.com/terms/threefold-repetition-chess

Perpetual Check: https://www.chess.com/terms/perpetual-check-chess

 

 

Think of it in more simple terms - it is a draw by repetition if the same position exactly is reached on 3 separate occasions. This can be any 3 occasions, not necessarily 3 consecutive pairs of moves. It can certainly be a tactic to try to force a draw from an inferior position, for example if the side who is better must give up a little advantage to avoid it, or allow some murky counterplay. 

it is definitely a tactic.

in a game i played today my opponent found a nice tactic on move 31,

if i snap the rook he gets perpetual checks with the queen and draws the game.

Looking at the example at this site, I take it that the term "position" refers to the placement of pieces of both players. Correct? In other words, a player in a losing position cannot simply try and move a piece back and forth three times to claim a draw.

That is correct.

 

 

In addition to the position, the same player has to be on the move each time as well. So if you have the same position with white to move two times, and the next time the position occurs, it's black to move, it's not a repetition.

 

Also, things like castling rights and the possibility of en passant can mean a position won't count.

I apologize for being a poor student, but I am still unclear if the repeated "position" (not necessarily consecutively) refers to both players, or can only only one player try and repeat his position three times.

both players.

 

It has to be every piece on the same squares each time, all possible moves have to be the same, and the same player has to be on the move.

Thanks for your patience. That clears it up for me.

[Site "Chess.com iPhone"]
[Date "04/21/2021 01:11AM"]
[FEN rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1]
[White "Si_Darth"]
[Black "rodneyg94"]
[Result "rodneyg94 won by checkmate"]
[WhiteElo "1024"]
[BlackElo "1107"]
[Termination "rodneyg94 won by checkmate"]

1.Nc3 e5 2.e4 Nf6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Nf3 Bb4 5.Bg5 d6 6.a3 Ba5 7.Qe2 h6 8.Bxf6 Qxf6 9.O-O-O Be6 10.Nb5 O-O-O 11.d4 a6 12.dxe5 dxe5 13.Rxd8+ Rxd8 14.Nc3 g5 15.Qe3 g4 16.Nd2 Nd4 17.Nd5 Qg6 18.Nc4 Bb6 19.Nxe5 Qg7 20.Ne7+ Kb8 21.Be2 Qxe5 22.Nd5 Bc5 23.Bc4 c6 24.c3 Nb3+ 25.Bxb3 Bxe3+ 26.fxe3 cxd5 27.Rd1 Qxe4 28.Kd2 Qxg2+ 29.Kc1 Qxh2 30.e4 Qf4+ 31.Kc2 Qxe4+ 32.Kc1 g3 33.Kd2 d4 34.Kc1 Bg4 35.Kd2 dxc3+ 36.Kc1 Rxd1+ 37.Bxd1 Bxd1 38.bxc3 g2 39.Kd2 g1=Q 40.Kc1 Qe2 41.Kb1 Bb3# {rodneyg94 won by checkmate}

Can someone tell me why I couldn’t claim a draw by repetition? (From 29 to 40)

@Si_Darth the exact position must be reached 3 times for it to be a draw by repetition, which did not happen in this game. 

 

Think of it this way, if there were no such thing as 3 move repetition. Then both players would just keep playing the same moves for how long? Forever? A day? 3 hours? Until someones flag falls?

If you're  in a winning position you'd want to win so you'd find a different move instead of repeating the same moves forever. If you're in a losing position you'd want not to lose, so you'd just keep repeating until your opponent plays a move that he didn't consider to be his best move (after all it was his first choice of move)

But no, it's not a tactic, and as mentioned it has to do with the position repeating on the board, not the moves!