Curiosities About the Rules

Hey all,

four random questions that have been bugging the hell out of me...

1. What measures do they take in serious matches to ensure neither player is receiving outside help? I know of the Kramnik-Topalov incident and the famous Karpov coded yogurt thing, but... what are they doing nowadays, with the advent of smaller and smaller technology?

2. From FIDE official rules: "4.2 Provided that he first expresses his intention (for example by saying "j’adoube" or "I adjust"), the player having the move may adjust one or more pieces on their squares." One of my teammates (lets call him Bill to avoid extensive use of pronouns here) was playing in a match a few months ago. Having already finished my game (and lost horribly, but that's beside the point) I went to watch his, standing behind Bill's opponent. I noticed that after nearly every move Bill made, his opponent would say "j'adoube" and adjust the piece that Bill had moved. I'm sure Bill wouldn't have minded if it was once or twice, but his face was clearly showing frustration with just the slightest bit of amusement. The FIDE rules seem to forbid you to touch an opponent's piece at all with the exception of capturing. Can anyone confirm that Bill's opponent was violating the rules (and that I'm not just misinterpreting them)? If so, could you also tell me if the USCF (the governing body of these matches) has a similar policy?

3. Not that I'm good enough yet, but is it possible to get FIDE titles without having a FIDE ranking? I ask because I'm from the US and I have yet to even hear of a tournament that uses FIDE ratings, and I would like to someday earn a title other than National Master.

4. If you move one of your pieces to a vacant square, remove your hand from the piece, and realize that the move was bad before you hit the clock, are you allowed to retract the move and move the same piece to a different square? If possible, please apply USCF rules. I tried looking for an answer in the FIDE rules but they didn't seem to cover the matter. Sorry if it was simply an oversight on my part.

Thanks in advance for your help on one or more of these matters.

1. Good question. I'll let someone else answer.

2. As long as he said j'adoube and adjusted the piece on his own time, not while it was Bill's move, then Bill's opponent was not violating any rules. Some people are picky about wanting every piece perfectly centered on the square, so they'll adjust every piece the opponent just moved. But the rule is you can't do it on your opponent's turn, because you'd be distracting the opponent and obstructing their view of the board while they're trying to decide on their move.

3. You have to have a FIDE rating for FIDE titles. In the US, the bigger tournaments, which are usually divided into sections, are often FIDE rated in the top section, as well as being USCF rated. But earning an IM or GM title can still be problematic, as you need to earn norms based on playing in tournaments with very specific requirements. You'd have travel to the biggies like the World Open, Chicago Open, and National Open for those norms. But don't worry about it now. By the time you get that strong as a player, you'll have heard about what the requirements are and know what you have to do.

4. In slow tournament play, once your hand is no longer touching the piece, you can't change your mind. In some blitz tournaments, they play "clock move", rather than "touch move", so you can change your mind about what piece to move and where to move it to, as long as you haven't hit the clock. But I don't believe that's standard, even in blitz tournaments.

1.  In the most recent WC match (Anand-Topalov) government agents thoroughly checked them for any hidden devices.  After a game begins they draw a curtain so that the audience may see the players, but the players can't view the audience (to prevent any signaling).

There may be other stuff, that's just what I know.

2.  The rules don't prohibit adjusting your opponent's pieces, read your quote again .  It's perfectly legal to adjust one or more piece if you say "j’adoube" or "I adjust."  If your opponent does it after every move, just ignore it.

If the opponent is purposefully distracting his opponent, that is against the rules.  Say adjusting every piece ever two minutes into the corner of each square.  Also I don't think you're supposed to adjust pieces on your opponent's time.

After the game starts, if I want to adjust some pieces, I just play my first move (taking my hand off and everything) and before hitting the clock adjust all I want this way I don't even have to say I adjust heh.

3.  You have to have a FIDE rating to have a FIDE title.  Some events in the US are dule rated (USCF and FIDE).  I've been to a few myself, you just have to look for them I guess.  My area seems to have a good number -- a local TD is actually an IA (international arbiter) and to maintain that status he has to TD a certain number of FIDE events each  year.

4.  If you take your hand off a piece after a move, the move is final and can't be taken back.  The only time this is not true is at a blitz tournament when the move is not final until the clock is pressed.  In a standard tournament, the move is complete after your hand leaves the piece.

At my club, we often have this clock-touch rule so to speak, where if you remove your hand it's not final and you can make a different move so long as you haven't stopped your clock. 

Thanks for the help, guys. The part that was really confusing to me about the adjustment of opponent's pieces was "... may adjust one or more pieces on their squares." I semi-assumed that this meant squares that your pieces are on, but I wasn't entirely sure and wanted to double check. Thanks again for the help.

I had this happen to me in a tournament in san francisco this weekend.  My opponent said "adjust" and centered almost every move i made.  I admit I wasnt concerned about the pieces being centered...  His "adjustments" were very distracting, and made me a little angry, which did effect my game.  But I didn't say anything. Figured I would check it out later... and I kinda thought he was doing it to get under my skin.....?  I proceeded to move to fast, consequently lost the game.

Seems like 4 has had a couple of different answers. By default, USCF rules state "A legal move is completed when the hand leaves the piece."

FIDE rule is essentially the same; it is the same in this instance in blitz as it is OTB (Rule 4.7)

I've heard of the clock rule before but neither the USCF or FIDE have anything formalized on it that I know of and if it is in use at a tourney, should be in advanced publicity and mentioned before the tourney starts.

You can adjust your opponents pieces, don't ask them to adjust them according to your instructions, imagine all the talking that will go on when playing a game when both players are sloppy. Some players like the Knights to face certain ways, and all pieces to be centered on squares. As long as you use your own time to do it then no one can complain.

The precautions were such that the accusations were beyond ridiculous. That the accusations were treated as credible reveals mostly the absence of any trust in FIDE to do what it says it will do.

Thanks for the comments on the "opponent touches my pieces" problem.  I like the idea of letting the tournament director know about the problem.  that seems to be a good neutral response.

 I also thought of maybe begin doing the same thing to my opponents pieces in return.