Hey Leniu,
After playing your 50th move, it is necessary to Claim the draw using the Draw button underneath the Submit Move button. ('Offer Draw' changes text to 'Claim Draw' in such a situation.) I'm not sure if such a draw is now allowed (as there has been a capture).
You realise that the draw has to be claimed? no automatic award will be made.
*Shakes fist at Nytik*
well, i was playing from my phone at the time and no such option was available. by the time i got home my opponent has made a move... so it is now too late to claim a draw? thats a stupid rule to say the least.
Why should you now be allowed to claim a draw? you played on and now you're dead lost.
Just checked the game. I think you might be off by one, but I'm not sure.
The most recent capture was on white's 66th move. So black's 66th move was black's first of the required 50 moves. But I just re-read the rule, and it states that both sides have to make the required 50 moves. So we have to have 100 consecutive half-moves in order for a draw to be a fair outcome. White's 67th move was white's first non-capture.
So black's 50th non-capture move occurred on black's 116th move, and then white's 50th non-capture would have been on white's 117th move...
But unfortunately black played a blunder on the 115th move (...Rf7) which allowed white to play
115... Rf7
116.Ke6 Kd8
117.Qxf7
So I don't think that a draw is the correct outcome.
what if your opponent has a conditional move set up after your 50th move, does that also negate your ability to claim a draw? or what if he moves faster than you can click "claim draw"? I wasn't aware that correspondence chess is about who can click faster.
Also, I agree with other posters, that the draw must be claimed. It is possible to get past the 50 move threshold, have neither player claim the draw, and then have a decisive result afterwards.
@Leniu This sort of sucks for you. The one bright spot is that it is "only" on chess.com, and if this ever happens to you in an in-person tournament you'll be well-armed with all of the nuances of the 50 move rule requirement.
I agree that conditional moves and moving fast in general are sort of at odds with the 50 move rule. But they are very useful to the site in general, and let's face it: it is VERY VERY rare to have a 50 move type position, where the player who has the advantage has the ability to plan a capture on move 51 (but not move 50!).
The correct way to do this, based on my interpretation of the rule, is to contact an administrator ("arbitor" in a loose sense), and have them declare the game a draw, assuming that all your ducks are in order. Remember, in this game that was not the case and after your 115th move the evaluation of the position changed.
Hi Ozzie, thank you for your response.
The way I saw the situation is that black's 66th move was a non-capture, so when I black made a 116th non-capture move, then 50 non-capture moves by black have been made and I should be able to claim a draw. This was either not the case, or it is impossible to do so on mobile devices, and I feel like I don't deserve to lose this game because of it.
Here is the section from "chess rules & basics"
Occasionally chess games do not end with a winner, but with a draw. There are 5 reasons why a chess game may end in a draw:
I can see how you would think that if one player makes their 50 moves with no capture or pawn move, while the 49 moves of the opponent in between those 50 moves also did not have a capture or pawn move, that it would/should be a draw.
My interpretation is that both players have to make 50 moves, for a total of 100 half-moves, not 99 half-moves, to make a draw "claimable". But I already know the rule. I think you have a case where they might want to change the content of that fifth bullet point.
Regardless of that, there is still some open question on how the draw should be claimed, given your points of conditional moves and other player moving quickly. Thinking about it more, it's less of a problem with the other player moving quickly. Just make sure to have your settings on "stay on this game", and right after you move, hit the "draw" button.
Also, perhaps for simplicity sake you shouldn't make such a complex act over the phone client, maybe log in through a laptop/desktop browser.
"Deserve" is rather a strong word. If I were the arbitor, I would rule in favor of white here, since there were only 99 consecutive moves with no pawn/capture, not 100.
I feel bad for you, but again, it would appear that you'll never misinterpret this rule again.
Assuming that it is the common consensus that I am wrong in this situation - please change the wording in the bulletin, because it is misleading.
The guy I played was a real asshole from the beginning and it makes this loss so much more harder to accept - especially since I sincerely feel like I do not deserve to lose because the rules that *I* read during the game implied that the game was a draw after I move for the 50th time.
I think your confusion probably lies in the misunderstanding of the word 'move' as 'ply'. A move is when a ply (half-move) has been made by both players.
On a side note, PrawnEatsPrawn, I am afraid that the early bird catches the proverbial worm.
No, that is not the source of my confusion.
White 66th move was a capture, then 117 was the second capture. I actually made 51 plies in between captures, he's made 50 plies, so the total would be 50.5 moves in between, which is more than 50, no doubt? The rule says 50 moves, and 50 moves have been made without a capture by both white and black.
I actually thought really hard about my 50th ply - I thought the game might end when I make the 50th ply, but I figured that maybe he needs to make 50 plies also - so just to be safe I calculated two moves in advance. The 51st ply, however, I assumed the game HAS to end when I make this move, so I simply protected the check without any calculation.
Lol Leniu, you really should be thankful this happened here at chess.com instead of OTB like it happened to me recently in a K+R v. K+N ending where I had the Knight and deserved a draw...(The situation was much more complex though)
No, that is not the source of my confusion.
White 66th move was a capture, then 117 was the second capture. I actually made 51 plies in between captures, he's made 50 plies, so the total would be 50.5 moves in between, which is more than 50, no doubt? The rule says 50 moves, and 50 moves have been made without a capture by both white and black.
You're right. My math above is not right. There were 50 moves by both sides, and a draw would have been the correct outcome, if you were to have brought up this forum before the capture.
In one of my tournament games I've made 50 consecutive moves with no pawn moves and no captures, and no "draw" button has appeared. On the 51st move my opponent captured the rook. If the rule is 51 moves then please update the "learn -> chess rules & basics" section, because it clearly says 50 moves there.
Any suggestions? I dont want to just lose the game, as I could've easily made a 51st move if I knew i had to, I just moved anywhere assuming that it will be a draw after I complete my 50th move. Help please!