Here is one that I heard about:
In a blitz game with the TD watching, both players are very low on time. Player A flags, and player B attempts to stop the clock and make a claim. Unfortunately, he resets the clock so that it shows 5:00 on both sides. What is the correct ruling?
Alex Relyea
This is not an exhaustive list
Option 1) ruling it a draw because the stopped clock was no longer visible after the reset and it was not certain that it really was stopped in time (per blitz rule 7c)
Option 2) rule that B one because he called the flag and stopped the clock while he still had time (treating the resetting of the clock a split second after stopping it as irrelevant because it was stopped while there was still time on B’s clock - 7c just says the clock hast to be stopped, not that it has to remain that way)
Option 3) rule that B tampered with the clock (even if inadvertant) and that the times should be restored with A getting a minute added back (per blitz rule 18)
I’d go with option 2 and be prepared to answer the 7c argument.
Off the top of my head, I would ask B what the claim is and rule on the claim. Then, if B’s claim did not end the game, and if I had observed (and remembered) how much time B had left before the accidental reset, I would reset the clock with zero time for A and whatever time B had left and then restart the game. Unfortunately, that makes it fairly obvious that A is out of time.
If B really did reset the clock by accident, I do not think there should be any penalty for B. In particular, I know that on the Chronos clock, mode CH-F1 is a menace in that regard. It is unfortunately convenient, since it is the first mode the clock presents when choosing a mode, and it looks like it is ideally suited to five minute blitz. However, that mode has a “quick reset” feature; one press of the red center button pauses the clock, but a second press resets the clock (rather than allowing the TD to adjust the time on the clock). I can easily imagine accidentally pressing the red center button twice.
Was B claiming that A had run out of time? If so, and if I am certain that I had seen that A had run out of time, I would consider that sufficient to accept B’s claim even though the clock had been accidentally reset.
I believe that B claimed that A had run out of time.
Alex Relyea
Since the TD was watching, what did the TD observe?
B wins if he has mating material and draws if he does not. If the director is watching, s/he observed the flag, and a reset is a reasonable manner of claiming.
The TD observed it as I have explained in the original post. B stopped (or reset) the clock while he still had time on his clock.
Alex Relyea
If the TD observed that before the clock was reset A’s clock was out of time and B’s clock was not out of time, then the TD should uphold B’s claim of a win on time.
That the clock was reset is moot.
Was the event USCF Blitz rated only or USCF/FIDE Blitz rated?
I believe it was USCF rated only, because it is not on the FIDE calendar.
Alex Relyea
With, of course, the caveat that Brennan noted about needing mating material.