My TD questions are not so high level as some others, but perhaps less experienced TDs will benefit from the discussion.
In a blitz tournament (G/5, no delay), I announced touch move rules as opposed to clock move, and that an illegal move, when noticed by the opponent, loses the game. Someone asked, “What if you start an illegal move, but don’t complete it?” (e.g. don’t let go of the piece or don’t hit the clock). Let’s assume the touched piece has no legal alternative move.
Can a player, who touched a piece with no legal moves but hasn’t moved it anywhere, make a different move in USCF blitz rules?
If he determined the move/let go of the piece but didn’t complete the move by hitting the clock, can he take back the move and make a legal one?
If somehow the answer to the last question was “yes he can take back”, what if the opponent notices the illegal, determined-but-not-completed move and yells out “Illegal move!” even though it’s not yet his turn?
A player has to press his clock in order to have a valid claim made against him. If he notices his mistake before pressing the clock he can take his move back. If he has no legal move with that piece, he can move another move as in non-blitz games.
Good for you. Clock-move is an abomination which should be banned from the face of the earth, even in offhand skittles games. All responsible chess governing bodies (USCF, WBCA, FIDE, etc) use touch-move, even in blitz.
Yes (and WBCA, etc, also, as well as slower time controls).
I was directing a unrated blitz event using touch move and illegal move loses. While observing a game, I saw a player move a piece and before punching his clock realize that it was an illegal move. He hesitated, obviously did not know what to do, and finally punched his clock and the opponent claimed the win.
I felt bad about what happend but our rules are clear about where the TD can intervene. It’s too bad that some players don’t realize that they can stop the clock and ask the TD about rules.
That’s one reason I hate illigal-move-loses in blitz. The rule should be similar to slow chess – 2 minutes added to opponent’s time – perhaps with some modifications.
For example, in blitz, a first illegal move could result in 1 minute added to opponent’s time. Subsequent illegal moves could result in 1 minute subtracted from player’s own time. If the player is under 1 minute the effect would be an immediate loss.
Here is an unethical-but-perhaps-legal maneuver one might try with clock-move. The player makes a poor move, swings his hand over and taps the clock but not the clock button, then looks dismayed. The opponent may make the obvious winning move, press his clock button, and not notice that his button was already depressed. The player can then retract his poor move, leave the opponent’s moved piece alone, and make a different (good) move. This is likely to fluster the opponent, who may well waste time or do something illegal. This scenario is an argument against clock-move.
I suppose a variant could be tried with touch-move and illegal-move-loses but illegal-move-may-be-retracted, where a player makes an illegal move allowing his King to be captured, swings his hand over and taps the clock (but not the clock button), the opponent captures the player’s King, the player retracts his illegal move while leaving his King off the board, makes a move that would have prevented his King from being captured, and then presses his clock button. This scenario is another reason for Bill Smythe’s recommendation of adjusting the clock for illegal moves.