Draw offers, etiquette, kids, and coaches

Running Chess Tournaments
1

Many times I have seen children, and teenagers, offer a draw by extending their hand to the opponent, often without moving first. The hand extension may or may not be accompanied by a verbal offer, such as “Draw?”. Sometimes the hand is extended far into the opponent’s air space, making it look like intimidation.

I have seen this behavior so often that I am forced to wonder whether it is being encouraged by the kids’ coaches.

It may be that well-intentioned coaches encourage a handshake offer, thinking of it as a sportsmanlike gesture. Perhaps some of the kids view it that way, too.

But it does not work well. The opponent generally does not like having a hand thrust in his face, in an apparent attempt to intimidate.

Coaches, please advise your kids on the proper way to offer a draw:

  • Make your move, offer the draw, and press the clock, in that order.
  • Do not offer a handshake at this point.
  • Press the clock immediately after offering the draw. Do not pause and look into the opponent’s face before pressing the clock, as that will be seen as (and probably is) an unfair attempt to pressure the opponent into a quick response.

Perhaps also:

  • Offer the draw declaratively, not interrogatively. “Draw?” (interrogative) might be OK, but “I offer a draw.” (declarative) is better. Best of all might be “With this move I offer a draw.”

The latter version makes it clear that the person offering the draw understands the concept that the draw offer is part of the move. A draw offer should never be made without an accompanying move. And, by pressing the clock immediately, without waiting for a response, the player is confirming that he also understands another concept, namely, that the opponent has his clock time to consider the offer, and that the offer cannot be withdrawn until the opponent declines it, either verbally or by making a move.

Handshake offers are deceptive animals. They can be used to game the system, through either intimidation or confusion. Sometimes an opponent may believe an extended hand represents a resignation, while the first player insists it was a draw offer.

The proper time for a handshake is when the draw offer is accepted, and the proper person to offer the handshake is the opponent who has accepted the player’s draw offer. A handshake done in this way is likely to be clearly understood by both players. But even then, a simple “Yup” or “Sure”, accompanying the handshake offer, can’t hurt.

On a related note, when resigning, a handshake offer is appropriate, but it should go along with a verbal “I resign” or tipping the king, just to be sure.

Coaches, please instill in your students the proper etiquette for offering draws, accepting draws, and resigning.

Bill Smythe

2

That is the worst part about Searching for Bobby Fischer. It taught a whole generation of kids that that was the way to offer a draw. Generations of kids are very short, especially in chess, but they overlap enough that they learn from the older, probably higher-rated, players how to offer a draw.

Alex Relyea

3

A good rule of thumb for TD exams and real world directing: A handshake means nothing.

4

Well, it also taught the proper response to the handshake: “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Bob

5

Another response to an extended hand is “I’ll accept your resignation” (but don’t shake hands while you are doing it because you risk the TD seeing you shaking hands while the opponent is yelling draw in outrage).

6

I do know that intimidation is a part of some coaches teaching. Lines such as having your
higher rated players state things such as " as I am rated 1200 and you 700, you do realize
that this is not really a challenge for me". the thought is psychological–get into your opponents head before the match. While most label such conduct as unsportsmanlike
behavior, some coaches simply view it as “part of the game”.

Rob Jones

7

One response could be: “Great, I’ll pick up a lot of rating points beating you”.

8

I’m now a nice guy but when in high school I was a jerk and I would walk over to teammates and say things to them (in full hearing of their opponent) like “this guy is easy to beat, you’ll crush him like a grape” or my personal favorite at that time (i.e. not too long after Karate Kid came out): “Strike hard, strike fast, no mercy” (I could then wander by later and say “Yep, get him a body bag”). Another ploy was to say “just play that trap we practiced, if he doesn’t sac the Knight to defend against it he’s dead”. It was amazing how often the other player would “sac” a Knight in the first 10 moves for often little or no compensation. Like I say, I’m a nice guy now who does not tolerate anything like that from my children or anyone playing in my tournaments.

9

Sweep the leg.

Sensei?!?

SWEEP THE LEG!

10

Unfortunately, I’ve seen more than one scholastic chess coach teach the Cobra Kai school of thought.

11

Quite honestly, over the years I’ve seen the worst behavior at tournaments, at and away from the chess board, from people who were, chronologically adults. There does appear to be an age/ratings range, roughly teenagers with ratings between about 1500 and 1900, where there is a major attitude issue, especially when with their ‘group’, but they seem to grow out of it, and I don’t think coaching is a factor in either the onset or cessation of that attitude.

12

On the specific subject of how to offer draws and general etiquette at the board, much of that is taught to today’s scholastic-age players. Some coaches do teach improper habits on how to behave while playing; I’ve seen this firsthand at state and national scholastic events for the last 15 years. In fact, at some tournaments, whenever I see certain team names (I can think of three offhand), I just groan inwardly, because there’s almost guaranteed to be at least one issue with player behavior coming from that team. Unfortunately, that expectation is almost never unfulfilled.

13

While I do not know any specific coach that teaches intimidation tactics, I do make my students aware that someone might try it. When I was first starting out playing in tournaments, another teenager asked me to resign before the game. He was rated around 1600; I had no rating yet. I took all of his pieces and pawns and left him with a bare king which was summarily executed. After the game I said nothing to him, but noted his name and made sure to beat him every time. I have even had an adult ask me why I was playing on in such a “lost” position. I beat him, too. Over the years, I have seen lots of poor sportsmanship in chess, but no worse than I have seen when competing in tennis, basketball, or other sports and games. Funny, but the higher the skill level of the player the less apt he is to try to intimidate an opponent. He knows how hard it is to win and how much you have to work to be successful.

The flip side of intimidation is a recognition that the player is very likely insecure and wants a short cut, an edge. He may also be arrogant, which means he might have too high opinion of his ideas and analysis even or especially when they are wrong. He won’t realize that things have gone wrong until too late to fix them. So, I tell my kids to ignore the other player, but press on harder because the other guy has just shown you weaknesses in his attitude and thinking methods. Most important is not to tell him about it or get engaged in trash talk after the game. You want him to keep his poor attitude so that he will be easier to defeat. After a few drubbings, this player will be intimidated by just seeing you in the playing hall.