Have fun with this gray area rules quiz: Just the Rules: What Choices Does the TD Have? | US Chess.org
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You sure about #2, Tim? 13D1 is specifically a variation for claiming a forfeit win on a late arrival. There is no variation on 16M. It becomes a question of whether setting up the board incorrectly is the equivalent under the rules of not setting the board up at all (which would mean splitting the time equally).
Tim, youāve probably got this one on your list by now, but 11A, 11E, and 11F all have a reference to ā16R, No time adjustment for reinstated position.ā These days, 16R just is āIllegal Movesā and doesnāt have any text.
It seems to me that setting up the board incorrectly has to be setting up the board, otherwise we wouldnāt need to have 11F and the specification about whether or not the game starts over (without resetting the clocks) or continues. And looking at 11F I think leads directly to a conclusion that āC) You take charge of the white pieces. Your opponent loses 20 minutes of playing time as the new mover and shaker of the black pieces.ā is the most correct answer.
11F. Incorrect initial position.
If, before the completion of Blackās 10th move, it is found that the initial position of the pieces was incorrect, or that the game began with the colors reversed, then the game shall be annulled and a new game played. However, the players shall begin the new game with their clocks still reflecting the elapsed time each player used in the annulled game; however, move counters on clocks that have them may be readjusted. If the error is discovered after the completion of Blackās 10th move, the game shall continue. See also 16R, No time adjustment for reinstated position.
Iāll buy that. It seems there really is only one correct ruling.
Iāll play devilās advocate here. The correct way for white to start the game when black isnāt there is to start their own clock, make a move and then press the clock. One could argue that white, who was there (even though they thought they were black), started the clock correctly and just didnāt bother making a move until their opponent arrived.
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One could argue that, but it seems fairly inconsistent with the hypothetical as presented in which the first player to arrive was honestly mistaken about their assigned color.
Players get punished for their āhonest mistakesā all the time. For example, if you accidentally sit at the entirely wrong board, when youāre taken to your correct board you donāt reset the clock, youāll be missing all the time you lost while sitting at the wrong board.
And yet here the rules already clearly handle the honest mistake of assigned colors issue, and are not punitive.
Again, what was wrong in the rulebook about the player with the white pieces starting their own clock, and then just not moving?
Iāll quote the rule, ā16J Black not present. If Black is not present for the start of the game, White shall start his own clock, make his move on the board, and start Blackās clock.ā
Nothing, except the hypothetical tells us thatās not what happened.
Iāll give you that the player who officially had the white pieces didnāt realize thatās what happened because they thought they were starting their opponentās clock, but I believe the hypothetical scenario as written is exactly the same result as following 16J with white starting their own clock and just not moving.
The whole scenario to me boils down to at what point do we say the āgame began with the colors reversedā as posed in 11F? Iām not certain just having one player realize they are playing with the wrong color necessarily reaches this standard, again thanks to 16J being in the rulebook.
However, I think the scenario is much clearer with the opposite colors, the player with the black pieces thinks they are white, starts their own clock and actually makes a move on the board, then presses the clock to start blackās clock running. At this point youāre probably going to use 11F to reach the right ruling.
Iāll tell you for me that this situation is not a hypothetical, we had it at the 2023 US Open in Michigan. I wasnāt the TD in that situation, but the TD there used 1C2 to say that both players were at fault, the player who accidentally sat on the black side of the board and the late arriving player, so they actually did split the elapsed time which they thought was the most fair and logical solution. This is solution A in the scenario in Timās column.
My devilās advocate answer is clearly not answer A, B or C, but I still think has legitimate backing per the rulebook 
I am sure that the rulebook does not mention that a player must be seated correctly as part of a proper set-up. The point was that some organizers post that additional seating requirement as part of their event only. I suspect that most players donāt realize that this extra posted seating requirement is in force only for that one event and not a general printed rulebook requirement.
When the rule(s) was first written the rules givers probably only considered the case where a player correctly sat at their assigned board correctly as they waited for their opponent to arrive. They might want to consider some extra wording to cover the case where a player sits at their assigned board incorrectly while they await a tardy opponent.
Thanks, I will look at 11A, 11E, and 11F + 16R to see if a fix is necessary the next time the rules get an edit.
And presumably if the game is actually finished with colors swapped, the players are treated as if they had their original assigned color (not the one actually used) for Rule 29E purposes when pairing later rounds.
It might be nice to have a TD Tip to explain this.
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Many TDs will change (note) the actual game colors played by each player when the colors played get swapped in the actual game. Then they will apply those changed actual played colors to the future 28E pairings.
It is also desirable for the rating report, if it includes color information, to include the colors of the game as played. While at this time the ratings formulas do not take color into account, statistical summaries could include things like āwinning percentage as whiteā.
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It would help resolve this situation if the rules were amended from āarrives at the boardā to āarrives at the playerās assigned place at the boardā. This would reinforce the playerās responsibility for knowing which color he or she was assigned. The test situation could then be resolved by ruling that both players were late (the player assigned white being in the wrong place), and the elapsed time being split between them. In my opinion this is the most equitable resolution.
ā¦but then how do you expect Rule 11F to work? Itās pretty clear that a) a game can start with the colors reversed and b) that if that isnāt noticed in time, the game stands.
11F. Incorrect initial position.
If, before the completion of Blackās 10th move, it is found that the initial position of the pieces was incorrect, or that the game began with the colors reversed, then the game shall be annulled and a new game played. However, the players shall begin the new game with their clocks still reflecting the elapsed time each player used in the annulled game; however, move counters on clocks that have them may be readjusted. If the error is discovered after the completion of Blackās 10th move, the game shall continue. See also 16R, No time adjustment for reinstated position.
Just so. If the late-arriving player does not notice that the colors are reversed and the game begins (resumes), then 11F applies just as in any other circumstances. However, if the late-arriving player does notice and the colors are corrected, then my opinion is that no game was started (correctly), and the two players should split the elapsed time (as being equally late).
Thinking about this further, there is another possible solution, which is a variant of Mr. Justās option C: āYouā indeed play the white pieces, but your opponent does not suffer a 20-minute penalty. Why? Because Rule 16J says that when Black is absent, White should start his own clock, make a move, and start Blackās clock. In the test situation, Black is indeed absent at the round starting time. āYouā, assigned the white pieces, are responsible for starting you own clock, which you did (although you didnāt think it was your clock). You then sat, curiously on the wrong side of the board, for 20 minutes contemplating the proverbial most difficult position in chess. Before you made your first move (your second obligation under the rule), your opponent (Black) shows up. Although 20 minutes late, your opponent suffers no penalty because you never made your first move and started Blackās clock. Notified by your opponent that you are in fact assigned the white pieces, you would relocate to continue the contemplation of your first move from your own side of the board, having lost (so far) 20 minutes. This would be quite bizarre behavior but logically in accordance with the rules.