I have a question about the insufficient losing chances rule. (I don’t have a rulebook, so I can’t look it up.) At a tournament I was at last week, the position was this:
White:
Kh2
Pf2, g2, h3
Rb1, b8
Black:
Ka3
Ph7, a5
Re2
White had about 2 minutes left. Black had 6 or 7. White asked the tournament director for a draw under the insufficient losing chances rule and was told, “This is not a position in which you can ask for that. Insufficient losing chances is really more like a theoretical draw.”
Is that right? What does that mean exactly? I thought the whole point of insufficient losing chances is that it’s a theoretical win. (In fact, White did go on to win the game.)
I was going to ask the TD about it afterwards, but I never got the chance.
Wow… since a draw claim is also a draw offer, Black should have seized the half point instantly… I don’t know, though, this position is of course very easily won for White and it really oughtn’t to have taken White very long to swap off a pair of rooks, snatch the a pawn, and either mate with the other rook or queen a pawn and mate with Q+R, and it showed poor judgment or lack of confidence on White’s part to make such a claim with 2 minutes left …
Well, it’s Black’s move here, right?, and if he nips off the f pawn, and White then somehow bungles it and ends up swapping the second rook for the a pawn, and then bungles the gh vs h pawn ending… he might not win. But I don’t see how a C player would LOSE even against a master. So I think the TD was wrong. If White wants to give up half a point, the TD should let him. IMVHO.
This is not correct. The player made a proper claim, unless…
An Insufficient Losing Chances claim is only available if it is sudden death time control, and an analog clock (or a digital clock without delay mode) is being used.
The claim is an offer of a draw, and the opponent may accept or decline.
Then, if the director does not wish to rule on the question directly he has some options, including inserting a delay functional clock in the game, watching for a few moves, then deciding, denying the claim or accepting the claim.
I will (almost) always put the delay clock on the game, especially if the claimant is significant material or position ahead. The opponent then can still ponder the position and accept the draw offer prior to his own making of a move.
Since white had more than two minutes, or in the case of blitz one minute, the claim of insufficient losing chances is void. Under rule 14H1, the player on the move with two minutes or less in a sudden death time control: has the right to make a claim. Since white has more than two minutes and less than three minutes, the claim was made in error.
14H1 In a sudden death time control, a player on the move with two minutes or less or remaining time may stop the clock and ask the director to declare the game a draw on the grounds that the player has insufficient losing chances.
If the director said it was the position, thinking he was looking at the time on your clock. If your clock has more than two minutes, the director has to reject the claim. When you are on the move with two minutes or less, than the director can rule on your claim.
“about 2 minutes” is not necessarily “more then two minutes”
But even if I noticed as a TD that more than two minutes remained, I would handle it like this…
To the claimant:
“Were you aware that an insufficient losing chances claim can only be made with 2 minutes or less on your clock?”
“Yes”
“Do you still want to make the claim?”
“Yes”
“OK, You now have two minutes remaining on your clock.”
(to the opppnent)
“A claim of a draw is the same as an offer of a draw… (etc)”
…then follow the procedure in the rulebook.
the reason for this is that the claimant could just wait until two minutes remain, (without making a move) and then make the claim again.
If the claim was rejected the first time because the clock has more than two minutes. And the claimant is going to make a second claim right at two minutes. Going to get my Chronos and set the clock at G/1 (t/d 5) before the claimant makes a second claim.