Last night at my local club White came to me to complain that his opponent was attempting to retract a draw offer. That would be an easy enough ruling except that Black denied to both his opponent and to me that he made the offer . Upon seeking and finding a witness to the offer I ruled that the offer was made. There is no doubt that the offer was made as Black, after he left the club, apologized to White but not to me. The reason for the offer was that Black thought he was getting mated in a winning position and then shortly discovered that he had a defense.
My question is this: is just leaving the offer in place enough as this is exactly where Black would have been had he never denied making the offer? I’m inclined to issue a warning to Black that a repeat of what I consider an attempt to cheat will be dealt with in the form of a zero point bye in his next round, even if it’s in his next tournament.
What do the other TDs and players reading this think would be an appropriate punishment for Black for attempting to cheat?
I hope that the player was relatively young and inexperienced. I don’t think punishment is appropriate. I think as a wise sage TD, a more appropriate response is to take the player aside for a discussion, maybe over coffee. Explain how important reputation is, particularly with other players at the club, and that by behaving that way he undermines his reputation, and also undermines being believed in the next dispute. I think you should tell him that you were disappointed in his behavior, and ask that he not do it again.
That’s probably more effective than any punishment.
He’s in his high 30s with over 150 tournaments played. He also has a history of several incidents at the club. Talking to him hasn’t worked in the past. He’s more likely to blame the messenger.
If he has a history of incidents, and he lied directly to your face, I think that it is appropriate to tell him that any future incident will take his track record into consideration and forfeits/zero point byes will be the least of the punishments considered.
This assumes that you REALLY believe the witness. (An apology by itself doesn’t necessarily mean the player admited to cheating; the apology could have been that, “I was sorry that things got out of hand; I honestly didn’t think I had offered a draw so that was why I got all worked up and caused a scene.”)
When I first spoke to Black, he admitted to saying something to his opponent on his opponent’s time, claimed he didn’t offer a draw but “didn’t remember” what he said even though it was only a minute earlier.
I questioned the witness independently of the players and did not lead him by using the word “draw”. I just asked if he heard what Black said and he repeated almost word for word what White claimed that Black said. The witness is a friend of Black so it’s very unlikely that he would have said what he did unless it was true.
Agreed with this perspective. If I run a club, have someone with multiple near-cheating incidents, multiple warnings…then a month’s ban from the club for repeated and willful unsportsmanlike conduct is in my consideration list of possible sanctions.