July "Just the Rules"

It seems to me that, depending on the situation, the third reaction (above) may be the best option, or possibly even the only reasonable option.

In fact, unless I’m mistaken, I recall seeing this option recommended somewhere in the FIDE rules.

If my opponent is a habitual clock-press-forgetter, the first couple of times he forgets, I will remind him. After that, I figure it’s his problem, and he needs to learn somehow.

BUTfirst I want to make sure he has really forgotten. So, I’ll wait for a while, probably 30 seconds at least, and then try to judge from his body language. Or, if the position calls for a long think, I’ll take as long as I want, and if he continues to forget, I’ll eventually invoke the aforementioned move-press-press option. I have NEVER had an opponent object. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever had an opponent even notice the double-press.

On a few occasions, it has even slipped my mind (or, once in a great while, I myself haven’t noticed) that my opponent hasn’t pressed. In such a case, once I’ve played my move and then noticed his clock running, there’s not really anything else I could do other than move-press-press.

I wouldn’t want to just move, and omit the double-press, because then I would be depriving both my opponent and myself of entitled increment time (not to mention the move count if it’s a two-control event).

Was the player supposedly contemplating making a draw offer, or accepting a draw offer already made by the opponent?

  • If the former, the player should have completed his contemplating before moving. For that matter, I suppose he could still make the offer even after moving, and if the opponent then whines about the player’s out-of-sequence draw offer, the player (or TD) could point out that the opponent’s move-press-press was itself slightly irregular, so there should be no penalty imposed for the out-of-sequence offer.
  • If the latter, it could be pointed out to the player that, by moving, he has already declined the draw offer, so tough bananas.

Bill Smythe