Just the Rules for May 2025 is now posted. The topic: Variations

I get that rules are rules, and to the majority of my extent I go with that. However, there also needs to be a level of common sense at times depending on who and what you’re dealing with.

For example, you’re running a major open weekend event. In the Open Section, there’s probably a greater expectation that you’re going to enforce such rules verbatim, but in the Beginner’s Section, it might just be worth giving a warning the first time someone does this and explaining what the rule is because they were blissfully unaware it was even “a thing” and a more friendly and educational environment for such players might be more beneficial at that stage of their chess tournament development.

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If you think it’s better to just give a warning rather than forcing the player to move the rook, you should use the variation that allows the rook to be touched first.