In a recent national scholastic championship, a player secured first place by means of a 4-move draw in the final round. Shouldn’t there be a rule about this? Does the TD have to accept such a result? What would be an appropriate course of action?
There is a rule about it. The rulebook says that it is unethical to arrange a draw before the game. It also says that it is almost impossible to prove it. I had a guy at my last tournament who would secure a clear 1st and about $200 with a draw ask his opponent for a draw before the game even started. I gave him a verbal lashing in front of his opponent, read him the section in the rules about pre-arranged draws, and told him that I would toss him out and not pay him the prize if I thought he had fixed the game.
Even after that, he still was the first game done with a quick draw.
Do T.D.'s have the right to say “No draws may be offered or accepted before move-pair 30 (without special permission from TD)”? I think they do.
Thus the T.D. has the power to eliminate the short draw problem, if he so desires.
But if the T.D. does not institute the 30 move-pair rule, then other players can only watch helplessly as another player nullifies the sporting aspect of what should have been an exciting climactic (sp?) final round of competition.
Normally the solution for players wanting a sporting environment would be to choose tournaments run by other T.D.'s instead. But in the sparsely populated world of OTB club level chess, this option exists only in theory.
The USCF has understandable reasons for refusing to institute or require the 30 move-pair rule; such as the reasons argued well by Susan Polgar (elsewhere) regarding the financial lives of professional grandmasters.
Here’s the rule I use:
Last Round Draws: Both players are required to complete at least 20 moves and a combined total hour of play from the actual start of the last round. Tournament director reserves the right to observe and intervene in games if the spirit and intent of this rule is being violated.
It may or may not stop board 1 but it sure stops class players trying to make deals. 20 moves is too much “trust” for a class player to have that a deal will not be spoiled by a blunder.
Seki