Perhaps it would have been different to me when the rule book was put in my face with my son and spectators watching, had it been the rule people here are applying. However, the TD did not show me that rule but rule 20L - manipulating results. Rule 20L leans more to the idea that people are trying to manipulate results for gain rather than because they have a case of the bad sportsmanship tick.
Also, it’s quite easy to call someone a cheat in text on the Internet - usually such people exhibit habitual cowardice as in Mr. Relyea’s case.
The TD probably never anticipated having to cite chapter and verse documenting that pitching a rated tournament game was wrong, and so he was a wee bit unprepared. Cut him some slack, maybe.
It’s quite easy to accuse someone of cowardice in text on the Internet. You started the thread, asking “I leave it to the readers, was I cheating?”. He told you what he thought. I think you’re out of line.
Someone who continually makes excuses for their own actions and won’t man-up and admit his mistake is hardly one who should accuse others of cowardice.
Tim I don’t believe you have any intention of cheating. But if I was you I would do all things possible to avoid playing your son in rated games in the future. You have 6 games with him so far, 3 wins and 3 draws. Two of the draws happened with your rating much higher than your sons. Most likely because your son was use to your style of play. But again doesn’t look good to the casual observer. The reason I asked if there was only one quad was if there had been more I as a TD would have put you or your son in the next lower quad to seperate you. (Unless the rating difference would have been too dramatic then I’m not sure what my option would have been. Perhaps to make sure that you and your son played in round 1 would have solved things.)
Ok, well I apologize for the name-calling.
I am trying to understand specifically what mistake I should be admitting? I resigned a game. There was no intent to profit from this. I believe the TD was offended by my actions, which is why he was quick to apply a rule to forfeit the game, but did not find the best rule that addresses the situation. Regardless for all that was said, I did not think anything was wrong when I did it. But I will regard it as wrong in the future because of the majority opinion here. That said, I now see it as a mistake on my part.
Under the circumstances, a draw would be a better result. As a Senior TD, I would have no problem with a quick draw under the circumstances. Is your son quite young? I would expect an older child to reject Dad throwing the game.
JUST IMHO.
Why on earth should it be rated? It provides zero useful information to the rating system.
Offering a draw to your son would have been O.K. but resigning was not. It doesn’t sound like you intentionally violated the rules, but hopefully you’ve learned something from this.
Several years ago my then HS aged son and I went to a tournament in Chesterton, Indiana. It was a chance for him to get some chess practice in before the school year kicked off again … He was around 1900, I was around 2200.
As I walked out the door that morning, my wife jokingly said “OK, now if you play him, just don’t sacrifice your queen.” We laughed and my on and I went off to the tournament.
After 3 rounds, my son and I were 3-0, along with one other “A” player. We faced each other in the last round. My son was White, the game was fairly tactical, and my son was out for the win. After some tactics and some subtleties, the position degenerated into one of those “It’s equal, unbalanced, and will stay that way as long as you don’t try to win” for both sides. (Sorta like being a log rolling contest!)
At this point, I thought, “Hey, it was a fun day, I don’t care that much if I drop a couple of rating points, we can get home at a decent hour…” and offered my son a draw.
He declined and uncorked another tactic to play for the win. I defended and reached a position where the correct continuation was - you guessed it - sacrificing my Queen! And I eventually won.
Not making any points with the story, just thought it was a fun story to share in contrast. And oh, I did NOT make my wife happy when I got home. 
.
P.S. As a Coach - I was not happy that my son didn’t take the draw offer!
This, really, is the crux of the matter.
When one player is given a forfeit and the other is given a win on forfeit, it means that the first player loses and the second wins as far as the tournament (and tournament prizes) are concerned, but the game doesn’t count for rating purposes since it doesn’t reflect how good the players are at chess (which is the purpose of the ratings).
It sounds like the TD’s action was the fairest one possible under the circumstances.
Bob McAdams, LTD
I don’t believe these rules should generally be invoked at the amateur level, particularly with draws. That being said, master-minding the result is a form of cheating because you affect the rest of the field.
On the other hand I wonder if, in a Swiss system tournament, you can really affect the prize distribution significantly by resigning in an even position. After all, you should have the same score as your opponent. I understand that doesn’t apply here, because the event was a quad.
I find it more than a bit odd that you and your son are being paired frequently enough to make this an issue. Do you have approximately the same rating? If you’re in a swiss you can always request that you not be paired, which is what I do at big tournaments with club-mates.
Unless, of course, it is a Plus-Score event, in which case you affect only your own prize and that of your opponent.
Bill Smythe
At the 1978 World Open I claimed a 3-fold repetition in the final round. While the TD was verifying it my opponent quiet came around to me side of the table and asked me to resign for half of his prize. His motivation was that it was clear that a draw would win nothing for both but an extra half point might put the winner in a tie for the last place prize. He certainly knew his offer was illegal or he wouldn’t come to my side of the table to quietly make the offer. When I declined he asked “why”. I said “because it’s unethical” as if he didn’t already know.