The rulebook isn’t entirely clear on what constitutes an illegal move. In my opinion, putting a piece on the intersection of squares where it’s not clear which square the piece is on isn’t a move at all but a piece displacement. Rule 11C covers accidental piece displacement. Giving Black the benefit of the doubt I’ll assume the piece displacement was accidental and not deliberate.
Rule 11C says, “If, during a game, one or more pieces have been accidentally displaced and incorrectly replaced, then the displacement shall be treated as an illegal move.” That doesn’t apply in this case because the piece hasn’t been replaced, i.e. placed unambiguously on a square.
Rule 11C goes on to say, “If during the course of a move, a player inadvertently knocks over one or more pieces, that player must not press the clock until the position has been reestablished. The opponent may press the clock without moving, if necessary, to force the player who knocked over the piece(s) to restore the position on his or her own time.”
True, Black didn’t knock over the queen, but I would apply rule 1A: “Most problems concerning rules that may arise during a chess game are covered in this book. However, the rules of chess cannot and should not regulate all possible situations. In situations not explicitly covered, the tournament director can usually reach a fair decision by considering similar cases and applying their principles analogously.” In my opinion, Black’s ambiguous move of the queen is analogous to knocking the queen over.
Rule 11C says White can press the clock without moving in order to force Black to restore the position on his or her own time - small comfort in this case since White’s flag is down. So does White lose? Not necessarily. Rule 11C says that a player must not press the clock until the position has been reestablished [my emphasis]. Black violated this rule when he pressed the clock. What is the penalty for this violation of the rules?
Here I think reasonable people can disagree. Rule 1C2a says “Except where specifically noted in the rules, the standard penalty assessed by the director is to add two unused minutes to the remaining time of the opponent of the player not following the rules of chess.” Rule 1C2b says “Except where specifically noted in the rules, the director may assess penalties either more or less severe than the standard penalty (1C2a).” I can see three possible rulings: (a) the rulebook specifically notes that the penalty for pressing the clock after accidentally displacing a piece is that the opponent can press the clock without moving, so there is no time adjustment and White loses on time; (b) add two minutes to White’s remaining time under rule 1C2a; (c) impose a different penalty under rule 1C2b.
As I see it, the provision in 11C that the opponent of a player who displaces pieces and presses the clock without replacing them may press the clock without moving is not a penalty. It simply says that the player must replace the pieces on his own time, but doesn’t preclude the director from imposing a penalty in addition to this.
Adding two minutes to White’s clock is a possibility, but I would prefer a ruling to restore equity to the situation, considering that White was down to one second on the clock before Black made the ambiguous move/piece displacement: I would put one second on White’s clock under rule 1C2b, put the queen back on d2, and start Black’s clock.