I’m a newly certified Club TD still seeking mentorship, and I’d appreciate input on this situation from an unrated practice game between two players who are still learning tournament rules in the hope of eventually playing in scholastic chess tournaments.
Player Kirk (names changed for privacy) picked up his queen and moved it slowly up the file.
Player Orville claims Kirk placed it on the 6th rank, released it, then picked it up again and moved it to the 8th rank.
Kirk insists he never released the queen until it reached the 8th rank.
Complications:
The Adult playing the role of TD and other adults or players in the room did not see the move.
Neither player paused the clock to call the TD as instructed, but the players started arguing with each other while the clock was still running.
Parents were watching and other games were being disturbed.
The adult (acting as the TD for the practice session) paused the clock, asked them to stop and take turns explaining the issue, but their accounts were completely opposite.
My Questions: To learn from the experience…
In this “word vs word” touch-move dispute with no witnesses or video, how should a TD rule?
Does the fact that they didn’t stop the clock or summon the TD immediately affect the decision?
Ignoring and waiting to see if one of them would pause the clock only led to a louder argument, but it was a valuable learning moment for both the parents and the other players in the room.
Even though this was unrated, I’d like to prepare them for rated play. What would be the correct choice for the TD to make in this scenario?
In a US Chess Federation-rated game, what would the possible choices for the TD be?
And which specific US Chess rule(s) apply to support the disputed release of a piece?
I really appreciate any help you can provide. I want to get this right before I start TD’ing rated events on my own.
The Touched Piece TD TIP: Without a neutral witness, Rule 10 depends on the reliability of both the claimant and the opponent. If they disagree then the TD should strongly consider denying the claim. In most cases, by denying the claim the TD shuts the door to all false claims. Upholding a false claim usually does more harm to more players than denying an accurate claim.
And also
TD TIP: The key word here is deliberately. Be especially thorough at scholastic events when investigating a “Touch-move rule” claim without a witness. After talking to the claimant and opponent, TDs will find that opponents often insist that they did not “deliberately” touch a piece. Often, after some further discussion, the TD will find that some of the opponents really did physically touch the piece in such a way that it appeared as if they intended to move it (not an accident); however, they will explain that they really intended to move another piece; therefore, they believe that since the “touch” was not literally “deliberate” (since they intended to move another piece), the rule was not broken. The TD will have to uphold the claim in this instance.
One thing you can do is ask the potential offender to demonstrate how he moved the piece. Ask the player to do it exactly the way he or she moved the piece the first time. Second, try to get the opponents to agree as much as possible. Another thing you can do when they don’t agree is ascertain how much harm there is if you rule in either player’s favor. Whatever the case you can penalize them both for wrongfully disturbing other players. As for making a ruling on the possible intermittent movement when they don’t agree and you don’t have any proof one way or the other, try to be fair even if you do or don’t rule against the possible perpetrator.
I disagree with this, players should not incur a penalty for making a disputed touch-move claim. And it sounds like there was no disagreement over whether the queen was touched, just when it was released.
I wasn’t there, so I can’t answer that, but if player A says “touch move” and player B says “No, it isn’t”, then they call for a TD, I don’t see where that’s much different from a player announcing check or offering a draw in terms of disturbing neighboring boards.
The tournament room should be quiet, that doesn’t mean it is silent. I have been known to take the two players out into the hall to ask questions about a claim. Some people just have a voice that carries, I’m one of them.
Now, if they start yelling at each other, which I’ve seen, that’s a different situation, but not IMHO directly related to the touch move claim.
One more thing - If you cannot get the opponents to agree and whichever player you rule in favor of will likely cost the other player to lose the game, you can rule the game a draw for both sides since that would be the fairest thing to do.
Thank you all @KenFarrar , @ulmont and @nolan , because this back-and-forth is incredibly helpful.
Rule 10 was exactly where I looked!
To clarify the atmosphere during the incident:
It wasn’t full-on yelling, but it did escalate to raised voices while the clock was still running.
Other kids began looking over and losing focus on their own games, so I felt we needed to intervene.
This situation fell somewhere between a calm “claim and response” (as @nolan described) and a full disruption (as @KenFarrar was concerned about).
Follow-up questions for you all, if you don’t mind:
Where do you draw the line between a normal dispute (“touch move” / “no I didn’t”) and unsporting disturbance that warrants a penalty or TD intervention?
Is the threshold volume, tone, or refusal to stop arguing when asked?
How would you handle this differently in a USCF-rated event versus an unrated instructional game?
In unrated, would you lean toward letting the move stand and treating it as a teaching moment?
In rated, would you ever consider time penalties, warnings, or even ruling a draw (as suggested) if no fair ruling can be reached without evidence?
I appreciate the nuance you each brought to this. Especially around distinguishing legitimate claims from unnecessary escalation. I’m learning a lot from your perspectives. This helps me feel much more ready to be a club TD on my own, since a more experienced TD isn’t available at this time to mentor me in person.
You as a TD can give warnings to players when you think the player is inexperienced in chess or young in age. You don’t have to penalize someone just because you have that resource. The first time you address something can be given a warning if you think a warning is sufficient.
Tim Just may have said to listen to both people explain their arguments so that when you make a ruling, no one should feel left out in your decision. Your goal with penalties is to stop something from happening again. If things continue that warrant it, you can be stronger with penalties and even state that the player leaves the premises. Everything is what you can use for rated tournaments - warnings, penalties, and rulings.
Dawson & Bob, check out the group of videos at the following address to gain confidence in your TD rulings and procedures during rated USCF tournaments:
I have been known to ask both players to join me outside the playing room to quell the disturbance to other players. I have a voice that carries well, so it is often better to have the discussion away from the board, that also sometimes calms players down, too.
I’ve also shooed teammates and other observers away from the board if they’re not silent. Maintaining decorum in the TD hall is something a good TD always tries to do.
Absent an unbiased witness, a warning to the alleged offending player might be the best recourse. I’m VERY reluctant to declare a game result when that’s not the basis for the claim. But if it happens again with that player after some instruction on touch move and a warning, even in a later round, then I’m far less hesitant to declare a result.
US Chess rules only apply in US Chess rated events, you can use them in other events, but things like appeals to the national office are not possible.
DawsonJulianna, don’t be misled. There are more videos where that one above came from. I was not able to show the link because it automatically put the video instead of the link above.
