Is refusing to shake hands before or after a match still an automatic loss? There is a FIDE press release that says this, but it is nowhere explicitly in the rulebook.
If there isn’t, is it possible for an arbiter to require handshakes and impose a forfeit if it’s refused?
It seems like all the discussion around this occurred 18 years ago and FIDE claimed it’d make it into the rulebook, but never followed through.
I’m not a FIDE Arbiter, so please correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the following is the generally accepted practice:
”Any player who does not shake hands with the opponent (or greets the opponent in a normal social manner in accordance with the conventional rules of their society) before the game starts in a FIDE tournament or during a FIDE match (and does not do it after being asked to do so by the arbiter) or deliberately insults his/her opponent or the officials of the event, will immediately and finally lose the relevant game.”
There is a lot of leeway with the “greets with a normal social manner”. Some include head nods, fist bumps, or other very distinct forms that are nowhere near a handshake as acceptable forms of greeting. Handshakes are a very “western” style of greeting.
I believe the spirit of the rule now has become that a respectful gesture toward your opponent is accepted in lieu of a distinct handshake, however hand shakes are the most common practice currently.
Yeah, that quote is what I found too in the press release. But the press release is from ca. 2008 and references an eventual addition to the official rules. Not seeing it in the official rules, however.
At present, the best source I have is an unnamed FIDE official saying in 2023, “A FIDE spokesperson has today told insidethegames that the rules of chess do not make any stipulation on handshakes.”