Originally posted by SquelchbelchI read your profile and noticed that you mentioned a girlfriend. This sort of thing is severely frowned on in chess circles and you are unlikely to be picked for a team unless you remedy this situation.
What key differences can I expect when I play at club level & how should I best prepare?
Originally posted by Fat LadyI'm not familiar with the rules in England, so I'll pass on that aspect of it. But for what it's worth, in the USA, the USCF rules do require that you press the clock with the same hand that moves the pieces. (I was too lazy to check the FIDE rules.)
I don't think this is strictly true. I believe the rule actually states that you have to press the clock after you have completed your move. The easiest way to ensure that is to press the clock with the same hand as you moved the piece with. However I think you are allowed to use the other hand as long as it's very clear that the move has been completed.
Edit - I just checked the FIDE rules, and FIDE rule 6.8 does require that the clock be pressed with the same hand that moved the piece. However, I have no idea whether England also requires this.
Originally posted by Fat LadyShe has no interest in chess, but knows how the pieces move.
I read your profile and noticed that you mentioned a girlfriend. This sort of thing is severely frowned on in chess circles and you are unlikely to be picked for a team unless you remedy this situation.
I showed her some of the random level one problems on CT-Art, explained the basic idea (back rank mate, fork etc) & she got most of them right first time & reasonably quickly!
Shame more women don't take the game up. I think there's something about the game itself that most women find un-appealing.
Maybe it's because men have (in general) better spacial awareness & women have better linguistics & therefore prefer more sociable past-times.
Concerning the rule on hitting the clock with the hand that moves the pieces -
A while back at a club tournament, a couple of fairly experienced players were in an endgame, with both players short on time. The player with the least time started moving the pieces with one hand and hitting his clock with the other hand, in violation of the rule. However, his opponent, who had more time, didn't say anything. He was either unaware of the rule, or didn't care that his opponent was violating it. As an observer, I was not allowed to say anything, so I had to watch the game progress with this player violating the rule on every move. (The tournament director was also watching, but he also wasn't allowed to say anything.) The rule violator eventually lost the game, so ultimately the violation didn't matter. But it was somewhat comical to see an experienced player doing this.
Originally posted by Mad RookYes but are you sure it's a violation or just rudeness. Would the guy using 1 hand to move & the other for the clock have been disqualified anyway had he won?
Concerning the rule on hitting the clock with the hand that moves the pieces -
A while back at a club tournament, a couple of fairly experienced players were in an endgame, with both players short on time. The player with the least time started moving the pieces with one hand and hitting his clock with the other hand, in violation of the rule. However, h ...[text shortened]... iolation didn't matter. But it was somewhat comical to see an experienced player doing this.
Originally posted by SquelchbelchIt's not just rudeness, it's a clear violation of USCF rules. However, in order for a penalty to be assessed, the opponent has to bring the violation to the attention of the tournament director. If the opponent doesn't say anything, then the game continues as if no rule was broken. If the TD was notified, the rule breaker would not be disqualified. Typically for a fairly minor violation like this, the TD could either assess the standard penalty (adding 2 minutes to the opponent's clock) or just giving a warning for the first offense. I'm not sure what the penalty would be for multiple violations. I imagine if the rule was violated repeatedly, the TD might be able to award the game to the violator's opponent.
Yes but are you sure it's a violation or just rudeness. Would the guy using 1 hand to move & the other for the clock have been disqualified anyway had he won?
Oh, and probably the best piece of advice that I can give you is this:
Anytime during a game, if you're confused about a rule, or you think your opponent might have done something wrong, or you need to talk to the TD about making a claim, you have the right to stop your clock and consult with the tournament director to resolve the issue. (By stopping the clock, I don't mean just hitting it, I mean placing it in the midway position so that neither player's clock is running.) Too many times I've seen some dispute erupt during someone's game, and while the players are arguing, one of the player's clocks is merrily ticking away. :-)
Originally posted by SquelchbelchThere's a few things with this that you could get caught out by.
I understand about the analysis problem.
I use the feature heavily on RHP & despite doing some tactics training, I'm still slow to spot some fairly basic tactics.
Do you have to hit the clock with the same hand as the one you use to exchange/move pieces? I'm sure I read that somewhere.
Part of the touchmove rule is that if you touch one of your opponents piece's without making clear that you are centering the piece you are compelled to take it if it is possible to.
If you want to castle you have to touch the king first, if you touch the rook first then your opponent is within their rights to insist that you move only the rook, which is almost invariably going to be a pain.
You have to record your move after you have made it on the board. Some of the older books contain the recommendation that you should write down the move first and then make a last minute blunder check before you make it on the board. This was banned to stop people from using their scoresheet as a calculational aid. You can press the clock button before writing down your move, but you have to have written it down before you try to make your next move - you can reply to your opponents last move before writing down his move.
If you have less than 5 minutes left you are not required to keep score.