touched piece to begin game

Originally posted by MetBierOp
[b]It doesn't matter that he is a GM. And as a general rule. Rules are made to simplify the making of decisions not to complicate. Rules are not made just to be followed just because its a rule.

I

Originally posted by AttilaTheHorn
I was watching a big tournament in person recently. One GM showed up to his board 10 minutes late, shook his opponent's hand, and sat down. I was no more than five feet from his board. He was playing White but of course his clock was running when he arrived at the board. Before moving, he wrote the necessary information on the scoresheet, took a sip of ...[text shortened]... 't he be required to move the first piece he touched, (which was his a-pawn, not his e-pawn)?

Originally posted by Ragnorak
It's not as though he thought that moving the a pawn was a good idea, and then suddenly, after further analysis, spotted that the move was actually weaker than he had initially thought when he touched it.

I have heard a kid in junior chess club try to enforce the rule though.

D

It's never been documented in the history of chess for white to be forced into a first move through this rule. Anyone who attempted to enforce it would be scorned and laughed at.
And also probably ridiculed.
etc etc etc 😞

Originally posted by excalibur 122
So a GM can please himself, and it's just accepted, is that it?

Originally posted by JDChess
I'm almost sure that before he entered the hall he had some idea of which piece he wanted to move first. When's the last time you walked into a game and had no idea what piece to move for your opening? Especially as white.

The idea that touch move should apply at the very beginning of a game is just ludicrous to me. It's important to have rules, and that' ...[text shortened]... have them, but you also have to have common sense about what's ridiculous and what isn't.

Look at my profile.

The book is Winning Chess Openings by Y.Seirawan. He writes about it in the Introduction. My favorite quote of all time.

Originally posted by anthias
Look at my profile.

The book is Winning Chess Openings by Y.Seirawan. He writes about it in the Introduction. My favorite quote of all time.

Originally posted by Sam The Sham
Too true.

As an aside, didn't David Bronstein once sit down to a tournament game with the white pieces, clock running, and think for 45 minutes before he made his first move and go on to win the game?
Seems like i read that somewhere but I can't find the link.

Originally posted by Northern Lad
I once saw Bronstein do something similar at a weekend tournament in Manchester some 15 years ago. He spent at least 20 minutes on his first move as black.

Originally posted by Sam The Sham
Bronstein is an unappreciated and largely unrecognized name, it's sad, because he was Botvinnik's equal and was always just one RCH shy of being the world champ for a 20 year period, yet a lot of chess enthusiasts don't know who he was.
A lot more don't know what an RCH is, it's a technical term used by carpenters.

Originally posted by Mad Rook
I'll bet that Carrot Top knows what it means, although I doubt that he's ever heard of Bronstein. 😛

Measure twice, cut once...

Originally posted by excalibur 122
Of course it matters that he is a GM, most players wouldn't try it on in the first place, it just isn't done.