An Arbiter's Notebook by Geurt Gijssen Rapid Rules Among the questions received in the last month was a question from Ramon Etxeberria, The Basque Country (Spain), concerning the following position: White: Kg6, Qe5, Bh6 Black: Kf8, Bh8 Black, in a Blitz game, moved 1... Bxe5. The move is illegal but after it White does not have 'mating potential'. Ramon asks if it therefore should be declared a draw? The answer clearly is no, because it is White who can claim a win after the illegal move. Let me repeat Article C3 of the Laws of Blitz games: An illegal is completed once the opponent's clock has been started. The opponent is then entitled to claim a win before making his own move. Once the opponent has made his own move, an illegal move cannot be corrected. Another question came from Jorge Laplaza, Argentina It would be very interesting to know your opinion about when you think a player can claim for a draw in those cases where, in blitz or 'finish' 5 minutes, a player is completely winning but he believes his opponent wants to win on time. For example, a player has a blocked pawn and his opponent two rooks (may be more) can he claim a draw before his flag is down? What are the limits? And, if the arbiter is not a master, can he decide? Thank you. If this happened in a Blitz game (and in a blitz game all moves must be made in a fixed time limit of less than 15 minutes) such claims would be impossible under the Laws of Chess. In the last phase of a game played by the Quickplay Finish Rules or in a Rapid game (in a "rapid game" all moves must be made in a fixed time limit of between 15 to 60 minutes) such a claim is possible. Mr. Laplaza's implication has merit; the arbiter must understand the position. And he is completely right that this can be a problem. Interestingly enough, I had already prepared some positions in which the arbiter has to decide whether it is a draw or not. In every one of the following positions, Black has the move and claims a draw. Position 1     White: Kf5, Bf2; pawn - g2 Black: Kh4, Bg8; pawn - f7 Black explains to the arbiter that his opponent cannot win by normal means, noting opposite coloured bishops and so on. Let us see what can happen: 1...Kh5, 2. g4+ Kh6 3. Kf6! Kh7 (if 3...Bh7 4. Be3 mate) 4. g5 Kh8 5. Bd4 Kh7 (if 5...Bh7, 6 Kxf7 mate) 6. Bc3 Kh8 7. g6! fxg6 8. Kxg6 mate. Position 2 White: Kd1, Rc4; pawns - a3, b7 Black: Ka4, Rb2; pawns - a6, c6 Black explains to the arbiter that after taking the pawn on a3 he even has the better position, because he can capture the pawn on b7 as well. 1...Kxa3 (if 1...Ka5, then 2. Rb4) 2. Rc3+ (Black repeats his claim) 2...Ka4 (if 2...Ka2, then 3. Rc2 and White wins easily) 3. Rc1!! a fantastic move, after which Black is lost, for if 3... Rxb7, then 4. Ra1+, Kb3 (or Kb4 or Kb5) 5. Rb1+ and the Black Rook will be taken; after a King move on the a-file, again Ra1+, the King has to go to the b-file and White wins. Position 3 White: Kf5, Rh8; pawn - h7 Black: Kh4, Rb6; pawn - d7 After 1...Rh6, Black claimed a draw, explaining to the arbiter that White cannot make any progress. Let us see what happened. 2. Re8 Rxh7 (forced) 3. Kg6 Rh5 (only move) 4. Re4+ and White wins. Position 4 White: Kc8, Qa4, Re4, Re5 Black: Ka8, Ra5, Ra7 1....Rxa4 and Black, who was short of time, claimed a draw. The arbiter informed the players to play a few moves. And then an incredible thing happened. 2. Rb5 and suddenly there is a threat of mate on b8. 2...R7a5 3. Reb4!! and it is clear that White is winning. If a Black Rook takes a White one, then the remaining White Rook, will take the other Black Rook and mate the Black King. And after 3...Ka7 it is also over. 4.Rb7+ Ka8 (if 4...Ka6, then 5. R4b6 mate) 5. Ra8+ Ka7 6. R4b7+ Ka6 7 Ra8 mate. Position 5 White: Ka1, Rc8, Nd5; pawns - h4, h5 Black: Ka4, Qd8; pawn - d6 The last White move was R3c8. Black who saw that 1...Qxc8 would lose immediately to 2. Nb6+, claimed a draw, but the arbiter refused. Black played 2...Qxh4, but after 3. Rc4+ he resigned: 4...Qxc4 5. Nb6+. By the way, 2... Qa5 also loses after 3. Ra8, Qxa8 4. Nb6+. Position 6 White: Kb6, Ne5; pawn - f7 Black: Ka8, Ba4, Nb8 White's last move was f7 and Black intended to resign, but discovered the fantastic move 1...Be8. If White plays 2. fxe8Q or 2. fxe8R it is stalemate. Also 2. f8Q or 2. f8R, after 2...Nd7+ 3. Nxd7 gives the same result, but 2. fxe8B wins, because Black will lose his Knight. Position 7 White: Kc1, Rh1, Nb7 Black: Ka1, Rd8; pawn - c4 After 1...Rd4 Black claims a draw. In Black's opinion White cannot win by normal means. In fact, the last move is a blunder. 2. Rh8 and suddenly there is a mate threat - 3. Ra8. The next Black move is forced: 2...Ka2. White plays 3. Ra8+ and 3...Kb3 4. Na5 Kc3 5. Nc6 with the threat of 6. Ra3 mate forces White to resign. Position 8 White: Ke6, Rc7; pawns - f4, f7 Black: Kf8, Rh8, Nh7 After 1...Kg7 Black claimed a draw, but after the forced sequence 2. f8Q+ Kxf8 3. Rc8+ Kg7 4. Rxh8 Kxh8 4 Kf7!! he resigned. Position 9 White: Kh8, Ne6; pawn - d7 Black: Kh6, Nc4; pawns - f5, g6, h5  Clearly, Black has only one move, 1...Ne5 and this is what he played. Immediately he claimed a draw, pointing out, that 2... Nf7 guarantees at least a draw. But the arbiter ordered the game to continue. He was not convinced. 2. Nd8, threatening 2...Nxd7 3. Nf7 does not work. Black simply plays simply 3...h4. But 2. Ng5!! with the threat 3. Nf7 mate finishes the game immediately. If Black takes 2...Kxg5, then 3.d8Q+ is decisive. I hope the reader understands that these positions are not game fragments, but endgame studies. I had intended to prove that it is impossible in a very limited time to assess positions and that Article 10 of the Laws of Chess is very dangerous. In the meantime, I had the opportunity to show you some nice studies. I found these studies in some books and articles of Robert Timmer. Now, some good news - The FIDE Executive Council decided in its meeting in Bled to accept my proposal, that the time limit in the Olympiad in Elista should be 100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50 minutes for 20 moves and finally 10 minutes for the remaining moves with 30 seconds added after each move from the outset. This means Article 10 will not apply.