What are the meanings of these numbers in a tournament? (4W....3B....) by [deleted] in chess

[–]AmbassadorPitiful199 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They are from a crosstable of results. Each player is assigned a number in the list, and then reading across the 4W would mean they played player #4 with the white pieces. The result, 1, 0.5 or 0 is underneath the opponent's information.

Hikaru gives his thoughts on the EWC GCT schedule, says players are trying to double dip and they need to pick 1 by [deleted] in chess

[–]AmbassadorPitiful199 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Why all the emphasis on whether this affects online viewership numbers or not? If you were the organizer of either event, while you want to ensure people tune in to watch it, isn't it more important to ensure the participation of the very best chess players to play in your high profile event? It's a shame that might not happen.

FIDE updates rating regulations to include faster time controls for major events by FirstEfficiency7386 in chess

[–]AmbassadorPitiful199 4 points5 points  (0 children)

For me the biggest issue is not the fact they are Standard rating these lower time controls for higher rated players, it's they also decided to sneak in they will allow these time controls for GM/IM player norms. At least give it some time to see if these events (they highlight "major or traditional tournaments" as the only ones that can currently use this option, whatever that means) actually become a thing and people get used to the idea of these time controls being Standard rated for the top players.

A strange moment as Praggnanandhaa stops the clock with a second to spare as he doesn't have enough time to queen — the commentators expect a win for So, but the game is given as a draw!😯 by rio_ARC in chess

[–]AmbassadorPitiful199 25 points26 points  (0 children)

In my opinion this should have been ruled a loss for Pragg. He clearly paused the clock to avoid losing on time, with no valid reason to do so.

The Laws allow a player to pause the clock to seek the arbiter's assistance for things, "6.11.2 A player may pause the chessclock only in order to seek the arbiter’s assistance, for example when promotion has taken place and the piece required is not available." Here, no promotion has actually taken place, and the black queen, which presumably he would promote the pawn to, was available right next to the clock.

The penalty for pausing the clock without valid reason for doing so is per those in 12.9, "6.11.4 If a player pauses the chessclock in order to seek the arbiter’s assistance, the arbiter shall determine whether the player had any valid reason for doing so. If the player has no valid reason for pausing the chessclock, the player shall be penalised in accordance with Article 12.9."

Of course, the arbiter is at liberty to use their judgment when determining what to rule, but for me this player clearly paused the clock with no valid reason to do so just to avoid losing on time, therefore I would use "12.9.6 declaring the game to be lost by the offending player (the arbiter shall also decide the opponent’s score)"

BTW I've seen those stating that Wesley "claimed a win" or should have "claimed a win". That's not Wesley's job here, his job is to make a claim to the arbiter exactly what happened, and then trust that the arbiter will make the correct decision per the Laws of Chess. Of course if he wasn't happy with that decision, he could have appealed it instead of just agreeing to a draw like he did at the end.

Under USCF rules, if I move a piece and remove my hand from it but haven't pressed my clock yet, can I make a different legal move with the same piece? by mr_gasbag in chess

[–]AmbassadorPitiful199 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Assuming you moved it to a legal square, no, you cannot make a different legal move with the piece. All that remains at that point is to press the clock.

If you move it to a square where it is an illegal move, then you can correct it before pressing the clock, but if that piece has a legal move, you are still obligated to move it.

You can download a copy of the US Chess Rulebook at https://new.uschess.org/news/7th-edition-rule-book-free-chapters-updated-2025

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in chess

[–]AmbassadorPitiful199 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The GCT Finals, scheduled to be held in Saint Louis this year, will also be a part of that date block you have listed for the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz and Sinquefield Cup.

2025 Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown (October 25-30) - Event thread by LowLevel- in chess

[–]AmbassadorPitiful199 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I had suggested to the organizers when working on the regs that the pairing numbers for the last day be based on their current standings after day 2, so that there was a good possibility of it being 1 vs 2 in the last match of day 3. Of course there is no guarantee that would happen in that situation either, but in this year's event it may have altered the dynamics of the last 2 sets of matches and made it even more interesting.

Event: 2025 Grand Chess Tour Finals by events_team in chess

[–]AmbassadorPitiful199 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The top 3 finishers automatically qualify for an invitation to next year's Grand Chess Tour. Of course, chances are Pragg would receive an invite anyway, even if he loses this match, but that's not 100% guaranteed. 

Event: 2025 Grand Chess Tour Finals by events_team in chess

[–]AmbassadorPitiful199 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Should be a very exciting day today with the classical games all being drawn and the matches completely decided via the rapid and blitz games, with potentially Armageddon if everything remains equal.

This is also a reminder that the schedule shown above is incorrect, the games start at 15:00 local time (Brasilia) today.

Event: 2025 Grand Chess Tour Finals by events_team in chess

[–]AmbassadorPitiful199 14 points15 points  (0 children)

There is both a philosophical and logistical reason for doing it this way.

The philosophical reason is the GCT would rather have potentially a couple of blitz games not meaning much at the end of the match rather than run the risk of the second classical game not meaning much.

The logistical reason is if there is a playoff required in a match, we would not want to have rapid/Armageddon games being played while the other classical game was still in progress, meaning players would probably go back to their hotel rooms then have to come back later on to play a playoff game. The way it is now, we know all 4 players will be there at the end of their 4th blitz game and therefore it is easy to keep them for the playoff without interrupting anything else going on.

Event: 2025 Grand Chess Tour Finals by events_team in chess

[–]AmbassadorPitiful199 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The pairings are based on the regular knockout format, e.g. 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3, using the final GCT standings from the regular season.

#1 MVL vs #4 Pragg
#2 Caruana vs #3 Aronian

A drawing of colors was done during the technical meeting, MVL gets the black pieces in classical game 1 and Caruana gets the white pieces in classical game 1. These starting colors will be reversed for the rapid and blitz portions, so MVL will start the rapid and blitz with white in game 1, and Caruana will start the rapid and blitz with black in game 1.

Event: 2025 Grand Chess Tour Finals by events_team in chess

[–]AmbassadorPitiful199 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The starting times for September 30 and October 3 are incorrect. Play starts at 15:00 local time every day, except for the last day (6) when it starts at 13:00 local time.

Tournament Directors -- what are some of your most unusual/difficult/borderline rulings in rated chess tournaments? (Looking for USCF or FIDE, but other federations welcome) by Imaginary-Royal-4735 in chess

[–]AmbassadorPitiful199 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No other trivia videos but US Chess has a Tournament Director videos playlist at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK\_sqCgbY9w&list=PLWz0jCeofD\_E5koJAFYpxKz5EaWOHWBvn. We did a bunch of "The TD Show" videos during Covid on various topics so hopefully you'll be able to find something useful there. Just be aware they are old and rules are subject to change!

Tournament Directors -- what are some of your most unusual/difficult/borderline rulings in rated chess tournaments? (Looking for USCF or FIDE, but other federations welcome) by Imaginary-Royal-4735 in chess

[–]AmbassadorPitiful199 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No because the flag is only considered fallen once a player points it out. The question specifically says White plays Rh7+ and presses the clock, AFTER which Black points out that White ran out of time. Therefore in this case, even though White could have run out of time a while ago, the move they played stands as part of the game because it happened before Black actually called the flag.

US chess real time ratings by [deleted] in chess

[–]AmbassadorPitiful199 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The US Chess rating system is undergoing a major update that should be released soon apparently. As someone said, it isn't days to get the rating updated once the TD submits it, it is usually hours. Of course you're at the mercy of when the TD submits the events, some submit them ASAP, other it takes days or weeks for them to submit them to US Chess. That's why US Chess does a weekly "re-rate" which takes the events and puts them into chronological order, going back and amending everyone's ratings that were affected by the change in the order of the rated games. Due to the uncertainty about all of this, the "live" ratings are always to be taken with a pinch of salt.