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Below, you can read the Laws of Chess of F.I.D.E. To be precise, these are the previous version of the FIDE-chess laws; the laws were changed at some fine points recently. The most recent version can be found on F.I.D.E.'s website: This most recent version became effective July 1, 1997. The older version below differs at points that will not be noticeable for most `home play'; differences consist in rules like enforcing the use of short algebraic notation for notating games. Preface The Laws of Chess cannot cover all possible situations that may arise during a game, nor can they regulate all administrative questions. Where cases are not precisely regulated by an Article of the Laws, it should be possible to reach a correct decision by studying analogous situations which are discussed in the Laws. The Laws assume arbiters have the necessary competence, sound judgment and absolute objectivity. Too detailed a rule might deprive the arbiter of his freedom of judgment and thus prevent him from finding the solution to a problem dictated by fairness, logic and special factors. F.I.D.E. appeals to all chess players and federations to accept this view. Any chess federation that already operates, or wants to introduce, more detailed rules is free to do so, provided:
In the Articles of these Laws, "he", "him" and "his" can refer to "she", "her" and "hers". Article 1: The ChessboardThe game of chess is played between two opponents by moving pieces on a square board called a "chessboard". 1.1The chessboard is composed of 64 equal squares, alternately light (the "white" squares) and dark (the "black" squares). 1.2The chessboard is placed between the players in such a way that the near corner to the right of each player is white. 1.3The eight vertical rows of squares are called "files". 1.4The eight horizontal rows of squares are called "ranks". 1.5The lines of squares of the same color, touching corner to corner, are called "diagonals". Article 2: The Pieces2.1At the beginning of the game, one player has 16 light-colored pieces (the "white" pieces), the other has 16 dark-colored pieces (the "black" pieces.) 2.2These pieces are as follows:
2.3The initial position of the pieces on the chessboard is as follows: |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| r | n | b | q | k | b | n | r | -- this square is "black"
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| p | p | p | p | p | p | p | p |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | . | | . | | . | | . |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| . | | . | | . | | . | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | . | | . | | . | | . |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| . | | . | | . | | . | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | N | B | Q | K | B | N | R | -- this square is "white"
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Article 3: The Right To Move3.1The player with the white pieces commences the game. The players alternate in making one move at a time until the game is completed. 3.2A player is said to "have the move" when his opponent's move has been completed. Article 4: The General Definition Of The Move4.1With the exception of castling (Article 5.1(b)), a move is the transfer by a player of one of his pieces from one square to another square, which is either vacant or occupied by an opponent's piece. [A capture is, therefore, merely a certain type of move.] 4.2No piece, except the rook when castling (Article 5.1(b)) and the knight (Article 5.5), may cross a square occupied by another piece. 4.3A piece played to a square occupied by an opponent's piece captures it as part of the same move. The captured piece must be removed immediately from the chessboard by the player making the capture (see Article 5.6(c) for capturing "en passant"). Article 5: The Moves Of The Pieces5.1 The King:
5.2 The Queen.The queen moves to any square (except as limited by Article 4.2) [No leapfrogging] on the file, rank, or diagonals on which it stands. 5.3 The Rook.The rook moves to any square (except as limited by Article 4.2) on the file or rank on which it stands. 5.4 The Bishop.The bishop moves to any square (except as limited by Article 4.2) on the diagonals on which it stands. 5.5 The Knight.The knight's move is composed of two different steps; first, it makes one step of one single square along its rank or file, and then, still moving away from the square of departure, one step of one single square on a diagonal. It does not matter if the square of the first step is occupied. 5.6 The Pawn.
Article 6: The Completion Of The MoveA move is completed: 6.1in the case of the transfer of a piece to a vacant square, when the player's hand has released the piece; 6.2in the case of a capture, when the captured piece has been removed from the chessboard and the player, having placed his own piece on its new square, has released this [capturing] piece from his hand; 6.3in the case of castling, when the player's hand has released the rook on the square [previously] crossed by the king. When the player has released the king from his hand, the move is not yet completed, but the player no longer has the right to make any move other than castling on that side, if this is legal; 6.4in the case of the promotion of a pawn, when the pawn has been removed from the chessboard and the player's hand has released the new piece after placing it on the promotion square. If the player has released from his hand the pawn that has reached the promotion square, the move is not yet completed, but the player no longer has the right to play the pawn to another square. 6.5When determining whether the prescribed number of moves has been made in the allotted time, the last move is not considered complete until after the player has stopped his clock. This applies to all situations except those governed by Articles 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4 and 10.6. [i.e. when the move has been completed in the sense of Articles 6.1-6.4, and the game ends immediately after the move in question, which may, for example, put the player's opponent into checkmate. This Law was introduced to prevent the situation where a player returns to the board to claim a win on time, possibly an hour after being checkmated!] . Article 7: The Touched Piece7.1Provided that he first expresses his intention (e.g. by saying "j'adoube"), the player having the move may adjust one or more pieces on their squares. [If a player's opponent is absent from the chessboard, it is best to inform one of his team-mates, or some other witness.] 7.2Except for the above case, if the player having the move deliberately touches on the board:
7.3If none of the touched pieces has a legal move (or if none of the opponent's pieces which were touched can be captured legally), the player is free to make any legal move. 7.4If a player wishes to claim that his opponent has violated Article 7.2,
he must do so before he himself touches a piece. Article 8: Illegal Positions8.1If, during a game, it is found that an illegal move was made, the
position shall be reinstated to what it was before the illegal move was
made. The game shall then continue by applying the rules of Article 7 to
the move replacing the illegal move. If the position cannot be
reinstated, the game shall be annulled and a new game played. This
applies to all sessions of play, and to a game awaiting a decision by
adjudication. 8.2If, during a game, one or more pieces have been accidentally displaced and incorrectly replaced, the position before the displacement occurred shall be reinstated, and the game shall continue. If the position cannot be reinstated, the game shall be annulled and a new game played. 8.3If a player moves and in the course of this inadvertently knocks over a piece, or several pieces, he must re-establish the position in his own time. 8.4If, after an adjournment, the position is incorrectly set up, the position as it was on adjournment must be set up again and the game continued. 8.5If, during a game, it is found that the initial position of the pieces was incorrect, the game shall be annulled and a new game played. 8.6If a game has begun with colors incorrectly reversed, then it shall continue if more than one quarter of the time allocated to both players to the first time control has elapsed. Earlier, the arbiter can arrange for a new game to start with the correct colors, if the event's timetable is not excessively disrupted. 8.7If, during a game, it is found that the board has been placed contrary
to Article 1.2, the position reached should be transferred to a
correctly-placed board, and the game continued. Article 9: Check9.1The king is in "check" when the square it occupies is attacked by one or more of the opponent's pieces; in this case, the latter is/are said to be "checking" the king. A player may not make a move which leaves his king on a square attacked by any of his opponent's pieces. 9.2Check must be parried by the move immediately following. If any check cannot be parried, the king is said to be "checkmated" ("mated"). 9.3Declaring a check is not obligatory. Article 10: The Completed Game10.1The game is won by the player who has checkmated his opponent's king. This immediately ends the game. 10.2The game is won by the player whose opponent declares he resigns. This immediately ends the game. 10.3The game is drawn when the king of the player who has the move is not in
check, and this player cannot make any legal move. The player's king is
then said to be "stalemated". This immediately ends the game. 10.4The game is drawn when one of the following endings arises:
10.5A player having a bare king cannot win the game. A draw shall be declared if the opponent of a player with a bare king oversteps the time limit (Articles 10.13 and 10.14) or seals an illegal move (Articles 10.16). 10.6The game is drawn upon agreement between the two players. This immediately ends the game. 10.7A proposal of a draw under the provisions of Article 10.6 may be made by
a player only at the moment when he has just moved a piece. On then
proposing a draw, he starts the clock of his opponent. The latter may
accept the proposal, which is always to be taken as unconditional, or he
may reject it either orally or by completing a move. A draw offer is
valid until the opponent has accepted or rejected it. 10.8If a player proposes a draw while his opponent's clock is running and his opponent is contemplating his move, the opponent may still agree to the draw or reject the offer. A player who offers a draw in this manner may be penalized by the arbiter. 10.9If a player proposes a draw while his own clock is running or after his move has been sealed, the opponent may postpone his decision until after he has seen the first player's move. 10.10The game is drawn, upon a claim by the player having the move, when the same position, for the third time:
The position is considered the same if pieces of the same kind and color occupy the same squares, and if all the possible moves of all the pieces are the same, including the rights to castle [at some future time] or to capture a pawn "en passant". 10.11If a player executes a move without having claimed a draw for one of the reasons stated in Article 10.10, he loses the right to claim a draw. This right is restored to him, however, if the same position [later] appears again, the same player having the move. 10.12The game is drawn when a player having the move claims a draw and demonstrates that at least [the last?] 50 consecutive moves have been made by each side without the capture of any piece and without the movement of any pawn. This number of 50 moves can be increased for certain positions, provided that this increase in number and these positions have been clearly announced by the organizers before the event starts. [The claim then proceeds according to 10.13. The most extreme case yet known of a position which might take more than 50 moves to win is king, rook and bishop against king and two knights, which can run for 223 moves between captures!] 10.13If a player claims a draw under the provisions of Articles 10.10 and/or 10.12, the arbiter must first stop the clocks while the claim is being investigated. In the absence of the arbiter, a player may stop both clocks to seek the arbiter's assistance.
10.14The game is lost by a player who has not completed the prescribed number of moves in the allotted time, unless his opponent has only the king remaining, in which case the game is drawn. (See Articles 6.5 and 10.5.) [Situations when Articles 10.1-10.4 or 10.6 apply are the only other exceptions.] 10.15The game is lost by a player who arrives at the chessboard more than one hour late, for the beginning of the game or for the resumption of an adjourned game. The time of delay is counted from the [scheduled] start of the playing session. However, in the case of an adjourned game, if the player who made the sealed move is the late player, the game is decided otherwise if:
10.16At the resumption, the game is lost by a player whose recording of his sealed move:
10.17The game is lost by a player who, during the game, refuses to comply with the Laws. If both players refuse to comply with the Laws, or if both players arrive at the chessboard more than one hour late, the game shall be declared lost by both players. Article 11: The Recording Of Games11.1In the course of play, each player is required to record the game (his
own moves and those of his opponent), move after move, as clearly and
legibly as possible in the Algebraic Notation, on the score sheet
prescribed for the competition. It is irrelevant whether the player
first makes his move and then records it, or vice versa. 11.2If a player has less than five minutes on his clock until the time
control, he is not obliged to meet the requirements of Article 11.1. As
soon as the special device (e.g. the flag) on the clock indicates the
end of his allotted time, the player must immediately complete his
record of the game by filling in the moves omitted from his score sheet.
11.3If both players cannot keep score, the arbiter, or his deputy, must endeavor to be present and keep score. The arbiter must not intervene unless one flag falls, and until then he should not indicate in any manner to the players how many moves have been made. 11.4If Article 11.2 does not apply, and a player refuses to record the game according to Article 11.1, then Article 10.17 should be applied. [Failure to comply with the Laws of Chess]. 11.5If a player does not refuse to comply with the arbiter's request for a completed score sheet, but declares that he cannot complete his score sheet without consulting his opponent's, the request for this score sheet must be made to the arbiter, who will determine whether the score sheet can be completed before the time-control without inconveniencing the other player. The latter cannot refuse his score sheet, because the score sheet belongs to the organizers and the reconstruction will be made in his opponent's time. In all other cases, the score sheets can be completed only after the time-control. 11.6If, after the time-control, one player alone has to complete his score sheet, he will do so before making another move, and with his clock running if his opponent has moved. 11.7If, after the time-control, both players need to complete their score
sheets, both clocks will be stopped until the two score sheets are
completed, if necessary with the help of the arbiter's score sheet
and/or a chessboard under the control of the arbiter, who should have
recorded the actual game position beforehand. 11.8If, in Article 11.6, the arbiter sees that the score sheets alone cannot help in the reconstruction of the game, he will act as in Article 11.7. 11.9If it proves impossible to reconstruct the moves as prescribed under Article 11.7, the game shall continue. In this case, the next move played will be considered to be the first one of the following time-control. Article 12: The Chess Clock12.1Each player must make a certain number of moves in an allotted period of time, these two factors being specified in advance. The time saved by a player during one period is added to his time available for the next period. 12.2Control of each player's time is effected by means of a clock equipped with a flag (or other special device) for this purpose. The flag is considered to have fallen when the arbiter observes the fact, or when the arbiter determines that the allotted time has been exceeded, even though the flag, because of a defect, has not fallen when the end of the minute hand has passed the end of the flag. In cases where no arbiter is present, the flag is considered to have fallen when a claim to that effect has been made by a player. 12.3At the time determined for the start of the game, the clock of the player who has the white pieces is started. During the game, each of the players, having completed his move, stops his own clock and starts his opponent's clock. 12.4Every indication given by a clock is considered to be conclusive in the absence of evident defects. A player who wishes to claim any such defect must do so as soon as he himself has become aware of it, but not later than immediately after his flag has fallen at the time-control. A clock with an obvious defect should be replaced, and the time used by each player up to the time the game was interrupted should be indicated on the new clock as accurately as possible. The arbiter shall use his best judgment in determining what times shall be shown on the new clock. If the arbiter decides to add time used to the clock of one or both of the players, he shall under no circumstances (except as provided for in Article 10.13(b)) leave a player with:
12.5If the game needs to be interrupted for some reason which requires action by the arbiter, the clocks shall be stopped by the arbiter. This should be done, for example, in the case of an illegal position being corrected, in the case of a defective clock being changed, or if the piece which a player has declared he wishes to exchange for a promoted pawn is not immediately available, or to claim a draw by repetitions of position or under the 50 moves rule. If the arbiter is not present, a player may stop both clocks in order to seek the arbiter's assistance. 12.6In the case of Articles 8.1 and 8.2 [Illegal Positions], when it is not possible to determine the exact time used by each player up to the moment when the irregularity occurred, each player shall be allotted up to that moment a time proportional to that indicated by the clock when the irregularity was ascertained. For example, after Black's 30th move it is found that an irregularity took place at the 20th move. For these 30 moves, the clock shows 90 minutes for White and 60 minutes for Black, so it is assumed that the times used by the two players for the first 20 moves were as follows: for White: 90 x 20/30 = 60 minutes This rule must not be used to leave a player with less than five minutes to the time control, or less than one minute for every move to the time control. (The most common occasion when this problem arises is immediately after an adjournment, when the clock times can be most easily adjusted using the times on the sealed move envelope.) 12.7A resignation or an agreement to draw (Articles 10.2 and 10.4) remains valid even if it is found later that a flag had fallen. 12.8If both flags have fallen at virtually the same time [or if both have fallen before a claim is made by either player] and the arbiter is unable to establish clearly which flag fell first, the game shall continue. In this case, if the score sheets cannot be brought up to date showing that the time control has been passed, the next move played will be considered to be the first one of the following time-control. 12.9The arbiter [and everyone else, for that matter] shall refrain from calling a player's attention to the fact that his opponent has made a move or that the player has forgotten to stop his clock after he has made a move, or informing the player how many moves he has made, etc. Article 13: The Adjournment Of The Game13.1
13.2Upon the envelope shall be indicated:
13.3The arbiter is responsible for the safekeeping of the envelope and should check the accuracy of the information on it. Article 14: The Resumption of the Adjourned Game14.1When the game is resumed, the position immediately before the sealed move shall be set up on the chessboard, and the time used by each player when the game was adjourned shall be indicated on the clocks. 14.2The envelope shall be opened only when the player who must reply to the sealed move is present. This player's clock shall be started after the sealed move has been made on the chessboard.
14.3If the player having to respond to the sealed move is absent, his clock shall be started but the envelope containing the sealed move shall be opened only when he arrives. The player's clock shall then be stopped and restarted after the sealed move has been played on the chessboard. 14.4If the player who has sealed the move is absent, the player having the move is not obliged to reply to the sealed move on the chessboard. He has the right to record his move in reply on his score sheet, to seal the score sheet in an envelope, to stop his clock and start his opponent's clock. The envelope should then be put into safekeeping and opened on the opponent's arrival. 14.5If the envelope containing the move recorded in accordance with Article 13 has disappeared:
14.6If, upon resumption of the game, the time used has been incorrectly indicated on either clock, and if either player points this out before making his first move, the error must be corrected. If the error is not so established, the game continues without correction, unless the arbiter feels that the consequences will be too severe. 14.7The duration of each resumption session shall be controlled by the wall clock, with the starting time and the finishing time announced in advance. Article 15: The Conduct Of The Players15.1 Prohibitions:
15.2Infractions of the rules indicated in Article 15.1 may incur penalties even to the extent of the loss of the game (see Article 16.5).Article 16: The ArbiterAn arbiter should be designated to control the competition. His duties are:16.1to see that the Laws are strictly observed;16.2to supervise the progress of the competition, to establish that the prescribed time-limit has not been exceeded by the players, to arrange the order of resumption of play of adjourned games, to see that the arrangements contained in Article 13 are observed (i.e. to see that the information on the envelope is correct), to keep the sealed-move envelope until the resumption of the adjourned game, etc;16.3to enforce the decisions he may make in disputes that have arisen during the course of the competition;16.4to act in the best interests of the competition to ensure that a good playing environment is maintained and that the players are not disturbed by each other or by the audience;16.5to impose penalties on the players for any fault or infraction of the Laws. These penalties may include a warning, a time penalty (by adding to the player's used time or to his opponent's unused time) or even the loss of the game.Article 17: ScoringFor a won game, the winner gets 1 (one) point and the loser 0 (zero). For a draw, each player gets 1/2 (half) a point.Article 18: The Interpretation of the LawsIn case of doubts as to the application or interpretation of the Laws, F.I.D.E. will examine the evidence and render official decisions. Rulings published are binding on all affiliated federations. All proposals and questions about interpretations should be submitted by member federations, with complete data.Article 19: ValidityThis English text is slightly modified from the authentic version of the Laws of chess, as adopted by the 1984 F.I.D.E. Congress, and subsequently amended by the 1988 and 1992 F.I.D.E. Congresses. These Laws took effect from 1 January 1993. |
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