An odd way to win a game

Some games I've played lately have ended up in a draw position but because I've got more time on my clock than theirs, and so long as I'm careful with repetition, you can actually win this kind of game.

It's a bit sad and tedious to shift some kind of piece around back and fourth until their timer runs out, but unfortunately a win is a win.

I've had players who offer me, let's say, a perpetual draw, complaining to me about this kind of act and I'm like; Look, I'm still within the rules of the game you should have watched your clock.

If there was no timer associated with the game, then yes it's an immediate draw.

Yeah they complain when it's happening to them but if roles were reversed they would clock you out in a heartbeat. Hippocrates lol. Win is a win.

I absolutely agree. It's a dog eat dog world. Force me to shift a piece around for 40 odd minutes in order to gain the win then I will.

Let's say this happened in a serious timed match, if my time on the clock is greater than yours I'll do whatever I have to! If I smell the win due to time constraints then it's your problem :)

If there's a lot of time I offer a draw :p

If it's a time scramble, then all bets are off.

Also not all dead draws are equal. If there are, for example, pawn breaks or captures (no matter how suicidal) then you can use them to punish over use of premoves.

But for example, 1 minute for each player, K+R vs K+R, I hit the draw button.

In a "serious timed match" (if that means OTB tournament) then your opponent can claim a draw by "insufficient losing chances."

This is why increment is better.

Only for USCF play when clocks without increments are used. Per FIDE rules there is no such thing, as long as mate is theoretically possible there is no draw.

FIDE has a rule like that, last time I checked anyway.

You are right that if there is an increment you can't use that rule... but then again, the lowest increment I've played with is 5 seconds, and thats more than enough to shuffle around in a pointlessly drawn position. Not to mention the tournaments where you get +30 per move!

So you're telling me if you were in a drawing position in a serious match and you had the timer on your side to win the game by shifting a piece around for a stupid amount of time until their timer run out then you wouldn't do that?

@amilton542: Well, there are players that adhere to the spirit of the game and the spirit of sportsmanship and there are players that want to win at all cost. Sort of like in life. At the GM level it is strongly frowned upon to lift opponents over time, this will become less so as you go down the rating scale. Personally, I offer a draw if the position is clearly drawn (like an opposite color bishop endgame with no play left). Other people may not.

Well, in a way it doesn't matter what I'd do, because my opponent would just claim the draw and the game would end.

Also I've never actually played (or seen heh) a tournament that didn't have at least 5 second increment (or delay).

But hypothetically? It just depends on the position. In a trivially drawn position, if I had 30 minutes, and they had 30 seconds, and there were no increment, I would offer a draw.

Don't get me wrong, I like to win, but to me, that's not even a win. E.g. K+R vs K+R, it's not even a position to me anymore, in my mind the game already ended.

If it's a draw, but there are still tricks for me to try, then sure, I'll keep playing. If they can't deal with the tricks in time pressure that's their fault for not managing their time. But I would never, for example, shuffle a piece back and forth only deviating to avoid 3-fold.

amilton542 wrote:

So you're telling me if you were in a drawing position in a serious match and you had the timer on your side to win the game by shifting a piece around for a stupid amount of time until their timer run out then you wouldn't do that?

In a serious match OTB, if you do that your opponent can call an arbiter over and claim a draw if it's clear you're only trying to win on time.

amilton542 wrote:

So you're telling me if you were in a drawing position in a serious match and you had the timer on your side to win the game by shifting a piece around for a stupid amount of time until their timer run out then you wouldn't do that?

I'm pretty sure there's rules in place in every federation to prevent it in any serious OTB match. Doesn't sound right that they would allow it because it is shady. I'm all about good sportsmanship OTB but online it's on like donkey Kong.

Another reason it's extremely unlikely is I'm a time pressure junky... it seems like 99% of my opponents have more time than me at the end of a game lol.

I'm working on fixing that

What does the Greek physician Hippocrates have to do with this topic?

It's within the rules. But it' s against the spirit of chess and bad etiquette to shuffle the pieces around in my opinion. Certainly, the fastest way to end up in my noplay-list.

The only matches that I consider to be serious are OTB tournament games.  In these, there is at least a 5 second clock delay, giving a player plenty of time to make 50 aimless moves and claim a draw (That's one of the reasons that time delays and time increments were introduced).

It's not nearly as odd as winning on time when you're in a dead lost position but win  because you have a pawn that could theoretically be promoted. 

Why would you spend, minutes of your life shuffling pieces around to get a few points for something no-one else cares about anyway?  If it's a dead draw with more than a minute or so to play, I'll just offer a draw no matter what.  Life's too short.

Many people make the attempt.  I recently had a 123 move game.  My opponent conceded a draw after 48 or 49 aimless moves.

This isn't an odd way.