NEVER ADJUST PIECES

I had the pleasure and honor to participate in a tourney at a library 10 minutes from my house run by my state on 12/7/2024. I have been drawing a lot of games lately especially at the Marshall Chess Club and I mainly end up with 2.5/4 points at the G50 events. Well this time I was looking forward to winning something at least at the library tournament and scoring at least 3/4 with no losses. I co-won my section with my friend who is also a strong experienced expert level player. It was my best tournament of the year no doubt with my final score of 3.5/4. For my efforts, I won a cool medal, a trophy, and split the first place prize money with my friend.

And... something very interesting happened in the 3rd round of the tourney. It was even more interesting than that funny bughouse story that I've been obsessing about for a couple years like some guy yelled "YOU'RE PLAYING THE LAST ROUND! I PAID $20 FOR THIS!". I will explain what happened below.

What happened?

There were 2 young kids probably no more than 7 or 8 yrs old rated about 1300 USCF. They were playing on the opposite side of the room with no one sitting at the same table as them. I have no idea how their game went prior to the dispute but after drawing to my friend in the 3rd round, I saw the TD talking to 2 little kids as my friend and I were leaving the room. I only heard a few words like "He didn't say adjust". The dispute was bad enough that it went to the hallway of the library because Touch move kid was crying very hard. Based on what I heard from the TD, Touch move caller called "Touch move" on Touch move kid in the beginning of the 3rd round because he didn't hear Touch Move kid say "adjust" as he was touching a piece.  Touch move kid argued that he said "adjust" but it was only seconds after he touched a piece.

Well, Touch move kid's meltdown implies that the piece he touched and compelled to move would turn a potentially winning game into a losing or much worse position. The dispute lasted for approximately 45 minutes and it seems like it started way before I finished my 3rd game.  The TD sided with Touch move caller and Touch Move kid lost the game. 

What Would I do if I was in "Touch Move Kid's" situation?

First of all, I hate adjusting my pieces even if they are placed sloppily. But in this section I will be describing how I would react if I was in that similar situation assuming if I felt like someone falsely called touch move on me or claimed that I let go of a piece when I still have my hand on it. Assuming that if I am in a winning position,  if the piece that I touched and am forced to move will not alter the outcome, I will just let it go, concede and win the long way.  It's a waste of time and mental energy to get in these disputes and it's not worth my time to play brinkmanship with them. However, it will be another story if the piece that I'm forced to move after my opponent claimed that I "touched" it will change the outcome of the game or put me in an unclear position. I will voice my opinion but I definitely will not cry very hard like what Touch Move kid did. The best I can do is just learn from my mistake if the call is final and not in my favor. FYI, my verbal communication skills are not as strong as my analytical skills so hopefully, I will never get in Touch Move kid's situation.  

How can this be avoided?

I don't blame Touch Move kid for crying very hard because he felt cheated. There were clearly 2 conflicting opinions which resulted in such drama. I assume that Touch move kid didn't understand the rules properly in terms of adjusting pieces. I agree with Touch move caller ; he was right with his claim, "When adjusting, say adjust before touching the piece." But I felt like this drama could have been avoided easily. The simplest solution is to NEVER ADJUST PIECES. If you really really have to, do it after you make your move and before hitting your clock. Also, in the future there should be other TDs monitoring the game periodically especially against little kids so that way there won't be such heated drama and the TDs can be used as witnesses for proof. Finally, play on chess sets with heavy pieces that way the pieces are less likely to knock over especially in time trouble. 

What I learned and felt overall?

I feel like that "Touch Move rule" is very stupid especially in blitz. I hate it so much but I didn't invent this rule. Based on that incident, I learned that "Touch Move Disputes" are the most annoying to handle OTB in my opinion. It's almost just as annoying as being falsely accused of cheating because you have to gather all evidence to prove yourself as innocent. There are also biases involved in these types of disputes such as confirmation bias and recall bias. The TD can side with the Touch Move caller's claim if he or she is friends with the opponent without listening too much on the other side's opinion. If there are witnesses sitting near the players, they may also lie and say stuff to back up their friend who made the claim when in reality, it may not be true. They may also just be indifferent and just say something that makes the most sense to them when opposite may be true and overall third party witness statements are not 100% accurate. It's hard for the TD to tell who is right or wrong because at the end of the day only the players know the true story unless the TD saw everything. I personally don't like to call "Touch move" on other people when I know that they meant to adjust. The only time I will do it if I know that it was done in a blatant or obvious way. Not everyone in the chess world is kind; I now understand a lot more about how the harsh reality of OTB chess is as well as the perils of playing little children and/or ZeroChills like opponents who can't tolerate losing. I am afraid of them and I can run away but I can't hide unfortunately; they will come back to find me and most likely put me in my place . They can call you out for little things, falsely accuse you, or they may try some "cheap trick" to escape a losing position or even put them in a winning position like saying that you "let go" of a piece when indeed you didn't take your hand off.  They can also stealthily claim that their piece is on another square to escape a losing position (I will show an example to illustrate what I mean below).

In the position above, it is white to move white is completely winning  despite being down a pawn. White is going to win the pawn race in the endgame due to the fundamental rules of the endgame that the black king is simply out of the box. BUT a cheapskate player can claim that the King is on e5 (if a fraction of the piece lands on d5 and e5) which is inside the box and in time to stop white from promoting. This will turn the tables and allow black to enter a winning position. These are the type of positions I absolutely hate playing the most in OTB especially in time scrambles.  

I don't remember the last time I was involved in a Touch Move related dispute but hopefully it will never happen. 

Parody from the TD's Perspective

This is a parody I wrote on my channel on Christmas day after a huge touch move drama (The parody is from the TD's perspective who sided with Touch Move Caller). Apologies that I'm sharing it a bit late on this platform. The drama lasted for about 45 minutes and it was one of the most interesting disputes ever surprisingly.

O You better move the piece
Because you touched it
Better not complain
I’m telling you why
King Knepptune is watching your back

He knows if you’re lying
And that you touched the piece
Gonna find out who’s honest and right
King Knepptune is watching your back

He knows that you didn’t say adjust
He knows that you meant to move it
He knows if you’ve been bad or good
So just play fair for goodness sake!

O You better move the piece
Because you touched it
Better not complain
I’m telling you why
King Knepptune is watching your back

Notice in the thumbnail pic that if touch move kid is playing white, he will be forced to move the king if he didn't say adjust before he touched the piece.
Lmao rippp, moving the king leads to Qe4#. Checkmate Pastor! JUST DON'T ADJUST PIECES. PERIOD!

Best wishes in 2025 and best of luck in your chess endeavors.