chess rules

The United States Chess Federation just released their newest edition of the Official Rules of Chess last year. It's a huge deal since the handbook is only updated after enough things have changed to require a new rule book. I think it's the 7th edition technically.

2FIDE Laws of Chess cover over-the-board play.The English text is the authentic version of the Laws of Chess, which was adopted at the 79th FIDE Congress at Dresden (Germany), November 2008, coming into force on 1 July 2009. In these Laws the words ‘he’, ‘him’ and ‘his’ include ‘she’ and ‘her’. PREFACEThe 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 that arbiters have the necessary competence, sound judgement and absolute objectivity. Too detailed a rule might deprive the arbiter of his freedom of judgement and thus prevent him from finding the solution to a problem dictated by fairness, logic and special factors.FIDE appeals to all chess players and federations to accept this view.A member federation is free to introduce more detailed rules provided they:a. do not conflict in any way with the official FIDE Laws of Chess, andb. are limited to the territory of the federation concerned, andc. are not valid for any FIDE match, championship or qualifying event, or for a FIDE title or rating tournament.BASIC RULES OF PLAYArticle 1: The nature and objectives of the game of chess1.1The game of chess is played between two opponents who move their pieces alternately on a square board called a ‘chessboard’. The player with the white pieces commences the game. A player is said to ‘have the move’, when his opponent’s move has been ‘made’. (See Article 6.7)1.2The objective of each player is to place the opponent’s king ‘under attack’ in such a way that the opponent has no legal move. The player who achieves this goal is said to have ‘checkmated’ the opponent’s king and to have won the game. Leaving one’s own king under attack, exposing one’s own king to attack and also ’capturing’ the opponent’s king are not allowed. The opponent whose king has been checkmated has lost the game.1.3If the position is such that neither player can possibly checkmate, the game is drawn.

3Article 2: The initial position of the pieces on the chessboard2.1The chessboard is composed of an 8 x 8 grid of 64 equal squares alternately light (the ‘white’ squares) and dark (the ‘black’ squares).The chessboard is placed between the players in such a way that the near corner square to the right of the player is white.2.2At the beginning of the game one player has 16 light-coloured pieces (the ‘white’ pieces); the other has 16 dark-coloured pieces (the ‘black’ pieces).These pieces are as follows:A white kingusually indicated by the symbolA white queenusually indicated by the symbolTwo white rooksusually indicated by the symbolTwo white bishopsusually indicated by the symbolTwo white knightsusually indicated by the symbolEight white pawnsusually indicated by the symbolA black kingusually indicated by the symbolA black queen usually indicated by the symbolTwo black rooksusually indicated by the symbolTwo black bishopsusually indicated by the symbolTwo black knightsusually indicated by the symbolEight black pawnsusually indicated by the symbol2.3 The initial position of the pieces on the chessboard is as follows:2.4The eight vertical columns of squares are called ‘files’. The eight horizontal rows of squares are called ‘ranks’. A straight line of squares of the same colour, running from oneedge of the board to an adjacent edge, is called a ‘diagonal’.

11Article 7: Irregularities7.1a. If during agame it is found that the initial position of the pieces was incorrect, the game shall be cancelled and a new game played.b. If during a game it is found that the chessboard has been placed contrary to Article 2.1, the game continues but the position reached must be transferred to a correctly placed chessboard.7.2If a game has begun with colours reversed then it shall continue, unless the arbiter rules otherwise.7.3If a player displaces one or more pieces, he shall re-establish the correct position on his own time. If necessary, either the player or his opponent shall stop the clocks and ask for the arbiter’s assistance. The arbiter may penalise the player who displaced the pieces.7.4a. If during a game it is found that an illegal move, including failing to meet the requirements of the promotion of a pawn or capturing the opponent’s king, has been completed, the position immediately before the irregularity shall be reinstated. If the position immediately before the irregularity cannot be determined the game shall continue from the last identifiable position prior to the irregularity. The clocks shall be adjusted according to Article 6.13. The Articles 4.3 and 4.6 apply to the move replacing the illegal move. The game shall then continue from this re-instated position.b. After the action taken under Article 7.4.a, for the first two illegal moves by a player the arbiter shall give two minutes extra time to his opponent in each instance; for a third illegal move by the same player, the arbiter shall declare the game lost by this player. However, the game is drawn if the position is such that the opponent cannot checkmate the player’s king by any possible series of legal moves.7.5If during a game it is found that pieces have been displaced from their squares, the position before the irregularity shall be re-instated. If the position immediately before the irregularity cannot be determined, the game shall continue from the last identifiable position prior to the irregularity. The clocks shall be adjusted according to Article 6.13. The game shall then continue from this re-instated position.Article 8: The recording of the moves8.1In the course of play each player is required to record his own moves and those of his opponent in the correct manner, move after move, as clearly and legibily as possible, in the algebraic notation (See Appendix C), on the scoresheet prescribed for the competition.It is forbidden to write the moves in advance, unless the player is claiming a draw according to Article 9.2, or 9.3 or adjourning a game according to the Guidelines of Adjourned Games point 1.a. A player may reply to his opponent’s move before recording it, if he so wishes. He must record his previous move before making another.Both players must record the offer of a draw on the scoresheet. (See Appendix C.13)

12If a player is unable to keep score, an assistant, who must be acceptable to the arbiter, may be provided by the player to write the moves. His clock shall be adjusted by the arbiter in an equitable way.8.2The scoresheet shall be visible to the arbiter throughout the game.8.3The scoresheets are the property of the organisers of the event.8.4If a player has less than five minutes left on his clock at some stage in a period and does not have additional time of 30 seconds or more added with each move, then for the remainder of the period he is not obliged to meet the requirements of Article 8.1. Immediately after one flag has fallen the player must update his scoresheet completely before moving a piece on the chessboard.8.5a. If neither player is required to keep score under Article 8.4, the arbiter or an assistant should try to be present and keep score. In this case, immediately after one flag has fallen,the arbiter shall stop the clocks. Then both players shall update their scoresheets, using the arbiter’s or the opponent’s scoresheet.b. If only one player is not required to keep score under Article 8.4, he must, as soon as either flag has fallen, update his scoresheet completely before moving a piece on the chessboard. Provided it is the player’s move, he may use his opponent’s scoresheet, but must return it before making a move.c. If no complete scoresheet is available, the players must reconstruct the game on a second chessboard under the control of the arbiter or an assistant. He shall first record the actual game position, clock times and the number of moves made, if this information is available, before reconstruction takes place.8.6If the scoresheets cannot be brought up to date showing that a player has overstepped the allotted time, the next move made shall be considered as the first of the following time period, unless there is evidence that more moves have been made. 8.7At the conclusion of the game both players shall sign both scoresheets, indicating the result of the game. Even if incorrect, this result shall stand, unless the arbiter decides otherwise.Article 9: The drawn game9.1a. The rules of a competition may specify that players cannot agree to a draw, whether in less than a specified number of moves or at all, without the consent of the arbiter. b. If the rules of a competition allow a draw agreement the following apply:(1) A player wishing to offer a draw shall do so after having made a move on the chessboard and before stopping his clock and starting the opponent’s clock. An offer at any other time during play is still valid but Article 12.6 must be considered. No conditions can be attached to the offer. In both cases the offer cannot be withdrawn and remains valid until the opponent accepts it, rejects it orally, rejects it by touching a piece with the intention of moving or capturing it, or the game is concluded in some other way.