Garde: Old and Irrelevant or Just Good Sportsmanship?

In my opinion, "garde" seems quite a bit over-the-top for sportsmanship. I would not mind my opponent saying it (quietly) but I would not stoop to such unneccesary admonitions. Quite honestly, it is a fair assessment that no one over 1500 USCF should overlook their Queen being en-prise and still conisder themselves worthy of such a rating. As previously pointed out, repeated "gardes" would be extremely annoying during sharp tactical periods and if you are not going to say it everytime, might as well leave it out in the first place. On another note, in the very sensitive and tense world of chess competition where people get upset from the harmless "good luck" at the start of games, I think garde might just drive someone over the edge (and we all know just how close most chess players are to the brink of insanity).

My grandfather was a gentleman.... and a great chess player.  He taught me to play and I, in turn, taught my husband and my son.  Passing on the rules of the game, and of life, we all use the en garde phrase to tell our opponent their queen is in jeopardy.  To win by taking advantage of another's mistake is, in our thinking, not really winning.  Besides, the longer a game goes on, the more fun is had in the social and family purpose of playing, anyway.

But if you're more experienced at the game, it is taken for granted that you will know when your queen is in jeopardy; hence, calling attention to it becomes a bit boorish and presumptuous.

Well, I'm gonna take the middle road here: I'll only say garde when my opponent's queen is trapped and can't possibly escape. That should rub it in :)

lol...I must say this whole garde business strikes me as quite the little ancient artifact.  I have heard "queen check" before during casual games in clubs (but never that).

Thanks to the OP for this thread as it answers a long standing question for me. I learned to play Chess back in 1967 while in High School and we did not use any type of En Garde warnings. However I remember playing a couple of games with my Step-Father in the mid-1970s and he did use the rule. At the time I suspected him of making up the rule as a joke in the game ( he had a odd sense of humor ) and since that time nobody that I've played has ever mentioned that rule. I believe that my Step-Father learned the game from his Grandfather who then would probably have picked up the game before the year 1900. So the rule would be an older rule to be sure and I'm glad to have this mystery solved at long last.

If I did, I'd go buy a yogurt and bring it back. Blueberry yogurt. And maybe wear some dark sunglasses.  

In the infamous Karpov-Kortchnoi World CH 1978, I read that when Keene & Stean (Kortchnoi's seconds) objected to Karpov eating yogurt during the games (different flavors could indicate prompting from his team, ie blueberry = offer draw etc) I read that one of Karpov's favored flavors was avocado yogurt - YUCK! At any rate, the flavors had to be announced before each game started after this absurd attention-getting ploy (Kortchnoi was getting mopped up when the yogurtgate objection was filed)

If someone doesn't notice the attack on his queen, then he doesn't deserve a "garde". "Check" is definitely required, though; if a player doesn't notice and stays in check, he'll be informed anyway, so there's no harm saying so. And it's frustrating when they wait until you move before saying, "Hey, you're in check".

No helltank, "check" is not required.  Nobody in a serious tournament ever says it.  In fact, one of the ways you can tell instantly that movie producers don't have a clue about the game is when they feature a scene in a tournament where some player says "check."

king= check

queen= en garde

bishop= forgive me father

knight= what ho!

rook= I have the key

pawn= let them eat cake

The alternate version:

bishop = say your prayers

knight = joust!

rook = I'll huff and I'll puff...

pawn = outta my way, peasant!

I don't say 'check' and never heard of 'garde' being used in chess before. From a historical standpoint this is interesting.

For OTB play  your oponent has an obligation to make a legal move. If they make an illegal move because they didn't notice they were in check, there is a time penalty. That penalty can make a difference.

Saying "check" helps your opponent and does nothing for you. Aside from the point that unnecessary noise can be a disturbance to the players around you, why would you choose to help the person you're trying to crush?

Surely some people might be offended if you said check to them? Especially in a longer game.

Isn't "En garde" as old as chess?  I always thought it was the honorable tactic.  Does a true gentleman (or lady) have honor?  Does he (or she) always display honor when dealing with the dishonorable?  For most it is subjective.

Wow! I'm a chess teacher and I vaguely remember this from my childhood. I like the idea and will introduce it to my classes. I teach in a classroom setting with up to 30 kids ina single class. I think its a great idea for training since the newer students often lose their Queens because they don't look at the entire board. However, because of tournament rules (especially when they vary between USCF and non federation events), I'll have to explain that you can't announce it when playing OTB at a tournament. Thanks for sharing the history etc. I enjoyed your posting!

rotfl

Just what I was thinking about

In amateur games, it can still be a nice gesture to say "check" and "gardez!". But as soon as the opponent becomes a bit stronger, even just a club player accustomed to playing tournament games, they will be very much used to nobody saying check or gardez ever, they will even start to tend to feel that it is insulting (they think they see it 99% or 100% of the time if their king or queen is being directly attacked) or disturbing if their opponent says such things - and disturbing the opponent is prohibited by the rules, of course.

That's a very good point. Your opponent could actualy use being spoken to as a reason to call over an arbiter and complain.

I was in an OTB tournament last year.  I was in a position where the other player was ahead, but I was able to win a pawn and come out equal because I discover checked his king and threatened a pawn at the same time.  So I won the pawn back and it was a draw.  

I said "Check" and the young kid was very offended by it.  He said "I KNOW THAT!!"  Ha.  He was frustrated because of having lost his advantage and probably thought I was saying check to rub it in.  (But I wasn't.  I hadn't had any OTB experience for 20 years and didn't know that people don't say check in tournament games).

So the point is that your opponent might think you are pouring salt into the wound by saying "check" when its a winning move.  If they don't see the check, then you can correct them when they make their move (as has happened to me ... which is pretty embarrassing). 

Call me a jerk, but I would never say guarde in a rated game.  I don't want to announce my attempt to win.  I understand that being gentlmanly, but I kind of feel like that is ridiculous.  Its no wonder that is no obselete.  Why not announce an attempt to mate the King.  Perhaps "Beware!" should be announced when we are attempting a mate combination.  

Precisely!  Insult is in the eye of the beholder.  It reminds me of the "resigning" threads...where some insist it's rude to play on and others insist it's rude to resign.

It all really depends on what your playing level is.

For OTB play, what matters is the eye of the arbiter. IF the arbiter decides that you're intentionally disturbing your opponent, then you aren't going to fair well.