Garde: Old and Irrelevant or Just Good Sportsmanship?

Fascinating post! 

I've never heard of garde before, so thanks for the background OP.

On the topic of check, I always announce it. Every single time. When people do it to me (obviously I've seen it) I never take it as patronising. I consider it a part of the game, and have actually been getting in the habbit of saying Shah (Meaning king in Persian) instead of check to some old Eastern European players who also say it.

In any case, I find saying check is courteous and gentlemanly (which I attribute to chess). 

I have never heard of the expression "garde" but i do routinely say check. It's a deeply ingrained habit since i was taught as a child that it was mandatory to provide the warning when your opponent is placed incheck. Indeed, i recall playing tournaments in the 1980's and early 1990's and saying check without being criticized for it. I recntly started playing tournaments again after a 30 year hiatus. During a recent USCF tournament, my opponent -- a 10 year old boy -- told me that saying check was unnecssary and "irritating.". I was taken aback but tried to refrain from saying check during a long series of checks before winning by checkmating him. Later i asked one of the tournament directors about the rule/practice with regards to announcing check, and he confirmed that it was not required. However, he indicated that saying check was not against the rules unless you do so in a fashion designed to distract or irritate your opponent.

So many events are out of the board and the position. A computer won't care about the tone of your voice when "checking", if it is offending or not.

The paleocephalic brain is overstimulated by some signs that your opponent is reducing drastically your advantage. For the "old brain", checkmate means that you die, literally, that your investment leads eventually to a total loss. It takes some minutes to accept that...you're still alive.

So the remark of president Lincoln : I don't care about your loss, I care if you are able to accept it. The whole meaning of it can be : at which degree can you really accept? 

I LEARNED to use the term "en garde" when I LEARNED to play chess at Colorado Academy in the 4th grad in 1964.

I still use it today, for the same reasons the author expressed.

Is it appropriate to announce a checkmate?

Yes, I announce checkmate with the disclaimer of "I think this is checkmate"?

Just in case I missed something and I think it shows some humility & compassion on my part for my competitor.

Yes. I read of an arbiter complaining of successful false claims of checkmate.

When an opponent with apparent confidence announces checkmate, and that´s not true - a check does exist, but it is not a mate because the player in check has ways out - it is by no means unknown for players to fall for it and give up, rather than notice the ways out of check.

That is interesting story about the arbiter and the "false checkmate". I would have never thought of that angle.

Wow, what would be the honor in winning like that?

Thank you.

KnogKnebronson

A 1380 FIDE (1529 USCF equivalent) blundered against me like this. I, 1257 FIDE (1407 USCF equivalent was in a lost position.

Sportsmanship.

As far as I know, "garde" is actually derived from French gardez la reine, meaning "Protect (your) queen!" (gardez pronounced like "gar-DAY").
In his Chess learning book, Nezhmetdinow (Soviet chess master from Kazan) says: Saying "Check" is not mandatory, but if the opponent overlooks this and makes illegal move, you must remind her/him: "You are in check!""

I used to play with my Greek Uncle, he wouldn't say "garde" but said something like "Ah thER en" something like that for the same purpose - when a queen was being threatened - he passed recently and I cant ask him what language or what exactly the term was - does this ring a bell for anybody?  

Otheren or Ah theren 

Thanks. 

In the 1935 horror movie „The Black Room“ (featuring Boris Karloff) they play chess and use „garde“, this is was brought me here.

Interesting how something meant to be a sign of good manners in chess is now regarded as disrespectful

I thi we tend to shrink from the notion that chess is truly a combat sport. It is no accident that the word checkmate is derived from an Arabic expression meaning the king is dead. In a friendly or informal game, if the players agree on certain rules such as saying Garde, they have every right to play that way, but in serious chess it makes no sense at all. It is a game that makes maximum demands on our attention and cognitive abilities in general, and players are responsible for how they employ these. People who hang their queen need some remedial work, not indulgence, which is not going to help them improve their game in the least. Thus what is intended to be a favor to the opponent is really no favor at all.

My father taught me the game and so too have I taught the game to my son. Saying "check" when the king is being attacked is not an extraneous, antiquated custom that can be forgone, I don't understand that. But the decline of the use of "garde" when the queen is attacked may be a different story. I still use it, and people always say the same thing, "I've never heard that before", or something close. Chess is an old game, and it brings old customs with it. The forgoing of the polite formality of saying garde is not surprising considering how western culture is changing. But I prefer to retain all the little nuances of the game, to keep the game in the same environment in which it's been played for centuries. Yes, it is awkward to utter "garde", particularly in the US. Do you roll the 'r', as if one speaks French? Or is it sufficient or authentic to simply say "on guard"? Are modern people's sensibilities really so fragile that use of the term is taken in offense? I wouldn't doubt it, the condition of the western world is probably that bad. I agree that vocalizing check for other pieces such as rooks or knights is a convention which probably is not an original artifact of the game, and can and should be safely forgone. But, the gentle warning that the queen is under attack probably is an original aspect, deeply rooted in the game's history. It's customary to say "castle" as well, even though you can still make the move without the notification. I choose to maintain the game in as authentic a state as I can.