Protocol for King placement at end of game?

Discuss anything you like about chess related matters in this forum.
Post Reply
User avatar
John Upham
Posts: 7179
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2007 10:29 am
Location: Cove, Hampshire, England.
Contact:

Protocol for King placement at end of game?

Post by John Upham » Wed Mar 30, 2022 3:46 pm

What is the precise ("Kings in the middle of the board" is inadequate) for the correct placement of the Kings at the end of the game in each of these three cases?

1. Win for White
2. Draw
3. Win for Black

Thanks for your help.
British Chess News : britishchessnews.com
Twitter: @BritishChess
Facebook: facebook.com/groups/britishchess :D

User avatar
Michael Farthing
Posts: 2069
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2014 1:28 pm
Location: Morecambe, Europe

Re: Protocol for King placement at end of game?

Post by Michael Farthing » Wed Mar 30, 2022 3:56 pm

Win for White White King on e4
Win for Black Black king on e5
Draw Both kings on these squares

(I believe)

User avatar
John Upham
Posts: 7179
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2007 10:29 am
Location: Cove, Hampshire, England.
Contact:

Re: Protocol for King placement at end of game?

Post by John Upham » Wed Mar 30, 2022 4:09 pm

and is the correct protocol for DGT boards also?
British Chess News : britishchessnews.com
Twitter: @BritishChess
Facebook: facebook.com/groups/britishchess :D

Roger de Coverly
Posts: 21301
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 2:51 pm

Re: Protocol for King placement at end of game?

Post by Roger de Coverly » Wed Mar 30, 2022 4:32 pm

John Upham wrote:
Wed Mar 30, 2022 4:09 pm
and is the correct protocol for DGT boards also?

In my memory, it all started with DGT boards. Their design avoided the seemingly obvious idea of three buttons in favour of indicating a white win by putting both kings on the white squares e4 and d5, a black win by using the dark squares d4 and e5 and a draw by opposite colour squares, That's caused trouble ever since whenever Ke4/d4/e5/d5 is legal at the end of the game.

4NCL players and captains started a convention of indicating a white win by putting the white king in the middle of the board, a black king for a black win and both kings for a draw. That spread to other match and tournament play.
Last edited by Roger de Coverly on Wed Mar 30, 2022 11:26 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Wadih Khoury
Posts: 604
Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2020 8:14 pm

Re: Protocol for King placement at end of game?

Post by Wadih Khoury » Wed Mar 30, 2022 5:50 pm

That process is also not good for the heart of parents watching the game!

I remember this weekend at th 4ncl not believing my eyes on lichess when I thought my son's opponent rated 2000 just blundered a basic opposition. Turns out he just moved his king to e5 for the draw...

User avatar
Joey Stewart
Posts: 1860
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2007 2:35 pm
Location: All Of Them
Contact:

Re: Protocol for King placement at end of game?

Post by Joey Stewart » Wed Mar 30, 2022 6:56 pm

Dgt boards get a bit silly having to put both kings for all three results and making it confusing to look at a distance as everything looks like a draw - I much prefer a lone black/white king to indicate a win and only both kings to indicate a draw.
Lose one queen and it is a disaster, Lose 1000 queens and it is just a statistic.

Geoff Chandler
Posts: 3486
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:36 pm
Location: Under Cover
Contact:

Re: Protocol for King placement at end of game?

Post by Geoff Chandler » Wed Mar 30, 2022 9:00 pm

Hi Joey,

To tell a digital board to stop transmitting and electrically note the result
the Kings have to meet each other on one of the four central squares.
This has led to some humorous situations.

G. Jones - D. Gormally, Helensburgh 2013


Here with Black to move both players agreed a draw.

The Black King was placed e5 and because this was a legal move the computer
accepted and transmitted it. The White King was put on d5. End of Transmission.

But look at the position after the accepted move Ke5



People were wondering why White did not play Bg7 mate.

User avatar
Matt Mackenzie
Posts: 5205
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 11:51 pm
Location: Millom, Cumbria

Re: Protocol for King placement at end of game?

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Wed Mar 30, 2022 10:36 pm

Especially since that is the sort of blunder that has been made "for real" even by some very strong players.
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

User avatar
Joey Stewart
Posts: 1860
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2007 2:35 pm
Location: All Of Them
Contact:

Re: Protocol for King placement at end of game?

Post by Joey Stewart » Wed Mar 30, 2022 11:49 pm

I get that it is necessary to end the game but it still remains a fairly awkward way to do it (would it really have killed them to put a "win" button on the side of the board) and more to the point why do they leave the kings in the silly positions for the rest of the day rather then turn off the connection, reset the pieces and place the recognised king pattern for onlookers to see
Lose one queen and it is a disaster, Lose 1000 queens and it is just a statistic.

Geoff Chandler
Posts: 3486
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:36 pm
Location: Under Cover
Contact:

Re: Protocol for King placement at end of game?

Post by Geoff Chandler » Thu Mar 31, 2022 10:26 am

Hi Joey,

The board would need three buttons, White win, Black win and draw.
The king placement works, just occasionally it throws a wobbly which is more humorous than serious.

The most famous example (so far) is Wes So - Nakamura, Norway (2018)



White has just played 47 Kd4 and a draw was agreed. The King set up for a draw is BK on e5 and WK on d5.
One of the players moved the Black King to e5 first and with the White King still on d4 the board thought the
game was over and this was registered as a Black win which some websites displayed till it was corrected.

I'm guessing they have it set up all day so people can see at a glance what has happened rather than find the
noticeboard (if indeed there is one) or pester one of the arbiters with 'what happened on board 14?' questions.

Post Reply