Losing on time when your opponent defaults

[Alex Holowczak]

An interesting situation occurred last night at a league game I was involved in.

Two of the opposition were late. We waited for 15 minutes because we were being kind, and then we decided to start on the two boards that were late. One of the two players on my team was white, and the other was black. Both players started the clocks. They were digital, so white's side was going in both cases. The player on my team who was white completely forgot to make a move until his opponent arrived! So he thus managed to lose 15 minutes on the clock by accident.

Suppose his opponent hadn't turned up at all. If the default time was running out of time at the first time control (i.e. not 30 minutes), then what would the result of the game have been? Obviously the person who didn't turn up would score 0. Would the player who hadn't made his move also lose the game by default, even though he was there?

This is purely hypothetical; I don't know of any instances where this has ever happened.

[MSoszynski]

On one occasion my opponent failed to turn up on time and so I started his clock. But I was white and I hadn't made a move. One of the opposition team glared at me, so realising my mistake I very hurriedly made a move - in fact I picked up the wrong pawn and found myself playing the Bird's Opening, so in a way I was penalised.

[David Sedgwick]

This reminds me of an episode in a county match, reported in the SCCU Bulletin about twenty years ago. I'm quoting from memory, but I think the facts were as follows:

1. The time limit (then) was 40 moves in 2 hours; the default time was 1 hour.

2. White was late and his clock was started. After about 30 - 40 minutes Black pushed off, having decided that White wasn't coming.

3. After 50 minutes, White turned up, moved and started Black's clock. Black never reappeared. However, as Black had been there at the start, there was no 1 hour default; the game wasn't over until Black lost on time 2 hours later.

4. So the total duration of the encounter was 2 hours 50 minutes, during which time White made one move and Black none.

[Ian Thompson]

Its not quite the same situation, but there's a question in this month's Arbiter's Notebook from which you could draw comparisons (scroll down to the third question in the article from a group of Italian arbiters). It asks what should happen if one player is present and the other absent when the game begins. The mobile phone of the present player goes off. What is the game result if the absent player fails to arrive before the default time? Has a game been played at all (which affects rating of it, and eligibility of the players to be paired together again in subsequent rounds)?

[Alex Holowczak]

Its not quite the same situation, but there's a question in this month's Arbiter's Notebook from which you could draw comparisons (scroll down to the third question in the article from a group of Italian arbiters). It asks what should happen if one player is present and the other absent when the game begins. The mobile phone of the present player goes off. What is the game result if the absent player fails to arrive before the default time? Has a game been played at all (which affects rating of it, and eligibility of the players to be paired together again in subsequent rounds)?

Thanks. It's clear in my mind that no game would have been played; you have to play at least 1 move from each side for a "game" to have taken place. I guess in the situation on the notebook is different in that the present player has won before his phone went off. I guess this situation is slightly different...

[Ian Thompson]

I guess in the situation on the notebook is different in that the present player has won before his phone went off.

No. His is phone went off after he, as White, had played his first move, but before his opponent had arrived. The commentators unanimously agree that he scores 0 for the game. They question what should happen to his opponent if he does, or does not, arrive before the default time.

[Sean Hewitt]

An interesting situation occurred last night at a league game I was involved in.

Two of the opposition were late. We waited for 15 minutes because we were being kind, and then we decided to start on the two boards that were late. One of the two players on my team was white, and the other was black. Both players started the clocks. They were digital, so white's side was going in both cases. The player on my team who was white completely forgot to make a move until his opponent arrived! So he thus managed to lose 15 minutes on the clock by accident.

Suppose his opponent hadn't turned up at all. If the default time was running out of time at the first time control (i.e. not 30 minutes), then what would the result of the game have been? Obviously the person who didn't turn up would score 0. Would the player who hadn't made his move also lose the game by default, even though he was there?

This is purely hypothetical; I don't know of any instances where this has ever happened.

The answer depends on what the rules of the competition say.

[Alex Holowczak]

An interesting situation occurred last night at a league game I was involved in.

Two of the opposition were late. We waited for 15 minutes because we were being kind, and then we decided to start on the two boards that were late. One of the two players on my team was white, and the other was black. Both players started the clocks. They were digital, so white's side was going in both cases. The player on my team who was white completely forgot to make a move until his opponent arrived! So he thus managed to lose 15 minutes on the clock by accident.

Suppose his opponent hadn't turned up at all. If the default time was running out of time at the first time control (i.e. not 30 minutes), then what would the result of the game have been? Obviously the person who didn't turn up would score 0. Would the player who hadn't made his move also lose the game by default, even though he was there?

This is purely hypothetical; I don't know of any instances where this has ever happened.

The answer depends on what the rules of the competition say.

The competition had no specific rules for this situation. The only things of note are:
a) The default time (60 minutes) is the same as the time for the first time control (30 moves in 60 minutes), so you effectively lose on time
b) White started his own clock and never moved, and could lose on time after 60 minutes.

I'm becoming increasingly convinced that both players would lose by default.

[Peter Roberson]

I was under the impression you don't lose on time until your opponent points it out - which clearly wouldn't happen! Thus making it just a 1-0 default win? (Also, 99% of the time 1 hour will have elapsed after the scheduled start time either a few seconds or a few minutes before 1 hour has elapsed on the clock.)

[Alex Holowczak]

I was under the impression you don't lose on time until your opponent points it out - which clearly wouldn't happen! Thus making it just a 1-0 default win? (Also, 99% of the time 1 hour will have elapsed after the scheduled start time either a few seconds or a few minutes before 1 hour has elapsed on the clock.)

Well, in rapidplay you're right, in standardplay - which this was - you're wrong. The arbiter points it out. Since there is no arbiter present though, it's a grey area. A captain should be at liberty to point it out, in my opinion.

Also, you're supposed to take one hour from the start of play now, I think, rather than the scheduled start of play. The point is - in this scenario - that the flag fall is directly linked to the concept of defaulting the match; one player is defaulted by not appearing at the same time the present player is losing on time.

[Sean Hewitt]

Alex,

I said the matter would depend on the rules of the competition as so it transpires that

13.2 A game shall be lost by default:-
a) if a player shall fail to arrive at the venue for any session of a game before his time allowance has expired.

it is impossible for your player to lose in the scenario you describe as he has not failed to arrive. You could argue that he has to wait another hour to claim his win though.

I stand by my previous observation that this is a daft rule. Stewart Reuben once told me that defaults should be measured from the scheduled start of play and he's right ; hence e2e4 events always work on that basis.

Perhaps you should make yourself even more popular and propose another rule change!

[Alex Holowczak]

Stewart Reuben once told me that defaults should be measured from the scheduled start of play and he's right ; hence e2e4 events always work on that basis.

Perhaps you should make yourself even more popular and propose another rule change!

I don't mind this rule too much, to be honest. As a captain, I have to stay behind until the bitter end anyway. I'll leave other clubs or officers to propose it if they see fit. They'd probably get my vote if it were a sensible proposal, but I have other things to do in the next month!