3/8/2021 – This position occurred in a standard game in the presence of the arbiter. Black played 46...Rc1+, but failed to press his clock on time. White claimed a win. Does he get it? What do the FIDE rules decree? IA Prodromos Gerontopoulos tells us the answer. In addition the February issue of the ECU E-Magazine gives us four fun problems to solve.
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally. FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before.
Winning starts with what you know The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
The Modern Steinitz (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 d6!?) is an uncompromising weapon that lets Black put White under pressure from the very start.
€49.90
Forced moves in arbiter practice
By IA Prodromos Gerontopoulos (GRE)
In a standard game (90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move starting from move one), the following position (diagram 1) occurred in the presence of the arbiter after white's 46th move.
Position after White's 46th move
The player with the black pieces played 46...Rc1+ but his flag fell before he had the chance to stop his time. The player with the white pieces immediately called the arbiter and claimed a win. What should the arbiter's decision be?
Answer
In this position all moves are forced. Thus, if Black’s flag had not fallen, the sequence of moves would have been: 47.QxRc1 QxQc1 48.KxQc1, leading to a stalemate position. Taking into consideration article 5 (completion of a game) and in particular point 5.2.2 which states: "The game is drawn when a position has arisen in which neither player can checkmate the opponent’s king with any series of legal moves. The game is said to end in a ‘dead position’." This immediately ends the game, provided that the move producing the position was in accordance with Article 3 and Articles 4.2 – 4.7.’’ (FIDE Laws of Chess, 2018, 5.2.2)
The correct decision on the part of the arbiter would be to declare the game drawn.
Fun problems to solve
For this edition of the ECU E-Magazine we prepared for you four positions where White mates in three moves! You can move the pieces in the following diagrams – Black will play defensive moves and only stop if it is mate. Have fun!
How do you play the Queen's Gambit Accepted? Does White have promising variations or can Black construct a water-tight repertoire? The Powerbook provides the answers based on 300 000 games, most of them played by engines.
The Queen's Gambit Accepted Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 11827 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 240 are annotated.
Rossolimo-Moscow Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 10950 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 612 are annotated.
The greater part of the material on which the Rossolimo/Moscow Powerbook 2025 is based comes from the engine room of playchess.com: 263.000 games. This imposing amount is supplemented by some 50 000 games from Mega and from Correspondence Chess.
€9.90
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.