Sunday 25 February 2018

Rule Clarification

Following an incident in a league match last week, I have been asked to clarify the sequence of events following the promotion of a Pawn.

If a Pawn is moved to the 8th rank and there is no Queen (or other piece) at hand to replace it then the clocks should be paused whilst a Queen (or other piece) is found. The move is not complete until the promoted Pawn is replaced and the clocks re-started. Not replacing the promoted Pawn with another piece, but just vocally indicating what piece is to replace the Pawn, and pressing the clock without replacing the promoted Pawn, constitutes an illegal move. The standard penalty - 2 minutes added to the opponent's clock - is then applied. A second illegal move by the same player loses the game.

It may also  be worth noting that replacing the Pawn with an upside down Rook is also deemed to be an illegal move. In this instance the Rook should be placed the right way up and treated as being the promoted piece.

Fortunately, this sort of incident does not occur very often in NSDCA matches, but if something can happen then it invariably will. It would be worth, where possible, additional Queens being available on all boards. Taken to the extreme I suppose we should have additional Rooks, Bishops and Knights available as well !!