Touch-move rule
The touch-move rule in chess specifies that a player, having the move, who deliberately touches a piece[a] on the board must move or capture that piece if it is legal to do so. If it is the player's piece that was touched, it must be moved if the piece has a legal move. If the opponent's piece was touched, it must be captured if it can be captured with a legal move. If the touched piece cannot be legally moved or captured, there is no penalty. This is a rule of chess that is enforced in all formal over-the-board competitions.
A player claiming a touch-move violation must do so before themselves touching a piece.[2] A player who wants to adjust a piece on its square without being required to move it can announce the French j'adoube ("I adjust") before touching the piece.[3] While j'adoube is internationally understood, a local language equivalent such as "adjusting" is usually acceptable. A player may not touch the pieces on the board during the opponent's turn.
There is a separate rule that a player who lets go of a piece after making a legal move cannot retract the move. Thus, touching a piece that can be legally moved or captured commits the player to moving or capturing that piece.
Online chess does not use the touch rule, letting players "pick up" a piece and then bring it back to the original square before selecting a different piece, and also allowing players to premove pieces while waiting for the opponent to move.
Details
A player having the move who deliberately touches one or more of that player's pieces must move the first touched piece that can be legally moved. So long as the hand has not left the piece on a new square, the piece can be placed on any accessible square. Accidentally touching a piece (e.g., brushing against it while reaching for another piece) or adjusting a piece does not count as a deliberate touch.
A player who touches an opposing piece must capture it if the piece can be captured. A player who touches one of the player's own pieces and an opponent's piece must make that capture if it is a legal move. Otherwise, the first of the touched pieces must be moved or captured. If it cannot be determined whether the player's piece or the opponent's piece was touched first, it is assumed that the player's piece was touched first. If a player touches more than one piece, the player must move or capture the first piece that can be legally moved or captured.
Castling is a king move, so the king must be touched first. If the rook is touched first instead, a rook move must be made.[b] If the player touches a rook at the same time as touching the king, the player must castle with that rook if it is legal to do so. If the player completes a two-square king move without touching a rook, the player must move the correct rook accordingly if castling on that side is legal. Otherwise, the move must be withdrawn and another king move made. This may include castling on the other side. If the player touches both pieces in attempting to castle illegally, the king must be moved if possible, but even if there is no legal king move, there is no requirement to move the rook.
When a pawn is moved to its eighth rank, once the player releases the pawn, a different move of the pawn can no longer be substituted. The move is not complete, however, until the promoted piece is released on that square.[4]
Examples
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In the diagram, from a game between future
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The touch-move rule produced an even more disastrous result for Fischer in his game as Black against
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In this position in a
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8 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | 8 | |||||||
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In the 1889 game between Siegbert Tarrasch and Semyon Alapin at Breslau,[12] Alapin was expecting 5.d4, the normal move after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 in Petrov's Defence. But by the time he looked at the position he had already touched his king's bishop, intending 5...Be7 in reply to 5.d4, not noticing that White actually played 5.d3 attacking his knight. Now compelled to move the bishop, he would lose the knight without compensation, so he resigned immediately.[13]
Adjusting pieces
If a player wishes to adjust one or more pieces on their squares without being required to move them, the player can announce j'adoube ([ʒaˈdub], "I adjust"), or words to that effect in other languages. If a player does not announce an adjustment in advance, the player may be penalized accordingly.[clarification needed] J'adoube is internationally recognized by chess players as announcing the intent to make incidental contact with their pieces.
The phrase is used to give warning from a player to the opponent that the player is about to touch a piece on the board, typically to centralize it on its square, without the intent of making a move with it. Although this French term is customary, it is not obligatory; other similar indications may be used.[14] Only a player having the move may adjust pieces,[15] and the opponent must be present.[16]
Example of misuse
There have been occasions in chess history when a player has uttered j'adoube suspiciously late. It is possible a late announcement of an adjustment can be used after starting to make a losing move in order to retract it, thus avoiding the touch-move rule. Such behaviour, when intentionally used for a retraction, is regarded as cheating. The Yugoslav grandmaster Milan Matulović was nicknamed "J'adoubovic" after such an incident.[17]
History
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8 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | 8 | |||||||
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The touch-move rule has existed for centuries. In the Middle Ages, strict rules were considered necessary because chess was played for stakes.
If a player make a false move, i.e., play a Piece or Pawn to any square to which it cannot legally be moved, his adversary has the choice of three penalties; viz., 1st, of compelling him to let the Piece or Pawn remain on the square to which he played it; 2nd, to move correctly to another square; 3rd, to replace the Piece or Pawn and move his King.[20]
While this rule existed, it occasionally led to tragicomedies such as in the 1893 game between Lindemann and Echtermeyer, at Kiel.[21] In that game, after 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 White, probably intending the usual 3.Nc3, instead placed his queen's bishop on c3. Since that move was illegal, White was compelled to instead move his king. After the forced 3.Ke2??, Black gave checkmate with 3...Qe4#.[22]
In England, the 1862 laws of the
Unusual scenarios
The
See also
- Rules of chess
- Chu shogi, a shogi variant with a stricter counterpart to this rule
Notes
- ^ In the context of the rules of chess, the term "piece" refers to all six piece types, including pawns.
- ^ One variation in Article 10.I.2 of the United States Chess Federation's Official Rules of Chess [1] allows the rook to be touched first; therefore if castling on that side is illegal, a move must be made with the touched rook. This variation is announced in advance. The FIDE Laws of Chess do not permit this.
- ^ Franklin wrote in his essay, first published in the Columbian Magazine in Philadelphia, that one of the "laws of the game" was that "if you touch a piece, you must move it somewhere; if you set it down, you must let it stand."
- ^ Steinitz, unlike Gossip and Lipschütz, did not give a specific date for the Laws of Chess that he set forth, but wrote, "We approve in the main of the Code of Laws of the British Chess Association, which has been adopted in many Chess Congresses."[24]
- ^ Tarrasch wrote, "If a player makes a move not permitted by the rules of the game or if he touches either an enemy man which cannot be taken or one of his own which cannot be moved then until recently there was a rule that as a penalty he must move his King (but not castle). ... This rule was altered a few years ago—and rightly so."[25]
References
- ^ a b c "FIDE Handbook E. Miscellaneous / 01. Laws of Chess / FIDE Laws of Chess taking effect from 1 January 2018". FIDE. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
- ^ Article 4.8 in FIDE Laws of Chess[1]
- ^ Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 425.
- ^ Just & Burg 2003, pp. 20–23.
- ^ "Fischer vs. Donner, Santa Monica 1966". Chessgames.com.
- ^ Kashdan 1968, pp. 49–50.
- ^ "Unzicker vs. Fischer, Buenos Aires 1960". Chessgames.com.
- ^ Mednis 1997, pp. 110–111.
- ^ "Karpov vs. Chernin, Tilburg 1992". Chessgames.com.
- ^ Fox & James 1993, p. 198.
- ^ McDonald 2002, pp. 224–225.
- ^ "Tarrasch vs. Alapin, Breslau 1889". Chessgames.com.
- ^ Chernev & Reinfeld 1949, p. 111.
- ^ Article 4.2.1 "for example by saying 'j'adoube' or 'I adjust'" in FIDE Laws of Chess[1]
- ^ Article 4.2 "Only the player having the move may adjust one or more pieces on their squares" in FIDE Laws of Chess[1]
- ^ "ARBITERS'S MANUAL 2020" (PDF). FIDE Arbiter's Commission. p. 16. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
Article 4.2.1 may only be used to correct displaced pieces. If the opponent is not present then an arbiter, if present, should be informed before any adjustment takes place.
- ^ Hooper & Whyld 1992, pp. 185, 252; Lombardy & Daniels 1975, p. 104.
- ^ Sunnucks 1970, p. 462.
- ^ Truzzi 1974, p. 14.
- ^ Staunton 1848, p. 37; Marache 1866, p. 24.
- ^ "Lindemann vs. Echtermeyer, Kiel 1893". Chessgames.com.
- ^ Chernev 1974, p. 119.
- ^ Gossip & Lipschütz 1902, p. 31; Steinitz 1889, p. xxi.
- ^ Steinitz 1889, p. xx.
- ^ a b Tarrasch 1938, p. 37.
- ^ Carlsen and So to meet in World Fischer Random Chess Final
- ^ Murphy, Tom (April 1, 2020). "Is this the longest chess game?" (PDF). Retrieved July 1, 2021.
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-486-23007-4.
- ISBN 978-0-671-21221-6.
- Fox, Mike; James, Richard (1993), The Even More Complete Chess Addict, Faber and Faber, ISBN 0-571-17040-4
- Lipschütz, S.(1902). The Chess-Player's Manual. David McKay.
- ISBN 0-19-280049-3.
- Just, Tim; Burg, Daniel B. (2003). U.S. Chess Federation's Official Rules of Chess (5th ed.). McKay. ISBN 0-8129-3559-4.
- ISBN 0-486-23572-6.
- ISBN 0-8128-2316-8.
- Marache, Napoleon (1866). Marache's Manual of Chess. Dick & Fitzgerald.
- ISBN 978-1-85744-313-4.
- ISBN 0-486-29844-2.
- Staunton, Howard (1848). The Chess-Player's Handbook (2nd ed.). Henry C. Bohn.
- ISBN 3-283-00111-1.
- ISBN 978-0-7091-4697-1.
- Tarrasch, Siegbert (1938). The Game of Chess. David McKay.
- ISBN 0-380-00164-0.
Further reading
- ISBN 978-1-58042-092-1.
- Winter, Edward. "J'adoube".