Beware sleeping late in Dresden!

Submitted by SonofPearl on Wed, 06/11/2008 at 11:35am.

Strict punishment for latecomers at Dresden Olympiad

From November 12-25 2008, the biennial Chess Olympiad for national teams from around the globe, will be held in the German city of Dresden. The official website for the event is here.

For this Olympiad, FIDE has announced changes to the rules. One change is that no draws will be allowed before the 30th move. This effort to end the curse of 'Grandmaster Draws' should be welcomed. However, another change may prove more controversial and challenging for those competitors who find they are often overdue, are habitually unhurried, or who are just terrifically tardy.

To quote: "...all players have to be at their table exactly at the beginning of play to shake hands, just like in any other sports, or else they will lose the match".

Previously players have been able to saunter along to their table up to an hour late. Let's hope that the elevators don't break down in the playing venue and that the doors are wide enough to accommodate the massive rush of players running to take their seats at the last minute.

What happens if BOTH players fail to turn up to shake hands at the designated time is unclear...

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by SonofPearl - 5 months ago
Wales

Member Since: May 2007
Member Points: 3862

Personally, I think shaking hands should be compulsory and any elite players who hold grudges against one another shouldn't be exempt.

The idea of both players 'losing' by being late seems bizarre, but I guess that might be what happens in that circumstance.

by Phobetor - 5 months ago
Netherlands

Member Since: Aug 2007
Member Points: 727

On the one hand, it's of course harsh if someone misses the bus, or if the train has some delay, and he's a few minutes late and loses the game. On the other hand, I've never seen a football match where the referee and the players waited for one player to arrive.

But I don't understand why they introduced the new rule. Have there been any incidents lately where late players were causing irritation? The only hand-shaking incident I remember is the Short vs. Cheparinov match, but the problem was not the fact that Cheparinov was late.

SonofPearl, if both are late, I think the match will end in 0-0 since they both lose according to the rules. However, what happens if both players don't reach their hand to the opponent? Will they both lose for not shaking hands? Or is it ok, as long as both players don't want to shake hands? Kramnik and Topalov didn't shake hands in Corus 2008 either, but since they both didn't insist, no one complained.

by normajeanyates - 5 months ago
london [often in calcutta india] England

Member Since: Jan 2008
Member Points: 2109

Aw you want a GM draw play 30 book-lines of sicilian-najdorf and agree to a draw - yawn

by phishcake5 - 5 months ago
California United States

Member Since: May 2008
Member Points: 578

Odd change, seems kinda outta the blue. They can still shake hands once the late one arrives (I've seen it done). Well, in any case this seems way to extreme to me.

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