CHESMAYNE
impossible dream
“don’t cry daddy”

Forum Messages
Below: print chess boards & pieces
Level-01: Orthodox Chess
Traditional occidental chess -
western

The MPs/mps are set-up on the board as
follows: $A01 should be placed at :A’s left-hand corner. Each Chesmayne MP/mp is given a number for identification
purposes. The PAs are numbered PA1 to
PA8. The MPs are numbered 1 or 2.

Example: e2-e4 is the same as
PA5-$E02/E04 in the acentric
notation.
Example: d2-d4 is the same as PA4-$D02/D04.
Example: Nb2-a3 is the same as KT1-$B02/A03.
Example: Bf1-h3 is the same as BS2-$F01/H03.
Example: Ra1-a6 is the same as RO1-$A01/A06.

The :A MPs/mps are numbered
left-to-right. The :B MPs/mps are numbered right-to-left.
Level-01
On :L01, :A has 20 possible moves that can be made. Moving each mp either one or two cells/squares forward or, moving KT1 or
KT2. In practice you will find that there are
only seven realistic moves from the ‘Initial Starting Position’ - ISP…….
Level-01…
Level-02…

The above graphic was produced using the
‘Zillions’ program – http://www.zillions-of-games.com/index.html

On Level-1 players begin
the game with two BSs, one on an XL coloured cell and the other on a XD-coloured cell.
Because they move diagonally, BSs are restricted to the colour of the cell they start on and are therefore weaker MPs than ROs or QU1, which may move horizontal and vertically. The BS and KT are roughly equal in strength, but there are times when one is more
useful than the other. In ‘open positions’,
with clear diagonals that offer the BS freedom of movement, the BS is the
stronger of the two. But in ‘closed
positions’, when there are chains of MPs/mps along the diagonals, the BSs have
difficulty moving around the board quickly because they cannot travel past an
occupied cell/square. In these cases
the KTs are more useful, because they can jump over the other MPs/mps. Remember the analogy of the KT as a horse leaping obstacles.

BOARD
The words below may be found in this dictionary
BOARD - CYLINDER ARRAY - FAVEOLATE - FLANK - FORECOURT - GRATICULE
- LIMBUS - MAZE - MISE EN SCENE - PALLIUM - PLAYABLE - PLAZA - POMONA - QUADRANGLE -
RECTANGLE - RESEAU - SIXTY FOUR-CELLS - WALDGRAVE - ABSTRACT
OF TITLE - ACQUIRED CHARACTERISTICS - ACTABLE - A LA MORT -
ALQUERQUE - AMBIT - AMBRY - AMPHITHEATRE - ANCHOR RING-TORUS - ANISOMETRIC -
ASHLAR - ATELIER - AZONIC - BACKSTAGE - BALANCE OF POWER - BROCELIANDE - CRENEL
:OS - DEMONSTRATION
BOARD - DEXTER-DEXTRA - DIAGRAM - DOWNSTAGE - FAMILY TREE :FT-01, 02 ETC -
FOOTLOOSE - FRONTIER-LINE - GRID BOARD - KABUKI - OVER-THE-BOARD (:OTB) - QUEEN
SIZED BOARD - RAND - SOLANDER - SPACE ADVANTAGE - STAGE - TEMENOS -
THEATRE-IN-THE-ROUND - TOP BOARD - TRADITIONAL SIZED CHESSBOARD - WING

If
you are a beginner:
Link:
Please email me with
your thoughts and suggestions for this section of my page. All suggestions are welcome. My email address is:
ace942@gate.net
The section below
assumes that you are a beginner at chess and know how each one of the chess
pieces move. If you do not know
how the pieces move, there are some
sites on the web to assist you learn.
Here they are…….

Family.com:
Genesee Valley Parent - The Challenge of Chess
Exeter
Chess Club : Mini chess games
General
Thoughts
Tip
#1 - The battle lines are drawn
Tip
#2 - The importance of the center squares
Tip
#3 - Early control of the center squares
Tip
#4 - Chess books
Tip
#5 - Computers as chess teachers
Tip
#6 - Material advantage
Summary

General
Thoughts
Ok you just got started
at chess and you really want to improve your play as quickly as possible.
Question is what is the most effective and least time consuming way to learn
how to play chess well? That is an excellent question and one that has
been debated over by different people at a lot of different playing levels for
some time, especially now with so many ways to chose from.
Most people would agree that probably the best way to improve is to get a
chess coach/teacher. For one, they get to know your playing strengths and
weaknesses very well and try to gear their lessons in such a way that not only
are you learning something new but in addition, they can try to create lessons
where they try to help remove your weaknesses and try to improve upon your
strengths. The only problem of course with having a chess coach/teacher
is that having a chess teacher can get somewhat expensive and for some people,
it might not be very cost effective. Getting a chess teacher is for
someone who is looking for a long-term investment. You are talking about
investing money in yourself in order to improve at chess and hopefully do well
at tournaments where the money that you invest in lessons will be recovered by
playing well at tournaments which offer prize money. If the teacher you
have is a good one, then the investment might be worthwhile.

Now for those who like
me would prefer to try on their own first, it is possible to improve your chess
skills via studying books, getting various pieces of computer software and
playing against strong players or maybe even getting a dedicated chess
computer. I will discuss these
things in further detail shortly.
Ok before I start giving
some tips on how to improve at chess, I want any advanced players reading this
text to remember who this section is being written for. I am going to give out general theories
behind the ideas of chess but anyone reading this has to remember that it is
general. General ideas of chess do not always apply in every
situation. For example, you normally would not trade your queen for a
pawn but there are times when because of a certain position and the way the
pieces are arranged, that might very well be the best move that you can
make. This is something which is called a tactic in chess and therefore
you need to take the tips that I am about to impart to you with a grain of
salt. Always remember that for every rule, there is always a chance that
there will be an exception to the rule. With that in mind, let us
proceed.

TIP #1 - The
battle lines are drawn
First I want you to remove all the pieces from the
chessboard and start out with a completely empty board. In your mind’s eye, I want to divide the
board in half. The first 4 rows for the bottom of the board belong to
white. The next 4 rows belong to
black. Now imagine a rule was
created where white could not advance it’s pieces beyond the first 4 bottom rows
and black could not advance it’s pieces beyond the 4 rows from the top of the
board. If that were the case,
then neither side would be able to win a game because the pawns would get in
each other’s way and there would be no way to attack through enemy
lines. So obviously since no such
rule exists in chess, it becomes clear that in order to win a game you must at
some point advance your pieces onto the other side of the board. This is done usually by trying to control
the center of the board early on in the opening of the game by either occupying
it with pawns or attacking the center squares from a distance. Now I am sure you are asking “Why is the
center so important?” - and that leads us to tip #2…….

TIP #2 - The
importance of the center squares
The reason why the 4 squares in the center of the
board are so important is that they act somewhat like a launching pad for your
pieces. Before I can begin to
explain what I mean, I will need to explain what algebraic notation for chess
is. This will make it easier for
you to follow when I mention a particular square, you will be able to reference
it immediately. In addition, most
chess computers programs now use algebraic notation to describe the board.
Ok here we go. Starting from the left side of
the board, the first column is called “A”. The column next to A is called B. I think you can figure out the rest since
the columns go in alphabetical order.
Since the normal chessboard has 8 columns, the columns are labeled from
A to H. The next classification
is for the row number.

The row numbers are always classified form the bottom
of the board and use a number instead of a letter. Therefore from the bottom of the chess
board, the first row number is row number 1. The second row number is 2 and so on until
you reach the last row which is 8.
When you combine the letter reference and the row reference, this
indicates a particular square on the board. Therefore, there are 64 individual squares
that begin with A1 and go through H8.
So let me begin with A1.
This square would be the first column on the left hand
side of the chessboard and the bottom most row. If I were to move a piece one square to the
immediate right of A1, that square would be B1. Therefore the bottom row goes from A1 to
H1. Now lets go back to the A1
square. If I were to move one
square up the board, that square would be A2. It is called A2 because while it is still in
the first column of the chess board, it is no longer on the first row but
instead it is on the second row.
With that in mind, let’s go back to the square
A1. Let’s put a knight on that square. Starting from that square,
how many squares can the knight move to? Remember that the knight moves
in a 3 square L-Shaped pattern. So have you figured it out
yet? For those of you who said it
could move 2 squares, pat yourselves on the back because you are correct.
Starting from A1, a knight could move to the squares B3 and C2. Now let’s
move the knight to a different starting square. Let’s move it to the
square known as B2. This square can be
reached by starting at A1 and then moving to the right one square and up one
square. If you had a knight at
B2, how many squares can it be moved to?
Look at it very closely.
Have you figured it out yet?
It is 4 squares. Can you
name the 4 squares? They are: A4,
C4, D3, D1.
Hopefully by now you have algebraic chess notation
down. Let’s put the knight at square C3. How many squares can it move to now? If
you guessed 4, try again. If you guessed 8 squares, you are
correct. The 8 squares are B5, D5, E4, E2, D1, B1, A2, A4.
Are you beginning to see a pattern here? As we move closer and closer to
the center squares, the knight has more squares that it could move to.
Since the knight captures the same way that it moves, this means that from this
square, the knight could be capable of capturing 1 out of a possible 8 pieces
if there are pieces on each one of those squares.
Let’s try the same exercise with the bishop. The
bishop is the piece that can only move on a diagonal. Since it begins on
one color square and can only move diagonally, it will always wind up on the
same color square that it started from. So if a bishop were to start on a
white colored square, it must always land on a white colored square. It
could never move and land on a black square. This fact sometimes makes
the bishop of limited use in some positions and awesome in others. It all
depends on the arrangement of the pieces. But back to the exercise.
Starting from A1, how many squares can the bishop move
to? Those of you who guessed 7 squares are correct. Let’s move the bishop slightly and place it
at B2. How many squares could it move to now? If you guessed 7, look again. The correct answer is 9. Move the bishop to C3. How many squares can it move to from
here? If you guessed 11 squares, you are correct! Now one last move. Move the bishop to d4 and count the number
of squares. Now it can move 13 squares
from here. Again as you move your
pieces closer and closer to the center, they begin to gain a better scope.
If you do the same exercise with the rook and the
queen, you will see that the same rule applies. The closer you are to the center, the more
options you create for your pieces.
Which leads to tip #3.
TIP #3 - Early
control of the center squares
Since you can see that the center is important from the
previous tip, you might wonder what is the best way to control the
center. This is done by trying to
either occupy the center with pawns in the early stages of a match or trying to
have pieces attacking the center from a distance. If one player is allowed to control and
dominate the center for any entire match, that advantage of greater scope for
his/her pieces might prove crushing.
Therefore a lot of the openings that are played in chess are done to try
to control the center as much as possible and as soon as possible. The
player that has better control of the center in the early going needs to use
that advantage as soon as possible since at the later stages of the game when
there are fewer and fewer pieces, controlling the center might not be so
pivotal. Therefore controlling the
center is a temporary advantage that the player must use at some point to gain
a much more permanent advantage.
If you ever watch two chess masters play each other, pay particular
attention to the opening of the match.
If someone plays the opening of the match poorly, the match could be
over before it even has a chance to begin. So this leads to the next tip.
TIP #4 - Chess
books
Get a good book on openings geared towards the
beginner. Now this point is really,
really important. There are lots
and lots of chess books out there.
Most of them deal with different aspects of chess. The topics tend to be about the opening
phases of a match, basic chess strategies that can be applied if conditions are
right, chess tactics and some even deal with the other aspects of chess like
psychology and how to deal with adversity. The problem is that some of these books are
best read by intermediate or stronger players and because of that fact,
they tend to lose the reader if that reader is just learning about chess. You have to remember that most of these books
are written by chess masters.
While they may be very good players, they sometimes have difficulty in
explaining why certain moves are chosen over others because they are able to
see several moves ahead of the current position that a beginner will most
likely not be able to. Therefore
you need to be sure that any book that you buy or perhaps borrow from a library
is geared towards the beginner.
Myself I happen to think that the series of books
written by Yasser Seirawan are not only excellent books for beginners but his
writing style puts everyone at ease and makes things enjoyable to
read. I have 2 of his books
(Winning Chess Tactics and Winning Chess Strategies) and both are
excellent. You can get them just
about any large book chain or of course since you are on the net, you could get
it from Amazon.com if you prefer. Not only do each of the books teach you a
specific concept, it has quizzes at the end of each section to see if you have
grasped the material. So you can
test yourself to see if you really understood what the section was about and if
not, you can read it again and try the puzzles again once you have reread the
section. In any case, the books
are an excellent source of information and will be enjoyed by all levels of
players.
If you should ever happen to go beyond the beginner’s
level and reach intermediate level, I would suggest the following book “The
Ideas behind the Chess Openings” by Reuben Fine. It discusses most of the common openings and
their variations and why certain moves are played in a particular opening. In addition, it will show some moves
that can be played in a particular opening that can be taken advantage of if
the other player is aware of what that particular opening is trying to
accomplish. So not only are you
learning a opening and the variations associated with that opening, you are
learning the possible pitfalls that await you if you do not understand the
concepts behinds the moves. In
that sense, it is excellent reading for an intermediate player. Please note however that given the volume of
information presented, it can seem like you are reading a technical manual at
times but believe me it will be worth the trouble. And now that you have read a few books, it
is time to find someone to practice with to see what you have learned. So you need someone who is always willing to
play and will always play at the same strength time and time again. And
that leads to the next tip.
TIP #5 - Computers as chess teachers
The best opponent to play against and learn against is
a computer. WHAT! You must think that
maybe I am nuts or something. But I tell you that in all seriousness, a
computer makes the most excellent opponent.
Think about it for a second.
A computer will not get bored, it will not play bad moves because it is
tired and will never tell you that it does not want to play now. A computer will always play consistently
over and over. In fact, one of my
favorite things to do when I play my computer is to play as black and set the
skill level to a rating slightly higher than myself. Since I know that the computer will play the
strongest moves most of the time, this forces me to concentrate and not allow
distractions to get to me. This
could be very important when you are playing in tournaments. Tournaments tend to have lots of people
playing at once. There are lots
of distractions going on and you will need to concentrate in order to do
well. That fact applies not only
to chess but just about all endeavors.
There are times when you need to really stop whatever you are doing and
concentrate on the task at hand. And
chess can be used as a reminder to that fact.
Another advantage to having a computer playing as
white is imagine you are playing as white and the player you are playing makes
a mistake as black that you made once before when you played the very same move
as black. Hopefully you will
remember how the computer punishes a bad move and use it against your
opponent. I remember that
happened to me once where I had the white pieces and the person that I was
playing over the board made a move that I played against my computer.
When I saw the move, I immediately recognized it as something that I did wrong
and I happened to remember what the computer did to punish me for the bad
play. I played the very same move
that my computer did to me and I was able to win the match.
So my suggestion is to start with a program or a chess
computer and start at it's lowest setting. Keep playing higher and higher settings until
you start to have difficulty in winning a match. Once you know what that setting is, keep
playing at that setting until you improve and then go on to the next highest
setting. It will be frustrating at
first. It will seem that no
matter what you might try, the computer will have a better response but as time
goes by, you will notice that you begin to make less and less mistakes because
you learn from your mistakes and then stop repeating them. That is one
advantage that humans have over computers. We can always improve upon
ourselves. Computers can not
improve unless someone re-writes the code for the program or unless you run the
software on a faster machine.
As for which program I would suggest, I would
recommend Fritz 5.32. You can find
out all about this program at http://www.chessbase.com/ or their American affiliate http://www.chessbaseusa.com/. One
of the things that make it great for a beginner is that it has a coach built in
that warns you when you make a mistake and can give you both subtle and broad
hints as to why a move is bad. It
can color the squares that are threatened in different colors so that you can
see which pieces are well defended and how well they are defended and which
pieces are not. It can display
all the moves and give a slight hint as to what that move might be trying
to accomplish. Fritz 5.32 also
comes with a spy function that shows you what the computer is
planning. In addition, it comes
with 2 interesting modes of play called sparring and friend mode.
Normally a chess
program tries to evaluate the best move from a current position and plays
it. Sparring mode is a bit different.
Instead of looking for the best move, the computer looks for a move that it can
play for itself which will allow the player by playing a clever move to gain
something, either a strong attack or a piece. Please note that it does
not give pieces away. It plays a move
that will allow the player to gain some sort of advantage. In essence, it is trying to mimic human
weakness. If the player does not
make the move that wins a piece through a clever set of moves, it will display
a message “you missed something” and create a training session for you so that
the next time that you review the match, it will pause the match and give you
about 5 minutes to see the strongest move.
By using this technique, a player is able to learn the concept of
tactics. Sparring mode has 3 different
levels of strength so that once you get good at spotting errors at one strength
level, you can always set it to the next level. You can have it set that that a light goes
off to let you know that a good move can be played or you can set it to be more
realistic and tell the program not to tell you. I prefer not to have the program tell me
because if I were playing someone over the board, they would not tell me “Hey
guess what, I just made a mistake”. So
by not having it tell me when a bad move has been played, it is more like when
a player makes a tactical error and forces me to have to think to see if it
works.
The friend mode
is also interesting. In this
case, the program tries to evaluate your playing strength and match it exactly
as much as possible. In essence,
you are playing against yourself and this forces you to try to improve in order
to win. In friend mode, the
computer will make just enough mistakes so that you will be able to win from
time to time.
If you are
thinking about a dedicated chess computer, I would suggest to try to find one
with lots and lots of playing levels.
100 or more would be best so that you can try a lot of settings and just
keep playing higher levels as you go along.
Ok one last tip.
TIP #6 - Material
advantage
When you are ahead
in a match, it is better to force even exchanges of pieces. You might be wondering as to why. Let us say for argument sake that you are
ahead a rook for example. At the
beginning of the match, each side has the same number of pieces. If someone were to lose a piece like a rook
without having a way to get it back, you have the advantage of having one more
attacker than the other side.
When someone is down a piece, they have to hope that someone they can
draw the match or counterattack to negate the advantage. When you begin to trade pieces, the chances
of the other player counter-attacking are reduced. Therefore when you are losing, the last thing
that you can do is to keep trading equal value pieces. You are just making things easier for your
opponent because your opponent will have less to deal with.
Of course, some
advantages are stronger than others. For example, you might be ahead a
bishop and yet not be able to win because let’s say you have the same number of
pawns as the other sides does and you have just an extra bishop. Since the bishop can only move from one color
square to the same color square, if the other player places his/her pieces on
the color square not covered by the bishop, the advantage of the bishop could
in essence be negated. In such a case,
a knight might be better even though it is a shorter range piece. The knight is not limited to any one color
so in such a scenario, it would have a greater value than a bishop.
Summary
Well these are
very general tips and while they are not the best chess tips in the world, I
hope that they start you thinking and seeing the game of chess in a whole new
light. Chess can be a lot of
different things. It can be a
wonderful game and a great source of entertainment but it can also be frustrating
when it seems that you never improve and when you make a mistake to lose a game
that you could have won.
Just remember that you only get as much out of it as you put
in. It takes time to learn this
wonderful game and you have to be willing to accept a few setbacks as you go
along. Just remember to try to
learn from your mistakes and play better the next time.
I hope you
enjoyed my section for beginners and best of luck with your matches. Just
remember “To error is human, to checkmate divine”. Good
knight...err.....night!
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Laws of Chess
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FIDE Laws of Chess
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FIDE Laws of Chess
cover over the board play.
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PREFACE
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The Laws of Chess
(:L01) cannot cover all possible situations that may arise during a game, nor can they regulate all administrative
questions. Where cases are not
precisely regulated by an Article of the Laws, it should be possible to
reach a correct decision by studying analogous situations which are discussed
in the Laws. The Laws assume
that arbiters have the necessary competence, sound judgement
and absolute objectivity. Too
detailed a rule might deprive the arbiter of his freedom of judgement
and thus prevent him from finding the solution to a problem dictated by
fairness, logic and special factors.
FIDE appeals to all chess players and federations to accept this
view.
A member federation is free to introduce more detailed rules provided
they:
a. Do not conflict in any way with the official FIDE Laws
of Chess;
b. are limited to the territory of the federation in
question; and
c. are not valid for any FIDE match, championship
or qualifying event, or for a FIDE title or rating tournament.
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RULES OF PLAY
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Article 1: The nature and objectives of the game of
chess
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1.1
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The game of
chess is played between two opponents who move pieces alternately on a square board called a
‘Chessboard’. The player with the white pieces commences the game. A player
is said to ‘have the move’, when h/er opponent’s move has been completed.
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1.2
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The objective of each
player is to place the opponent’s king ‘under attack’ in such a way that the opponent
has no legal move which would avoid the ‘capture’ of the king on the following move. The player who achieves this is said to
have ‘checkmated’ the opponent and to have won the game.
The opponent who has been checkmated has lost the game.
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1.3
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If the
position is such that neither player can possibly checkmate, the game is drawn.
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Article
2: The initial
position of the pieces on the chessboard
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2.1
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The chessboard is
composed of an 8 x 8 grid of 64 equal squares alternately light (the ‘white’ squares) and dark (the ‘black’ squares).
The chessboard
is placed between the players in such a way that the near corner square to
the right of the player is white.
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2.2
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At the
beginning of the game one player has 16 light coloured pieces (the ‘white’ pieces);
the other has 16 dark coloured pieces (the ‘black’ pieces):
These pieces are as
follows:
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White:
A
white King, usually
indicated by the symbol ............
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A white Queen, usually
indicated by the symbol ........
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Two white Rooks, usually
indicated by the symbol ....
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Two white Bishops, usually
indicated by the symbol .
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Two white Knights, usually
indicated by the symbol ..
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Eight white Pawns, usually
indicated by the symbol ..
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Black:
A black King, usually indicated
by the symbol ............
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A black
Queen, usually indicated by the symbol ........
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Two black
Rooks, usually indicated by the symbol ....
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Two black Bishops, usually
indicated by the symbol .
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Two black Knights, usually
indicated by the symbol ..
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Eight black Pawns, usually
indicated by the symbol ..
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2.3
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The initial position of the pieces on the chessboard is as follows:

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2.4
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The eight vertical columns of squares are called ‘files’. The
eight horizontal rows of squares are called ‘ranks’. A
straight line of squares of the same colour, touching corner to corner, is
called a ‘diagonal’.
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Article
3: The moves of the pieces
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3.1
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No piece can be
moved to a square occupied by a piece of the same colour. If a piece moves to a square occupied by
an opponent’s piece the latter is captured and removed from the chessboard as part of the
same move. A piece is said to attack a square if the piece could make a capture on
that square according to Articles 3.2 to 3.5.
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3.2
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a. The Queen moves to any square along the file, the rank
or a diagonal on which she stands:

b.
The Rook moves to any
square along the file or the rank on which it stands:

c.
The Bishop moves to
any square along a diagonal on which it stands:
When making these moves the Queen, Rook or Bishop
cannot move over any intervening pieces.
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3.3
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The Knight moves to one of the squares nearest to that
on which it stands but not on the same rank, file or diagonal. He does not pass directly over any
intervening square.

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3.4
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a. The Pawn moves forward to the unoccupied square
immediately in front of it on the same file, or
b. on its first
move the Pawn may advance two squares along the
same file provided both squares are unoccupied, or
c.
the Pawn moves
to a square occupied by an opponent’s piece which is diagonally in front of
it on an adjacent file, capturing that piece.
d. A Pawn attacking a square crossed by an opponent’s
Pawn which has advanced two squares in one move from its original square
may capture this opponent’s Pawn as though the latter had been moved only
one square. This capture can be made only on the move following this
advance and is called an ‘en passant’ capture.
e.
When a Pawn reaches the rank furthest from its starting
position it must be exchanged as part of the same move for a Queen, Rook,
Bishop or Knight of the same colour. The player’s
choice is not restricted to pieces that have been captured previously. This
exchange of a Pawn for another piece is called ‘promotion’ and the effect
of the new piece is immediate.
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3.5
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(a) The King can move in two different ways, by:
a. moving to any adjoining square that is not attacked by
one or more of the opponent’s pieces,
or
b.
‘castling’. This is a move of the King and either rook
of the same colour on the same rank, counting as a single move of the King
and executed as follows: the King is transferred from its original square
two squares towards the Rook, then that Rook is transferred over the King
to the square the King has just crossed.

(1) Castling is illegal:
a. if the King
has already been moved, or
b. with a Rook
that has already been moved
(2) Castling is prevented
for the time being:
c. if the square
on which the King stands, or the square which it must cross, or the square
which it is to occupy, is attacked by one or more of the opponent’s pieces.
d. if there is
any piece between the King and the Rook with which castling is to be
effected.
(b) The King is said to be ‘in check’, if he is
under attack by one or more of the opponent’s pieces, even if such pieces
cannot themselves move.
Declaring a check is not obligatory.
A player must not
make a move which places or leaves his own King in check.
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Article
4: The act of moving the pieces
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4.1
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Each move must be made with one hand only.
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4.2
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Provided that s/he
first expresses h/er intention (e.g. by saying “j’adoube”), the player having the move may adjust one or
more pieces on their squares.
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4.3
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Except as
provided in Article 4.2, if the player having the move deliberately touches on the chessboard:
a. one or more pieces of the same
colour, s/he must move or capture the first piece touched that can be moved
or captured, or
b.
one piece of each colour, s/he must capture the
opponent’s piece with h/er piece or, if this is illegal, move or capture
the first piece touched which can be moved or captured. If it is unclear the player’s own piece
shall be considered to have been touched before his opponent’s.
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4.4
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a. If a player deliberately touches h/er King and
Rook s/he must castle on that side if it is legal.
b. If a player deliberately touches a
Rook and then h/er King s/he is not allowed to castle on that side on that
move and the situation shall be governed by Article 4.3.
c.
If a player, intending to castle touches the King
or King and Rook at the same time, but castling on that side is illegal,
the player must choose either to castle on the other side, provided that
castling on that side is legal, or to move h/er king. If the King has no legal move, the
player is free to make any legal move.
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4.5
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If none of the
pieces touched can be moved or captured, the player may make any legal
move.
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4.6
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If the opponent
violates Article 4.3 or 4.4, the player cannot claim this after s/he
him/her-self deliberately touches a piece.
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4.7
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When, as a
legal move or part of a legal move, a piece has been released on a square,
it cannot then be moved to another square.
The move is considered to be made when all the relevant requirements
of Article 3 have been fulfilled.
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Article
5: The completed game
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5.1
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a. The game is won by the player who has checkmated h/er opponent’s
king with a legal move. This
immediately ends the game.
b.
The game is won by the
player whose opponent declares s/he resigns. This immediately ends the game.
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5.2
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The game is drawn when the player to move has no legal move and
h/er king is not in check. The game
is said to end in ‘stalemate’. This
immediately ends the game.
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5.3
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The game is
drawn upon agreement between the two players during the game. This immediately ends the game. (See Article 9.1).
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5.4
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The game may be
drawn if the identical position is about to appear or has appeared on the
chessboard three times. (See
Article 9.2).
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5.5
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The game may be
drawn if the last 50 consecutive moves have been made by each player without the
movement of any pawn and without the capture of any piece. (See Article 9.3).
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TOURNAMENT RULES
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Article 6: The chess clock

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6.1
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‘Chess clock’ means a clock with two time displays, connected
to each other in such a way that only one of them can run at one time.
‘Clock’ in the Laws of Chess
means one of the two time displays.
‘Flag fall’ means
the expiry of the allotted time for a player.
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6.2
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When using a chess
clock, each player must make a certain number or all moves in an allotted period
of time and/or may be allocated an additional amount of time after each
move. All this must be specified in
advance. The time saved by a player
during one period is added to h/er time available for the next period,
except in the ‘time delay’ mode.
In the time delay mode
both players receive an allotted ‘main thinking time’. They also receive a ‘fixed extra time’
for every move. The count down of
the main time only commences after the fixed time has expired. Provided the player stops h/er clock
before the expiry of the fixed time, the main thinking time does not change, irrespective of the proportion of the fixed
time used.
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6.3
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Each time
display has a ‘flag’. Immediately
after a flag falls, the requirements of Article 6.2 must be checked.
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6.4
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The arbiter decides where the chess clock is placed.
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6.5
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At the time
determined for the start of the game the clock of the player who has the
white pieces is started.
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6.6
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The player
shall lose the game if s/he arrives at the chessboard more than one hour
after the scheduled start of the session (unless the rules of the competition specify or the arbiter
decides otherwise).
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6.7
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a. During the game each player, having made h/er move on
the chessboard, shall stop h/er own clock and start h/er opponent’s
clock. A player must always be
allowed to stop h/er clock. H/er move
is not considered to have been completed until s/he has done so, unless the
made move ends the game. (See Articles 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3)
The time
between making the move on the chessboard and stopping h/er own clock
and starting h/er opponent’s clock is regarded as part of the time
allotted to the player.
- A player must stop h/er clock
with the same hand as that with which s/he
made h/er move. It is forbidden
to keep the finger on the button or to ‘hover’ over it.
- The players must handle the
chess clock properly. It is
forbidden to punch it forcibly, to pick it up or to knock it
over. Improper clock handling shall
be penalized in accordance with Article 13.4.
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6.8
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A flag is considered to have fallen when the arbiter
observes the fact or when a valid claim to that effect has been made by
either player.
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6.9
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Except where Articles
5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 apply, if a player does not complete the prescribed number
of moves in the allotted time, the game is lost by the player. However, the game is drawn, if the
position is such that the opponent cannot checkmate the player by any
possible series of legal moves, even with the most unskilled counterplay).
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6.10
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Every
indication given by the clocks is considered to be conclusive in the
absence of any evident defect. A
chess clock with an evident defect shall be replaced. The arbiter shall use h/er best
judgement when determining the times to be shown on the replacement chess
clock.
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6.11
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If both flags
have fallen and it is impossible to establish which flag fell first, the
game shall continue.
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6.12
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a. If the game needs to be interrupted, the arbiter shall
stop the clocks.
b. A player may stop the clocks in order to seek the
arbiter’s assistance.
c.
The arbiter shall decide when the game is to be restarted.
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6.13
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If an irregularity
occurs and/or the pieces have to be restored to a previous position, the
arbiter shall use h/er best judgement to determine the times to be shown on
the clocks.
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6.14
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Screens, monitors,
or demonstration
boards showing the
current position on the chessboard, the moves and the number of moves made,
and clocks which also show the number of moves, are allowed in the playing
hall. However, the player may not
make a claim based on anything shown in this manner.
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Article 7: Illegal positions
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7.1
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a. If during a game it is found that the initial position of the pieces was incorrect, the game shall be
cancelled and a new game played.
b.
If during a game it is
found that the only error is that the chessboard has been placed contrary
to Article 2.1, the game continues but the position reached must be
transferred to a correctly placed chessboard.
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7.2
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If a game has
begun with colours reversed then it shall continue, unless the
arbiter rules otherwise.
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7.3
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If a player
displaces one or more pieces, s/he shall re-establish the correct position on
h/er own time. If necessary the opponent has the right to restart the
player’s clock without making a move in order to make sure the player
re-establishes the correct position on h/er own time.
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7.4
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If during a
game it is found that an illegal move has been made, or that pieces have been displaced from their squares, the
position before the irregularity shall be re-instated. If the
position immediately before the irregularity cannot be identified the game
shall continue from the last identifiable position prior to the
irregularity. The clocks shall be
adjusted according to Article 6.13 and, in the case of an illegal move, Article
4.3 applies to the move replacing the illegal move. The game shall then continue.
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Article
8: The recording of the moves
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8.1
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In the course
of play each player is required to record h/er own moves and those of h/er
opponent, move after move, as clearly and legibly as possible, in the algebraic notation (Appendix E), on the score sheet prescribed for
the competition.
A player may
reply to h/er opponent’s move before recording it, if s/he so wishes. S/he must record h/er previous move
before making another. The offer of a draw must be recorded on the score
sheet by both players. (Appendix
E.12).
If a player due
to physical or religious reasons, is unable to keep score, an amount of
time, decided by the arbiter, shall be deducted from h/er allotted time at
the beginning of the game.
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8.2
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The score sheet
shall be visible to the arbiter at all times.
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8.3
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The score
sheets are the property of the organisers of the event.
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8.4
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If a player has
less than five minutes left on h/er clock and does not have additional time
of 30 seconds or more added with each move, then s/he is not obliged to
meet the requirements of Article 8.1.
Immediately after one flag has fallen the player must update h/er
score sheet completely.
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8.5
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a. If neither player is required to keep score under
Article 8.4, the arbiter or an assistant should try to be present and keep
score. In this case, immediately
after one flag has fallen, the arbiter shall stop the clocks. Then both players shall update their
score sheets, using the arbiter’s or the opponent’s score sheet.
b. If only one player is not required to keep score
under Article 8.4, s/he must update h/er score sheet completely as soon as
a flag has fallen. Provided it is
the player’s move, s/he may use h/er opponent’s score sheet. The player is not permitted to move until
after s/he has completed h/er own scoresheet and returned h/er
opponent’s.
c.
If no complete
scoresheet is available, the players must reconstruct the game on a second
chessboard under the control of the arbiter or an assistant, who shall
first record the actual game position before reconstruction takes
place.
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8.6
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If the score
sheet cannot be brought up to date showing that a player has overstepped
the allotted time, the next move made shall be considered as the first of
the following time period, unless there is evidence that more moves have
been made.
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Article
9: The drawn game
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9.1
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A player can
propose a draw after making a move on the chessboard. S/he must do so before stopping h/er own
clock and starting h/er opponent’s clock.
An offer at any other time during play is still valid, but Article
12.5 must be considered. No
conditions can be attached to the offer.
In both cases the offer cannot be withdrawn and remains valid until
the opponent accepts it, rejects it orally, rejects it by making a move, or
the game is concluded in some other way.
The offer of a
draw shall be noted by each player on h/er scoresheet with the symbol (=).
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9.2
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The game is
drawn, upon a correct claim by the player having the move, when the same
position, for at least the third time (not necessarily by repetition of
moves):
a. is about to appear, if s/he first writes h/er
move on h/er scoresheet and declares to the arbiter h/er intention to make
this move, or
- has just appeared.
Positions as in (a) and (b) are considered the same,
if the same player has the move, pieces of the same kind and colour occupy
the same squares, and the possible moves of all the pieces of both players
are the same. Positions are not the
same if a pawn could have been captured en passant or if the right to
castle immediately or in the future has been changed.
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9.3
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The game is
drawn, upon a correct claim by the player having the move, if:
a. s/he writes on h/er scoresheet, and declares to
the arbiter h/er intention to make a move which shall result in the last 50
moves having been made by each player without the movement of any pawn and
without the capture of any piece, or
b.
the last 50 consecutive moves have been made by each
player without the movement of any pawn and without the capture of any
piece.
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9.4
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If the player
makes a move without having claimed the draw he loses the right to claim,
as in Article 9.2 or 9.3, on that move .
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9.5
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If a player
claims a draw as in Article 9.2 or 9.3 s/he shall immediately stop both
clocks. S/he is not allowed to
withdraw h/er claim:
a. If the claim is found to be correct the game is
immediately drawn.
b.
If the claim is found to be incorrect, the arbiter
shall deduct half of the claimant’s remaining time up to a maximum of three
minutes and add three minutes to the opponent’s remaining time. Then the game shall continue and the
intended move must be made.
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9.6
|
The game is
drawn when a position is reached from which a checkmate cannot occur by any possible series of legal
moves, even with the most unskilled play.
This immediately ends the game.
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Article
10: Quickplay Finish
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10.1
|
A ‘quickplay finish’
is the last phase of a game, when all the remaining moves must be made in a
limited time.
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10.2
|
If the player has less
than two minutes left on h/er clock, s/he may claim a draw before h/er flag
falls. S/he shall stop the clocks and summon the arbiter.
a. If the arbiter is satisfied the opponent is making no
effort to win the game by normal means, or that it is not possible to win
by normal means, then s/he shall declare the game drawn. Otherwise he shall postpone h/er
decision.
b. If the arbiter postpones h/er decision, the opponent may
be awarded two extra minutes thinking time and the game shall continue in
the presence of the arbiter.
c.
Having
postponed h/er decision, the arbiter may subsequently declare the game
drawn, even after a flag has fallen.
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10.3
|
Illegal
moves do not
necessarily lose. After the action
taken under Article 7.4, for a first illegal move by a player the arbiter
shall give two minutes extra time to h/er opponent; for a second illegal
move by the same player the arbiter shall give another two minutes extra
time to h/er opponent; for a third illegal move by the same player, the
arbiter shall declare the game lost by the player who played incorrectly.
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10.4
|
If both flags
have fallen and it is impossible to establish which flag fell first the
game is drawn.
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Article
11: Scoring
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