Traps, Tricks & Mistakes: Time Trick

For sure, many players have been involved on one or the other side in the very common incident presented today.

A player makes a move and forgets to press his/her clock. Most frequently, the opponent gives a gentle reminder to press the clock or with an indication points his/her hand towards the clock. We agree that this is a polite way to proceed.

However on many incidents where one player forgets to press the clock, his/her opponent “pretends” to fall in deep thought, actually waiting until the other player remedies the oversight.

One of the most famous oversight happened to Kasparov himself in his match against Karpov, Seville (Spain) 1987.

This is the game:

In a similar incident involved the English GM Nigel Short. He lost his game on time against the young Indian player Gukesh Dummaraju. Thanks to it, Gukesh got his first GM norm.

Of course, it’s nobody’s job but the player him/herself to press the clock and not to signal the opponent about his/her oversight isn’t against chess rules.

But dear readers, what do you think about that behaviour?

Nairobi Chess Club site is closed until further notice due to the COVID pandemic.
Nevertheless, if you want to play chess, you are lucky. Our virtual Chess.com club regularly organizes online tournaments and matches. More than 390 members enjoy that chance. New tournaments will start soon and there is Blitz every Saturday. Join now! Limited slots!.

Besides all of that, on Jun.6th, 9 members of Nairobi Chess Club had the privilege to play an overseas online match against the English Camberley Chess Club. The final score favoured Nairobi Chess Club: 10 to 8. Congratulations team!!!
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