Article 9: The drawn game
9.1 a. The rules of a competition may specify that players cannot agree to a draw, whether in less than a specified number of moves or at all, without the consent of the arbiter.
b. However, if the rules of a competition allow a draw agreement the following shall apply:
1). A player wishing to offer a draw shall do so after having made a move on the chessboard and before pressing his clock. An offer at any other time during play is still valid but Article 11.5 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 In both cases the offer cannot be withdrawn and remains valid until the opponent accepts it, rejects it orally, rejects it by touching a piece with the intention of moving or capturing it, or the game is concluded in some other way.
2). The offer of a draw shall be noted by each player on his scoresheet with the symbol (=).
3). A claim of a draw under Article 9.2 or 9.3 shall be considered to be an offer of a draw.
Article 9.1 (b) (1) explains the procedure for offering a draw. Note that if a draw offer is made by a player before making a move the opponent is entitled to wait for the move to be played before accepting or declining. The draw offer cannot be withdrawn. This article also makes it illegal to offer a conditional draw. These were common when adjournments took place where a player might say “If you have sealed ….. then I offer a draw”. This could be seen as a method of getting information about the sealed move.
Article 9.1 (b) (2) Many players do not record the offer of a draw but it can be helpful to an arbiter if this is done. If a player claims that his opponent is distracting him by constantly offering draws but he has not noted this on the scoresheet then that greatly weakens the claim. Article 9.1 (b) (3) This can often save the arbiter some work. Many players do not realise that a claim by repetition under Appendix G is also a draw offer. It is good practice for an arbiter to ask the opponent if he accepts the draw offer before doing anything else. It is surprising how often this ends the game.
9.2. The game is drawn, upon a correct claim by a player having the move, when the same position for at least the third time (not necessarily by a repetition of moves):
a. is about to appear, if he first writes his move, which cannot be changed, on his scoresheet and declares to the arbiter his intention to make this move, or
b. has just appeared, and the player claiming the draw has the move.
Positions are considered the same if and only 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. Thus positions are not the same if:
1). at the start of the sequence a pawn could have been captured en passant.
2). a king or rook had castling rights, but forfeited these after moving. The castling rights are lost only after the king or rook is moved.
Article 9.2 It is important that the arbiter establishes which player is to move. Often incorrect draw claims are made because the player has made the move and therefore loses the right to claim. A player who has sealed his move has also lost the right to claim.
9.3. The game is drawn, upon a correct claim by a player having the move, if:
a. he writes his move, which cannot be changed, on his scoresheet and declares to the arbiter his intention to make this move which will result in the last 50 moves by each player having been made without the movement of any pawn and without any capture, or
b. the last 50 moves by each player have been completed without the movement of any pawn and without any capture.
Article 9.3 The comments for 9.2 also apply here.
9.4. If the player touches a piece as in Article 4.3, he loses the right to claim a draw under Article 9.2 or 9.3 on that move.
9.5. If a player claims a draw under Article 9.2 or 9.3, he or the arbiter shall stop the chessclock (see Article 6.12 b). He is not allowed to withdraw his 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 add two minutes to the opponent’s remaining thinking time. Then the game shall continue. If the claim was based on an intended move, this move must be made in accordance with Articles 3 and 4.
Article 9.5b The time penalty for an incorrect claim is now 2 minutes and standardises the time penalties in standard play.
9.6. If one or both of the following occur(s) then the game is drawn:
a. the same position has appeared, as in 9.2b, for at least five consecutive alternate moves by each player.
b. any consecutive series of 75 moves have been completed by each player without the movement of any pawn and without any capture.
Article 9.6 is new and adds extra responsibilities onto the arbiter. The arbiter can now declare a game drawn if either of the above conditions apply.
In the case of 9.6a this will require the arbiter to observe the same position coming up 5 times in 8 moves. Repeating the position every three moves is not covered by this rule.
In the case of 9.6b the arbiter has a more difficult job. He may have to look at a scoresheet to find how many moves have already been played without a capture or pawn move. However the info on the scoresheet may not be obvious as captures no longer have to be indicated by x.
An unlucky arbiter may have to count moves and watch for repetition at the same time.
9.7. The game is drawn when a position is reached from which a checkmate cannot occur by any possible series of legal moves. This immediately ends the game, provided that the move producing this position was in accordance with Article 3 and Articles 4.2 — 4.7.