Rapidplay Rules

Rapidplay games are games which are more than \(10 \lt x \lt 60\) minutes long (based on 60 moves).

Additional rules for rapidplay

• Players do not need to record the moves

If you have 1 arbiter per 3 games (for the whole tournament), the normal laws of chess apply

If there is not 1 arbiter per 3 games, and the games are not being recorded:

• After 10 moves each, if:
  • The clock settings were initially incorrect
  • If the king or rook is positioned wrongly (but you can't castle between them)

Illegal moves in rapidplay

The penalty for an illegal move in Rapidplay is 1 minute as of January 2023.

Note that these rules don't apply if you have 1 arbiter per 3 games, these are rapidplay-specific rules.

• Both arbiter or opponent can indicate illegal moves before the opponent makes his next move.

• If this is the second illegal move offence, the game loses unless the opponent cannot get checkmate (in which case, draw).

• If the arbiter doesn't intervene or they don't claim it, the game continues with the illegal move played.

  • If you walk past a board with say, two bishops on black squares, the arbiter cannot do anything unless the illegal move was done and the arbiter saw it.
  • If the arbiter observes both kings in check or a pawn on the promotion square (which is still a pawn), the arbiter waits for the next move to be completed. If the illegal position still stands, the game is a draw.
    • So yes, if you see both kings in check or a pawn on the promotion square, we wait for the next move. If say the next move gets them out of check but there is still an illegal position on the board (e.g. two bishops on the same color square), the game is still declared drawn.

  • Case scenario

    The arbiter sees a move made illegally, but the arbiter isn't near the board. The arbiter walks towards the board and the opponent makes their move. What should the arbiter do?

    Solution: Nothing. The move has been made and the arbiter didn't get there in time.

  • Case scenario

    There's an illegal move and you mate your opponent. What happens?

    Solution: The mate stands.

Illegal positions

Not to be confused with illegal moves. This is an invalid game state. This includes:

• Two kings in check
• A pawn on the final rank
• A player has both bishops on the same coloured squares, and all 8 pawns are still on the board

The first two are the only two illegal positions which apply for the rules above. Positions with say, two bishops on the same colour are not governed by the laws of chess.