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  1. If I touch a piece with my forearm by accident, can my opponent call touch-move?
  2. If the answer is "no", what if after my opponent calls touch-move, I believe him and move the touch piece before calling the arbiter - can I take it back?
Andrew T.
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Allure
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1 Answers1

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According to the 2018 FIDE Laws of Chess (emphasis mine):

4.2.1 Only the player having the move may adjust one or more pieces on their squares, provided that he first expresses his intention (for example by saying “j’adoube” or “I adjust”).

4.2.2 Any other physical contact with a piece, except for clearly accidental contact, shall be considered to be intent.

4.3 Except as provided in Article 4.2, if the player having the move touches on the chessboard, with the intention of moving or capturing:
4.3.1 one or more of his own pieces, he must move the first piece touched that can be moved

Touching with a forearm seems to be "clearly accidental contact", so it shouldn't trigger the touch move rules.

In the scenario where you move the piece because your opponent said you must, and then want to take it back, it's less clear. You generally cannot take back moves (and, if you've moved, then obviously you have now touched the piece with the intent of moving it.) However, your opponent has acted inappropriately; at the very least they've distracted you during your move. It's possible the arbiter would give some sort of penalty for this, especially if your opponent knew touch-move didn't really apply. You should summon the arbiter as soon as possible to get a ruling.

D M
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    Answer is correct - its definitely not a touch move, but I would add that any tournament higher than club internal you would definitely not be allowed tacking back your move - as it was explained - you should believe arbiter not opponent, in kids tournament there are popular cases when one says checkmate when its actually not, but if opponent believes, accepts it - the game is lost; same here - reasons does not really matter, if you moved, if you resigned - it's done. – Drako Oct 12 '18 at 06:32
  • In your local club were just friends playing - arbiter(senior club member) could explain and allow taking back if opponent would agree – Drako Oct 12 '18 at 06:39
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    Absolutely this. However, in tournament play, unless it's aimed at amateurs, players should not be clumsy with their bodies any more than they should be clumsy with their minds. – corsiKa Oct 12 '18 at 19:43
  • @corsiKa So, in your world, anybody with any kind of physical disability or co-ordination issue should be banned from playing OTB chess? Wow. Oh, wait, just banned from playing professional chess. That's so much better. – David Richerby Oct 13 '18 at 19:09
  • @DavidRicherby That is a complete mischaracterization of my statement, and you know it. That being said, you DO need to be in proper athletic shape as well as mental shape. So while the bar might not be as high as it would be to play, say, professional football, it is still there, and it is not lowered for people with a physical disability any more or less than it is a mental one. There are, however, tournaments that cater specifically to those with various disabilities, in which many graded players participate. Blowing my comment out of proportion is very disrespectful to those players. – corsiKa Oct 15 '18 at 16:49
  • @corsiKa I'm sorry but I am not deliberately mischaracterizing what you said and it's rather offensive of you to accuse me of doing so. What do you mean when you say that there is a "bar" for competing in chess tournaments that is not lowered for people with physical disabilities? The only meaning I can see is that people with such disabilities are (or should be, according to you) disqualified from playing in chess tournaments. That is emphatically not what happens: disability discrimination laws require reasonable accommodations to be made for people with disabilities and it is certainly... – David Richerby Oct 15 '18 at 16:59
  • ... reasonable to, for example, have a player who can't move the pieces announce their moves verbally to their opponent, as blind players do. If this is not what you mean, please explain what you do mean. – David Richerby Oct 15 '18 at 17:00
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    "4.9 If a player is unable to move the pieces, an assistant, who shall be acceptable to the arbiter, may be provided by the player to perform this operation." - FIDE Laws of Chess. – D M Oct 15 '18 at 21:06
  • @DavidRicherby It's a mischaracterization because my (first) comment was not in any way referring to a disability, but rather able bodied people who are clumsy. My daughter has no disabilities, but knocks many things over. She's clumsy. And you should work that physical clumsiness out of your game as much as you should work out your mental clumsiness, which is what we tend to focus on by doing tactics and reviewing our games. Physical clumsiness manifests in online play too, when you tap the wrong target square (which happens all too often in blitz and bullet!) – corsiKa Oct 17 '18 at 01:52
  • @DavidRicherby My second comment, in particular, was considering the athletic aspects of bullet and blitz chess where the physical reaction time is a significant factor (not the most significant, but it is non trivial to lose .2 or .3 seconds a turn because you're slow to move your hand to the clock.) That is precisely what I meant. You took my "don't be clumsy" to mean "all people with disabilities in all circumstances should never be allowed!" which is simply not accurate or even remotely implied. – corsiKa Oct 17 '18 at 01:53