Suppose that you were playing in a major chess championship, the last round in fact. You only need one more win to clinch first place and take the championship title. In this final game, you find yourself down three points, but eventually push a pawn to the eighth rank seeking to promote to a queen (sacrificing a knight in the process) and convert the game to a win. For whatever reason, there is no extra queen nearby, so you replace the pawn with an upside-down rook, which traditionally represents a queen.
Your opponent objects and summons a director. As the USCF Rulebook allows an upside-down rook to be considered a queen, you feel confident that your opponent’s objection will be denied as groundless. What happens next shocks you to death: The director explains that the organizer had previously announced a rule variation whereby an upside-down rook is deemed to be a rook, regardless of the intentions of the players. As a result, the director corrects the rook to its proper position and you are now down a pawn, rather than being up three points. Your opponent capitalizes on this advantage in the endgame and you lose, costing you the victory that you surely would have obtained if you had promoted to a queen.
The point? Notwithstanding whatever may be contained in the USCF Rulebook, rule variations previously announced or posted by local organizers control. For this reason, you should always check with the organizer for any special rules they might be using in the event because not understanding the local rules, as seen in our example, could cost you victory.
Although local organizers are free to imagine whatever variations they think proper, the USCF Rulebook contains a series of variations that are suggested if the circumstances warrant it. Consequently, these variations are some of the most commonly used variations. I have listed some of these variations that you might see in tournament chess, as follows:-
- 5F2a1 Variation: An organizer may specify a different time control for players using clocks that are not delay-capable.
- 10F1 Variation: Normally, if you touch a rook first intending to castle, you cannot castle. If this variation is in effect, a player who touches his rook first can castle.
- 11H1 Variation: If a director notices an illegal move, he is a witness only and can only intervene to correct it if first called upon by either player to do so. Absent this variation, tournament directors have a duty to correct illegal moves.
- 13D1 Variation: While a game is usually forfeited if one hour (or, if less, the time control) has passed since the start of the round and one player has failed to appear, this variation requires the non-forfeiting player to have set up the chess equipment and started his opponent’s time to claim a nonappearance forfeiture.
- 15A Variation: Players using paper notation may notate a move before executing the move on the board. In my experience, this is likely the most common variation you will see. It limits the general rule that you cannot notate until completing the move to apply only in cases of electronic notation.
- 28T Variation: Two players may request to not be paired with each other, which may be granted or denied at the discretion of the director. This variation might be invoked, for instance, if two siblings happen to be registered for the same section of an event.
In conclusion, it is paramount that you understand what variations (if any) to the standard rules apply in each tournament you register for, lest your misunderstanding cost you dearly. Do not become the player in our example who lost the championship merely because he was unaware of the local rules. Observe your organizer’s special rules to the letter and you will surely be better off in the end.
Bibliography: USCF’s Official Rules of Chess, 7th Edition, 2019.