Short 1-0 Cheparinov
Decision of the Appeals Committee in the dispute between GMs Ivan Cheparinov and Nigel Short (English)
January 20 2008 – Corus Chess Press
Decision of the Appeals Committee in the dispute between Grandmasters Ivan Cheparinov and Nigel Short (8th round Grandmastergroup B) on January 20th 2008.
The Appeals Committee (GMs Vladimir Kramnik, Michal Krasenkow, Judit Polgar) agrees that refusal to shake hands with one’s opponent before the game is an obvious violation of the behavioural norms of players in chess events.
According to the decision of FIDE Presidential Board taken in June 2007, any player who doesn’t shake hands with his/her opponent (and doesn’t do it after being asked to do so by the arbiter) will immediately lose the game.
However, according to the information obtained by the Appeals Committee, in the relevant case GM Cheparinov, after his initial refusal to shake hands with GM Short, didn’t clearly reject the arbiter’s request to do so.
Therefore:
We declare that GM Cheparinov must make a public excuse to GM Short in a written form before 11.00 hours January 21st 2008 for his refusal to shake hands.
Then the game between Ivan Cheparinov and Nigel Short has to be replayed on Monday January 21st 2008 at 13.30 hours.
Both players must shake hands at the start of the game.
Any player failing to comply with the present decision forfeits the game.
In order to avoid any conflicts in future we suggest the following procedure in similar cases: if one of the players deliberately refuses to shake his/her opponent’s offered hand at the start of the game, the arbiter shall officially warn him/her and demand him/her to do so. Only if the player again refuses to shake hand, he/she automatically forfeits the game.
Cheparinov should not be forced to shake hands with Short, ever.
Those pawns did not want to shake hands either…
Again, to force bodily contact and exposure to disease seems ridiculous to me. What if the opponent is sick? Where has her hand been? You don’t know. If an opponent is forcing you to shake his (her) hand, how tight can you grip it? What if your opponent hasn’t showered in 3 days, or just blew his nose? Those arguing for a mandatory shake make no sense to me.
I take it the replay is later than Monday 21st Jan – which was yesterday: Monday 28th?
wouldn’t it be better for the players to exchange gifts before the round, or perhaps participate in a counseling session?
What about those who, for religious or cultural reasons, don’t shake hands? Would a polite bow or courteous words suffice?
How about kissing? Would that do? I wouldn’t mind having to kiss my opponent if she happened to be Sophie Milliet, one of the most beautiful female chess players in the world:
http://www.europe-echecs.com/articles/IMG/jpg/Millet_Biel.jpg
Hmm, the link didn’t paste correctly:
http://www.europe-echecs.com/articles/IMG/jpg/Millet_Biel.jpg
The Term “Shake Hands” is somewhat misleading. The FIDE precept actually states:
“Any player who does not shake hands with the opponent (or greets the opponent in a normal social manner in accordance with the conventional rules of their society) before the game starts in a FIDE tournament or during a FIDE match (and does not do it after being asked to do so by the arbiter) or deliberately insults his/her opponent or the officials of the event, will immediately and finally lose the relevant game.”
In other words, the rules require some polite acknowledgement of your opponent, not necessarily shaking hands. So all of these “what about…” statements are covered.
I personally agree with the statement. Just as there are “personal fouls” in many sports, in chess, there should be some way of keeping extra-chessic (is that a word?) factors reasonably in check (so to speak.)
Brad Hoehne
Yeah i mean let’s get real here regardless of the rules, arbiters should be aware of them and warn players before forfeiting them. Personally, I think there should be some complaint against the arbiter in this case, in that respect.
give everybody beta blockers before the game and forget about it
{if one of the players deliberately refuses to shake his/her opponent’s offered hand at the start of the game, the arbiter shall officially warn him/her and demand him/her to do so. Only if the player again refuses to shake hand, he/she automatically forfeits the game.}
The last part of this recommendation seems stupid. It says the bad sport player should be allowed to snub his gentlemanly opponent’s hand, as long as the bad sport shakes the hand later after being warned by the arbiter in a big to do.
At that stage Short’s point becomes the winning argument, that the snub (and considerable inconvenience to others) has already taken place.
Now that the rule is very well publicized, enforce it properly (on the first hand extension), or discard the rule entirely.
GeneM
CastleLong.com , FRC-chess960
A forced handshake. Ridiculous.
What if I had observed my opponent go to the bathroom earlier and leave without washing his hands?
Do I:
1) Announce, “I don’t want to shake hands with him because he doesn’t wash his hands after going to the bathroom”
OR
2) Wear surgical gloves while shaking hands with him?