[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: The Sofia rules in action: Three cheers for the Russians

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
The Sofia rules in action: Three cheers for the Russians
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1223502887.shtml


   Based on the "day off" the [1]Russian Championship participants
   enjoyed in [2]round 4, I assumed the players weren't using the
   so-called "Sofia rules". After all, five of the six games were drawn
   quickly: two in 14 moves, two in 25 moves, and one made it all the way
   to move 30 before the point was split. And yet, it turns out that the
   Sofia "rules" are in effect*!
   So, boys and girls, if you want to take a day off but those pesky
   arbiters want to force you to play, you can use
   1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.dxe5 Nxb5 7.a4 Nbd4
   8.Nxd4 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 d5 10.exd6 Qxd6 11.Qe4+ Qe6 12.Qd4 Qd6 13.Qe4+ Qe6
   14.Qd4 Qd6 (Inarkiev-Jakovenko)
   or
   1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3
   O-O 9.h3 Re8 10.d4 Bb7 11.Ng5 Rf8 12.Nf3 Re8 13.Ng5 Rf8 14.Nf3
   (Lastin-Svidler; this one is already very well-known and has been used
   hundreds if not thousands of times over the past two decades.)
   or just make some moves, and when you feel you've put on a good show,
   simply create your own repetition, as occurred in the games
   Morozevich-Timofeev, Tomashevsky-Alekseev and Maslak-Sakaev.
   As a matter of principle, anti-draw rules are rarely needed; as a
   matter of fact, they don't work. It's pretty easy for player 1 to drop
   a hint or throw out a trial balloon to player 2 before a game to see
   if he's up for a draw (or maybe down for a draw, depending on your
   perspective), and then any competent players can make it happen. And
   even in a "real" game, when the players believe it's an inevitable
   draw, player one can make a silly but non-self-destructive repetition
   and do the job that way. Player 2 can decline it, but that's not much
   different from a normal draw offer situation.
   Further, since I think there's nothing wrong with a player taking a
   short draw from time to time (sometimes one is sick or especially
   tired, or wants to get a painful loss or two out of his system, or in
   bad form and eager to get the event over (like Anand at the Grand Slam
   final), or needs only a draw to help clinch a norm or the desired
   place in the tournament), there's yet another reason to reject the
   Sofia rules.
   So three cheers to the players in the Russian Championship. They've
   played four great rounds out of the five, which is a higher percentage
   than you'll see in most tournaments, and when they wanted to take a
   well-deserved day off, they did it, and made a mockery of a stupid
   rule in the process. Good for them.
   * HT: [3]Chess Today

References

   1. http://www.russiachess.org/
   2. http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1223349716.shtml
   3. http://www.chesstoday.net/