Touch-move rule
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The touch-move rule in
chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
specifies that a player, having the move, who deliberately touches a piece on the board must move or capture that piece if it is legal to do so. If it is the player's piece that was touched, it must be moved if the piece has a legal move. If the opponent's piece was touched, it must be captured if it can be captured with a legal move. If the touched piece cannot be legally moved or captured, there is no penalty. This is a rule of chess that is enforced in all formal competitions. A player claiming a touch-move violation must do so before themselves touching a piece.
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does not use the touch rule, letting players "pick up" a piece and then bring it back to the original square before selecting a different piece, and also allowing players to premove pieces while waiting for the opponent to move. A player who wants to adjust a piece on its square without being required to move it can announce the French ''j'adoube'' ("I adjust") before touching the piece. While ''j'adoube'' is internationally understood, a local language equivalent such as "adjusting" is usually acceptable. A player may not touch the pieces on the board during the opponent's turn. There is a separate rule that a player who lets go of a piece after making a legal move cannot retract the move. These rules have the following consequences: * Since moving a rook to next to its king is a valid rook move, it cannot be changed to a
castling Castling is a move in chess. It consists of moving the king two squares toward a rook on the same and then moving the rook to the square that the king passed over. Castling is permitted only if neither the king nor the rook has previously moved ...
move by moving the king over it. Castling must be done by touching the king first, and the rook afterwards. * The player who has released the king after moving it two squares on its has not yet completed a move, but must complete the move by castling on that side, if legal. If that castling move is illegal, another legal king move must be played, if there is one. This may include castling on the other side.


Details

A player having the move who deliberately touches one or more of that player's pieces must move the first touched piece that can be legally moved. So long as the hand has not left the piece on a new square, the piece can be placed on any accessible square. Accidentally touching a piece (e.g., brushing against it while reaching for another piece) or adjusting a piece does not count as a deliberate touch. A player who touches an opposing piece must capture it if the piece can be captured. A player who touches one of the player's own pieces and an opponent's piece must make that capture if it is a legal move. Otherwise, the first of the touched pieces must be moved or captured. If it cannot be determined whether the player's piece or the opponent's piece was touched first, it is assumed that the player's piece was touched first. If a player touches more than one piece, the player must move or capture the first piece that can be legally moved or captured.
Castling Castling is a move in chess. It consists of moving the king two squares toward a rook on the same and then moving the rook to the square that the king passed over. Castling is permitted only if neither the king nor the rook has previously moved ...
is a
king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
move, so the king must be touched first. If the
rook Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to: Games *Rook (chess), a piece in chess *Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game Military * Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft * USS ...
is touched first instead, a rook move must be made. If the player touches a rook at the same time as touching the king, the player must castle with that rook if it is legal to do so. If the player completes a two-square king move without touching a rook, the player must move the correct rook accordingly if castling on that side is legal. Otherwise, the move must be withdrawn and another king move made. If the player touches both pieces in attempting to castle illegally, the king must be moved if possible, but if there is no legal king move, then there is no requirement to move the rook. When a
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is moved to its , once the player releases the pawn, a different move of the pawn can no longer be substituted. The move is not complete, however, until the promoted piece is released on that square.


Examples

In the diagram, from a game between future
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Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11 ...
and
Jan Hein Donner Johannes Hendrikus (Hein) Donner (July 6, 1927 – November 27, 1988) was a Dutch chess grandmaster (GM) and writer. Donner was born in The Hague and won the Dutch Championship in 1954, 1957, and 1958. He took part in the Internacional Chess Tou ...
,
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had a probably winning advantage;
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had just moved 29...Qg5–f5 and White fell for a
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. Fischer touched his
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, intending to move 30.Bd3, which seems like a natural move, but then realized that Black could play 30...Rxc2, and after 31.Bxf5 Rc1 32.Qxc1 Bxc1, the game would be a
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, because of the opposite-coloured bishops endgame. After touching the bishop, he realized that 30.Bd3 was a bad move, but since he was obligated to move the bishop, and other bishop moves were even worse, after several seconds he played 30.Bd3. The
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and rooks were exchanged (as above) and a
draw by agreement A game of chess can end in a draw by agreement. A player may offer a draw at any stage of a game; if the opponent accepts, the game is a draw. In some competitions, draws by agreement are restricted; for example draw offers may be subject to the d ...
was reached after the 34th move. Had Fischer won the game, he would have tied with
Boris Spassky Boris Vasilievich Spassky ( rus, Бори́с Васи́льевич Спа́сский, Borís Vasíl'yevich Spásskiy; born January 30, 1937) is a Russian chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 ...
for first place in the 1966
Piatigorsky Cup The Piatigorsky Cup was a triennial series of double round-robin grandmaster chess tournaments held in the United States in the 1960s. Sponsored by the Piatigorsky Foundation, only two events were held, in 1963 and 1966. The Piatigorsky Cups wer ...
tournament. The touch-move rule produced an even more disastrous result for Fischer in his game as Black against
Wolfgang Unzicker Wolfgang Unzicker (26 June 1925 – 20 April 2006) was one of the strongest German chess Grandmasters from 1945 to about 1970. He decided against making chess his profession, choosing law instead. Unzicker was at times the world's strongest amat ...
at Buenos Aires 1960. In the position diagrammed, Fischer touched his h-pawn, intending to play 12...h6. He then realized that White could simply play 13.Bxh6, since 13...gxh6 would be illegal due to the
pin A pin is a device used for fastening objects or material together. Pin or PIN may also refer to: Computers and technology * Personal identification number (PIN), to access a secured system ** PIN pad, a PIN entry device * PIN, a former Dutch ...
on the g- by White's queen. Having touched his h-pawn, the touch-move rule required Fischer to play either 12...h6 or 12...h5??, an almost equally bad move that fatally weakens Black's . Fischer accordingly played 12...h5?? and
resigned Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...
just ten moves later—his shortest loss ever in a serious game. In this position in a
rapid Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...
game between former world champion
Anatoly Karpov Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov ( rus, links=no, Анато́лий Евге́ньевич Ка́рпов, p=ɐnɐˈtolʲɪj jɪvˈɡʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈkarpəf; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet chess grandmaster, former World Ches ...
and
Alexander Chernin Alexander Mikhailovich Chernin (russian: Александр Михайлович Чернин; born 6 March 1960) is a Soviet-born Hungarian chess grandmaster and trainer. Tournaments and championships Born in Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR, as a youth ...
in Tilburg in 1992, White had just promoted a pawn to a queen on the e8-square. Black made the
discovered check In chess, a discovered attack is a direct attack revealed when one piece moves out of the way of another. Discovered attacks can be extremely powerful, as the piece moved can make a threat independently of the piece it reveals. Like many chess t ...
53...Kd6+. Karpov, with very little time remaining, did not see that he was in
check Check or cheque, may refer to: Places * Check, Virginia Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Check'' (film), a 2021 Indian Telugu-language film * ''The Checks'' (episode), a 1996 TV episode of ''Seinfeld'' Games and sports * Check (chess), a thr ...
and played the illegal move 54.Qe6+. The arbiter required Karpov to play a legal move with his queen instead (since he touched it), and he selected 54.Qe7+?? (54.Qd7+ Rxd7+ 55.Kg6 would still have drawn.) After 54...Rxe7+, Karpov lost the game. In the 1889 game between
Siegbert Tarrasch Siegbert Tarrasch (; 5 March 1862 – 17 February 1934) was a German chess player, considered to have been among the strongest players and most influential theoreticians of the late 19th and early 20th century. Life Tarrasch was born in Bresla ...
and
Semyon Alapin Semyon Zinovyevich Alapin (russian: Семён Зиновьевич Алапин; – 15 July 1923) was a Russian chess player, openings analyst, and puzzle composer. He was also a linguist, railway engineer and a grain commodities merchant. ...
at Breslau, Alapin was expecting 5.d4, the normal move after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 in Petrov's Defence. But by the time he looked at the position he had already touched his , intending 5...Be7 in reply to 5.d4, not noticing that White actually played 5.d3 attacking his knight. Now compelled to move the bishop, he would lose the knight without compensation, so he resigned immediately.


Adjusting pieces

If a player wishes to adjust one or more pieces on their squares without being required to move them, the player can announce ''j'adoube'' (, "I adjust"), or words to that effect in other languages. If a player does not announce an adjustment in advance, the player may be penalized accordingly. ''J'adoube'' is internationally recognized by chess players as announcing the intent to make incidental contact with their pieces. The phrase is used to give warning from a player to the opponent that the player is about to touch a piece on the board, typically to centralize it on its square, without the intent of making a move with it. Although this French term is customary, it is not obligatory; other similar indications may be used. Only a player having the move may adjust pieces and the opponent is present.


Example of misuse

There have been occasions in chess history when a player has uttered ''j'adoube'' suspiciously late. It is possible a late announcement of an adjustment can be used after starting to make a losing move in order to retract it, thus avoiding the touch-move rule. Such behaviour, when intentionally used for a retraction, is regarded as cheating. The Yugoslav grandmaster
Milan Matulović Milan Matulović (10 June 1935 – 9 October 2013) was a chess grandmaster who was the second or third strongest Yugoslav player for much of the 1960s and 1970s behind Svetozar Gligorić and possibly Borislav Ivkov. He was primarily active befor ...
was nicknamed "J'adoubovic" after such an incident.


History

The touch-move rule has existed for centuries. In the Middle Ages, strict rules were considered necessary because chess was played for stakes.
Luis Ramirez de Lucena Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...
gave the rule in his 1497 book ''Arte de Axdres''.
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referred to it in his 1786 essay "
The Morals of Chess "The Morals of Chess" is an essay on chess by the American intellectual Benjamin Franklin, which was first published in the ''Columbian Magazine'' in December 1786. Franklin, who was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, played chess ...
". At one time, the rule also required the player who played an illegal move to move the king. In the first half of the nineteenth century, rule XIII of the London Chess Club provided:
If a player make a false move, i.e., play a Piece or Pawn to any square to which it cannot legally be moved, his adversary has the choice of three penalties; viz., 1st, of compelling him to let the Piece or Pawn remain on the square to which he played it; 2nd, to move correctly to another square; 3rd, to replace the Piece or Pawn and move his King.
While this rule existed, it occasionally led to tragicomedies such as in the 1893 game between Lindermann and Echtermeyer, at
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. In that game, after 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 White, probably intending the usual 3.Nc3, instead placed his on c3. Since that move was illegal, White was compelled to instead move his king. After the forced 3.Ke2??, Black gave
checkmate Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. In chess, the king is ...
with 3...Qe4#. In England, the 1862 laws of the
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rejected the above rule. The association's law VII provided instead that if a player made an illegal move, "he must, at the choice of the opponent, and according to the case, either move his own man legally, capture the man legally, or move any other man legally moveable." The German
chess master A chess title is a title regulated by a chess governing body and bestowed upon players based on their performance and rank. Such titles are usually granted for life. The international chess governing body FIDE grants several titles, the most pres ...
Siegbert Tarrasch Siegbert Tarrasch (; 5 March 1862 – 17 February 1934) was a German chess player, considered to have been among the strongest players and most influential theoreticians of the late 19th and early 20th century. Life Tarrasch was born in Bresla ...
wrote in ''The Game of Chess'' (originally published in 1931 as ''Das Schachspiel'') that the former rule requiring a player who made an illegal move to move the king had only been changed a few years earlier.


Unusual scenarios

The
Fischer random chess Fischer random chess, also known as Chess960 (often read in this context as 'chess nine-sixty' instead of 'chess nine hundred sixty'), is a variation of the game of chess invented by the former world chess champion Bobby Fischer. Fischer announ ...
variant (also known as Chess960) has custom castling rules wherein the king and the rook end up where they would be in a normal chess game even if they start on different squares because of the randomized start positions. It is thus possible for the king or rook to not move while castling, or for the destination square for the king to already be occupied by the rook, yet by convention touch-move requires that the king be touched and moved first. Players are expected to use only a single hand, so picking up both simultaneously is not an option. A dispute arose at the
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in a
speed chess Fast chess, also known as Speed chess, is a type of chess in which each player is given less time to consider their moves than normal tournament time controls allow. Fast chess is subdivided, by decreasing time controls, into rapid chess, blitz ...
game between
Ian Nepomniachtchi Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi ( rus, Ян Алекса́ндрович Непо́мнящий, r=Yan Aleksandrovich Nepomnyashchiy, p=ˈjan ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ nʲɪˈpomnʲɪɕːɪj, a=Ru-Ian Alexandrovich Nepomnyashchij.ogg; born 14 J ...
and
Wesley So Wesley Barbossa So (born October 9, 1993) is a Filipino and American chess grandmaster and 3-time U.S. Chess Champion (in 2017, 2020, and 2021). He is also a three-time Philippine Chess Champion. On the March 2017 FIDE rating list, he was ran ...
. Nepomniachtchi attempted to castle, but he first moved the rook out of the way for his king to take the rook's former square. The arbiter initially required Nepomniachtchi to make a rook move as a result of touching the rook first rather than castling. This was appealed, and the appeals committee overturned the original ruling; the game was replayed.


See also

* Rules of chess


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* *Winter, Edward
"J'adoube"
{{chess Rules of chess