Nigel Short: “An example must be made!”

Professor R. Anantharam, is a most charming man, but it is hard to understand how his actions during the infamous “Inebriated Tkachiev Game” adhere to the Laws of Chess. In his attempt at self exculpation, he quotes the two laws (Article 13.6 : “The arbiter shall refrain from informing a player that his opponent has made a move, or that he has failed to press the clock.” and Article 13.7 “Spectators and players in other games are not to speak about or otherwise interfere in a game.”) that show EXACTLY why nobody should have been allowed to interfere with Tkachiev’s slumbers. Professor Anantharam’s tenous justification apparently rests not with the Laws of Chess themselves, but apparently to an answer given by Geurt Gijjsen to a correspondent Dave Burtonshaw on an Internet website in 2000.

The comparison is bogus. The Tkachiev case differs from the Burtonshaw case mentioned by in one crucial respect: Tkachiev had not merely fallen asleep, but was deeply drunk. This is, of course, the nub of the matter. Unlike Burtonshaw’s poor opponent who inadvertently dozed off (and who incidentally was snoring – unlike Tkachiev – disturbing other players and therfeore needed to be woken up), the Champion of France was in a self-induced, near-comatose state. Short of actually vomiting on his opponent, it is hard to think of a more flagrant breach Article 12.1 of the FIDE Rules:

Article 12: The conduct of the players12.1 “The players shall take no action that will bring the game of chess into disrepute.”

Here is the full article on ChessBase.

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Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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