[Retros] 50-moves rule and mate

[Rol, Guus]

In the december discussion about the relation between 50-moves rule and
mate, FIDE article 5.1a was mentioned:
 
5.1a The game is won by the player who has checkmated his opponent`s
king. This immediately ends the game, provided that the move producing
the checkmate position was a legal move. 
 
I fail to see how this article resolves anything in relation to the
"automatic codex draw" of a 50-moves series. Why should I believe that
"immediate mate" overtakes "automatic draw"? Without further arbitration
we can only opt out by compromising on a "wraw" - score 0.75-0.25.
 
Taking a step back though makes clear what the intended, if not formally
stated, outcome at this meeting point must be. All "lack of progress"
rules come from the management requirements for chess games. They
dictate that wasting time is met with the single universal penalty
"DRAW". Obviously, management rules should only be invoked when they
actually achieve that purpose of "saving time". In a simultaneous
occurrence with a technical scoring condition no such advantage can be
achieved so the administrative management rule must give way to the
technical scoring rule. Conclusion: Mate wins, if you know what I mean.
 
Formally one can codify this result either by "ranking" or by
"prioritization/phasing". The first one defines a hierarchy amongst
simultaneous condtions, the second one a time order of evaluation. I do
not know at this point if there are significant collateral effects
associated with either choice.
 
Things become more interesting when we look at the anatomy of "mate".
Mate is 2-ply dead-reckoned reflex king capture or TOPDREKC. Stalemate
is also TOPDREKC so we also need something about "check" to have a
distinction. While it is clear that the reinterpretation of mate as dead
reckoning may have effects on its interaction with the 50-moves and
other companion rules, I think this topic is better left to a separate
discussion.
 
Guus Rol.
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