[Retros] Illegal moves by grandmasters

[Andrew Buchanan]

Hi Jonathan (& others),

Been catching up on some old emails.


> Why should studies cease to be sound were FIDE suddenly to change the

50-move rule to 40, for example?

I agree - but I don't think that means we ignore rule changes. It just means
that we acknowledge that compositions are date-stamped.

A change to the 50-move rule would no more make an old study unsound than it
would make an old game unsound.

Every composition, like every game, has a date associated with it, and the
date implies what the legal rules were at this time.

Why should we think that the rules of chess as they happen to be right now,
are the perfect form? Changes bring new possibilities. The default rules
applying to any composition must be the FIDE rules valid at the date of
composition. Any other assumption is perverse, inelegant, and in the end
actually a little cruel.

The fundamental flaw in the Codex is that it does not face the fact that the
Laws change, and embrace the opportunities given by this. I guess this maybe
was fuelled by a mistaken fear that somehow accepting that the Laws change
would invalidate older problems. I can't know the real reason for this
error, but it's a right pain.

"Eppur si muove!"

Hope you are well by the way. I am too, but working too hard in Hong Kong to
where I have now moved.

All the best,
Andy.

-----Original Message-----
From: retros-bounces at janko.at [mailto:retros-bounces at janko.at] On Behalf Of
A J Mestel
Sent: 11 May 2011 21:02
To: The Retrograde Analysis Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Retros] Illegal moves by grandmasters

I don't think I've ever made an illegal move.

I have, however, made hundreds of criminal moves. I deduce crime is not
against the law.

I think on balance I agree that some FIDE rules should be ignorable by the
Problems community. Why should studies cease to be sound were FIDE suddenly
to change the 50-move rule to 40, for example?

I have never for example, seen a problem/study which specified that "White
has touched his rook and an opponents pawn simultaneously, and so must
either move the rook or capture the pawn (or both.)"

Or "White only has 3 seconds for his next 10 moves. Physically, this
requires that the distance of the moving piece to the clock (the left-hand
side of the board) must on average be less than 2 squares per move."

Such problems would count as "fairy problems" to us, but arguably they are
closer to over-the-board play than your average 2-mover...

    Best wishes, Jonathan
_______________________________________________
Retros mailing list
Retros at janko.at
http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/retros