What to Do After the Time Control Has Been Reached

For maximum success in tournament play you must know both that you have in fact reached the time control (e.g. move 40) and the instant when this occurs. Otherwise you will be risking one of the following most unpleasant situations:

(I) Losing on time because of wrongly assuming that the time control has been reached

A tragic example of this occurred in the game E.Geller-L.Portisch,

Portoroz Play-Off 1973, Round 5. The diagram shows the position after Black's 86th move. As GM Geller was playing his next move (87 �f3) his flag fell. How could he overstep in such a simple position? The explanation is a simple one: he had marked move 84 (instead of the correct 88) on his score sheet as the end of the time control. Thus with "the time control over", he paid no attention to the clock! This missing half point prevented Geller from reaching the 1974 Candidates matches.

(2) Blundering after the time control because of hasty play caused by fear that the time control has not yet been reached

The diagram shows the position from J.Mestel-W.Browne, Lone Pine 1978, after White's 47th move. The time control was at move 45, yet both players were oblivious of the fact. The position is completely drawn, with Black's simplest plan being 47 . . . Wg4! (Browne). Instead, there occurred the "instantaneous" 47 ... 'i!?xh4?? and after 48 Wf3! there was nothing for Black to do except resign since next comes 49 llh 1 mate.

The single most common cause of inadvertently overstepping the time limit (or the less serious case of playing an extra move) is an error in score keeping. The pressure of a tournament game is so great that many people (GMs included) have problems keeping the score. Reversing White's and Black's moves, writing the same move twice, forgetting to record a move, and writing down a move where there is no space intended for it are the more serious errors that occur. A particular error point is when a new column on the scoresheet is to be started. I have come to the conclusion that errors in keeping score are inevitable. Therefore the key point is to catch and correct them before they damage you. Several times during the game review your scoresheet to make sure that it is correct.

The approaches that can be used in time trouble to ensure you know how many moves are left before the time control are the following:

( 1 ) Use check marks rather than writing down the actual moves (2) Write only your move

(3) Next to the move number on the score sheet, write also how many moves are left to be made before the time control at (e.g. ) move 40. For

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instance, next to move 35, write ''6"; next to 36, write .. 5" etc. Of course, you still have to also put in the move space a physical or ''mental" check mark.

Please remember that trying to keep a neat, "perfect" score when short of time is extremely hazardous to your ''point health". For instance, US Grandmaster William Lombardy has impeccable nerves during extreme time trouble and has no difficulty in keeping a meticulous complete score. And yet, I have seen that far too often his flag falls as he is writing down the move . . .

It is absolutely imperative that you yourself know that the time control has been reached. You cannot rely on anyone else.

You cannot rely on your opponent for the following three reasons: ( l ) He honestly will not know or honestly be in error.

(2) He will try to prevent you from knowing what he knows by hiding his score sheet etc.

(3) He will intentionally try to cheat you.

I am convinced that a majority of players are honest. Robert J. Fischer was known for his impeccable behaviour at the chessboard. When I am asked if the time control has been reached and my score sheet says so, I respond by saying ''I think so". I can even give a personal example where my opponent bent over backwards to demonstrate exceptional sports­ manship.

In round 5 of the preliminaries of the 1955 World Junior Championship in Antwerp, Belgium, the position shown in the diagram arose in the game E.Mednis-M. Van Hoorne, after White's 55th move. I played my last

move ( 1U2-g2+) with confidence and went to the bathroom because my score sheet showed that I had made move 56, i.e. the time control. But I had made a score-keeping error and in fact only move 55 had been reached. After playing his move (55 .. . 'iMS) my opponent informed the

arbiter of t his and the arbiter got me out of my "booth" just in time for me to rush to the board to play 56 :S:b2 and win the game after 56 .. . :!Ic4 57 b6

lieS 58 b7 JibS 59 \t>e6.

Just as you cannot rely on your opponent, so neither can you rely on anyone else to be safe. Why assume, for instance, that the people who are putting the moves on the demo board are keeping an accurate move count when the players are in time trouble and blitzing away? As one example, Korchnoi had a poor tournament at Wijk aan Zee 1983 (6 out of 1 3), but what really made it look even worse was what happened in the last round game, V.Korchnoi-V.Hort. Korchnoi was ready to seal his 41 st move - see the diagram - in a position where White has a slight yet nice and clear endgame edge. Both players had assumed that they had made move 40, because the demo board said so. But, in fact, only 39 moves had been made! Therefore, White, who was on move, had overstepped the time limit and was, of course, forfeited.

Please be very very sure that you have reached the time control before you start acting as if you had. Never, never start filling in your score sheet with your clock running unless you are 1 000% sure that time control has been reached. Otherwise you risk a most devastating loss. There really is no more wasteful and unnecessary a loss than inadvertently overstepping the time limit. A most unhappy example from the 1960 World Student

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Championship in Leningrad occurred in the game Madler-A.Saidy.

The diagram shows the position after White's 40th move - though neither player realised it was move 40 since they had been blitzing for the past 15 moves ! At this point, Tony Saidy started to fill in the moves on his score sheet and was doing this most meticulously until suddenly his flag dropped as he had just filled in Black's 39th move. Since we were at that time in a close fight with the USSR for first place, this Round 8 ••accident" was most unfortunate as it gave East Germany its only score in the match. (The USA won the Championship with 4 1 points ahead of the USSR 's

39 Y2.)

Even when you realise that the time control has been reached, there is one situation where you want to act as if it has not: when your position is absolutely lost. If your only hope is blunders by your opponent, do play on in the hope that he will also do so. Playing without thinking increases the risk of a blunder and this is what you are counting on when by blitzing you try to ••force" your opponent to also do so.

Sometimes this approach can also be justified when you think that you are losing. An instructive example is shown in the next diagram, E.Mednis­

K.Commons, 1975 US Championship, after Black's 40th move. I had stopped keeping score after my 33rd move and Commons had also stopped about that time. At the point shown in the diagram we didn't have a clue regarding exactly how many moves had been played. Earlier on (starting on move 3 1 ) I had horribly misplayed a superior endgame and at this point I felt that my position was hopeless: Black has two connected passed pawns for the exchange, these are ready to march

forward decisively and where is my counterplay to come from? I decided that for better or worse I must continue blitzing: 41 Ii.a8 b4 42 Ii.h8!

(Active rooks = counterplay!) 42 ... llJc3?? (Loses by force. Some

reasonable move would surely draw.) 43 Ii.h7+ c,t>g6 44 Ii.xe7 Ii.xe2+ 45

'i!n1 b3 46 Ii.xe6+ (At this point I was 100% sure the time control had been reached . But I played this quickly to induce a hoped-for error.) 46 ... �h5 (As hoped. But 46 ... c.t>f7 47 Ii.b6 also wins for White.) 47 Ii.h8 (But I

took plenty of time before playing this - since I wanted to make 1000% sure it wins.) Black resigns.

Apart from the above case, as soon as you are sure that the time control has been reached, it is time to take stock of the situation on the board. Your specific follow-up will be different depending on whether the game is to be continued until the next time control or adjourned once the required playing time limit is reached.

I THE GAME IS TO BE CONTINUED

With the advent of the "40 moves in 2 hours to be followed by a second time control of 20 moves in one hour" time limit, more and more games are currently being continued beyond the first time control, as compared to the situation that existed just a few years ago. This means that it is extremely important to be able to cope with the psychological pressures that can occur when the first time control is reached.

A tremendous natural letdown usually occurs when the time control has been reached. This is especially so if you have just come out of time

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pressure. Now that the danger point is over, the body feels that its job is done and it can take a break. This is an exceedingly dangerous situation. The number of ••unnecessary" errors that have been committed on move 41 are legion. You have to mobilise your system anew in this situation. Absolutely never rush your 4 1 st move! To get yourself in the required careful mood, it may be a good idea to get up from the board after the time control has been reached and walk around a bit. When you return to your board you should then be ready again for ••normal" concentration.