From: mem@world.std.com (Jeff Lesser)
Subject: Re: E-mail etiquette
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 19:22:32 GMT

Teri A Meyers <tasst2+@pitt.edu> writes:


>For those of you who play postal or E-mail chess, I have a question on 
>etiquette for you.  Earlier this year I was involved in a 4-way playoff
>to decide the winner of USA Today's (aka "the LINC") yearly E-mail ladder
>competition for 1991.  As a national competition, winning the tournament
>is more a matter of prestige than anything else, although it does carry
>a $100 award which can only be used to pay for online time charges on that
>network.  In a key game between Alex Dunne and myself, I made a very 
>obvious typo.  I had a rook on g8, which I intended to exchange for his
>rook on d8.  Unfortunately, instead of playing g8d8, I entered g8e8 on
>my computer, hit return, and instantly discovered to my horror that instead
>of exchanging rooks, I had moved it to an unprotected square one square
>short of the intended destination.  The TD, who I contacted immediately, 
>said it was up to my opponent to decide whether to allow me to correct my
>typo or not.  Alex refused to let me correct my move, and gives his reasons
>in his column in this month's Chess Life (Jan 93, p32) - basically stating
>that asking for a move back is like picking a pocket.  He also asks for
>input from his readers, but since he only presents what I consider to be
>one side of the story, I wanted to raise the issue here.  My argument is
>that a typo can be likened to the situation in OTB chess where a piece
>falls out of one's hand in mid-air and happens to land on a legal square.
>It is not really a "move"; it is an accident, similar to brushing against
>a piece with one's elbow in a "touch-move" game.  If there is no 'intention',
>than a 'move', in the proper sense has not been made, even though a piece
>may appear on a legal square.  So I don't feel I was even asking for a
>move back--I was simply asking to correct the accident and make my move.
>At present the game is over, so I am simply asking for opinions.  Alex
>took my rook and I choose not to continue.  He will win the championship
>by 1 point (whereas I would have won by 1 point if we had finished the
>g me and I won, although neither of us knew for sure that the game would
>be that pivotal at the time).  Lest anyone doubt that the move was indeed
>a typo, I present the game score below, so you can judge its obvious
>absurdity for yourselves.

>Jerry Meyers (BG2) 2498 - Alex Dunne (PK4) 2352  1991 LINC Playoff
>1. g3, d5 2.Nf3, Nf6 3.Bg2, Bg4 4.c4, c6 5.cd, cd 6.Ne5, Bf5 7.Nc3, Nbd7
>8.Qa4, e6 9.g4, Bg6 10.h4, Bd6 11.N:d7, Q:d7 12.Q:d7, K:d7 13.h5, Bc2
>14.g5, Ne4 15.B:e4, B:e4 16.Rh4, Bf5 17.d3, Rhc8 18.Bd2, Ke7 19.e4, de
>20.de, Rc4 21.Ke2, Be5 22.f3, h6 23.Rg1, Rac8 24.gh, gh 25.B:h6, Bh7
>26.Bf4, Bh8 27.Rhg4, b5 28.Bg5+, Ke8 29.N:b5, Rc2+ 30.Kd1, R2c6 31.b3, a6
>32.Na3, Rd6+ 33.Bd2, Bc3 34.R1g2, f5 35.ef, B:f5 36.Nc4, Rdd8 37.Rg8+, Ke7
>38.R:d8--intended, but entered as h8e8, K:e8 39.Forfeit

>I would appreciate any comments either directly, or via E-mail.  Thanks,
>Jerry Meyers  (Tasst2@pitt.edu)

I agree with you.  Although your opponent is within his rights, if I were
he I would let you take the move back.  I'd sleep better at night.



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