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If a player grabs a piece to move it, and before placing it in its new position, the player gets second thoughts about the best position for the piece, and so they decide to think a little bit more. While they are thinking and holding the piece, they get an urge to visit the bathroom. In that case, is it legal for the player to take the piece to the bathroom until they are back to resume the game? This assumes that the player will never let go of the piece throughout the entire process until it's placed in its new position.

Rewan Demontay
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piece_lover
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    why not just put the piece aside or put the piece back in the original position? Giri did the latter against Anand but personally i do find it a little weird even if it is technically within the rules. i think i'd go with putting the piece on the side of the board to indicate to both players 'yeah i touched this piece but i have to go. BRB' w/c is your intention anyway right? – BCLC Sep 02 '21 at 03:47
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    Just place the piece back to the square where it was. That's normal and happens frequently, a lot better than holding the piece in your hand. Also the recommendation to put the piece on the side of the board is in my opinion just wrong. I have never seen anyone to do that. I don't know whether it's against the rules or not, but definitely not common or recommended. Going to the toilet is a seperate issue which is covered well in the Brian's answer. – nyymi Sep 02 '21 at 10:16
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    No, they might scuff it, or get pine tar more than 18 inches from the base of the bishop, and gain unfair advantage. – hobbs Sep 02 '21 at 14:39
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    You're not allowed to use the bathroom during your turn without asking the arbiter first, and I doubt he'll give you permission if you're holding the piece in your hand – David Sep 02 '21 at 22:10
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    @hobbs what is the pine tar reference? – user253751 Sep 03 '21 at 15:43
  • @user253751 it's a baseball reference. For example: https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-cracks-down-on-pitchers-using-foreign-substances-to-doctor-baseballs-five-things-to-know/ – kuhl Sep 03 '21 at 17:25
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    @hobbs I would be more worried about them taking the opportunity to replace the piece with a more powerful but identical looking doppleganger to gain an unfair advantage. – Michael Sep 04 '21 at 02:45

4 Answers4

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There are a number of serious things wrong with what you describe:

While they are thinking and holding the piece

You may hold a captured piece while you think but you may not hold a piece that is part of the current position. Your opponent has a right to a full view of the current position on the board at all times except the second or two it takes you to move. Do this in a tournament and be prepared to be punished. At a minimum expect a warning and likely a time penalty.

In that case, is it legal for the player to take the piece to the bathroom until they are back to resume the game?

No! Do this and you risk forfeiting the game.

From the FIDE Laws of Chess:

11.2.1 The ‘playing venue’ is defined as the ‘playing area’, rest rooms, toilets, refreshment area, area set aside for smoking and other places as designated by the arbiter.

11.2.2 The playing area is defined as the place where the games of a competition are played.

11.2.3 Only with the permission of the arbiter can:

11.2.3.1 a player leave the playing venue,

11.2.3.2 the player having the move be allowed to leave the playing area.

In general the toilets are part of the playing venue but not part of the playing area. If you get up from the board while it is your turn you may move about the playing area (and, for instance, look at other boards) but you may not leave the playing area (go to the toilet, go for a smoke or vape, get a drink, food, etc.) without getting the arbiter's permission. If you do so you will likely forfeit the game for possible cheating.

Brian Towers
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  • There is the rule that the touched figure must be moved. If I have second thoughts about an originally intended move after I touched that figure, is the correct behavior to leave that figure on the board (or put it back), remove the hand while thinking again, and only later touch it again and move it? – Peter - Reinstate Monica Sep 02 '21 at 14:59
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    Both the opposing player and the arbiter will know which piece you touched, so the point isn't to keep your hand on it, but that you move that piece you first touch. – Nelson Sep 02 '21 at 15:26
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    @Peter-ReinstateMonica Yes, that is the correct procedure. And that's also what you see people do if they have to think for more than two seconds in such a situation. – JiK Sep 02 '21 at 21:50
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From FIDE's arbiter manual: "11.5 It is forbidden to distract or annoy the opponent in any manner whatsoever."

I think picking up a piece and keeping it out of the board for a long time is quite disturbing. As far as I know there's no problem on picking up a piece and placing it back on its original square as long as it's the piece you finally move. Probably some sort of gesture or verbal comment would be advisable, but that would be it.

emdio
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    Not to mention that the other player would be distracted for the rest of the game wondering what happened with that piece in the restroom and whether their opponent washed their hands. :-) – itub Sep 02 '21 at 13:39
  • "J'adoube!".... – Michael Sep 04 '21 at 02:46
  • (1/2) Why would a gesture or verbal comment be advisable? This seems inconsistent with other tournament conventions, such as not telling your opponent what move you made (if you made it while the opponent was not at the board) and not indicating when you place your opponent in check. Also, someone commented on another answer that both your opponent and arbiter will know which piece you touched, so it is unnecessary to indicate this by keeping your hand on it. In that case, they should also know what you are doing when you return a piece to its original square. – Brian Drake Sep 04 '21 at 06:21
  • (2/2) Finally, such a gesture or comment could itself be considered a distraction (which I understand is actually the reason for the conventions I mentioned earlier). – Brian Drake Sep 04 '21 at 06:21
  • @itub: Good point. Before an important game I always make sure my opponent sees that I've licked all my pieces; that way he won't want to capture them. – Quuxplusone Sep 04 '21 at 16:06
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A tangential point related to what I think is a misconception behind the question:

This assumes that the player will never let go of the piece throughout the entire process until it's placed in its new position.

It looks like the motivation for the question is the idea that once you grab a piece you can't let go of it until you make your move. What the FIDE rules actually say is (emphasis added):

4.7 When, as a legal move or part of a legal move, a piece has been released on a square, it cannot be moved to another square on this move.[...]

One might think that releasing the piece back in its original square might constitute an illegal move. But note this other rule:

7.5.1 An illegal move is completed once the player has pressed his clock.[...]

So in principle you could release the piece in as many illegal places as you like as long as you don't press the clock before releasing the piece in a legal square. But since there's also the issue of annoying the opponent, which has been brought up in other answers, I would say that least annoying option if you want to let go of the piece before completing your move is to put it back in its original square.

itub
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  • In short, returning a piece to its own square is never "part of a legal move" (because no piece may move in that way), so letting go of the piece means nothing. Touch move, though, still applies in the absence of indication of piece adjustment (i.e. « j'adoube » or "I adjust"). Am I reading it right? – user45266 Sep 03 '21 at 07:28
  • @user45266, that is my interpretation, yes (disclaimer: I'm not an arbiter!). Touch-move definitely still applies. – itub Sep 03 '21 at 13:17
  • “It looks like the motivation for the question is the idea that once you grab a piece you can't let go of it until you make your move.” When you look at it that way, you could say that this is more than a “tangential point”; it is a complete answer to the question. However, I cannot upvote an answer that contains this: “One might think that releasing the piece back in its original square might constitute an illegal move.” Releasing a piece back in its original square is not an illegal move, because it is not a move at all, just like adjusting the pieces is not a move. – Brian Drake Sep 03 '21 at 15:02
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    A couple of other points: (1) The piece may turn out to have no legal moves. (2) While the player can theoretically leave the piece in many illegal places, they must ensure they pick it up again with the same hand. – Brian Drake Sep 03 '21 at 15:02
  • @BrianDrake, I said one might think it is illegal but then went on to cite two rules that explain why it is not. I wrote that in case someone naively assumed that releasing the piece on a square always completes a move; it that were the case, it would be illegal; consider that pressing the clock without moving is effectively the same as an illegal move per rule 7.5.3. – itub Sep 03 '21 at 15:46
  • @itub To me, the idea that returning a piece to its original square somehow counts as a move is so absurd that it does not require discussion. It is not a move, so it is not an illegal move. Simple. But here we have a complex discussion involving the word “illegal”, the clock, and the idea of a move being “completed” (which is often confused with a move being “made”). How did we get here? – Brian Drake Sep 03 '21 at 15:56
  • @itub To be clear, releasing a piece on a different square is a different matter entirely, which does warrant significant discussion (and I think that discussion could be made clearer). But my present complaints are confined to the sentence about “releasing the piece back in its original square”. – Brian Drake Sep 03 '21 at 16:00
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    To me, the square where the piece currently sits is just like any of the 64 squares on the board, each of which may or may not be a legal destination for the piece being moved. Just different ways of looking at the same thing. So moving your pawn from e2 to h7 is just as illegal as "moving" it from e2 to e2 in my view. – itub Sep 03 '21 at 16:11
  • If a person moves a piece, studies the board, and before hitting the clock realizes e.g. that the move would place him in check, moving the piece to a legal alternative square (if any exist) and hitting the clock, an arbiter would be unlikely to act against the player if the original illegal move could plausibly have been an oversight. If a player were to move a rook diagonally and then some time later move it to a proper square and punch the clock, however, an arbiter would likely regard that as a deliberate effort to annoy or distract the opponent. – supercat Sep 03 '21 at 20:39
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converting my comment to answer:

why not just put the piece aside or put the piece back in the original position? Giri did the latter against Anand but personally i do find it a little weird even if it is technically within the rules. i think i'd go with putting the piece on the side of the board to indicate to both players 'yeah i touched this piece but i have to go. BRB' w/c is your intention anyway right?

BCLC
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