Chess club etiquette: the rules nobody tells you

Shake hands before the game and after it. Before, it means “good luck.” After, it means “good game,” and it means it whatever the result. It’s the most important ritual in chess, and it takes one second.

• Offer your hand across the board, not over the pieces’ heads while they’re still in play.
• Say something short: “Have a good game,” then “Good game” or “Thanks for the game.”
• Some people prefer a nod or a fist bump, for health or any other reason. Take it in the spirit it’s meant and don’t read anything into it.

Refusing to shake hands after a loss is the fastest way to become a club’s cautionary tale. Everybody has lost a game they should have won. Shake anyway.

The most famous rule in over-the-board chess, and the one that surprises people who learned online. Under FIDE rules (Article 4 of the Laws), when it’s your move:

• Touch one of your own pieces deliberately, and you must move it, as long as it has a legal move.
• Touch one of your opponent’s pieces, and you must capture it, if you legally can.
• Let go of a piece on a square (a legal move), and it stays there. No sliding it back.
• To straighten a piece, say “I adjust” (or the traditional French, “j’adoube”) first, then touch it. Only the player whose move it is may adjust.

Knocking a piece by accident doesn’t count. Pondering with your hand hovering in the air is fine; it’s the touch that matters. And castling is a king move: under FIDE rules, touch the king first, move it two squares, then move the rook, all with one hand.

When you’re playing with a clock, the order is always the same: make your move, then press your clock. And under FIDE rules, press it with the same hand you moved with. It stops people from moving with one hand while the other is already slamming the clock.

• Don’t hover over the clock, or keep a finger on it.
• Press it; don’t punch it. It is not the clock’s fault that you’re losing.
• Keep the clock on the side of the board you both agreed, where both of you can see it.
• If you knock a piece over while you’re short of time, put it back on your own time, before pressing.

The rest of what a clock does, and what 15+10 means, is in our guide to chess clocks and time controls.

There’s a proper order for offering a draw, and it’s in the rules (FIDE Article 9.1.2.1): make your move on the board, offer the draw, then press your clock. That way your opponent considers it on their own time, with your move in front of them.

1. 1

   Offer once. An offer can’t be taken back, and it stands until your opponent accepts, says no, or touches a piece to play on.

2. 2

   Don’t keep asking. Offering again and again is treated as distracting your opponent, and it is.

3. 3

   Accept or decline clearly. “I accept” and a handshake, or “No thanks” and a move. Just making a move counts as a no.

Some tournaments forbid draw offers before a certain move number. Club nights almost never do.

When the position is hopeless, you’re allowed to stop: resign. Say “I resign” out loud, and offer your hand. Tipping your king over is the traditional gesture, but saying it is clearer, and it can’t be mistaken for knocking the king over by accident.

• Don’t just walk away from the board, or let your clock run out in silence. It’s the one rude way to lose.
• Resign when you’re sure, not in a sulk. Plenty of “lost” positions have been saved by a stubborn defense.
• If you’re new, it’s fine to play on until checkmate. Seeing how a winning position is actually won is a lesson in itself.

And when you win: say “good game,” and save the celebrating for the drive home.

A club room is a place where a dozen people are trying to calculate at once. Keep your voice down near the boards, don’t stand over someone else’s game, and if you’re watching, stand back and keep your face still. A gasp at the wrong moment can give a whole combination away.

The same goes for the little noises: tapping, humming, clicking a pen, rustling a snack wrapper. FIDE’s rules forbid distracting or annoying your opponent in any way at all, and that covers more than you’d think.

Finished your game and want to go over it? Wonderful: that’s how everyone improves. Just take it away from games still being played. Talking through your game next to a live one is distracting at best, and at worst it’s accidentally giving someone advice.

Players in a game aren’t allowed to use notes, advice, or another board to analyze on during play (FIDE Article 11.3). And onlookers never, ever point at a board, however obvious the winning move is. Especially then.

Put your phone away and on silent. In casual play it’s basic manners: glancing at a screen mid-game looks like you’re checking an engine, even if you’re checking the bus times.

In a FIDE-rated game it’s far more serious. Electronic devices that aren’t specifically allowed are forbidden in the playing venue, and if one rings, or it’s evident that you have one on you, you can lose the game on the spot. Many events let you keep a phone switched off in a bag; check the event’s own rules.

The exception, happily, is a club that uses its phones to pair people and report results. Use it between games, then put it away.

One of the best things about chess clubs is that a nine-year-old can play a retiree as an equal. A few habits keep it that way for everyone:

• Adults: play kids properly, and be generous afterwards. Win kindly, lose graciously, and explain touch-move gently the first time rather than enforcing it like a referee.
• Parents: watch from a distance, and never coach during a game. It’s against the rules in competition, and it’s against the spirit everywhere.
• Kids: the same rules apply to you as to everyone else, including the handshake when you lose. Especially the handshake when you lose.
• Everyone: adults don’t swap numbers or private messages with children they meet at the club. Talk to the parents.

Everything above applies in full at a tournament, where an arbiter or tournament director has the final word. At a casual club night, the room sets the tone: some clubs play every game by the book, others are happy with no clocks and the odd takeback.

The simple rule that works everywhere: agree before you start. Two questions cover almost everything:

1. 1

   “Clock?” And if so, what time control.

2. 2

   “Touch-move?” At a club, the answer is usually yes. It’s still nice to ask a beginner.

New to club chess altogether? Start with what to expect at your first chess club night.