Darnall & Handsworth A v Worksop A

Game between Szilard and Andy ended in a situation where Andy was checkmated when the Szilard's time ran out. In Poland it's ruled as a "checkmate stays" if the opponent didn't raise it before the move have begun. We couldn't figure out nor agree if the same rule is in place here and as it was the last game of the match that was already decided, players agreed to split the point. I'd ask for an advice in this case so, the future situations like these will be sorted out accordingly.

The question is which comes first: the checkmate move or the claim of the loss on time. Once checkmate occurs, the clock is no longer relevant.

Think of this like the ‘if a tree falls in the wood and there is nobody there to hear it, does it still make a sound? The chess answer is ‘no’: if nobody claims the win on time, the flag has not actually fallen.

FIDE Laws of Chess:

Article 5: a) The completion of the game
The game is won by the player who has checkmated his opponent’s king. This immediately ends the game, provided that the move producing the checkmate position was a legal move.

6.8 A flag is considered to have fallen when the arbiter observes the fact or when either player has made a valid claim to that effect.

The flag has not fallen if nobody notices it and claims. Checkmate takes higher priority than flag fall when determining the victor of a game.

The FIDE Arbiters’ manual offers guidance as follows:

“A flag is considered to have fallen when it is noticed or claimed, not when it physically happened. If a result is reached between a flag fall and the fall being noticed, the result is not changed. The arbiter should announce flag fall as soon as he notices it.”

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