Rare chess, local version

One of our readers sent in an interesting reply to my previous post titled "Rare chess" which talked about a double-forfeit decision by the chief arbiter in a Chinese tournament.

Believe it or not, same decision was already applied here in the Philippines in a local tournament, in almost the same situation.

The local story is interesting, too, if not more interesting. Please read the story sent in by The Chess Connoisseur:

"It happened before in the Far East Bank tournament in Cabanatuan City in 1992. Early in the middle rounds, a number of chairs were missing but the games started on time except for a few lower boards.

The arbiter searched for the missing chairs which took him about 15 minutes. Upon his return a pair of players were already gone and left their signed scoresheets.

The arbiter suspected that the game was rigged. Just the same he announced that if the two will not surface before the one-hour defaulting time both of them will be declared losers by way of forfeit.

The two players never showed up and the arbiter registered the result of the game of the two absent players as 0-0. Of course, the arbiter's decision created a stir but it was nevertheless upheld by the tournament director from the organizer Far East Bank and Trust Co.So, a double forfeiture first happened in the Philippines, albeit in a local tournament."