Adjudication

Adjudication is considered a last resort, to be used only when all other means of completing the game have been exhausted. Before seeking to have a game adjudicated please make every effort to finish the game normally for a week, including contacting your opponent to arrange a time to complete the game. If you do submit an adjudication request, please be patient. Most claims are handled within a few days.

What games are eligible for adjudication?

To be eligible for adjudication you must either:

• Have tried for at least a week to complete the game with your opponent, or
• Be up by at least a Queen or have a forced mate
• Your opponent refuses to resume or has you on his censor or noplay list.

Adjudication of regular chess games (blitz ,bullet, and standard time control games) is handled by the Adjudicate team. Open the Actions menu and select Request Adjudication and you will see the following dialog:

Simply fill in the name of your opponent and select the result you are requesting. Enter only important details into the description field. Also mention it if your opponent has censored you or other abuse. For games in any chess variant (chess games played with different rules), do provide any details you think appropriate.

Once the request has been made Adjudicate will then examine the game. If Adjudicate does not agree with the requested decision, you will be sent additional instructions informing you how to continue. If it agrees with the requested decision then it will send you and your opponent a message of its decision.

The adjudicate system is for the convenience of the players, to make sure you win your won games. Please do not submit unreasonable requests. If you are losing the game do not request a win, regardless of what your opponent may have done. After issuing the request command, please be patient. DO NOT SEND repeat adjudication requests for the same game. Doing so may result in you being censored from using our adjudication process. We receive hundreds of requests each week. It may take up to a week to respond to your request. Please keep in mind that people who process adjudications are volunteers and their judgment is FINAL, except in the case of obvious mistakes. Arguing with the adjudicator, or his decision, may result in your loss of our adjudication processes feature.

Intentional Disconnection

Intentional disconnection to avoid losses is a serious offense. If you feel that your opponent has disconnected intentionally to avoid a loss you may submit a complaint in the description field of the dialog above. Please wait at least 2 days after the adjournment to submit a complaint in order to give players who were accidentally disconnected a chance to resume or resign the game.

The members of the adjudicate team follow a series of well-established guidelines for determining the correct response to requests.

• In the event that there is an obvious win for either side then we will adjudicate the game in favor of the stronger side.
• If neither player holds any significant advantage then the game will either be aborted or set as a draw. Games with few moves or limited time used on the clock are likely to be aborted. Games where a significant amount of time has been used and many moves played are more likely to be drawn.
• If a game does not fit either of the above criteria the opponent of the requesting player will receive instructions from the adjudicate account to complete the game. They then have 7 days to complete the game or respond to the adjudicate account. If the opponent fails to either complete the game or reply to the message then they risk and unfavorable adjudication result. For example: The requesting player was only slightly ahead in the game and his opponent failed to respond to Adjudicate. The requesting player is then more likely to get a victory. However, this does not mean you will be awarded a win in a game where you are behind on the board, under any circumstances.

ICC administrators reserve the right to adjudicate any stored game at a time and with a result they feel is appropriate. Games will usually only be adjudicated under one of three circumstances:

• An absolutely clear and undisputable win/draw. Such as:
  Obvious forced mates.
  A decisive material advantage, or impending advantage, without compensation. Decisive means an average club player could defeat a master without difficulty. Typically, this is at least a queen advantage, but can vary with position.
  A dead, lifeless draw, where progress for either side is virtually impossible. Endings with locked pawns, bishops of opposite color, or no pawns and even material for example.
  An opponent who is out of time.
• A game that has been adjourned very early:
  If material is even, the position is still balanced with no complications, and the game has not reached move 10, it may be adjudicated as an abort.
• A game that for some reason cannot be completed. Such as:
  Games against an opponent inactive for over a month may be adjudicated as a win/draw/abort at the discretion of the adjudicator.
  Games against an uncooperative opponent should be submitted for adjudication. The opponent may be instructed to finish the game, and if he/she still refuses, the game will be forfeited as a loss.
  The opponent may also be instructed to finish the game within 7 days. The game is then labelled and the instruction is enforced by Adjudicate. Adjudicate checks if both players made the necessary effort to finish the game during the period . All further adjudication requests regarding that game must be sent to Adjudicate, which will eventually abort or adjudicate the game, its judgement being final. Unfortunately, lag cannot be considered when evaluating an adjudication request.

See adjFAQ help file for frequently asked questions about adjudications.

Note: Every Sunday 3pm to 6pm is the "resume" your stored games" time. Try to log in during this time if you have "stored" games and can't seem to find your opponent.

See Also:
Adjournments
adjudicate - command line help