Hi.
gwnn wrote on 09/22/19 at 06:56:17:
I guess the best is to ask what it means whenever someone reaches their hand like this to me. But isn't that patronising/rubbing it in? I know Anish Giri said he asked Sam Shankland what he had meant when he resigned in a drawn position. So I guess it's OK to do at 1700 level as well.
Of course it's ok. It's pretty much more than ok in a position where you are visibly better.
gwnn wrote on 09/22/19 at 06:56:17:
What is an arbiter supposed to do in these cases? At the time, I was annoyed that I had to play it out, but I now think it was a fair solution.
This would often depend on circumstances so first step is always to try and find these out.
As a general approach (for anyone older than 10) definitely forfeit the guy reaching out his hand. It is up to that player to make clear what he means when he contacts the opponent like this. By not doing so these kinds of situations occur to the detriment of chess and everyone involved. Also make sure he/she understands that future draw offers in the tournament are to be crystal clear.
If you think the draw offer was correct and the opponent changed his mind afterwards you can let the drawn result stand but this is a trickier situation.
gwnn wrote on 09/22/19 at 06:56:17:
Since this caused a bit of a commotion, several people talked to me later. They were all friendly, but they told me that kids do this "trick" all the time. The trick being not that they offer draws in bad positions hoping I accept, but that they offer draws ambiguously and hope I shake hands. I honestly still can't believe it, despite hearing it from 3 different people. Now that I think of it, the fact that he ran to the arbiter (I was walking towards him myself but he overtook me) was suspicious. Is this really a thing???
Yes. It happens. Kids and teenagers overwhelmingly.
Have a nice day.