Page 3 of 4 … The End of the Draw Offer? (Maurice Ashley)

Now don't get me wrong: as much as I detest draws, I have also been guilty of abusing this practice. Both times that I tied for first in Foxwoods were due to early last round draw offers (one year my opponent extended the courtesy while the next time I was the one who suggested peace). My tie for first in the Bermuda Open was due to a quick draw offer I made. In all three cases, against very strong GMs, I had come into the round unsure if my opponents were as worried as I was about losing out on a decent prize. However, at King's Island in 2002 where I was in sole first by half a point going into the last round, I expected and steeled myself for a heavy struggle. Imagine my surprise when my opponent, a GM known for his fighting spirit, offered me an early draw even though he had White! He said that he had been out the night before and was too tired to play. The story got even more curious when boards two and three, with some of America's strongest players now with a legitimate shot of tying me for first, also saw quick draws, one because of "fatigue" and the other because of friendship. I know this "friendship" excuse because my great buddy Josh Waitzkin and I routinely drew our games before his Dad suggested that organizers might stop inviting us to the same tournament. We talked it through and decided that, as painful as it was, our friendship could withstand the competition. Curiously, out of our six or seven games I think only two were decisive.

I say all this because it took me over twenty years to realize how much of a spell we are all under. I can't remember when I first learned that a draw could be offered at any time, and I certainly don't remember questioning it. 'Bishops move diagonally, the object of the game is to checkmate the king, and you can offer a draw whenever you like.' In the lower rated sections of many youth championships, you'll invariably see one kid who has just learned the rule use it to virtually harass the other kid with draw offers on almost every move!

Unfortunately, the draw offer has been used in more devious ways. Recently, it has come out that Bobby Fischer had been right all along when he said that the Soviets ganged up on him in Curacao by agreeing beforehand to draw each other quickly (Korchnoi has added that the he too was a victim of this at the same event). The names of the conspiring players are among the greatest to have ever touched a chess piece. Some might argue that this is just good tournament strategy. If they had truly tried to defeat each other the result may have ended in the same way. Why not save some energy for later on, and to use against players who may be a bit more tired from playing out long games? All this rationalizing aside, we all know that this specious argument smacks up against every element that makes sports so grand. And while today's professionals are not in the business of fixing games, we still see an epidemic of early draws even at the highest levels.

Imagine for a moment that it was the last round of a major tournament and Player X is leading the field by a half-point. His opponent, Player Y has had a horrible tournament and really couldn't care less about playing. They sit at the board, punch clocks, make a few moves and then Player Y resigns!  Of course, there would be an uproar that would probably result in the player being banned from future events. Now let's change the scenario and say the players agreed to a draw. That would most likely elicit only modest grumbles even though Player X had just been handed at least a tie for first for doing nothing at all. Yes, Player X got into that situation by playing well in previous rounds, but that does not change anything. Teams are constantly playing well to get to the finals of major competitions without being handed the title on a silver platter once they get there. In chess, the attitude is, "We can do it so why not?"