When To Offer A Draw

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geebs
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When To Offer A Draw

Post by geebs » Mon May 02, 2005 9:20 am

I would like your opinions and discussion on when to offer a draw.

Of course I understand the idea of offering a draw when it is clear neither side can obtain an advantage. But what about offering a draw when you see the possibility of an unavoidable loss and offer a draw with the hope your opponent does not yet see it? :twisted:

Regards,
Graham

davidswhite
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Post by davidswhite » Tue May 03, 2005 1:51 am

Well...to offer a draw in that circumstance might seem to you to be a
risk-free gambit.
Unfortunately,I believe you'll find that in practice it doesn't work out
that way because
1) your opponent is already well aware of his advantage and will
reject your offer....or
2) he's oblivious to it,accepts your offer,and denies you the win he
almost certainly would have eventually found some way to hand you.

gmiller
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Post by gmiller » Tue May 03, 2005 12:30 pm

3) Now that we know you offer a draw in a loosing position, I'll know to look harder when you offer one.

I never was one to care about the score of the game, I just enjoy playing. I'd rather put more effort into becoming a better player than finding new ways to milk points from my opponent.

jjones
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Post by jjones » Tue May 03, 2005 4:09 pm

I have a few things I look at when I ofer the draw...

If the position is a lifeless onefrom the opneing and I just fo not feel like playingit, I have offered a Draw before.

If I know the opponent personally, and we talk and are friends, at times I offer a draw of the game has been well=played and neither side has a distinct advantage.

In a very urky position, where it is more or less totally unclear...I have offered a Draw based on that, and many times it has been accepted.

I dont try and milk points from opponents either. If I think I have a really concrete edge and can win most of the time I play on, but are always other considerations. Againt friends I have played against for years here, I will offer a draw becasue I feel the position isnt heavily in favor of either of us, and we can always play another challenge and try again.
I think as long as you enjoy the game and have fun..it really doesn't matter when you offer...of course, OTB is totally different,. But here, most of us have played certain opponents quite a bit and know that there is no harm in an early draw offer or if we have an adventage, declining an offer to try and win, its all in good sportsmanship and competition :L)

JEff aka "Zapper" :twisted:

geebs
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Milking Points?

Post by geebs » Tue May 03, 2005 5:16 pm

No, I don't milk points like that either.

However, I have read of players doing it OTB and have even seen advice to carefully look for a win if an opponent offers you a draw in a unclear position.

I am simply curious to hear Net-Chess players' opinions on a subject I thought would be interesting to discuss.

davidswhite
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Post by davidswhite » Tue May 03, 2005 10:45 pm

I think your question was worthy of discussion and I didn't interpret
your purpose to be that of trying to milk rating points.

I play chess to win and absolutely hate losing.
This doesn't mean that I'm not full of admiration for my opponents
when they've beaten me(as I am for sumdeus and cohonas after
our recent meetings).



If I thought that offering a draw when I see certain defeat might
save me from a loss, I wouldn't hesitate to do it.

As I explained previously,it simply doesn't work so I won't make
the offer.
Another reason for not doing so is that I wouldn't ever want to
seem to be insulting my opponent's intelligence by making what
he surely knows is a preposterous offer.

Trying to avoid a loss makes this discussion a fair one which would
definitely not be the case if any consideration of rating points were
involved.

jjones
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Post by jjones » Fri May 06, 2005 7:46 am

I do agree with what David is saying in that I love to play for a win also and hate to lose! When it comes to playing a few of my very close friends, I do often offer a draw even if I am slightly better..just a weakness I guess, but I do not mind.

I have never at least to my recollection, offered a draw, even to a close friend, when I was obviously in a worse position. I agree with David there also, you have a line that most of us will not cross when it comes to that! I also am very congratulatory in my losses, especially if I felt they earned a great win or just damn well played by my opponent, regardless of who it was.

I think the main point is to have fun, but maintain a tad of decorum as far as the offering of a Draw goes. I have on a single occassion, in an OTB tournament offered a draw to am opponent when I was slightly worse; but seeing as he only had approximately 2 minutes for 12 moves, I did willingly take advantage of that so to speak and offered the Draw ( it was accepted by the way). Did I feel good about it?! Not particularly, but I did get a 1/2 point as well as my opponent, who admited after the game he was doubting he could make it to the time limit w/0 his flag falling.

Anyway, I love the site and the discussions on these topics, and lets hope the Site is here for a long time to come !:)

Jeff aka "Zapper" :twisted:

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