The Chess Doctor Is In:
All About the Draw Offer

When to offer/accept a draw against a higher rated player … This may seem like an easy question to answer but it is actually quite complex, as so many of the nuances of chess are. The correct course of action depends entirely on the situation. GM2B reader Madison poses a great question!

The first question is indeed very simple to answer. Normally, if you are up multiple pawns/a piece you should keep playing against stronger opposition. They are either simply losing or have powerful compensation. And in the latter case, remember that the much stronger player will always keep playing, and may even be insulted by your draw offer.

It is true that there is no written rule against offering a higher player a draw, but it is well known chess etiquette to hold off until the position is well and truly drawn. Why? As I mentioned, the better player will always be loath to suffer a loss to a lower rated player, regardless of the position, and will scoff at the majority of draw offers.

With that said, the lower player can use this fact of life as a “tactical” weapon by either directly offering a draw or repeating the position. Often the higher ranked player will do anything to keep playing on and land himself in trouble, as in the following little-known game Battaglini-Yusupov:

I will tell you a little secret: if a much higher rated player (let’s say a gap of 200 points or more) offers a draw, it means that they really dislike their position. By continuing the game, you show your opponent that you are not only unintimidated but gunning for the win. Often the psychological blow is too much for the higher player and they make further mistakes, losing quickly.

Madison’s second question is a bit more difficult to answer. The advantage of a pawn in the endgame is a tricky thing. Often the opponent has decent–but not full–compensation and in this type of situation it is very typical for a lower player to offer a draw. But is it correct to terminate the game so quickly?

Of course it greatly depends on the position, but the general rule stands: if there is no compensation, then keep playing. Even if you end up losing in the end, it will be a valuable lesson on technique and how the higher rated player slowly defused the material. However, if the position is hairy and the pawn is not as important, again keep playing and respect the higher rated player’s aversion to a draw.

Only very rarely does it make sense to offer/accept a draw when a pawn ahead. And these situations have nothing to do with chess. Let me share a little story from when I was a quickly improving 1800-rated player.

It was the third round of the tournament (the third round of the day, too). My opponent was considerably higher rated (about 100 points) and much more experienced, having played over 200 tournaments at the time. After some sketchy opening play on my part, I managed to simplify and even win a clean pawn in the endgame. And then came the inevitable draw offer.

Now, normally I would have played on. It was almost certainly winning/winnable. But I accepted for a couple of reasons. First of all, being young and inexperienced, I was somewhat influenced by his rating. But my main reasoning was the fact that I was feeling somewhat ill and fatigued from the two tough games that I had already played. In one of these games I had even employed the repetition method to defeat a stronger player.

So, in my view, the only time it is acceptable to agree to a draw with clear extra material is when physical issues could affect the play in a major way, as in the aforementioned game. Even the former World Champion Tigran Petrosian suffered from great anxiety on occasion in winning positions against his rivals. As the story goes, the following game between Fischer and Petrosian reached this position after 35 moves:

Here we should observe that black is up no material at all, but his pieces are clearly in much better positions than his opponent’s. I suspect that Petrosian would have been strategically winning after 35…e5!, restraining any potential counterplay and firmly taking control over the position. This is how Jan Timman (from his wonderful but sadly out of print book Curaçao 1962: The Battle of Minds that Shook the Chess World) describes how black could continue after 35…e5! (Both quotes are taken from page 194.)

“(Black can) take his rook to c3, advance the a-pawn and aim to manoeuvre his rook to b2. He could also advance the h-pawn after all and take his king to g6 and his knight to e6. White, meanwhile, is reduced to passively awaiting developments.”

So how did Petrosian miss this relatively simple idea? Again I quote Timman:

“(Viktor) Vasiliev described what happened next: ‘He saw this opportunity immediately and… then it turned out that (Petrosian) himself was hardly as calm as he had thought. Realizing he had chances of victory, Petrosian… decided to try and see if there was another, quicker way of winning the pawn. Making his incorrect move, Tigran, unnoticed, felt his pulse beneath the table. Instead of his normal 65-70, it was 140!'”

Petrosian played 35…h5 and agreed a draw immediately because 36. e5! seems to garner sufficient play for the white army. A good lesson: if possible, try not to let external factors influence your chess! But if you know you are in bad shape, it may be time to call it a day.

I hope that this helps answer your questions! As always, I welcome readers to submit questions using the button below.