Half Point Bye

Half-point byes are rare. But they serve an important purpose.

In the 2018 Isle of Man chess tournament, Alexei Shirov had a blazing start to the event. After 4 rounds, he was leading the tournament with a perfect 4/4 score.

Then, he took a half-point bye, surprising many.

What is a half-point bye?

A half-point bye is when you take a draw without playing an opponent. In such a case, you are given half a point.

So when Shirov requested a half-point draw, the following happened:

• His name was removed from the pairing of the 5th round.
• But he got a half-point taking his score of 4/4 to 4.5/5 even before round 5 started.

Cool right?

But why did Shirov take it? He was leading the tournament with all 4 victories. The momentum was on his side, and everything seemed to be going well.

Benefits of taking a half-point bye

While it's hard to pinpoint exactly why Shirov took the half-point bye, there are different reasons when a player can request it.

1. Take rest and get half a point.

If a player falls ill or needs to rest, they can take a half-bye and recover their energy. This way, they at least get half a point instead of getting none.

2. Take a holiday

A tournament like the Isle of Man offers so much to chess players. The landscape is stunning so someone might be tempted to explore without giving up a full point. In that case, getting half a point for not playing the tournament sounds like a good deal!

3. Avoid playing a tough opponent

Sometimes, this can be a very strategic decision - Taking a half-point draw to avoid playing against a strong opponent.

In this case, what could happen is that the strong opponent might get paired against someone else and lose the game. So in the next round, a player might avoid facing a tougher opponent.

Can you get a half-point bye at any tournament?

It depends on the tournament you're playing. In certain tournaments, half-point byes are allowed. But in most others, they aren't.

To check if your tournament allows half-point byes, always ask the chief arbiter.

How is a half-point bye noted?

In chess notation, it's written as half-bye.

Please note that 0 : ½ or ½ : 0 is not a half-bye. Such a result is given under other circumstances - like when a player's phone rings but the opponent doesn't have enough mating material.

How to mark a half-bye with ChessManager?

It's simple.

• Go under the Matches tab.
• Select the result for the player for whom you want to mark the half-bye.
• Click on the result and from the drop-down choose half-bye.

Try out ChessManager here! It's simple, easy to use with a modern interface and anyone - from a chess coach to a chess player to an international arbiter - can use it to create pairings!