Can one move before the opponent pressed the clock?

Hi, a have a doubt about chess rules.
Last week-end I played a blitz tournament over the board, 5+0. In one game, I had 18 seconds against 2 seconds and a winning endgame. My opponent played a move and, before he pressed the clock, I already played my reply on the board. He stopped the clock, called the arbiter and was awarded an extra minute on the clock. The game ended in a draw, as my time run out but he had no pieces left.
I asked different International Arbiters about this rule, and they have opposing opinions. And article 6.2.2 of the FIDE code seems ambiguous... Does anyone know for sure if it is legal to move before the opponent has pressed his clock?

I am pretty sure rulings of this vary. So no definite answer. In my view opponen has made his move but is not complete. So moving should be allowed as long as you do not violate "A player must always be allowed to
stop his clock." i.e try to hit clock before opponent pressed the clock.

This how it has been interpreted in tournaments i've been. I have just national arbitration licence but rules are the same.

@tomejerry2 @petri999

"6.2.2 A player must be allowed to pause his/her clock after making his/her move, even after the opponent has made his/her next move. The time between making the move on the chessboard and pressing the clock is regarded as part of the time allotted to the player."-fide handbook

Yes you can move before your opponent hits the clock but then you cant claim if they made an illegal move until the move again or hit the clock. With rapid/blitz time controls once you move a piece you loose the right to claim an illegal move

If it was a rule violation, you could violate the rules even in a "slow" game just by not realizing that your opponent forgot to press the clock. Which is something that happens quite often, especially among players with lack of practice.

@for_cryingout_loud said in #3:

With rapid/blitz time controls once you move a piece you loose the right to claim an illegal move
Not only in rapid/blitz and you lose the right to claim an illegal move as soon as you touch a piece, you don't even have to move it (article 4.8). The same is true also for draw claims based on threefold repetition or 50 moves rule (article 9.4).

I checked older version of the laws of chess. Yes late 1.1.2023 version makes it clear. Making a move is definitely allowed otherwise wording would be obsolete.

I don't understand some of the arguments here, especially what this has to do with the right to claim something illegal.

If player a moves, does not press the clock, then player B moves, how is this related to being able or not being able to claim? I don't see a connection there.

But I do see this: https://www.fide.com/FIDE/handbook/LawsOfChess.pdf

6.7 a)
During the game each player, having made his move on the chessboard, shall stop
his own clock and start his opponent’s clock. A player must always be allowed to
stop his clock. His move is not considered to have been completed until he has done
so, unless the move that was made ends the game.

And the first player has every right to hit the clock once per move, so he can still press the clock after the opponent moved. Which is very important (think of increment).

And. a player may not touch the pieces (even adjust them) when it's not their move. And the only side of the clock you are supposed to press is your side.

So stopping the clock and calling the arbiter is a valid option, although especially in no-increment blitz this becomes a mess anyway.

Questions arise regarding the move that B made, while his clock was not running... especially if this move is mandatory, or even touch-move applies (as it technically was not your move at all).

Looking at Article 1.1 and 6.7 together, one can however argue that it's the opponent's move after the move "has been made on the board", but before the move is completed...

But nonetheless the first player may still hit the clock later to complete their move.

Still, it is bad etiquette to abuse your opponent's time for your own move. You are perfectly fine to think about offering a draw between making a move and pressing the clock (which they technically denied before even getting the offer).

My practical approach for those ultra-fast players is to just wait a bit and press the clock slightly after after them, just let their clock run for a bit. But with increment, this is luckily not so much of an issue any more.

What is confusing is that the rules distinguish when a move has ben "made" (piece moved and released) and "completed" (made plus clock pressed). And see article 6.2.1:

>6.2.1 During the game each player, having made his/her move on the chessboard, shall pause his/her own clock and start his/her opponent’s clock (that is to say, he/she shall press his/her clock). This ‘completes’ the move. A move is also completed if:
>6.2.1.1 the move ends the game (see Articles 5.1.1, 5.2.1, 5.2.2, 9.2.1, 9.6.1 and 9.6.2), or
>6.2.1.2 the player has made his/her next move, when his/her previous move was not completed

IMHO the 6.2.1.2 part shows that the rules consider as possible also the option that a move is not completed but still further moves are played.

An interesting point is that 6.3.1 says "...each player must complete a minimum number of moves or all moves in an allotted period of time...". That would mean that in e.g. 40/90+30, if you forget to press the clock after your 40th move, then even if your opponent played his next move, fallen flag should still lose the game until you make your move 41.

@mkubecek said in #7:

What is confusing is that the rules distinguish when a move has ben "made" (piece moved and released) and "completed" (made plus clock pressed).

Yeah, and 1.1 references 6.7, which contains two definitions and it is still not clear what is meant exactly.

Quite annoying, especially as this passage seems to have been edited multiple times in the past, yet they didn't manage to come up with something clear and concise.