I began playing competitive chess in early 1988. Since then, I’ve always been less than impressed by players who are unable to accept defeat graciously and learn from it. Time and time again, I’ve both seen and encountered players who come out with the weakest and most ridiculous excuses imaginable upon defeat. I thought I’d list some of the more common ones and give some pointers on how to counter them.
1) Being Unlucky
How many times have you heard people say how well they were playing but then miscalculated something and lost the game as a result. Then they tell you that you were lucky to win or that they were unlucky to lose- what a load of old tosh!
What this really means
In essence this means that your opponent is a weak player. Its rarely the case that people lose under such circumstances in competitve chess. Usually, a series of poor positional moves puts a player under pressure, from which he is more likely to make a mistake and lose.
How to deal with it
You mustn’t argue in such situations as players who make up such excuses probably won’t be able to see where they went wrong prior to throwing the game away. Just humour them instead and say they are right and that you were about to resign. Any move other than the one they played would have prompted an immediate resignation.
2) Being Rusty
What this really means
Ah yes, that old chestnut. The player who loses, loses because he’s rusty. He’s telling you that he’s a man in decline, that somehow he’s weaker today than usual. His brain isn’t working as well as it usually does because of inactivity. This tells you your opponent is an expert in self-deceit and a novice at deceiving others.
How to deal with it
The last time I heard such baloney I replied by telling my opponent that I was also rusty. In fact I hadn’t played for almost a week! He didn’t seem to like that remark.
3) Being Unwell
What this really means
Susan Polgar once playfully remarked that she has never beaten a healthy male. Headaches, colds, fevers, have no symptoms whatsoever, except they affect your chess ability. When your opponent tells you they are ill, what they are really saying is that they are still a big baby and can’t take care of themselves. Chesswise, people sometimes use this excuse when they are not playing their usual game and don’t understand why.
How to deal with it
Tell your opponent you sympathise, explaining that you were shot at on your way to the tournament hall and don’t feel too great either.
4) Being Tired
What it means
This could imply jet-lag, partying, illness, stress, having a working life, many things. If there’s ever an excuse that sometimes does have credibility, it’s this one. I have seen players with a 700+ point rating advantage over their opponent suffer and draw under such circumstances.
How to deal with it
If the excuse appears genuine, its worth asking what the cause of it is. That aside, chess itself is hard work, your opponent should feel some degree of tiredness. If he became tired during the game, well that’s a stamina issue and not worth taking seriously.
5) Being Distracted/unable to concentrate
What it means
Some players are easily unsettled. Some are troubled in their private lives and allow those troubles to distract them during play. To some extent this is unavoidable but it doesn’t really count as an excuse. Everyone is capable of identifying the source of distraction and blocking it out. If anything it means something within himself is bothering your opponent but he doesn’t know what it is.
How to deal with it
Remind your opponents that at the outbreak of Balkan conflict in the 90’s a tournament got caught up in a bombing raid. There were bombs being dropped on the hills around the playing hall when one of the players, deep in concentration, got up and asked the arbiter what the rate of play was! He was so absorbed in his game that he couldn’t hear the bombs going off. Tell that to your opponent and see what he says.
McCreadyandChess 
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