Agreeing a draw after checkmate In a club game this week, checkmate was reached legally on the board, however the players thought it was stalemate, shook hands and signed the scoresheet as a draw.

The "winner" was a young junior, she initially wrote 0-1 on the scoresheet but then the "loser" pointed out that he thought it was stalemate, and so the junior accepted this and changed the score and signed it.

Being a club game the arbiter let the result stand; but if this happened in a FIDE-sanctioned tournament then what should happen?
According to the FIDE Laws of Chess

5.1        The game is won by the player who has checkmated his opponent’s king. This immediately ends the game, provided that the move producing the checkmate position was in accordance with Article 3 and Articles 4.2 – 4.7.
8.7    At the conclusion of the game both players shall sign both scoresheets, indicating the result of the game. Even if incorrect, this result shall stand, unless the arbiter decides otherwise.

The &quot;winner&quot; won the game. However, both players signed both scoresheets indicating 0.5 - 0.5, so that would be the result unless the arbiter were involved.

In this case, I think the arbiter made a mistake. The young junior should have stuck to her guns and kept the 0-1. She agreed to mark it a draw because she didn't understand that she won regardless of her opponent realizing he was beaten. Were she an experienced chess player, I would absolutely let the 0.5 - 0.5 stand, but I think you need to help young players understand the rules without penalizing them for trying to avoid conflict. I think the gender dynamic and potential age dynamic (you explicitly mentioned she was young, but made no mention of his age) should also be considered in the decision.