Illegal move

Hey guys, so I was just wondering in OTB chess if someone captures a piece and then with that piece in his hand presses the clock(so either presses the clock with the piece or keeps the piece in his hand when pressing the clock) would that be illegal and count as an illegal move?
I tried to find the exact definition but in the FIDE competitive laws of chess but couldn't.
I do know that mistreating the clock is illegal but im not sure if this counts.
Thanks

@MR_Halaand said ^

Hey guys, so I was just wondering in OTB chess if someone captures a piece and then with that piece in his hand presses the clock(so either presses the clock with the piece or keeps the piece in his hand when pressing the clock) would that be illegal and count as an illegal move?

Definitely not an illegal move. Even pressing the clock with wrong hand (other than which played the move) is a rule violation but does not count as an illegal move. Pressing the clock is quite common and as long as you don't use too much force or something like that, there is no reason to complain.

That being said , I did hear (once) about an arbiter who insisted that pressing the clock with a piece violates the rule that you have to press it with the hand that you played the move with but IMHO that's stretching it too far.

It's an odd way to make a move but I feel it doesn't violate the regulations. I can see how someone has a captured piece in their hand and presses the clock immediately to save time. Shouldn't matter whether the contact is with the finger or the piece.
In a typical game, your opponent captures what, half your army? So it's only going to happen for 8 moves. Maybe you can claim distraction if they use the pointy end rather than the base.

To be safe, you can hurl the piece off the side of the table as you're moving to hit the clock.

@mkubecek said ^

Hey guys, so I was just wondering in OTB chess if someone captures a piece and then with that piece in his hand presses the clock(so either presses the clock with the piece or keeps the piece in his hand when pressing the clock) would that be illegal and count as an illegal move?

Definitely not an illegal move. Even pressing the clock with wrong hand (other than which played the move) is a rule violation but does not count as an illegal move. Pressing the clock is quite common and as long as you don't use too much force or something like that, there is no reason to complain.

That being said , I did hear (once) about an arbiter who insisted that pressing the clock with a piece violates the rule that you have to press it with the hand that you played the move with but IMHO that's stretching it too far.

Well, the piece in hand is seen as an extension of the hand in some contexts, so it should count in this case.

As an arbiter I see that I would instruct not to do it. No other action. I fairly sure this in rules exist people from hammering the clock with pieces with potential damage one or a another. Only few warnings would not help I would at most give extra two minutes to opponent. Definitely nothing close to illegal move.

Strictly speaking, the rules do not explicitly forbid pressing the clock with a piece. The only relevant articles would be

6.2.3 A player must press his/her clock with the same hand with which he/she made his/her move. It is forbidden for a player to keep his/her finger on the clock or to ‘hover’ over it.
6.2.4 The players must handle the chessclock properly. It is forbidden to press it forcibly, to pick it up, to press the clock before moving or to knock it over. Improper clock handling shall be penalised in accordance with Article 12.9.

As I said earlier, some might interpret the "... must press his/her clock with the same hand ..." as disallowing pressing with a piece but IMHO that would be stretching the rule wording too far. I believe the true purpose of this sentence is to explicitly disallow the practice (sometimes seen in casual blitz games or time scrambles) of using one hand to move pieces and the other to press the clock. Using unnecessary force (also often seen in blitz and/or time scrambles) is bad, whether you hold a piece or not. (And I don't think the piece makes much difference from the damage risk point of view.)

Even the comments on these articles in Arbiters Manual focus on completely different topics:

Sometimes the following happens: A player displaces some pieces. The opponent keeps his/her finger on the clock button to prevent the player pressing his/her clock. This is forbidden according to this Article.
If a player makes a move with one hand and presses the clock with the other, it is not considered as an illegal move, but it is penalized according to article 12.9.
Where a player presses the clock without making a move, as mentioned in article 6.2.4, it is considered as an illegal move and it is penalized according to article 7.5.3.

I thought this was a question about en passant...

@mkubecek said ^

Hey guys, so I was just wondering in OTB chess if someone captures a piece and then with that piece in his hand presses the clock(so either presses the clock with the piece or keeps the piece in his hand when pressing the clock) would that be illegal and count as an illegal move?

Definitely not an illegal move. Even pressing the clock with wrong hand (other than which played the move) is a rule violation but does not count as an illegal move. Pressing the clock is quite common and as long as you don't use too much force or something like that, there is no reason to complain.

That being said , I did hear (once) about an arbiter who insisted that pressing the clock with a piece violates the rule that you have to press it with the hand that you played the move with but IMHO that's stretching it too far.

I think technically speaking this is improper clock handling so should be penalised ( or maybe a warning for the first time) by the arbiter, but i think not much people actually do anything about this