Due to unpleasant and unsportsmanlike conduct of opponents bearing music devices and phones, I will no longer participate in tournaments where powered-up electronics of any sort other than approved devices (MonRoi, eNotate, chess clock) are allowed.
Oh, and this is not an April Fools’ joke!
Does that mean I can’t have on a digital watch or wear a medically approved hearing aid?
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian, it is said, used to turn his hearing aid off during tournaments! But these days, I’d say, not even a wristwatch, were I making the rules.
Phones are already limited. I find ambient noise often the most distracting, and that’s why I listen to music through headphones. If the music is too loud, you should be able to ask an opponent to turn it down, and have a director enforce that. If the director won’t, then either the director is acting inappropriately, and you should complain - or there really isn’t any noise and you’re being overly sensitive.
You can have a watch as long as it is not Apple iWatch or made by Samsung, etc. LOL.
I think that the rules about electronics will have to be clearly specified as new technologies emerge so fast. We have to be step ahead of cheaters. We have to figure out how they do this (check the latest cheating scandal in youtube - video made my Valeri Lilov).
This is not a new discussion topic. I’m not criticizing it, but I’m just saying that this has been discussed before, in good detail.
There are some serious practical limitations on how far one can go in banning electronic devices. Directors cannot search players without their express prior consent. And the costs of implementing and enforcing such a ban, likely through some combination of additional directors and electronic countermeasures, are quite high. Those costs will be passed on to the players, either by reduced prize funds or increased entry fees.
Please note, I am not attempting to downplay the concern. Obviously, it’s very real. I’m just pointing out some of the issues with an outright ban. There are others, but I believe these are the most serious. And, of course, the larger the tournament, the more difficult it is to enforce any such ban.
I think it will be reasonable for directors to ban Google Glass.
Heart monitor
Pacemaker
TENS unit (transcutaneous electronic nerve stimulator)
Pedometer
Camera
Tracking microchip (implanted in many pets and now parents are considering them for kids)
etc.
etc.
etc.
Oooooo… I’m taking the kids to SuperNationals. I’ll have to looking into that tracking chip thing!
Personally, as some of the greatest upsets I have witnessed in running close to 1,000 tournaments happened
when the distracted players who listened to music, etc, rather than focusing on their games, I think that this
should be their own affair. If they could care less about their performance, and ratings, then why should their
folly be banned??
Rob Jones
I have not had any problems with players (my opponent or a nearby board) playing music too loudly. I can only recall one guy that had his volume turned up loud enough for me to hear it, but I just ignored it and won the game, perhaps because he forced me to concentrate more because of the distraction. So, thank you for the help.
Nevertheless, I like the idea of boycotting events that allow music headphones or earpieces.
As for those of you who have gone off on an anti-cheating tangent or who have begun to talk about how difficult it would be to enforce, I don’t think that’s what Jax had in mind. He appears to be simply saying no more electronic noise producing devices, otherwise, he’ll go somewhere else. No searching would be necessary. The headphones or earpieces are easily seen. Jax has a good idea to boycott events that allow noise producing devices.
Jax didn’t say ‘electronic noise-making devices’, he said ANY powered up electronic device.
Even before getting into cheating issues, that covers a lot of ground.
Please review the bolded portion above. To avoid allowing these sorts of devices, some sort of enforcement mechanism is required, irrespective of the reason(s) for such a ban.
Correct, he did not use the words “electronic noise-making devices”. Those are my words reflecting how I understood what he meant when he referred to “…opponents bearing music devices and phones…”
I still remember back in the early 70’s when I had just started playing chess. At my local club the was an older gentleman in his 80’s who would sometimes show. Once his opponent asked him to stop making that noise. The reply was “If I do I die.” He had an old pacemaker that in absolute quiet could be heard working!