Well, if you run regular events, having such information is probably a good idea anyway, just to be able to send things like information for future events and prize checks if players leave without collecting. And, yes, it might come in handy for things like this.
Banning a player is a pretty big step, and is definitely unpleasant to even consider. Is it advisable? Well, that depends.
If you’re going to permanently ban a player, though, it would be good to first give them multiple chances to correct their behavior, documenting their behaviors and your responses each step of the way. Just small notes in a logbook of some kind (perhaps an Excel spreadsheet or Word document, for the electronically inclined) should be sufficient for most documentation.
And there should be one formal, written letter mailed directly to the offender as a final warning. In that letter, be sure to state the dates, times and nature of the previous transgressions, as well as what you did to help correct the situation. (Example: “On June 15, 2011, you swore at Randy Rook during a tournament game. In our conversation later that day, I advised you that foul language was explicitly against our club’s policy, and warned you to avoid such outbursts in the future.”)
The disadvantage of this is that you will end up doing a lot of documentation. The advantages of doing this are (1) your final letter (and expulsion letter, if needed) will write themselves; and (2) you’ve already given the person sufficient chances to demonstrate contrition and fix the behavior(s).
I have seen players banned “permanently” from local tournaments for bouncing checks. He was only permitted to come back after he paid his past debts and then paid in cash when he wished to enter again. How permanent a ban can be is dependent on circumstance.
I have also seen a player who was banned for prior bad acts (drugs and/or alcohol) from a club and tournaments. Like all addicts he apologized and begged for reinstatement. After several relapses and other incidents, the ban was made more permanent. It is possible this player may request reinstatement again; the judgment of the club will prevail. All of this was documented, something to consider to avoid the appearance of caprice or personal animus.
As far as personal reasons, I have seen TDs who have had personal issues with some players. The TDs are on hair trigger and find fault with everything the player does. That does not mean that the player is not at fault, too. But the TD can overstep his bounds of discretion and cause more problems than he needs to concerning player behavior. You have to ask yourself the question whether notice becomes provocation. In cases where players have committed prior bad or egregious acts, there is no question what the TD can do. However, many times the issues are a lot grayer, and one needs take care that one’s personal feelings are not so aroused or sensitive that you are making a bigger issue out of something than needs be. Once again, since the facts that generated the initial post are not on view, it is not clear why you are anticipating a problem.
I don’t see why this would require any elaborate process. Item 5i in the Code of Ethics (p. 235 in the rulebook) specifically mentions “Violating federal, state, or local laws while participating in activities that are associated with the USCF.”
The “elaborate process” really applies to actions that could restrict a member’s participation in more than one tournament. The rulebook makes it quite clear that there are situations that merit immediate ejection of a person from the premises.
Restrictions on attendance should, as much as possible, be advertised in advance so that no one makes a trip to the tournament site only to be denied admission. One of the reasons for providing contact information when advertising a tournament is so that potential attendees can request clarification in advance on matters that might affect their ability to attend (like whether children ever attend).
In the five plus years I have been the Tournament Organizer for the New Mexico Chess Organization (and an active local TD for NMCO and a another small local chess club) There have been two relevant examples: In the first, a player withdrew from two separate tournaments, after losing a game in the early rounds, without notifying the TD. He simply left the premises and was forfeited the next round for non-appearance and withdrawn by the TD for subsequent rounds.
The board of directors of the organization advised the player that the matter was going to be discussed at the next board meeting and he was invited to attend to explain his reasons for leaving without notice. The invitation was not accepted.
Accordingly, the board mailed the player a registered return receipt letter putting him on warning and advising him that if he repeated the offense he would be banned from all NMCO Tournaments for the balance of that year.
Art Byers
In the second instance, during the same year, that same player was banned from another local club's rated tournaments, (I never have TD'd a tournament for that club), apparently, for a very similar reason.
In both cases, each organization made an effort to be fair and have the violations explained by the player before taking action.
It is up to each USCF Affiliate to decide how to handle on-site serious violations of rules, good sportsmanship and ethics at the rated tournaments they run. Organizers and TD’s have considerable discretion on a playing site but common sense should prevail. Also, there is a standard procedure, info is available from staff at the USCF , on how to make an appeal to the USCF Ethics Committee to warn, censure or even revoke a member’s USCF membership for bad behavior. The procedure requires documentation, statements from witnesses etc.
BTW, for some time we had a similar challenge with a local player. We solved our problem by requiring a large-medium $$$ appearance fee deposit from the player that got returned only if they withdrew properly from the tournament. I am not sure this would work in every case, but it was effective in this one.
The key to banning players is the documentation, notification, and due process.
