Searched for the “like” button on the Boise State reference, but alas this is not the correct website for that…
To tie up this discussion and to emphasize my point one more time…the rules are not clear on green and buff being “standard”. In my opinion they should clearly define it as such.
Making green and buff (and maybe brown and buff) standard hurts no one. People who like the off colors like blue and red can still use them if both players agree (and most will). The board producers will still sell the same number of boards, just less of them will be blue. The only guy hurt at all is the rare bird who a) likes the blue board and b) wants to be totally standard by the rules. And how much does it hurt him? Oh, about $5 or so for a new board!
How do I make a serious proposal for a slight change in wording on that rule?
Before making a suggestion for a rule change what about wood boards? When have you ever seen a green and buff colored wood board?? There are players who like wood boards and wood pieces [lets not get into piece color/contrast] for the feel and look. Also, there is a bit of added class to playing on a wood board with good [no bad contrast] pieces. Sort of back to the olden days of chess before plastic boards become so prevalent.
Personally I own a number of both plastic and wood boards & sets. I even have some of the old folding boards from my old chess club. I will admit that I usually use a green and buff plastic board for most tournament I play in. That does not mean I don’t think that using wood equipment is wrong, or that plastic equipment should take preference over wood.
Get any delegate to submit an ADM with your proposed wording. (well, you could show up with an ADM–or get someone to show up–at the USCF membership meeting at the US Open. If it passes there, it goes straight to the delegates agenda.)
Since the green and buff board is so much more common than the wood sets and has much better contrast than many, it is clearly more ubiquitous. So I guess it’s more standard. Would any TD uphold a complaint about the wood board? Actually, I’ve had several opponents bring one. Every single one asked if I minded playing on it (regardless of which of us had Black), and every time I agreed. It’s a less familiar feel, but it’s so nice to play on better quality equipment.
I find unacceptable:
4. Red/pink/orange/blue and white.
Basically, if I start at the ground and look up - any color found higher than low ground plants (not counting ground berries) is not acceptable for the “black” squares.
Another more succinct way to put it - earth tones minus clay earth pigments. Perhaps that is a good way to construct an ADM. Or, we could define color schemes based on RGB content.
I bring a standard sized green and white vinyl board and a standard sized Staunton style chess set plus a digital clock to every tournament I play in. Partly to avoid playing on the rainbow of boards that exist, but mostly because you are supposed to bring equipment with you. It is nice when the boards and sets are provided, but you can’t always count on that, and sometimes there are not enough available to use.
I used to bring a wooden chess set to tournaments. Still do in selected places. But for the most part I just use plastic sets because too many players have sticky fingers from pizza sauce, fruit rollups, and whatever junk food they are eating. Players have no respect for wooden pieces like they used to. If an opponent has a wooden set, I will gladly play using it as the feel and heft of the pieces is ideal. I will make sure to wash my hands before we play. I feel bad for most players who bring wooden sets, especially the really expensive sets, as those sets are likely to be treated badly by opponents who like to bang pieces, knock them over, or wipe grease into the grooves of the finely carved wood.
It may seem funny to some, but there was a time that we did not need to have a rule on board colors as the tradition and ethos of players was to bring a high quality set and board to tournaments. Bringing any color vinyl board other than green and white was just not done. Of course, back then the Pittsburgh Chess Club had over a hundred green and white paper boards that had board numbers on them which were in impressive heavy laminated sheets that were placed on tables before the event. All the players had to do was bring sets. As I recall, often more than half the sets the players brought were wooden; the rest were weighted Drueke plastic sets. Cheaper non-weighted sets were few and fit only for bars and casual play.
Odd. I’ve never considered blue boards to be an issue. I completely agree with you on pink, red, orange, or any other garish colors. Perhaps a light, bright, or pastel blue would be a problem. But, most blues I’ve seen are dark and muted just like the green boards. I admit I haven’t paid much attention to it. But, I’d swear that black and blue boards were more common in tournaments than green. I easily may be wrong on that as unless it was some garish color I’m not likely to think much about it.
How is this blue, for example? This is from wholesalechess.com and is pretty typical for blue boards. I actually prefer this to the green.
The Arpad Elo Open in Wisconsin this last weekend had mostly blue boards, and most of the players had no problem with them. I did hear one or two complaints, but nobody refused to use them. On the other hand, I have seen several people refuse to use wooden boards/sets and insist on the standard green and buff vinyl (or paper) board with white and black plastic pieces, because those are “standard” (and because that’s what they personally were used to). No accounting for taste, I guess. Sometimes there are other issues, though. I have a relatively nice wooden set, but a few of the white pawns have become discolored to the point where you have to look closely to distinguish them from the black pawns. I have brought those pieces to the club a few times when I knew we would be short of boards and sets, and some people didn’t want to use them because of that problem.
In my idea for a proposal, the following would be standard: Green/buff and brown/buff (or the appropriate wood types that adhere to these general colors). I would consider wood boards to be just as standard as vinyl roll ups. Maybe an argument could be made to put black/buff on the list also.
All the other crazy colors would be less than standard, but of course still useable as long as both players are in agreement. This tweak to the rule would give a player a chance to get a “traditional” chess board on the table, regardless of any judgment call (or lack of such) by a director.
I have one like that (don’t remember where I got it) and it’s fine with me, but if an opponent wanted to use his green and buff board (in good condition) I certainly wouldn’t object.
Several years ago USCF sold a really bright, garish blue board. I think that’s where all the fuss came from about blue boards.
Here is FIDE’s take on board colors (from the FIDE handbook)
“Natural wood with sufficient contrast, such as birch, maple or European ash against walnut, teak, beech, etc., may also be used for boards, which must have a dull or neutral finish, never shiny. Combination of colours such as brown, green, or very light tan and white, cream, off-white ivory, buff, etc., may be used for the chess squares in addition to natural colours.”
They used “soft” wording (may be used instead of must be used) but there is no mention of any color other than green and various shades of brown. I would love to see this written into the USCF rules with stricter wording.
If folks are so fragile that a board with navy blue or burgundy dark squares is going to disrupt their equilibrium, maybe we should also insert a rule requiring trigger warnings before potentially upsetting games.
