So technically if one turns their paper scoresheet upside down then it is still visible. Or covering the score with a pen leaves the scoresheet visible. And perhaps a closed scoresheet book is still visible to a degree. At least the edges of it. 
OK. Then what is the purpose of that part of 15a?
quotes rearranged to help avoid the nesting limit.
It does prevent taking the scoresheet with you to the washroom, putting it below the edge of the table, putting it in a bag that you have to root through to get it back out again, and any other actions that take it out of sight and have the potential for people to wonder whether or not you are either showing it to others (or entering it into an engine) for nefarious purposes, or are putting it somewhere where you can refer to other recorded material while handling the scoresheet.
Maybe this could be one of those instances where they expect TDs to use a bit of common sense, other wise a literal reading of the above would be almost impossible. I mean one doesn’t follow the TD around the room waving one’s scoresheet at him or her. That could get chaotic.
Alrighty then. Apparently I read 15a wrong. But it may still be useful in this context.
As with most USCF rules, I don’t act until a player makes a claim.
Here’s the claim: “My opponent has his hardbound scorebook in his lap and he’s a) analyzing OR b) looking at stuff in it OR c) writing a bunch of stuff in it OR d) paging through it.”
My proposed ruling: “Opponent, you need to leave the scorebook on top of the playing table in plain view, particularly when you are writing in it, and you may only open it to the page with the current game.” I would base that ruling on 15A.
It matters not whether the scorebook is open or closed. What does matter is the book (device/scoresheet/paper napkin) itself is visible. I still say I’m more likely to get a claim like this one when one of the players is using a hardbound scorebook than I would when the player is using a paper scoresheet or a spiral-bound book or a device.
I will say that I have only ever had one scoresheet-related claim as a TD. This was shortly after the Wesley So incident, and someone came to me and complained that his opponent was writing extra stuff on his scoresheet. I went to investigate, and found that the “extra stuff” was standard header information – date, round number, board number, opponent’s name, etc. Claim dismissed. And that’s it.
As a player, I once had an opponent holding his Monroi (or some similar device) under the table. After a while, I just told him that he had to keep it in plain view, and he did so for the rest of the game – no need to call a TD. I didn’t (and still don’t) think he was cheating – he just didn’t know that he couldn’t do that.
Cheating is pretty rare at the relatively low-budget events that I direct and play in. I don’t care what kind of scoresheet or scorebook the players use. It has never been an issue.
I have always interpreted this as the scoresheet being visible but not necessarily the score.
I have used electronic score keeping devices for well over 7 years. While I cannot recall the Monroi (it is one I never owned) I do know that the eNotate/Dell devices and the PlyCounter(which I currently own and use) have it so all one needs to do to light up the screen showing the game score is to press the button on the front and center.
If a TD would walk up to me asking where my score was on the screen, I would simply tell him to press the button on the front, bottom center of my Plycounter (which is the only button on its front by the way) and he will be able to see the score. And if he wants to see the standard score sheet listing there is an onscreen button to click and that pops up.
If a passerby wants to look at my scoresheet, that’s too bad because he doesn’t need to see it. And I have been the same way whenever I would write the game score on a scoresheet with a pencil or pen as well.
Okay, I have a question that involves keeping the scoresheet visible at all times.
A friend recently bought a PlyCounter, and he’s now worried that someone might snatch it if he were away at the board on a bathroom break. (Personally I consider that exact point another reason to stick with pen and paper, but I am a bit of a Luddite. Also a cheapskate.) Obviously, the rule that states the scoresheet must be visible to the opponent and TD means he can’t take it with him. But could he leave it with the TD if he knows he’s going to be gone for several minutes? Sure, it’s a hassle for all involved, but would it be an acceptable interpretation of the rules, or does he just need to take his chances with theft? Would the TD, if agreeable to this procedure, be obligated to stand at the table (which seems burdensome to the TD, for he may need to go elsewhere during that time), could the player take it to the TD, etc? Taking the device to the TD raises the objection that it would be out of site of the opponent for a length of time, or that the opponent might need to go with the first player to the TD, presumably in this case on the first player’s time. Still a hassle for the opponent.
He could ask his opponent to watch it for him, but (a) the opponent may want to make his move and then leave the board himself, and (b) the opponent is under no obligation to help.
They look like they have some utility to them, but personally I think the electronic devices aren’t worth the aggravation.
Solution to this problem: designate and provide a standard score sheet and require it’s use. Bam. No more problem, and supported by both the US Chess and FIDE rule sets.
There are several reasons why the provision of a required standard score sheet is an internationally recognized best practice. Cheating potential is but one, and not even at the top of my list.
Is security that bad at the tournaments in your area that something would be stolen from the board area during a game?
As I have said earlier I have owned and used an electronic score keeping device a good number of years now. Here are some of the benefits I find with the device compared to the standard paper score sheet:
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The move notation is very clear and concise. There is no chance of not being able to read the writing on any move. Using a pen or pencil, it is quite easy to get so involved in the game that the writing can become illegible, even to the one that has written it.
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It is also very difficult to not notate a move with the electronic devices. Whereas with the written score it is easy to forget to write a move and then start writing the moves on the wrong side.
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After the game is is very nice to use an electronic device to go over the game with another. When you go off in a variation, the game position is still on the screen in a diagram for an easy setup of the pieces to the last position of the game you were at.
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It is also trivially easy to download the pgn of the game onto your computer and put it in a database or even email it. I have timed it and it literally takes less than 4 minutes to download a game, save it in a database and even email it off as an attachment.
Now the electronic devices are not perfect, but nothing really is:
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It actually takes more time to notate a move with the electronic device than to write it down on paper. I know this seems wrong, but picking up a pen or pencil and jotting down the move is really quite fast.
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There is the reputation that the device could easily be adapted for cheating. While it would take a lot of work and most likely money, there still is the problem with people’s concerns.
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If you put in a completely illegal move, the device will allow it. In the written score, this is not a problem as with the electronic device. With the screen having the game diagram, a number of moves after the illegal one, it can easily mess things up. When you go to move a piece on the device that is not on the square that it is on on the board, one can be a bit discombobulated. And it can take quite a bit of time fixing the error.
It is also noteworthy that the tournaments at the St. Louis Chess Club, particularly the US Championship and the Sinquefield Cup, have the players keeping the score with pen or pencil and paper. Sure, they are using the DGT boards but to stay legal they also need to keep their own game score. And for this they are writing it down on paper.
For $2.49 I bought a small clipboard at Staples that is identical to the ones they use at the St. Louis Chess Club to hold the score sheets during the game. It’s kind of fun.
It’s not just scorekeeping devices. There are some tournaments where you’re not allowed to bring your cell phone to the restroom, either. I’m not sure what most players do about this. I leave my phone deep in my enormous bag on the floor by my seat and hope for the best.
I don’t think most TDs could agree to watch your friend’s PlyCounter for him while he goes to the bathroom. As you say, it’s probably not right for the PlyCounter to go somewhere else, and if the TD has to make a ruling, s/he won’t be watching your friend’s board.
I’ve never heard of a scorekeeping device being stolen during a game.
Thanks for the reply.
I’ve never had that problem, but he has a couple of times. And it only takes once to make a person paranoid! I don’t even bring my nice pen to tournaments for fear that’ll get swiped.
At my last tournament, one of my opponents DID in fact forget to put in moves. When he requested my scoresheet to correct his position, he spent five minutes trying to fix things before giving up. Doh! The game was for about $500, too.
I’ve seen people just go over their game on their respective devices. It killed kibitzing for the rest of us.
Wow, you have a tough crowd in the area you live. As Maret, who is in the metropolitan Chicago area and I, who lives in Peoria, Illinois say, we just don’t see things like scorekeeping devices and such being stolen during the tournament game itself.
And you will see that I did mention this as a negative for the electronic devices. Sure, they aren’t perfect.
Well, you will find rude people in Chess no matter what kind of score keeping they do.
I just see my PlyCounter as a nice tool, no more. When my eNotate system showed a flaw in the program that Sevan, rest in peace, could not explain or fix, I went back to the paper score sheet for about 7 months.
It is nice to use the PlyCounter after the game to easily read the game score. It is also very nice going over the game with others using the device to play back the moves and show the position in the diagram at each move.
And it is nice and convenient to download the pgn when I get home and very quickly save it to my database and then email it. In our city championship we have a strong expert that doesn’t play but annotates all our games and we then put these annotated games on our web page.
Murrel, the expert, has commented on how he always knows he will get my game scores quickly and they will be very accurate. I email the game to him right when I get home for the evening and just after I fire up my laptop. This is thanks to the electronic score keeping devices.
But, with that said, I’ll probably use that $2.49 clip board that I just bought from Staples, in our next tournament over the month of September. After all, I am doing all this Chess playing for enjoyment and fun.
My friend (and really, there is a friend!) has had something like two bad experiences in 35+ years of playing. Like I said, one bad experience can make you paranoid. I’ve never personally seen or experienced a theft either in 30 years of off and on play. I’ve seen some very rude behavior, and a couple of cases of completely unethical behavior, but never theft.
LOL
I will admit that they look to be convenient. And I would love to not have to write down the time for each move, which I do for my own purposes. But I’m not ready to give up pen and paper yet! As I said at the start, I’m a bit of a Luddite, but I also like the familiarity of the process.
Thanks for the replies, I really appreciate them. I’m starting to think about these things because I’m about to take the plunge into the kiddie-pool and start directing club tournaments. Scary stuff!
Really, only once? We must have a population full of paranoid people! I would think it would take several-many bad events to make one paranoid, but then again, paranoia is unrealistic fear.
American chess players of a certain age? Of course we’re paranoid, look who got us into the game!
I kid! Maybe…
“Stolen” is a harsh word. So I am very careful in its use. However – I have had kids who had electronic plycounters not really pay attention and
go to a board after picking up someone else’s plycounter, clearly marked as to ownership, leaving their device behind. Kids sometimes will be careless in this regard.
Rob Jones
Far too many chess parents are paranoid even without a prior bad event.
I thought the MonRoi was FIDE approved.
I don’t recall if MonRoi goes blank. I typically connect an extra battery so that the device I use (generally not MonRoi although I have one) stays lit at all times during the game.