A player in my tournament showed up after the round started, and was paired to play White. He saw who his opponent was on the pairing sheet, and then informed me that he was going up to his room to review an opening that he knew that his opponent typically played as Black.
My initial comment to him was that he should not leave the room once the round had started (in the spirit of 20H); however, after consulting with another TD, I allowed him to leave. The philosophy that I ended up using was that if he had seen the posting 30 minutes prior to the round, he could have gone up to his room anyways and have been OK as long as he wasn’t an hour late for the game.
If the player had been Black, I think that I would have stuck with my initial ruling since after the round had started, he could have seen the initial move of the White player.
Consulting books or notes after the start of the round is clearly illegal. Doing so after the pairings have been posted but before the start of the round is perfectly permissible, but I’m not sure how you’d determine that he closed the book at the right time. In the situation you describe, I would have told the player sit down at the board, period. Your initial ruling was correct.
Consulting notes after the start of the ROUND, or the start of the GAME? Since no moves were made, the game had not started yet. (Hence my emphasis on the player being White or Black.) If the player had been Black, then the GAME would have started.
I would consider the starting of the clock to be the start of the game. One way to think about when a player could no longer access printed material is to consider when touch move starts to apply. A player who shows up 30 minutes early can touch all the pieces he wants without having to move them, but once his opponent starts his clock, he has to move the piece he touched.
Start of the round. That’s either the announced start time or the point at which the TD says “start your clocks.” Any other interpretation would lead to absurd consequences. (E.g., opponent not present and player chooses not to start his clock while he studies an opening book.)
Well, suppose the white player had seen the pairing one minute before the start of the round, dashed up to his room then, studied the opening and shown up at his board 10 minutes late. Nobody would know, necessarily, why white was 10 minutes late, so what penalty could apply in that instance except a loss of 10 minutes of clock time?
That being said, if this player told the TD what he was doing, perhaps he deserves to forfeit the game on grounds of cluelessness.
Just so. He can’t get away with it if he announces his intention.
If he said, “I have to hit the can!” it would be a different story. He could go prepare his line and, although it would technically be just as illegal, there would be no way to prove or even infer that from his actions or words.
If the pairings are posted 20 minutes in advance and the player immediately goes up to his room to prepare, then should he or she be forfeited for using assistance when the clocks start? What if a friend of the player checks the pairings and relays the info via cell phone? What if the player never saw the pairings, but was able to figure out whom he would play and was cramming some new theory in his room at the time the clocks began.
I will say that this scenario is quite common in Open sections at bigger events. Players are seen milling around waiting for the pairings to go up and then mysteriously disappear, only to return about 15 minutes after the round began. It appears that losing 15 minutes on the clock is a small price to pay for being prepared with the latest opening theory.
I have never seen a player warned or forfeited for coming to the game late because they spent time in their room studying, even after they publicly admit what they were doing. Some people even do it every single round, occasionally in public areas of the hotel. It certainly is not a secret.
In the first place, forfeiting is pretty extreme for a first offense. In the second place, you are quite right that there is no way to enforce such a rule because there’s no way to tell where a player has been before he arrives at the board. But, in the third place, that’s irrelevant to the case cited because the player admitted he was planning to violate the rules. It’s the same as the difference between a player going to the bathroom and the same player telling the TD he’s going to the bathroom to consult his computer.
I guess that was why I changed my original ruling after consulting with another more experienced TD. The analagy presented to me was that they could just walk out after the pairings were posted and before the round started, so there was no realistic difference on the outcome of the game since he was White and had no more information than he would have had 20 minutes earlier.
Consider this case:
Players A & B paired in the last round and a point ahead of the field stand in front of the td and openly discuss agreeing to a draw at move 20.
How does the argument given in your case, differ from:
They could just walk out and make that agreement in private, so there was no realistic difference in the outcome of the game.
Does that definitively prove that Player A used assistance after the round began? No. Does it strongly suggest that Player A intended to use assistance? Yes. These conversations happen all the time, in broad daylight, within earshot of other players and sometimes even the TD.
Clearly, the interpretation at most tournaments is that the game begins when both players have made their first move at the board. That’s the same point at which there’s a distinction between no-show flag fall (forfeit) or loss on time (official result). A game 1.e4 1-0 is not supposed to be submitted for rating purposes, but after 1.e4 c5 the game is on.
I would say not okay for him to leave the room, except for trips to the restroom and vending area. Smoking too.
However I had to go to my hotel room to change into shorts since the playing hall was very hot. I made sure a TD knew and knew why. And reappeared with shorts on, of course!
Actually, the rule begins with the words, “During play…” So would you rule that play has begun once the clock has started, or after the first move has been made? I could see appeal grounds that play had not yet begun in that game in the round until the first move has at least been determined. (Though I’d also readily acknowledge that would be rules-lawyering.)
The round starts either at the scheduled time for round start, or at the moment when the TD says “start your clocks.” Saying that play begins only when the clock is started leads to absurd results and cannot be accepted. To give one example: If both players are late or no clock is available, the time should be split equally between the players when the clock starts. If play doesn’t start until the clock starts, how do you justify deducting time? Another example: One player is present with equipment, the other is not. If the player chooses not to start the clock after the scheduled start of the round, can he sit at the board studying an opening book? I don’t think so.
So, according to what you’re saying, they’re ‘playing’ when the round starts. So, I’m playing my game even if I’m stuck in traffic before I make a move. But if I forfeit on time, the game is not ratable since it is considered ‘unplayed’, even though I was ‘playing’. This is absurd.
M.Aigner is absolutely correct. Logical thought dictates that play begins when you make a move, or as Black, become aware which was the first move made.
I would say going back to the hotel room after pairings are announced just before the round may be bad form (makes you look like a coward in my opinion) or bad manners (keeping your opponent waiting), but I do not see how it is illegal, and if it is illegal it should be stricken since it is impossible to enforce, giving an advantage only to the dishonest people.
The question is: was an unfair advantage gained? ‘Advatange,’ possible. ‘Unfair?’ Couldn’t his opponent have done the same thing? Couldn’t his opponent suspect preparation, vary his opening, and nullify the other players’ preparation?
What’s absurd is the suggestion that you should be allowed to study a chess book after the round has started. In principle, all games (and clicks) should start at the scheduled round time. In a FIDE event, with equipment supplied, this would always be the case. In a large Swiss, there are practical difficulties, since some players may not have equipment, and the pairings may be late. So the start of the round – the point at which it becomes illegal to consult books or notes – becomes the later of the scheduled start time or the moment when the TD says “Start your clocks.” Are you really trying to argue with a straight face that, by not coming to the board on time (never mind whether it’s deliberate or not, that’s irrelevant), you gain the right to study an opening book while your clock is running? You can believe that if you want, but I think you’ll find it a hard sell to any competent TD.
As for “hard to enforce,” that’s perfectly true. So are the rules against consulting a computer in the bathroom, or throwing a game for part of the winner’s prize. That does not mean those rules should be ignored or abolished.
