Less important clarifications/changes to the Blitz rules

[Micah_Smith]

There have been several long threads discussing clarifications/changes to the Blitz rules. Since the list is quite long, I will summarize the less important ones here and the more important ones in another thread:

1. Add to the first paragraph that Blitz games are sometimes used to break ties in tournaments

2. Add to the end of the first paragraph that Blitz events are often played in double Swiss or double round robin format and this has the advantage of making the event go faster and avoids potential color problems

3. The 6th edition states “Take note that Blitz is not Quick Chess with a 5-minute time control (which follows standard sudden death rules).” Add “except scorekeeping is not required” to the end of this statement.

4. The current Blitz rules says “Blitz has its own rating system. To be rated, the time controls require from 5 to 10 minutes total playing time, and have a minimum primary time control of 3 minutes. All rounds must use the same time control. Hence, G/3 inc/2 is rated under the Blitz system.” The last two sentences should be switched around.

5. Get rid of Rule 1a which states “Standard time control (TC) for blitz is G/5 with no delay.” the opening paragraph already states G/5;d0 is a typical time control for Blitz and this isn’t a “rule”.

6. At the end of rule 1b, add “See Also 5b1 Delay and Increment”

7. Blitz rule 2b states “A digital timer (given it meets the requirements of 2a) is preferred over an analog timer due to the precision of setting and the accuracy of timing. If no digital timer is available, then an analog timer may be considered standard.” Eliminate the last sentence since it’s redundant.

8. At the end of rule 2 add “See Also 5G, the Flag”

9. Blitz rule 3b states “If an illegal position is created or an illegal move made without the opponent making a claim, the position stands and a claim not allowed when the opponent has determined a next move.” The wording “and a claim not allowed when the opponent has determined a next move” could be improved to something like “and a claim is not allowed once the opponent has determined their next move”.

10. At the end of the section on draws add, “See Also 14 The Drawn Game”

11. The wording of the first sentence of Blitz rule 17 (rule 18 before 1/1/15) could be improved from “Standard penalty for first offense is to add one minute to the opponent’s clock” to something like “The standard penalty for the first violation of a rule is to add one minute to the opponent’s clock”

[Micah_Smith]

12. The sentence “To be rated, the time controls require from 5 to 10 minutes total playing time and have a minimum primary time control of 3 minutes.” is worded poorly. Better would be something like “To be rated, the time control must be between 5 and 10 minutes of total playing time and have base time of at least 3 minutes.”

13. Rule six starts off by saying “6.) Except for pressing the clock, neither player should touch the clock except:” and then it has 6a through 6e. You would expect these to all be situations where a player can touch the clock but they are not so rule 6 should be reformatted.

14. The TD Tip on insufficient losing chances states: “The TD should be aware that common practice has shown that in addition to the official Blitz rules that “Insufficient Losing Chances” claims are upheld only:”. Get rid of wording “that in addition to the official Blitz rules” which makes no sense.

[Smythe_Dakota]

@Micah Smith

… Better would be something like “To be rated, the time control must be between 5 and 10 minutes of total playing time and have base time of at least 3 minutes.” …

Better yet: “Main time must be at least 3 minutes. And main time in minutes, plus increment or delay time in seconds, must be between 5 and 10 inclusive.”

Bill Smythe