Hey all,
I have a quick question I hope you can help with. We have a strict Sabbath observant family here in Rochester and they had some questions on the USCF rules I was not up on.
Are there special rules for people observing the Sabbath? I know they can use a analog clock instead of the digital, but what about writing down the moves? How can we handle that?
Any help is appreciated. The kids are great and want to play more but the family is very religious.
I don’t have my rule book with me, but I believe you should check the section that discusses accommodations for blind players. There is text that addresses players who may need assistance owing to legitimate religious reasons. (That is, I know the text is in the rule book, but I’m recalling where in the book from memory.)
Essentially, you (the TD) are allowed to make provision for such players. That could be providing an assistant to record moves (and offering to provide an assistant to the opponent). You could also excuse the player from the obligation to record moves. In that case, you probably should subtract a reasonable amount of time from the player’s clock to compensate the opponent who still has to record moves.
Of course, without a scoresheet, the player will not be able to make claims that rely on a scoresheet. (The opponent’s scoresheet can not be co-opted to support such claims.)
I’m going to claim partial credit for having the right idea but the wrong section in my reference.
Also, I apologize for using the term “blind” instead of “visually impaired.” I can only plead that I was recalling an earlier edition of the rule book.
It looks like your rules question has been answered previously in this thread. I just wanted to throw the following out as a possibility. Not sure if it applies in this case, but it’s worth mentioning, IMHO.
If you’re talking about a one-round-a-week tournament, especially if the pairings are ready in advance, you might ask the observant player and his/her opponent if they wouldn’t mind playing earlier in the week, or even playing early on Friday before the Sabbath begins.
I believe this same issue came up with regards to Sam Reshevesky. As I recall the game in question was moved to another day, but maybe someone else has the exact particulars of what happened.
To me, it would depend on the situation. If the player knew what the schedule was, and entered the tournament anyway knowing they would have to play on “the sabbath”, then they get what they sign up for. Unless they make arrangements IN ADVANCE of the tournament commencing, then tough cookies, you have to play on the scheduled days of play, just like everyone else.
I got sandbagged by Carol Jarecki on this issue at a World Open several years ago when I was directing.
On a Friday evening, She asked me if I would do something extra to help her. Being either cooperative or stupid, I said yes. The next thing I knew, I was punching the clock for GM L. Yudasin in a game against GM M Rohde. They were playing in the G/60 schedule and GM Rohde had recently started using a digital clock. GM Yudasin cannot use an electrical device on Shabbat. GM Rohde rightfully insisted on using a digital delay clock so we needed someone to punch for GM Yudasin, unfortunately me. I tried keeping my hand on my arm and only reaching for the clock after the move was completed and mostly succeeded. Occasionally, I just barely beat GM Y to the button and once or twice I was somewhat quick.
After the game, GM Rohde was a bit miffed with me, feeling I had been too quick too often. At a later tournament, we talked about that game and he told me it felt like he was playing against two people. FYI, GM Yudasin was not keeping score and had his time reduced by 10 minutes and had the mentioned restrictions on claims when not keeping score.
GM Rohde was miffed that you were pressing the clock even though GM Yudasin was docked 10 minutes in a G/60!? Ten minutes is a lot in an action game, and a lot more than the time a GM would need to record his moves.
Frankly, I think GM Rohde was mixing two issues here: 1. someone pressing the clock for his opponent and 2. two people sitting across from him at the board. Chess is a psychological game and I can definitely see how it is disconcerting to square off against a team of two. (In much the same way that US Chess League and Collegiate Chess League players sometimes complain about not having any opponent sitting in front of them during online slow time control games.) He wasn’t upset at you for moving too quickly as much as he was unnerved by your presence at all!
[In the last sentence, I should have written: “press clock too quickly” instead of “moving too quickly.”]
He’d have been happier if I had been making some of the moves in the game. GM Rohde that is. I’m sure that GM Yudasin would not have appreciated my positional judgment.
Regards, Ernie
