Has anyone used this device and if so, any reliability issues? Thanks.
When my eNotate system failed with an admitted, by the now passed Sevan, programming flaw I lived with the written score for about 6 months then purchased a Plycounter.
I have owned and used my Plycounter since the middle of November 2015.
I have experienced no problems whatsoever with my unit. In fact I found it easier to use than either the eNotate or Monroi, which I worked on for a club member and used myself for awhile. The Monroi uses an old processor which makes its operation slow. The young man, now 15. and his father thought the thing was malfunctioning because it was so slow. After working on it and using it, I found that unit worked, but it was just very, very slow compared to other handheld devices, including even the older PDA’s.
My Plycounter has had no reliability issues at all. And I find that I am now taking it for granted. And that’s a good thing.
Of course, being able to download, save in my database, and even email as an attachment, literally within minutes, is what makes it so worthwhile.
Thanks. I agree. I’ve been using yNotate, an Android app, that does all of that as well. I can email the pgn right from my tablet to anyone. Down side is that it is not certified for tournament play even with its tournament mode that locks everything else out. I’ve used it in a couple of tournaments by agreement with my opponents who I knew and who had seen me use the app previously.
BTW, it’s looking like Monroi may not be around much longer. No recent tournaments or updates on their web site. I inquired of them about a year ago regarding club discount rates on their product for 10+ units and never even got a response.
I don’t own one, but I was directing at an event where a player had issues with his. Pieces kept disappearing or random pieces would appear. I only became aware of the issue because his opponent complained about his constant manipulation of the device. After the round, he reset the device and didn’t have any issues for the rest of the tournament.
FWIW, I’d clear it with the TD as well/instead. You really don’t want to argue about whether you should be forfeited during a game.
Alex Relyea
Right. I actually did that as well. No problem.
My son is using Plycounter to notate his games and although he came across some minor issues, he likes the device and uses it all the time. The minor issues are typically “user related”, like he pressed the wrong square or something of this nature. There are less of those, not that he is an experienced player.
I give private lessons to scholastic players and ineligible score sheets, score sheets with only 5 - 10 moves is a constant issue. For the parents (who I know is able to afford the device), I now offer one free lesson to offset some of the cost. It helps a lot when kids get and start using the device, I can now see the full game in it’s entirety, lessons are so much more productive, when time is not spent trying to decipher the score sheet.
On the negative side, some of the tournaments (like USATE 2016) forbid using the electronic score-sheets altogether with rational given “it is possible to take the device to the bathroom and examine the position there”. To be fair to them, they also forbade using paper scorebooks.
This rationale surprises me. At all my tournaments players are required to leave scoresheets, digital or otherwise, at the table.
Alex Relyea
They weren’t prohibited because of their portability; they were prohibited because the organizer implemented the universally acknowledged best practice of providing a standard score sheet.
I do not understand the logic here. If you only allow paper score sheets, you better provide them, otherwise you will have difficulties to enforce your policy with 1000+ players in attendance.
Okay, so you provided paper score sheets, why is this necessarily mean that electronic scoring devices approved by USCF should be prohibited?
Under US Chess rules, the organizer has the right to specify the scoresheet for the competition. If the organizer does so (not just providing paper scoresheets for those who do not have scorebooks or electronic notation devices, but actually mandating their use), then the players must use the scoresheets provided.
I’m perhaps not getting Mr. Koganov’s point. I have played in many tournaments for many different organizers and all of them, even down to small club events, have provided paper scoresheets.
Alex Relyea
Has anyone ever been to a tournament where the organizer mandated electronic scoresheets? At the 2007 U.S. Championship we attempted to broadcast all games on Monroi, and all players were encouraged to use one. In games where neither player wished to, a spectator was dragooned into following the game.
Alex Relyea
Does anyone know if Monroi is still functional as a company?
Agreed. And I understand USATE provided them.
No answer is necessary beyond “because the organizer says so” under the plain language of either the US Chess rules and the FLC. That said, standardization of scoresheets facilitates equalization of playing conditions and also permits organizers to collect results and game scores in a uniform manner if they wish. So those are further, if superfluous, reasons.
I was on the backroom staff of a state high school championship during which a US Chess and FIDE approved electronic scorekeeping device was modified by the user to run pocket Fritz. I’ve been skeptical of such devices ever since, and have been persuaded to follow the international standard of providing scoresheets and requiring their exclusive use in events that I run (not that there have been many recently).
Someone likes their scorebook or their Monroi? Fine. Enter the game in it after the game is over.