I have been teaching a player for nearly a year, a young man of 18, and he has played in rated tournaments for several years. In March he went through a medical procedure that went badly and essntially had a stroke. He’s better now, and wants to play in a chess tournament in a few weeks. His right arm is parallyzed, and he has not yet relearned to write with his left hand - progressing slowly for a variety of reasons. He simply can’t do much with a pen right now, but he’s mentally sharp enough to play and can move pieces well enough and hit a clock. Is there any way to accomodate his physical difficulty with taking notation? One more thing - his condition also causes him to mix up words, so I’m not sure a tape recorder like blind players have would even help much. Even if he can write, he’s just as likely to write B or N when it should be K. Any ideas?
I don’t have the new edition of the USCF handbook, but the 4th edition, section 35, had rules for disabled players. The leading statement there is:
“35A. Purpose The purpose of these rules for players with temporary or permanent disabilities is to encourage them to play chess.” (emphasis mine)
It seems to me that his inability to write left-handed is a disability that’s of the temporary variety (probably the closest analogy is somebody who’s broken his writing hand), as it sounds like he’s going to be able to do this eventually.
I’m pretty sure there would be an analagous section in the new area of the handbook, although I’m not sure what would necessarily needed for this section to apply, or whethere there are additional clarifications. (Some TD’s are more understanding and accomodating about this than others, as I’m sure your young man has already discovered.) I’d recommend talking to the tournament director in advance, if possible, because most TD’s should be really up front about how this works.
If it were me, I’d find somebody to take notation for the young man in question. Section 35 would also require me to find somebody to take notation for his opponent in each round (basically, any accomodation that this player gets has to be given to the opponent). To me, providing this would seem relatively minor compared to accomodating some of the other special needs that are out there.
I hope this answers your question.
– Patrick
Yes, the rules do address these situations, and in my experience, most TDs and opposing players are more than willing to accommodate a person’s special needs, in keeping with the spirit of friendly competition (as long as the opponent is not burdened). Even when they don’t know the specific rules, most opponents won’t even make an issue of it, as long as they are made aware of the specific reason your student won’t be keeping score, or will have help with keeping score. In the rare case when an opponent does object, a TD should be there to whip out the rules and educate said opponent.
I wouldn’t worry about it. Just do as WAchessNut suggested and contact the organizer and/or Chief TD in advance, preferably before the day of the tournament. If that’s not possible, just get there early, so that you can discuss it with the TD before the first round. As tough as I am on players who WON’T keep score, I think players who CAN’T keep score (in the usual way, or at all) should be shown some consideration, and I’m glad the USCF Rules address this issue.
Article 35 covers rules for disabled players.
The TD should do everything possible to help both the disabled and non-disabled players to secure assistants. Often, spectators or players with byes are willing to act as assistants. TD TIP following 35F10
There shouldn’t be any problem at all for the TD to arrange accommodation for your player. I would think ALL TDs would be willing to honor such a request. Even if some TDs are less accommodating in spirit, they are bound by their certification to apply the rules fair and impartially.
The two posts following mine reminded me of something:
It’s especially significant to contact the TD beforehand in a really small tournament, as there are often not spectators or players with byes as suggested in the TD Tip.
You might also check out page 56 in the 5th edition of the rulebook. The TD Tip outlines how to treat situations where one player is excused from taking notation and no third party is taking notation for the player. There is a formula in that Tip that subtracts time from the clock of the player excused from taking notation.
Tim Just