Had a quick question that came up at chess club the other day. We know that according to the rules rated games are to be recorded by both players. A rated game that is not part of a tourney, just a rated game at club among 2 friends, can this be done without notation if both players agree to it? Is is up to the discretion of the TD, or does even this need to be recorded?
First, I’m assuming that these are not Blitz games.
Do any of the conditions in rule 15A1 apply? If the answer is no, then score-keeping is required.
Yes, that is what I thought, thank you.
Remember, the submitting TD has to agree to the following statement:
Hmm, that USCF needs to be changed to US Chess, doesn’t it. :sigh:
That’s okay. Most of the members still refer to the organization as the USCF.
So just for clarification purposes this is a case where it is ok for the TD to interfere in a game if they see scorekeeping by either or both players are not doing so? They are not required to wait for one of the players to complain?
Gee, I guess a lot of results from “extra games” sections will have to be thrown out if they are required to write down their moves. So would the results of a lot of Beginner and Advanced Beginner sections in scholastic tournaments which do not require score keeping. The USCF would be throwing away a lot of rating fee money.
Whether or not the players are required to keep score under the given circumstances is up to the organizer. I doubt many TDs would pay that much attention to this individual game between friends except to get the result. Hey, what if they are using an electronic score keeping device? Since they are not writing their moves down, it appears that their result cannot count for rating!
If it were two five year olds playing to get some experience using a clock, I would ignore the scorekeeping requirement. If it were adults, I would suggest they try to keep score, but I would not get all balled up and interfere with their game. It is an extra game, and not a part of the tournament. Heck, in the last round of even big tournaments, you find players in the bottom boards of class sections not keeping score as their games do not matter any more for prize purposes. Should we go out of our way to whip them into compliance?
Details, details… 
This is amazingly funny given your other comments.
Yes.
Tom, maybe you should actually read rule 15A1. It’s available online for free.
And other names…we should start a list.
I know Rule 15a1 quite well. It does provide for exceptions for scorekeeping. I also know the practicalities of tournament play. There are not enough TDs to continually police a room with 2000 players to make sure that every player is recording his/her game. If there is a complaint by an opponent, then it will be addressed. In a smaller, local event TDs use their discretion so as not to harass the players. On occasion, and those have been very few, I have placed scoresheets by both players who were not recording moves and requested them to abide by the rules. They have done so. It is also to be noted that in most tournaments players are not required to turn in scoresheets. If the players are not turning scoresheets in, jumping on them for non-compliance of Rule 15 seems to be a misuse of authority. I have never been at a TD meeting at a national or Grand Prix event where there was a heavy emphasis placed on Rule 15. Emphases have normally been on rules of the event, electronic writing devices, the actual scoring of results on provided sheets, clocks, cleaning up the room, pushing in chairs, and other housekeeping matters to provide a clean, safe venue for the players.
At the beginning of the games, it is normal to check to see that the clocks are running properly. TDs go row by row to make sure the correct starting time, delay or increment are being used, and the correct side to place clocks is complied with by the players. Sometimes a second check is done during the round. It is not common to check to see if players are writing their moves down, move by move. It is even less common to continually check to see that the moves are neat, legible, and useful for evidence when the 50 move rule, repetition of position, or other rules are applicable. Until USCF TDs are given the authority to interfere in games like FIDE arbiters and required to act, then compliance with the rules on writing down the moves will depend on a player complaint. Most players write down their moves. Quite a number do it badly or give up after they have messed up their scoresheet. It the opponent does not care to make a complaint, then continuously walking about looking for offenders is a waste of time. If the USCF wants TDs to do this at its national events, then it will need to hire more TDs and change non-interference rules.
I figured you know 15A1, but there’s a major difference between TDs allowing young and inexperienced players to skip recording games, situations where scoresheet-based claims are rare anyway, and an ad hoc game between two players who just don’t want to be bothered with keeping score.
The TD is responsible for ensuring the event complies with the rules, but that doesn’t mean perfect compliance will happen. Do experienced adult players sometimes stop recording moves in situations where the rules still require it? I’m sure it happens. In a large event, the TDs can’t be everywhere and that’s before you get into the issue of whether TDs should be watching for rules violations and dealing with them or waiting until players make claims about their opponent’s rules violations.
Any time a game is not part of a planned event (and arranged ‘extra games’ in an event are still part of the planned event so those aren’t at issue here), the TD needs to be extra careful in ensuring it complies with the rules. If two players came up to me and said “We played a game at my house last night, would you submit it for rating?”, I’d be very hesitant to agree, because I had no foreknowledge of the game or its circumstances.
The OP’s circumstance is that the two players are not playing at somebody’s home, but on site. It is an extra game. It is assigned and an official part of the event. The TD is available to supervise as needed. Do TD’s check the scoresheets of every player when they are marking the result on the pairing sheet to make sure they complied with Rule 15? Maybe in FIDE events. I have not seen that done in major scholastic events. TDs focus on the players agreeing to the score. Nor is it the common practice in local tournaments. When neither player complains about scorekeeping and are off to the side playing a rated game, most TDs are not going to bother them. They will accept the posted final result and move on. I certainly would not accept any result from players who told me they played a game last night at a home or bar that I did not see happening. If it was not assigned by me, and not in my sight of vision, it does not get sent in for rating.
I have had guys come in to a tournament and ask if they could play a rated game. I charged them a buck each to cover rating, assigned them a board number which had a set, handed them scoresheets, and checked their membership expiration and rating. I told them to see me directly after the game to report their result. I gave them a clock which was preset and off they went. They were put at the bottom of the wallchart with asterisks by their names and U’s in the other boxes indicating unplayed games. When they were done, they gave me their result. Did I ensure that they complied with Rule 15? No. Occasionally, from a distance, I would check how they were doing. Did I ask them how the game went? Yes. Did I hand them a flyer for upcoming events? Yes. did they hang around to see how other people were doing, buy pizza, and enjoy themselves? Yes. Did they come and play in the next tournament and play all of the rounds? Yes. As a TD, we play many roles to promote the game. The over officious TD does himself no favors by being a rules freak.
If two people who aren’t playing in my tournament come up to me and ask to have a game they’re about to play rated, they still aren’t part of my tournament, though I might consent to including their game in the rating report.
We used to periodically run ‘Who wants to play a rated game?’ night at the old Lincoln Chess Club. Any US Chess members that wanted to play arranged for their own opponent(s) and the club took care of sending in the rating report. Players chipped in enough to cover the ratings fee and there were no prizes.
Sounds like a good promotional effort to me! We tried Quick Chess Quads, Two Nights Tournaments (4ss, Game30 d5, two rounds per week), Kids vs Adults match, and holiday tournaments, usually Blitz, with food aplenty courtesy of the chess moms.