recording of moves

Running Chess Tournaments
1

I’m preparing to play in a couple tournaments in Feb. These are my first. I was reading on the FIDE site and found the following;

If a player has less than five minutes left on his clock at some stage in a period and does not have additional time of 30 seconds or more added with each move, then he is not obliged to meet the requirements of Article 8.1. Immediately after one flag has fallen the player must update his scoresheet completely before moving a piece on the chessboard

Is the same true is USCF tournements? And where exactly can I go to find such tidbits of information on USCF tournements?

Thanks;
Bill T

2

This is Rule 15B or 15C for USCF tournaments. It is true in USCF tournaments as long as you are playing in a sudden death time control (ie game ends when time expires), the difference is that USCF doesn’t require you to update the scoresheet to claim a win on time. Most USCF tournaments use a delay function (X seconds before your time begins, on a digital clock) rather than increment, but the rule is the same.

All these details are in two sources: the first is the U.S. Chess Federation’s Official Rules of Chess by Just and Burg (uscfsales.com has it, among other regular online booksellers). The second are the rule updates which are available free on the USCF website.

“About USCF” > “Governance” > “Reports” > RulebookChanges-Dec08.pdf

3

There are several documents available on the website that deal with time control and notation issues, but in looking at them they could stand being updated. I’ll pass that suggestion along to the office.

4

From the posted Rulebook changes page (http://www.uschess.org/docs/gov/reports/RulebookChanges.pdf):

15B. Scorekeeping in time pressure, non-sudden death time control. If either player has less than five
minutes remaining in a non-sudden death time control and does not have additional time (increment) of 30
seconds or more added with each move, both players are excused from the obligation to keep score…

TD TIP: Only players in games with increment time controls of 30 seconds or more and using
properly set increment capable clocks are required to keep score at all times, even in the last five
minutes of any time control period. Players using improperly set increment clocks or non-increment
capable clocks, even those clocks adjusted for an increment time control, are regulated by rule 15B.

15C. Scorekeeping in time pressure, sudden death time control. If Either Player has less than five
minutes remaining in a sudden death time control and does not have additional time (increment) of 30
seconds or more added with each move, both players are excused from the obligation to keep score….

TD TIP: Only players in games with increment time controls of 30 seconds or more and using
properly set increment capable clocks are required to keep score at all times, even in the last five
minutes of any time control period. Players using improperly set increment clocks or non-increment
capable clocks, even those clocks adjusted for an increment time control, are regulated by rule 15C.

From the rulebook:

15B. Scorekeeping in time pressure, non-sudden death time control.
If either player has less than five minutes remaining in a non-sudden-death time control, both players are excused from the obligation to keep score until the end of the time control period. Doing so, however, may make it impossible to claim a draw by triple occurrence of position (14C) or the 50-move rule (14F) or a win on time forfeit (13C). Scorekeeping by both players must resume with the start of the next time control period, and missing moves should be filled in (15F).

15C. Scorekeeping in time pressure, sudden death time control.
If either player has less than five minutes remaining in a sudden-death time control, both players are excused from the obligation to keep score. A scoresheet is not required to win on time in a sudden death control (13C).

5

Bill,

One of the tournaments that you previously expressed an interest in in another topic was one of Frank Berry’s with a 30 second increment. A big part of the reason why he set up the time control that way is so that everybody would have complete (and legible, but that may be asking too much) scoresheets. I’m not sure what the other tournament you’re planning to attend is, but my hunch is that if either player has less than five minutes remaining you won’t be required to keep score.

Alex Relyea

P.S. It’s a good idea to have a rule book for this sort of thing. You’ll remove a disadvantage if you’re familiar with all the rules, and several, like rule 14, may give you a few extra half points.

6

I plan in playing in all tournaments in the Tulsa area and in most other in Okla. G(90+30) and G(60+5)seems to be popular around here.

I find it both curious and disturbing that the only way to obtain a copy of the rules one needs to obey and be aware of is to purchase a book for $18. It seems like that information should be available on the web site. The fact that the material changes on a regular basis makes it best suited for electronic format anyway. These days downloading a corrected copy to an e-reader is easy and much preferable to trying to ensure that you have all your changes and the original book correlated properly.

How difficult can it be to post a pdf?

7

This issue has come up many times, the problem is that the publisher of the rulebook (McKay) has a pretty much iron-clad contract dating back at least 20 years that allows them to control whether or not the rulebook is made available online. (And why would they want the USCF to give it away for free?)

The USCF has brochures that deal specifically with some basic tournament information like time controls and recording of moves, and as I said before, those appear to be in need of some updates.

8

Bill, try half.com for a good deal on the rule book. A forum search will reveal the loooong discussions Mike Nolan references. It’s kind of one of those “sins of the father” type of thing…current members just have to deal with it until the Federation takes on McKay over the issue. Unfortunately, it’s pretty low on the priority list. Good luck in Oklahoma tournaments – I got my start over ten years ago at the Phillips 66 Classic in Bartlesville, OK, and plenty of quick tournaments run by Steve Wharry at the Bartlesville club.

9

As an uninformed newbie, I’m certainly not going to try and argue with the establishment. However, my question was not about the rulebook, but the rules. It certainly works to the advantange of the established players over people new to tournament chess to not make the rules available. (in browsing the forums, I’ve seen numerous references to gaining points over the uninformed; only from their superior knowledge of the rules) The pointer on the site to the sale of the “rulebook” seem to indicate that it is aimed at TDs.

Quote from the webpage;
All tournament directors should have a complete copy of the 5th edition of the rules with them at all tournaments they are directing. Members should be familiar with the basics.

Even if you can’t put up the rules, at least a faq covering the things players should be aware of with a reference to the book for more specific info on the subject would be acceptable.

10

Ask and you shall receive…

Activities & Insterests > Forms > IntroToTournaments.pdf
http://main.uschess.org/docs/forms/IntroToTournaments.pdf

TimeControl.pdf is also a good FAQ read. Enjoy!

11

Those are the links that appear to me to need updating, Crume.

12

I agree that a faq with player basics would be good, though I’m not sure where they’d draw the line on what’s basic.

Maybe I’m leading a charmed directing existence, but these questions don’t come up nearly as often as that inch-thick rulebook or this forum would imply. You read about games and players and rulings from hell on this forum, but they’re quite rare.

As for new players, they pick these things up as they go along. I always tell the kids at scholastic tournaments “live and learn” or “next time you’ll know”. Any loss of rating points due to this kind of thing will be temporary.

13

Sometimes after directing a tournament with a lot of clueless players (I’m not talking about children either!) I often think every player should be required to become a TD so that they get a better appreciation of what TDs have to deal with.

I would encourage all players regardless of experience to own a copy of the rule book and keep track of changes that have been made since the last printing. There are many parts that a player can skim over, but I would carefully read the sections on keeping score, using the clock, illegal moves and any other topic covering actual play over the board. Understanding how the swiss system works can be overwhelming, but getting the basics down is good, so that one isn’t constantly asking the TD “How come I got two Blacks in a row?” or “How come I’m playing somebody with a different score then me?”

I can remember taking the Harkness Blue Book out of the library before my first tournament so I could understand tournament procedures. It was helpful and I had an idea of what to expect. Perhaps with exception of getting my head handed to me for the first couple of rounds. :blush: (I was suffering from “big fish in the little pond” syndrome, and found out that really I was a small fish in the ocean.)

14

I agree. I post here when I have an interesting or unusual situation. If it was routine, I wouldn’t bother posting.

Alex Relyea

15

The most successful tournaments (at least from this TD’s perspective) are the ones where the TD is bored because nothing ‘interesting’ happens. :slight_smile:

16

20 years seems like a long time to have a book publishing contract.

Is there a specific reason we can’t change publishers? I’d be hard pressed to believe McKay owns the copyrights to the book.

17

Rather than rehash this, please go back and read the previous threads.

Short answer: The publisher has the rights to both new editions and to derivative works, and book contracts don’t have expiration dates in them.

18

I have to agree with Polly in regards to players knowing the rules. Both of my
daughters are tournament directors, one a local. Knowing the rules was a strong suggestion
for their continued play. Knowledge of the rules is essential, for as we are human,
tournament directors, particuraly in some of the smaller, local events, are capable
of error. When I was a young lad, a td told me his civil war chess chess
was standard, and defeated me using it.

One senior citizen told me he hated the rules re the new-fangled clocks–he liked
the good old days. When asked when that was, he responded 1948!!

 Rob J
19

I have to agree with Polly in regards to players knowing the rules. Both of my
daughters are tournament directors, one a local. Knowing the rules was a strong suggestion
for their continued play. Knowledge of the rules is essential, for as we are human,
tournament directors, particuraly in some of the smaller, local events, are capable
of error. When I was a young lad, a td told me his civil war chess chess
was standard, and defeated me using it.

One senior citizen told me he hated the rules re the new-fangled clocks–he liked
the good old days. When asked when that was, he responded 1948!!

 Rob J