I was at a tournament last weekend, and one of the TDs mentioned that for this size of tournament (59 players in two sections) only two of the four TDs could be listed because of something he had read on the website. Like many things, he couldn’t find it again. Is there any limit, and if so, where can I learn about it?
Alex Relyea
59 players total? I think any TD could do it. Club TDs are for tournaments under 50 players, but they can still do a Class C (50-99) if necessary.
Alex, this is baloney. I am training multiple tournament directors at any one tournament. And they start off with varying roles of which they receive credit for. There have been many tournaments listed,
and directed by club TD of 100+ players.
Rob Jones
See TD Certification rule 24. As far as number of players goes, a Club TD can be the chief of a tournament expecting up to 50 players, and with both an assistant and a computer for pairings a Club TD can be the chief of a tournament expecting up to 60 players. If a tournament is expected to get 50 and 120 show up than that is still an expectation of only 50 (if the prize fund is based on 120 players then it didn’t really expect only 50 and any such claim is suspect). Even though 60 players is a Category C event, that is fine for a Club TD with the aforementioned assistance.
A Club TD MUST NOT be the chief of a Grand Prix, Category N or Category I tournament. A Club TD should not be the chief of a Category A, B or C tournament. The reason it is “should not” instead of “must not” is so that if some emergency happens like the Senior TD chief TD getting into a car accident on the way to an event then a Club TD assistant can fill in for the emergency without cancelling the tournament. An organizer that simply doesn’t want to bother with finding a Local TD or Senior TD is NOT an emergency and any Club TD who agrees up front to do an overlarge event as the chief is risking problems (the organizer may also be at risk).
Jeff Wiewel
Current TD Certification Committee Chair
Such Club TDs as overall Chief TD are directing officially out of their depth. If the tournaments have 100+ players in the USCF-rated sections then the TDs will not be looked upon favorably if there are problems with the event. The organizers of such events may also end up with sanctions if there are problems.
If such TDs are regularly the Chief TD of events of that size then they should take the test for either Local TD or Senior TD (yes, you can jump from Club TD to Senior TD if you have the credits).
As a hypothetical example of a tournament lots of TDs getting credit you could have a six-section event with 60 players in each section, different Club TDs as the section chief and section assistant of each section (12 different Club TDs could get those 12 credits), another Club TD as the overall chief assistant, and an Senior TD as the overall Chief TD (Senior with an assistant and computerized pairings can do tournaments expecting up to 360 players). There could also be another dozen or more “additional TDs” for the event.
Jeff Wiewel
Current TD Certification Committee Chair
Jeff, some of the best scholastic tds I have known have been club tds, routinely and reguraly directing events of 100+. At some point
it seems to me that TDCC really has to face the obvious–ie, that in
many areas of our federation, there is simply an acute TD shortage,
and whatever we have must suffice. I do believe that as senior and
above TDs, that we do have an obligation to train, prepare, and cajole to upgrade tds for the future. Certainly, and without question
I am far more comfortable with assistants who have at least passed the not so difficult local exam.
As to the last part, 100+ events really do take a quality staff. A very
important part of leadership for the chief td is the ability to recruit such a staff. The role of the organizer and quality of pre-registration
are also vital concerns. If the pre-tournament registration data is pristine then the tournament has a great chance of running smoothly.
If not, Katy Bar The Door.
Rob Jones
A person can reach Senior TD directing only scholastic events. It isn’t until ANTD that some $1000+ prize funds and other types of tournaments are needed. If Club TDs are regularly directing 100+ player events then they should take the Senior TD test if they have enough 50+ player events, and the Local TD test otherwise. After passing the Senior TD test, directing 100+ player events is a non-issue.
Prior to passing a higher test the Club TDs look like somebody who may or may not be out of their depths with no official verification that they know what they are doing (and I’ve heard of Club TDs that unwittingly inflicted chronic and serious mistakes upon players that didn’t know enough to realize what was done to them). If there are problems then directing over-large tournaments can result increasing the chances of sanctions and the level of sanctions. Personally, I want more than just having TDs direct events regardless of how knowledgeable they are. I also want them to show that they have the knowledge for the job they are doing. Note that there is no problem with a Club TD section chief of a 100+ player section as long as the Chief TD is of an appropriate level for the tournament (the Chief TD is there for appeals and monitoring of the subordinate TDs).
PS At the 1994(?) National Elementary in Peoria (back when it was bid out before the USCF was organizing it) there was a section chief of a 300+ player K-3 Championship section who was a Local TD. Since the overall Chief TD was an NTD, that was allowable. I’ve often used Club TDs as chief assistant of 100+ player events or section chief of 100+ player sections - but I’ve done so after verifying that they will pass on anything they cannot handle, and after I am comfortable knowing that they understand what they are not yet ready to handle.
Jeff Wiewel
Current TD Certification Committee Chair
I’m gonna take a guess that the TD Alex talked to meant “only room to list two TDs on the tournament report form” or “only allowed to list two TDs on the report form if you draw xx players.”
If so I am pretty sure that’s not true. The TD he talked to might have gotten bad info about how many section chiefs or assistant chiefs or something are allowed; I dunno.
The discussion that broke out in this thread is interesting, though. The TD regs document is too long and complicated, but that’s easy to say from here…
I haven’t looked at the paper form for a while, but the on-line form has places for: chief TD; chief assistant; section chief of each section; section assistant of each section; additional TDs (off the top of my head it may be three). So a one section report could have four TDs getting credit as a chief or assistant plus another three getting credit for activity purposes.
On line submission lets you list as many additional TDs as your little heart desires! 
“Special Deputy Assistant to the Chief Assistant Director”
“Chief Assistant Director in charge of TD juice” (caffeine!)
To clarify, I didn’t mean that Club TDs should direct class C events. I meant “if necessary”, they can handle it. Perhaps I should have said “if absolutely necessary”. In other words, if a local TD wasn’t available, then there’s at least somebody doing it. A local TD is preferred, though.
A similar question I have is this. It says Local TD’s can’t do Category I tournaments (“A Tournament held in the United States that will be submitted to both FIDE and the USCF for rating”) but I guess because it says “U.S. events that are also FIDE rated should be directed by an onsite USCF Senior TD or higher”, there is some flexibility due to the wording “should”. Is this correct and mean that I, as a local TD, could be the chief TD of a FIDE rated event? I know one local TD who has run dual rated USCF-FIDE tournaments.
FIDE requires that a FIDE rated tournament be directed by an IA (International Arbiter), FA (FIDE Arbiter), or NA (National Arbiter). Unlike IA and FA, NA is not a FIDE title; it is just a license that allows an arbiter to direct FIDE events and earn norms toward the FA title. The national federations are in charge of setting any requirements or restrictions for NAs. USCF requires NAs to be Senior TDs or higher. Unfortunately, when the NA license was first established, USCF allowed non-senior TDs to pay the license fee and obtain an NA license. My understanding is that this situation is being corrected, but not quickly.
This position has me interested–where can we find such quality
assistants??