I have a few questions regarding the TD of an event.
Does the TD need to be present at the event while games are played?
Can a non-certified person be on site to run the event and have the certified TD then submit it for rating?
I ask these questions because 2 of the 3 local, certified TDs will not be available to direct some of our club tournaments. Those two that will not be available are Wayne Zimmerle and me.
I told the person that wants to run things (he was a Senior TD that had his certification expire well over 20 years ago) that there needed to be a US Chess certified TD present for the event.
I told him that if there was not, and the event was submitted for rating, I would file a complaint.
Was I right in my threat? If they do attempt to run a US Chess rated event and no certified TD is present for the event is that legal?
I feel that as a certified TD I should insure that rated events are run correctly.
In the new rulebook, Chapter 7 (TD Certification), see section 10:
“The Chief TD of an event is expected to be physically present during tournament play. If the Chief TD must be absent for short periods of time, another certified TD shall be present on-site.”
One thing you may consider is Club TD certification for another club member (http://www.uschess.org/docs/forms/Club%20Tournament%20Director%20Application.pdf). It is nice to have one of them around to step in during situations like this. Just fill out the application and e-mail or fax it to US Chess. It is my understanding the process takes very little time, so it might get done in time to solve your problem.
You really do need to have the whole book on hand. The downloadable sections are the basic rules. The book has additional information for tournament organization and management that may be needed, as well as other useful “stuff”. But you can certainly borrow someone else’s book at first.
There may well be a smaller staff with the holidays but sometimes people have been listed as a CTD within 36 hours of e-mail a scanned, signed form.
A quick once-over of the rules will get you familiar with where to find things. That will help avoid making the type of mistakes that result in appeals to the office.
PS Don’t let yourself get bullied into a bad ruling by somebody threatening to appeal your decision, and don’t feel that you have to stick by a decision if additional information would change it.
I have a question or two. How can a person with a lapsed TD certification send in an event for rating if he is sending the rating report online? Would that not be kicked as an error? If he sent the event in by mail, is the certification of the TD checked?
Could a club TD send in a completed rating report, all appropriate membership and rating fees, and a Club TD certification form at the same time?
Must there be one Chief TD who is physically present except for short periods of time, or can “the Chief TD” be a different person from round to round or day to day?
In the example that I have in mind, all Chief TDs work together and are unquestionably experienced, i.e. Senior TD or higher. Nobody ever raised an concern, yet it seems contrary to a strict reading of Chapter 7, Section 10 to have plural Chief TDs.
In the rulebook, Chapter 7 (TD Certification), see section 11. That deals with co-chief TDs and has been around for a number of versions of the rulebook. Note that 140-player tournament garners category B credit for a sole chief TD but only garners category C credit for two co-chief TDs.
When things run well, the players don’t notice the TD at all. Have played in a number of large events where if you asked other players who the chief TD of the event was, they could not tell you. Very large events operate with much of the internal workings out of sight of the players. Floor presence of assistant TDs is the norm. The upper echelon has hotel issues and other management matters that the players have little interest in to deal with. If you need to have them around, usually something very bad has happened. Good planning to anticipate all sorts of potential problems makes them seem superfluous. That means everyone knows their job and is doing it effectively. The plan is working.
On the local level, in a small tournament, there is usually only one TD. If he has to leave for any reason, it is common to “deputize” a person to deal with minor issues or tell the players to “behave” until the TD comes back. I have seen TDs have to leave for an emergency at home, need to run to a copy store to make scoresheets, go out to grab some lunch or dinner, and even go out to shovel snow off the walkway in front of the playing site. Besides the little frenzy of doing pairings and figuring out prizes, most of the time during rounds is spent trying to find something to fill the boredom. I do not like to watch games as some of the moves are so bad it hurts my feelings.
There was a time when there was no requirement for the chief to be present. One member of the Rules Benders Association ran several events on the same day at the same time in far flung locations as the chief TD from his home. There was a lower level TD on site at each of the locations. That-a-way the event could wildly exceed the cap on the on-site lower level TD’s certification. That is no longer possible.
If the players (or parents) are used to serious problems occurring under some chief TDs then they will generally notice when they go to a tournament where problems are rare or nonexistent (well, non-noticeable because they are taken care of before anybody sees them).
If the Chief TD and the Organizer are two different people then many of the site issues are referred to the organizer.
I have deputized people to go to a copy store so that I don’t have to leave the site. I’ve also deputized people to simply say that I’ll deal with any issues after answering a call of nature (some things simply cannot be delegated).
Spending time in the tournament room allows a TD to head towards a problem before it becomes serious. Monitoring rapidly moving games can de-escalate conflicts by clarifying what happened and showing rules violations were likely unintentional (example - two fifth graders without a clock were moving rapidly, one moved a pawn to the eighth rank, the opponent reacted to that move by moving, the first player replaced the pawn with a piece, and the opponent then reacted to that “move” by moving because he didn’t notice that the second “move” was merely the completion of the first move - clarifying things showed the second player that the first one wasn’t trying to cheat by erasing one of his move opportunities, and showed the first player that the second was simply made a mistake and wasn’t trying to cheat by intentionally making two moves at once). It also provides some deterrence to people trying to get away with something (with the amount of deterrence increasing once such people have been penalized).
Watching interesting games can provide information to lower-rated players, even if you remain calm and expressionless, by simply showing that there is something in the position that is interesting enough for you to watch. A lower-rated player that is clued in that there is something going on in the position then that player is much more likely to find it.
You can be an at-home mentor and stay within the rules if the TDs you are mentoring are certified highly enough to be the chief of those tournaments, are listed as the chief of those tournaments, and the mentor is not listed as actually working an event he wasn’t at (if the at-home mentor took care of all of the pre-tournament SwissSys/WinTD setup and did the post-tournament rating submission then it would be plausible to list the mentor as a general assistant TD - not chief assistant of either the tournament or of even one section - but it is simpler to leave the mentor entirely off the rating report even when the mentor handles some of the computer work or even all of the computer work if they are round robins with pre-determined pairings).
When I’m watching a game it signifies something completely different. 1) that they players are in time pressure or believe they are (that is both scoresheets don’t show 40 moves and it is not sudden death) and 2) it tends to be the least interesting game going on at the time. Why the least? Generally there are spectators watching the more interesting games, so if something goes wrong it is easier to find an impartial witness.
It is nice to have someone go out and get lunch for you, or make copies you need, or watch the players if you have to go out. Usually, people (spectators or parents) ask if I want something when they are going out for lunch. If I have planned correctly, I will not need copies of anything. I assume a worst case scenario will occur (meteors, alien attack, illegal moves, cheating) if I am not there, so I stay on site. It is difficult to get certified TD assistants for many tournaments, so the chief TD may be all there is to manage a tournament. He or she is plays the role of organizer, TD, and bottle washer.
With so many roles to play, watching particular games takes away time from more important matters. Before the first round, I explain how they should behave and act if there is a problem. During a round, a TD should be doing a general scan of the room at a distance. I look at body language, note which players are talking to each other, raising a red flag that there may be a problem. Players often raise their hands or come to you for a question. If there are cans, cups, or bottles left over on tables, I may quietly pick them up to toss away (players often do not always listen to entreaties to clean up). Questions from parents and spectators have to be addressed. Results are continuously entered during the round to make pairing faster. The TD presence alone can inhibit antics and mitigate problems. As for the games themselves, I can probably see more in three seconds than the players can see in 3 minutes. I can tell when many games are about to end. However, I prefer not to concentrate too much attention on games as the players do not need the extra pressure. I certainly do not want to influence results. As much as possible, I as the TD want to be unobtrusive. I have watched TDs stand right next to a board watching the game, and no value was added by their presence. There is too much to do as an event manager to waste time watching games.
What to do during time pressure? The TD has a responsibility to the players in games. I tend to make spectators stay 8 or more feet away from the boards. With a finger to the lips, I motion that there is to be no talking. On occasion, I have pulled spectators away. I want no one to make noise, talk, or be accused of influencing results. As a player, I have had kids lean on my shoulder, put their arms around my neck, or ask me how I am doing. Someone I know has had his son crawl into his lap when he was in time pressure. People will crowd so close to a time pressure game, that it gets hot and you feel there is no air, light, or room to move your arm to grab a piece. The tension causes players to explode at the spectators and the TD for not keeping the crowd back. It is better to have open space and prevent accusations of mismanagement.
Why 8 feet? It is the distance a child will fall forward if he is standing on a chair watching a game. An adult may fall farther, but he has usually been yelled at to get down, or he has broken the chair already. I watched a spectator at a major tournament during a blitz playoff game fall off the chair he was standing on and crash onto the table, scattering pieces and clock, while collapsing the table onto the legs of the players. 8 feet is the minimum distance I would use for spectators. Chess moms are advised not to use a phone and a selfie stick to hover over their kids’ games. Another reason not to have spectators at scholastic events. Some of these things may sound funny, but players in a game are not amused when they are in the heat of a game.
