I tell yound scholastic players who are all worried that their scoresheet is messed up to just draw a line across it and start recording with the next move made.
The usually was sort of tongue in cheek. I say the 5 minute thing in a very light hearted manner and almost always get a positive response. I only got pushed on this a few times by players with an attitude, and once I start resetting the clock to 5 minutes the player’s attitude has always changed.
Well, I was thinking about this as a prescription for a couple of adults who don’t like to keep score in our tournaments. It does seem to benefit them to not keep score, and we have been subtracting 5-minutes, which I don’t think really solves the problem. I want them to keep score, and I’m thinking that, if this isn’t seen as too harsh, I’d like to use this threat, to say, reduce time from G/:90 to G/:30 (or even G/:15). I’ve had several losing players complain (after the game, of course) about their opponents not keeping score. At the same time, I don’t want to seem so harsh to these players to the extent that they don’t return.
So, is this a legitimate possibility we could use?
I would argue writing Nf3 every move violates the letter of the law as well as the spirit. Writing Nf3 is not an attempt to " record the game (both the player’s and the opponent’s move)".
I’m glad that Mullfish clariified that wasn’t what was suggested. With that clarification, I agree with what the TD said “you don’t have to do it well.”
The closest is the TD tip in 15A where directors can deduct time off the clocks for players whom they excuse from keeping score. It says “a good rule of thumb is to deduct 5% of the total game time up to 10 minutes”. Since it’s only a “rule of thumb”, there’s nothing against reducing the time by other amounts. Otherwise, I suppose after a warning or two the standard penalty would apply (with escalating penalties as needed) if the player is found to not be keeping score.
At a recent (unrated) tournament, we had a young lad (grade K or 1) who was under strict orders to record the game, and was quite diligent about it. However, I guess he hadn’t quite figured out that the squares had the same names when looked at from both directions, so, after his opponent moved, he would get up from his chair, walk around to the other side of the table and figure out what the move was from his opponent’s perspective. Needless to say, he probably spent more time recording than actually playing. The game was running towards the point where we would (with somewhat older kids) have put a clock on it. When I suggested that he should stop recording and just get the game over with (he was probably up a Queen), he said something like, “But my father says I have to keep score”. I drew a line on the score sheet, wrote a big “Great Job!!!” and told him if his father said anything that he should have him talk to me. With the distraction of the scorekeeping out of way, the game probably took about two minutes to finish.
Why, when kids that age can do it, you have middle school kids and adults who refuse is beyond me. (It really boggles the mind when middle school kids at Nationals, with someone paying $50 or more for their entry, either can’t, or just don’t want to, keep score).
Note that this, as Mr. Buklis suggests above, only applies for players excused from keeping score. Have you excused these players? If not, upon first complaint, I would warn them, second complaint, assess a time penalty, third complaint forfeit them for refusing to follow TD instructions. The above is also OK.
Alex Relyea
Another way to word it is that you’ll give a fifteen-minute penalty (leaving a minimum of five minutes) for each refusal to keep score. If a person refuses to keep score a half-dozen times during a conversation then that 90-minute penalty reduces G/90 to G/5. The interesting side-effect is that the opponent is then no longer obligated to keep score either.
When telling this to adults I just say it calmly and matter-of-factly. I don’t even hint that I am joking. None of them have tried to call what they might erroneously think is a bluff.
Let me clarify what seems to be a misinterpretation of my question.
Mine is not a situation where I have excused anyone from keeping score for legitimate, rule book-stated reasons, such as those given in 15A1, and the TD Tip that follows. Rather, it’s about adults who simply don’t wish to keep score. I’ll also stipulate that warnings would be given before any stronger time reduction penalties.
With that said, I believe, from what I’ve read, that directors have within their rights to subtract more than the 5% (10-min max.) of time control. I think, therefore, my question has been answered.
My comment was not meant to be a penalty. What I do, in a rather light hearted manner, is to give the player the choice to start with 5 minutes and allow the opponent whatever the time control is, so that they can be within the rules in choosing not to keep score. Light-hearted, but not as a joke.
I have never threatened a penalty of reducing someone’s time to 5 minutes. that is not my style at all.
There is also another reason for requiring players to keep score: Good players want to do it because they want to have a record of their moves to analyze later. But, during play, a player who is recording moves while his opponent is not is going to be at a disadvantage because of the time needed to record and because recording may distract him from playing. So the only way to allow good players to record their games without placing them at a disadvantage is to require both players to do it.
Bob