hello
are there any rules regarding making video of tournament games?
~ are outsider (non-players) allowed to film/video tournament games?
~ are players allowed to video/film their own tournament games?
thank you in advance for any answers
I will add - is there any reason the organizer can’t?
I know I never read anything about it in the rulebook, and I intend to film “board 1” at my tournament this week for streaming to the skittles room, and possibly recording.
Oh, the joy of watching a video of people scratching, twitching, and wiping their nose on a sleeve with the occasional move of a pawn or piece! I once had a girlfriend who was a primatologist. She observed a round of a tournament that I was playing in. She described it as similar to the behavior chimpanzees and baboons in their normal everyday habitat. Good luck with your National Geographic film.
im not looking to video the players, just the game itself and to capture the audio but don’t want to run afoul of some hyper efficient td that can site some arcane rule
but thanks for your editorial comment nonetheless
While there are not specific rules in the rulebook about video taping, the fire marshal and/or local ordinances may have something to say about the way the equipment is set up. Organizers (often also the TD) may be the contract holder on the space the event is being held in; thus, they get to say if the equipment and/or the person holding the camera can have access. Plus don’t forget rule 20G (Annoying behavior prohibited) and 20M (Behavior of spectators). And don’t forget that the video does not count as an official record of the game for making claims. So, at the very least clear the video taping with the TD and players.
Given the paranoia about cheating you can expect at least one event contestant to question the camera’s (or it’s operator’s) role in helping a player cheat (yeah, I know it sounds silly, but paranoia is what it is).
I hope your project works out!
I’ll be asking the players if they object.
I don’t know what the OP is intending to do with his video, but in my case, my intent is to stream it to the skittles room. What generally happens is that the people at the low end of the room finish earlier than the high end, and they generally like to watch the last game in progress by the best players. Having it streamed to the skittles room will be a way they can do that without forming a crowd near the board.
@ tim just: thanks for the sage advice
a few more questions if i may: who holds actual rights to the games themselves? i have been previously informed that score sheets are actually the property of the tournament itself but what about the actual game? is there an intellectual property claim by the players?
if a third party is observing and recording the game moves, who has rights to that and can the players prevent a 3rd party from recording game moves?
i have read both rules you pointed to earlier and it seems the issue of ‘annoying behaviours’ is a murky area with many subjective traps
if a 3rd party is making a video recording of the game itself in a way that is quiet and not causing disturbance and one player still claims they are annoyed simply by the cameras existence, in your expert opinion, how would this be dealt with??
How do the other posters feel about these questions?
again, thanks for taking time to try to answer
it would be nice for this to be better codified and standardized so that there is less discretion, and therefore less variance, in what a range of td’s would do in these situations 
giving directors this type of discretionary and subjective power is one reason why there are disagreements that get ugly at some events
i enjoy the irony of your -non-answer answer to some of the questions and hope someone is able to see the gaping hole here that should be plugged 
many directors create an arrogant and hostile neutrality in their position when it comes to these types of situations … this often allows players to legitimately believe that the emotions and feelings of the director get in their way of making objective decisions
best is to have concrete standards that all tds must follow that eliminate such squiggle room as created by: “at the discretion of the tournament director”
all legitimate competition does its best to codify as much as possible and thus remove as much subjectivity from authorities that over see events and chess is seriously lagging behind in this arena
i just want to be able to film when possible without it being a hassle for anyone and would like a clear and concise set of standards that would apply to all uscf events … it is very hard to follow the rules when the playing field keeps shifting and one td to the next has completely different idea of what an ‘annoyance’ is
laws and rules need to be narrowly construed and not open ended and up to opinion in the heat of the moment, which is where we currently sit
That’s more or less what happened when Bobby Fischer was having his famous match against Boris Spassky. Fischer’s claim, as I understand it, was that he would be distracted simply by knowing that TV cameras were trained on them.
Fischer got what he wanted.
Bob
Did her experience confirm any beliefs about the origin of man. I can see the special now–Chess Behavior and
Primates. Or have the primates play, and see if their mannerisms are that different??
Rob Jones
[quote=“rdecredico”]
again, thanks for taking time to try to answer
it would be nice for this to be better codified and standardized so that there is less discretion, and therefore less variance, in what a range of td’s would do in these situations
giving directors this type of discretionary and subjective power is one reason why there are disagreements that get ugly at some events
i enjoy the irony of your -non-answer answer to some of the questions and hope someone is able to see the gaping hole here that should be plugged
many directors create an arrogant and hostile neutrality in their position when it comes to these types of situations … this often allows players to legitimately believe that the emotions and feelings of the director get in their way of making objective decisions
best is to have concrete standards that all tds must follow that eliminate such squiggle room as created by: “at the discretion of the tournament director”
all legitimate competition does its best to codify as much as possible and thus remove as much subjectivity from authorities that over see events and chess is seriously lagging behind in this arena
i just want to be able to film when possible without it being a hassle for anyone and would like a clear and concise set of standards that would apply to all uscf events … it is very hard to follow the rules when the playing field keeps shifting and one td to the next has completely different idea of what an ‘annoyance’ is
laws and rules need to be narrowly construed and not open ended and up to opinion in the heat of the moment, which is where we currently sit
I think this is covered very well by the USCF rule book right now. All an organizer needs to do is state in the pre-tournament publicity that games will be filmed or videotaped. Who notices the camera at gas stations an restaurants?? Yet we know they are there. What is the big deal with modern technology??
Rob Jones
I like the idea of TD discretion in matters such as this. Don’t tie my hands with some rule that will inevitably be found wanting in a particular situation. If the camera people are not respectful of the players, are messy, noisy, have too bright of lights, then I will likely decide no on the issue of filming the players. OTOH, if the camera people are professional and unobtrusive, then I have little problem with filming.
There may be some concerns with the legality of filming. In some states, like PA, taking pictures or films of children for distribution must follow state guidelines to protect privacy. A TD may not be sure of this, might decide not to open up a can of worms, and will decline having games filmed to avoid legal problems. The photographer should have documentation showing that such filming will be compliant.
If you want to have all-inclusive rules with no wiggle room then you need to cover all of the possibilities that cause that wiggle room to exist. Maybe a 4,000 page rulebook would be enough, but I’m guessing it would be closer to a 40,000 page rulebook.
Leaving TDs the ability to make judgement calls will suffice the overwhelming majority of the time.
Look, nearly every TD I have ever known has an overwhelming desire to do what they think is best for the tournament and players. As
several have said, best judgement be left with the TD on the scene.
Rob Jones
I have had parents complain of their child being filmed without parental consent both for TV coverage (?!?) and for filming by other parents. A parent may have a valid claim that filming by another parent distracts or makes their child nervous.
I allow TV filming (Of course!), but do not allow filming by individual parents. Has nothing to do with ‘an uptight TD’; it’s the other parents who drive the policy.