Counterplay
Ruling on rules I read with dismay your description of new
tournament reporting rules. In the 1970s and ’80s I managed the Sunbelt Chess League which was very active in staging tournaments, league play and promotions, with headquarters in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I am a former tournament direc- tor and served a term as president of the Louisiana Chess Association. I was appalled when time delay clocks
came into being—to me they are to chess what the designated hitter is to base- ball—but I continued to stage small rated tournaments when I lived in El Dorado, Arkansas. Upon moving to Monroe, Lousiana, I
found no affiliated chess club or active tournament directors. With the help of directors from other cities we staged a few small tournaments. I planned to try to create an affiliated club and get club tournament director status. With the new rules that is no longer in my plans. I think the new rules will mean fewer
small-rated events, fewer affilated clubs, and more unrated tournament play. I wish USCF would create a simple rat-
ing and reporting system for small clubs that want to stage simple local rated events, I have three college degrees and almost
300 semester hours of college credit, but I am overwhelmed by trying to under- stand the new rules. I doubt I am alone.
Please consider the plight of small clubs that want uncomplicated tournaments. Failing to do so may mean an exodus of such groups from USCF-rated play.
Roy W. Pitchcord Monroe, Lousiana
Tim Just, editor of The Official Rules of Chess, responds:
There is something to be said for the
“good old days.” There was one rating system. Submitting a ratings report meant sending the wallcharts to USCF along with a one page report form and a check. Of course that reporting system did have one shortcoming; i.e., it was a long road from the end of the event to the eventual ratings change that appeared in print. And nowa- days keeping players/tournament directors (TDs)/organizers interested in over-the- board play is a real challenge. Our rules have gotten a lot more comprehensive in a quest to be all things to all players, and be fair at the same time. But Pandora’s Box is open and there is no going back—or is there? Fortunately even today, with our detail
oriented rules, organizers and TDs can turn back the hands of time by simply applying rules 1B1 and 1B2. Those two lit- tle gems allow the past to become the present by simply posting the rules that suit a tournament’s needs. Tournaments with- out TLAs or advanced publicity are common
for chess clubs so simple announcements will probably have to do. No delay clocks, paper scoresheets only, no electronic devices, pairings by hand, pairings accord- ing to an older rulebook, no sudden death, etc. can all be used at today’s tourna- ments. Just make sure the players know about those modifications before they push a pawn. Not everyone is a fan of the chess rules from the ’70s and ’80s so some play- ers may want to skip such an event. That one page tournament report form
from bygone days has moved into the on- line age and appears to be challenging at first. After all it has to be all things for all kinds of tournaments. Yep, there is a lot more info to fill in on those forms to accom- modate the super Swisses; however, small events done online can just ignore the extras and focus on the same information required on those tournament report forms from the ’70s and ’80s: tournament name, dates, place, TD, player’s names plus IDs, and game results. That would be just about the same paperwork as in the past with a lot faster results. By the way, directors can still skip that
online format and return to the paper reporting system. The games will cost a bit more to rate (hey, someone’s got to input that data in the USCF office) but will prove a lot less frustrating to report. Players, however, have come to expect their ratings to change almost as soon as the event is over and this snail-mail method may not suit their needs. As for the new online form coming in
January 2012 there is only one new major item to fill in, the total time allowed per game. For simple tournaments with simple time controls (etc.) that will be a snap. This chore did look more complicated in the “Major Rules Changes ...” report than it will be in practice online. Seeing how to fill out those online forms is a lot different than reading about it. There are some free videos out there on how to use the current
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6 Chess Life — January 2012
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