Warning: Notes and Analysis Restricted During US Chess Tournament Play, Keep It in Your Brain, Not Your Scorebook

 

Chess is all about context.  A competitive chess player takes to heart -- and usually indestructable memory -- a long list of solid principles to be followed almost universally.

But depending upon the specific situation on the board, those tried and true principles can lead to disaster for the myopic player. Exceptions abound!

Similarly, there are two recommendations I have for all players, young and old: notation and analysis. DO take notation of all your tournament games and DO use that record later to analyze what might have been at various junctures of the completed contest. There is no better way to improve at chess; how often the patterns and positions repeat.

Grab a coach, a chess-playing buddy, your favorite software engine, and take heed of significant deviations from recommended lines or comments from your analysis partner.

However, first thing is first: finish your game before beginning your analysis!

As a TD at the recently completed Chicago Open, I was approached by an entrant competing for prize money in the Under 1300 section. It was late in the tournament and every point counted. The player (who ultimately won close to $1000) claimed that his opponent was writing moves down before making them.

As many know, this is a rule that's gone back and forth a few times as we adjust to electronic notation devices. At this time under US Chess rules (but not FIDE mandates) it is permissible to write one's move on the notation sheet before undertaking that maneuver at the board. However, one may not make the advance manipulation on an electronic scoring device (such as MonRoi or PlyCount).  The fear is that the visualizing of the alternative position might provide an advantage. So be warned!

However, after a little discussion with the objecting player, the report went beyond the simple writing of the next move. This I had to see with my own eyes.

Approaching the board, I observed the opponent writing on a piece of paper placed underneath the notation sheet. I asked to see that paper and the player cooperated without argument.

For you fans of the Fourth Amendment, this is not a matter of search and seizure -- it is an established rule that notation sheets belong to the tournament organizer (and by extension the TD's) -- and can be examined at any time. If you as a player fall behind on your notation and wish to see your opponent's handiwork, you generally would be granted such access and a TD should be able to make it happen if your opponent gives you a hard time.

To my surprise -- although nothing should surprise me any more -- the player had been writing out variations of moves he might make... and considering what the opponent's response might be and what he would do from there ... and so forth.

I would expect that any chess player worth his or her salt is pondering such variations on a regular basis during a game, hundreds of times during any multi-day tournament.

However, longstanding rules require that this work be done in one's own brainspace -- and writing down the decision tree is strictly forbidden under the 20C rule. You knew that, right?

The Scripps Spelling Bee recently concluded and the contestants there faced a similar issue. While they could "write" a word into the hand with an imaginary finger pen, it was not permitted to actually use a writing implement to consider the proper letter sequence. The visualization of the word had to be accomplished internally, a restriction that no doubt tripped up a few competitors.

So as a diligent TD, I confiscated the paper and warned the player that this was a potentially serious offense, and if repeated, could result in forfeiture.

He seemed genuinely apologetic -- and ignorant of the rule -- and I received no further report of this behavior for the remainder of the event.

But did I go far enough in sanctioning this rule violation?  Did I do the "integrity of the game" justice by allowing the game to continue with merely a wrist slap?

The rulebook seems to differentiate between rules 20B and 20C.

20B prohibits the use of recorded matter -- and provides an example of someone rocking a page from a book on the King's Indian Defense while that opening is in action. Clearly that would be wrong -- and would undoubtedly lead to forfeiture of the game. However, the example suggests that having printed material on rook endings might be subject to a "don't do that again" -- particularly if early in the game.

However, under 20C, use of notes made during the game -- as an aid to memory -- are differentiated. The rulebook suggests a warning or a minor time penalty as appropriate sanctions. As a similar situation had occurred in the same playing room (with a different player) and whereas that violation was handled with a warning by another TD, I felt I had handled the situation adroitly without overstepping my TD powers.

As the rulebook provides: "This is a much less serious offense than 20B; a warning or minor time penalty is common, with more severe punishment if the offense is repeated."

Alas, as other TD's later discussed this scenario in the tournament's nerve center, it was suggested that a more powerful sanction might have been in order, perhaps a 20-minute time penalty; at least one might have opted for forfeiture.

Again, I returned to the handy dandy US Chess bible: Rule 1C2 indicates: "In areas in which the director has discretion, it is appropriate to be strictest with rules enforcement and penalties in events that are stronger or offer larger prizes." With $100,000 on the line at the Chicago Open, this certainly qualifies as a large prize event.

But in the next sentence, my rulebook analysis pendulum swung the other way, "Being harshly penalized over a trivial rules violation can he sufficiently upsetting to deter a beginner from future chess participation."  

Now in no way do I consider handwritten analysis a "trivial" matter -- but it wasn't exactly the highest section of the competition. What's a TD to do?

So please do not let this incident deter you from taking notation in your tournament games. You are clearly within your rights and are expected to record notation throughout your game until either player has less than five minutes remaining on the clock (US Chess rule, FIDE's is different).

In addition to the moves themselves, you are allowed to make note of draw offers, place plus-signs for check -- and -- thanks to a fairly recent amendment -- record the clock times at various junctures. Typical header information found on most pre-printed scoresheets can also be written without penalty such as the names and ratings of the opponents and perhaps the name of the opening if a conventional sequence occurs -- and you should know what it's called.

But retain those thoughts about the game in progress in your head until the dust has settled and a result has been established. Even circling critical moves or the placement of editorial notes such as an exclam or question mark can rankle feathers.

You never know when the TD may be itching to pull the trigger on a 20B ruling -- and they might not be a softy like yours truly was on this particular day.

TD'ing is not just a science; it's an art form -- just like playing the game itself, don't you know?