Just the Rules: Rule 21L1’s Journey Is Not Over

Our rulebook is a huge document filled with a ton of rules that the typical wood-pusher rarely has contact with. Some of those regulations simply act as aspirin for the inevitable procedural headache. When aspirin offers no relief, it is time to kick it up a notch. It is time to contact US Chess. Rule 21L1 (the procedure for appealing to US Chess) is the relief you are looking for. 21L1 has been around in some form since Tim Redman’s 1987 third edition of the rulebook.

What kind of appeals get zipped on over to our mother organization? Typically, alleged rules misapplications plus possible ethical miscues. Most appeals involve perceived unfair treatment. The appeal generally gets routed to the Rules Committee, TDAC (Tournament Director and Arbiters Committee), or the Ethics Committee for processing.

There are some hoops to jump through to report those typical concerns. After the evidence has been collected and voiced it needs to show up at the US Chess office. How long after any incident do you have to pass that paperwork along to US Chess? Redman’s third edition, Bill Goichberg’s fourth edition, and my three editions (5-6-7) hitched a seven-day time limit to that paperwork … until the 2022-2023 update. Suddenly that seven-day limit shot up to a ten-day limit. Huh? How did that happen? The Delegates did not approve that increase… or did they?

Well, inadvertently the ten-day limit was mentioned as an aside in a motion that addressed a different issue entirely (tardy submissions). The motion, that passed, fixed the difficulty with tardy appeals being submitted past the deadline. Now, overdue filings have to be accompanied by a reasonable explanation for the tardiness. Let’s take a peek:

DM-01: Delegate Motion 

The Delegates resolve to amend Rule 21L1, in the following manner:

"21L1. Procedure. Appeals in writing must be postmarked within ten days of the end of the tournament to the US Chess office. Appeals submitted after the ten-day deadline may be considered at the discretion of the committee hearing the appeal,  provided an acceptable explanation of the delay was given.”

Note the added wording in red after the comma in the last sentence. That is what the motion was all about: tardiness. But if you check out the bolded deadline references, they have been changed from the standard seven days to ten days. That change was not intended, but it went unnoticed.

When the rules were updated, a simple copy-paste of the approved wording included the inadvertent deadline change from seven to ten days.

That oopsie got noticed when TDs taking their exams had one particular answer marked as incorrect. The exam question’s correct answer was still keyed to the seven-day language, instead of the new ten-day deadline. The exam’s new key currently counts the ten-day submission limit as correct.

Since I am a Delegate at this year’s convention, I will introduce a motion to fix that deadline slippage and return it to the intended seven-day deadline.

Want more? Past columns can be found here or by searching the Chess Life Online archives. 
Plus, listen to Tim when he was a guest on “One Move at a Time”, “The Chess Angle” and his interview hosted by Kathy Lin (Columbus Chess Academy).

TDs are the rock that our tournaments are built on. Now, you can check out the latest list of TDs that recently upgraded: Introducing TD Upgrades Chart | US Chess.org

Tim Just is a National Tournament Director, FIDE National Arbiter, and editor of the 5th, 6th, and 7th editions of the US Chess Rulebook. He is also the author of My Opponent is Eating a Doughnut & Just Law, the latter of which is also available from US Chess Sales. Additionally, Tim revised The Guide To Scholastic Chess, a guide created to help teachers and scholastic organizers who wish to begin, improve, or strengthen their school chess program. US Chess awarded the 2022 Tournament Director Lifetime Achievement Award to Tim. He is also a member of the US Chess Rules Committee plus the Tournament Director Certification Committee (TDCC). His new column, exclusive to US Chess, “Just the Rules” will help clarify potentially confusing regulations.