Just the Rules: Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

When expectations meet reality on the tournament scene, be prepared to be astounded, amazed and surprised.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise! — Pairings

When you check the pairings, you see you have been assigned to be the general of the black army for the third time in a row. It is well-established that wood-pushers at these events are only assigned to lead the same-colored chess army no more than two times in a row, not three times in a row. Buried among the regulations is a rule (29E5f and its variation) that sanctions a triple-play on color assignment. Sometimes there is no other way to pair a score group. Interestingly, players often don’t gripe about being in charge of the white pieces three times in a row. While legal, the three-peat can be avoided if the TD sets up their software package to avoid it.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise! — Adjournments

When was the last time you were involved in an adjourned game? When was the last time you witnessed a TD adjourn any game? An entire rule (18) is devoted to this process; yet, it remains a fairly forgotten and obscure practice. Adjournments now-a-days have been relegated to games that would otherwise hold up the entire tournament. Games with increment time controls or contests with short times between rounds are a couple of examples. A move gets sealed in an envelope, not made OTB, for the TD to hold until the game resumes at a later time. Just the Rules: Adjournment Rules of Thumb | US Chess.org covers the details.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise! — Appeals

You are pretty sure the TD tripped over themself in the ruling they just made in your game. You immediately appeal that decision to the chief TD. The chief upholds the ruling. What’s left for you to do? You can ask for an appeals committee to hear you out (rule 21H4). The downside is that getting together unbiased committee members to serve as judge and jury is a lengthy process that may also mess up round starting times. An alternative is to engage a Special Referee to hear the case — typically via phone. That contact list for those referees is available to US Chess Affiliates in their online area. Or, you could just appeal directly to US Chess (rule 21L1). There is a mostly refundable fee (the fee is kept for frivolous appeals) involved in that process. Just the Rules: Is the On-Site Appeals Committee Still Relevant? | US Chess.org can detail your options.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise! — Expectations.

Expectations are one thing; reality is something else. One item that can be out of sync with the chapter five expectation of a quiet wood-pushing venue is the inevitable site noise level. At a hotel, and other sites, management can (and does) rent out unused space. In the ballroom next to the playing area a hotel can rent out floor space to a loud celebration, a music contest, Jazzercise class... Chess organizers have no control over neighborhood noise — they are at the site owner’s mercy. TDs and organizers do have control over the noise level created by chess players — analyzing, socializing, etc.

What rules have you been surprised by in the past?

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).