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TD CORNERBy Tim Just(for October 2003 Rating Supplement) Cell Phones, …At the Rules Workshop held in LA as part of the U.S. Open and Delegates Convention Bill Goichberg brought up the topic of cell phones and other noisy devices that disturb all of the other players essaying games in the tournament hall in order to get the attention of their owners. Bill proposed a rule based on his experiences at the large events he runs throughout this country. Despite the fact that the rule did not pass I think the idea behind it needs another look. Announce and post the fact that cell pones, pagers, and all other such devices will be turned off or set to make no noise (vibrate). The offending player will LOSE 10 minutes of his or her own time. Or, if they have less than 10 minutes left in the time control they will lose half of their own remaining time. The toughness of the rule and its universal application at all tournaments is what doomed it from becoming the standard for dealing with those kinds of noise situations; however, that should not stop any of us from using the rule, or at least some variation of it. If you like this rule, post it and announce it at the start of your tournaments. The new rulebook is designed to support and encourage such actions. If you think the penalty is too harsh or that a warning is necessary, revise the rule to suit your needs and then post/announce it. You must then enforce your posted/announced rule with extreme prejudice. At the heart of this matter is whether one player can disturb everyone else because of his or her own personal or professional crisis that requires only their attention. Some players simply forget to shut off their cell phones. Players with professional or personal predicaments that choose chess over those crises will lose time on their clock and may make a different choice next time. Next time they might even find a non-noisy way to be notified that their devices need their attention. Players that forget and accidentally leave their cell phones on will have fewer accidents in the future after they suffer some time loss. 5th
Edition Enforcement The new rulebook will be available by the time you read this. Those rules officially kick in on January 1, 2004. If you decide to use the new rules before then simply post/announce it at the site of your tournament. If you have new software that reflects the new pairing rules for assigning colors (29E4) you will need to, at the very least, announce that the pairings are being done using the 5th edition. Starting in our next column we will look at some specifics regarding how to apply the new rules changes coming sown the pike. Our main focus will be the rules that have a noticeable effect on players and TDs If you have any comments or questions feel free to contact me at Email: uscfrulebook@yahoo.com
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