The final draft of the proposed new Laws of Chess are available on the CAA website {}www.chessarbiters.com Comments on these are welcomed by the CAA ({}ahmcfarlane@yahoo.co.uk)
2/7/08 13:10
Gwynfor Rees
One problem with the late rule is what happens if someone is late through no fault of their own. At a Junior World Championships in Spain one of the players from Wales was stuck in a lift for almost an hour and on another occasion one was stuck in a toilet.
A problem with the 30 move rule is there are some openings where there is a draw by rep. in under 30 moves. Which side would be forced to play an inferior move..?
18/6/08 20:49
Wilf Arnold
With my controller’s hat on I always hate the first couple of rounds in a congress when people we are expecting to come are not there. If we know people are going to be late then fair enough, but time and time again it’s only part way through round 2 that we can decide that someone who didn’t show up in round 1 (and are then treated as a provisional ‘bye’) and are then late for round 2 are probably not going to turn up at all. We try to accommodate players as much as we can – their entry fees fund the congress, but the majority of players who do turn up on time can suffer as a result of the antics of a few. Also we tend to make announcements at the start of a round. If a player is not there to hear any announcements clarifying actions we plan to take – such as the decision not to automatically award a win to a player whose opponent is defaulted because of the mobile phone rule – then it’s their own fault. As for other sports; remember Estonia v Scotland in football a few years ago? The home team didn’t agree to the kick-off time being moved and so didn’t show up – Scotland took to the field and had no opponents to play. (I could be cruel and say that Scotland still lost!)
17/6/08 23:58
Bill Hewitt
I'm glad to see the website is stimulating discussion and that WCU is still very active. New FIDE rules - I could never understand why some players repeatedly arrived late for games. It showed a lack of respect and I had no sympathy when they got into time trouble, and even less sympathy when they were international players. In what other sports can you start without an opponent I wonder!
17/6/08 23:50
Mark Adams
New FIDE rules for the Olympiad come into play this year, some with severe penalties if broken. Ignatious Leong, Chief Arbiter of the Chess Olympiad and General Secretary of FIDE, surprised journalists at a press conference Tuesday, 03 June 2008. ”We will have considerable renewals regarding the regulations in the 2008 Olympiad in Dresden,” the man from Singapore declares. Here’s a sample. No draws will be allowed before the 30th move, and more controversially all players have to be at their table exactly at the beginning of play to shake hands, just like in any other sports, or else they will lose the match (sic). Imagine applying this in the WCPL! The number of rounds to be played is reduced from 14 to 11. Match points are privileged over game points. Women’s teams are extended to 4 players and the number of reserve players reduced to one.
