DarthFed
The GOAT
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- Apr 14, 2013
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I did the Under 2300 section of Chicago Open this weekend which is one of the biggest tournaments in the US. The good news is that I had a decent result; 2 wins and 2 draws and gained 13 more points. I played pretty poor overall and was fortunate not to lose both draws as black, especially the last game when I botched the opening badly. That is a little disappointing because I had been playing well online the past couple weeks, even doing a lot of 10 minutes games instead of 3 minute blitz.
The bad news is that I unknowingly broke the electronic device rules by having my cell phone in my pocket and leaving the playing hall with it during my last game. Even though it was of course turned off, the expectation at these tournaments is you never have any kind of electronic device on your person when you leave the playing hall. There are tournament directors outside each bathroom and during the 4th round I went up and handed my cell phone to the director and he busted me out, and made the very valid point that even though it’s turned off I could have easily been wandering around with it turned on before seeing him.
He gave me the most lenient punishment which was taking away half the remaining time on my clock; I went from 41 minutes to 20 1/2 and this happened at about move 20. I had played like a total clown that game and was down a rook and pawn for bishop but miraculously ended up forcing a draw against a 2265. I’m actually grateful I played that bad otherwise the opponent may have actually thought I was cheating
As it stood he was cool about it and given how bad I botched the opening he knew I wasn’t cheating. A different tournament director took a copy of my scoresheet and I went to talk to the guy who busted me to apologize and explain why I didn’t know about this rule (more on that below). He didn’t want to hear it and I totally get it. He mentioned I could have been made to forfeit that game and/or have my results at the tournament voided for what I had done.
So I decided to withdraw after that game. At those tournaments you are packed in like sardines, as you have other games on each side of you with those players seated about a foot away. So when the director comes to the table with my phone in his hand and starts talking to my opponent about what happened, there are probably close to 10 other players within 5 feet of it, so it’s tough not to notice. It was obviously very embarrassing! And these are likely seasoned players that know the rules well and without context they maybe think I was trying to cheat. And I feel like if I did well the rest of the tournament there would be a cloud over me. The director was pretty pleased with my decision to withdraw.
The interesting part is that I had done this exact same thing during a couple of the other rounds the day before and it was different directors outside the bathroom and they just took my phone and I took a leak and then collected my phone and went back to play. This director was shocked by that and said they should have busted me right away.
At the small local ones the controls suck but they do have bins and tell you to turn off electronic devices and put them in the bins which is what I’ve done with my phone. Those tournaments have no directors outside bathrooms and they don’t check to see if anyone put their devices in the bin. But ultimately my phone has never left the playing hall during a game at those local events since it’s been in the bins, so conceptually I should have noticed the issue of having it in my pocket when leaving the playing hall even though it was turned off! I had thought that the control in place was that the directors make sure you don’t take an electronic device into the bathroom, which is the oldest and most common way to cheat. But the control is actually that the directors are making sure you don’t leave the playing hall with an electronic device on you. Also of note is that at bigger tournaments you are required to bring your own chess set and clock which usually are in a travel chess bag. And after the fact I learned that the “chess bag” is where people typically put their electronic devices while they play. At local events you do not need to bring a board or clock as they are all provided, so you just show up and play. So these differences kind of
led to this happening but ultimately it’s on me to know the rules, simple as that.
Lesson learned! I am planning on doing the U-2200 over 4th of July at the World Open in Washington DC. That one is 9 rounds and it’s quite a bit bigger than this. It used to be in Philadelphia each year, it’s the big one I won back in 2009 with the last day being during the Federer-Roddick Wimbledon final. I missed all but the first set while losing a game that took 5 hours and 55 minutes. Hopefully it will be a great tournament for me again.
The bad news is that I unknowingly broke the electronic device rules by having my cell phone in my pocket and leaving the playing hall with it during my last game. Even though it was of course turned off, the expectation at these tournaments is you never have any kind of electronic device on your person when you leave the playing hall. There are tournament directors outside each bathroom and during the 4th round I went up and handed my cell phone to the director and he busted me out, and made the very valid point that even though it’s turned off I could have easily been wandering around with it turned on before seeing him.
He gave me the most lenient punishment which was taking away half the remaining time on my clock; I went from 41 minutes to 20 1/2 and this happened at about move 20. I had played like a total clown that game and was down a rook and pawn for bishop but miraculously ended up forcing a draw against a 2265. I’m actually grateful I played that bad otherwise the opponent may have actually thought I was cheating
As it stood he was cool about it and given how bad I botched the opening he knew I wasn’t cheating. A different tournament director took a copy of my scoresheet and I went to talk to the guy who busted me to apologize and explain why I didn’t know about this rule (more on that below). He didn’t want to hear it and I totally get it. He mentioned I could have been made to forfeit that game and/or have my results at the tournament voided for what I had done.So I decided to withdraw after that game. At those tournaments you are packed in like sardines, as you have other games on each side of you with those players seated about a foot away. So when the director comes to the table with my phone in his hand and starts talking to my opponent about what happened, there are probably close to 10 other players within 5 feet of it, so it’s tough not to notice. It was obviously very embarrassing! And these are likely seasoned players that know the rules well and without context they maybe think I was trying to cheat. And I feel like if I did well the rest of the tournament there would be a cloud over me. The director was pretty pleased with my decision to withdraw.
The interesting part is that I had done this exact same thing during a couple of the other rounds the day before and it was different directors outside the bathroom and they just took my phone and I took a leak and then collected my phone and went back to play. This director was shocked by that and said they should have busted me right away.
At the small local ones the controls suck but they do have bins and tell you to turn off electronic devices and put them in the bins which is what I’ve done with my phone. Those tournaments have no directors outside bathrooms and they don’t check to see if anyone put their devices in the bin. But ultimately my phone has never left the playing hall during a game at those local events since it’s been in the bins, so conceptually I should have noticed the issue of having it in my pocket when leaving the playing hall even though it was turned off! I had thought that the control in place was that the directors make sure you don’t take an electronic device into the bathroom, which is the oldest and most common way to cheat. But the control is actually that the directors are making sure you don’t leave the playing hall with an electronic device on you. Also of note is that at bigger tournaments you are required to bring your own chess set and clock which usually are in a travel chess bag. And after the fact I learned that the “chess bag” is where people typically put their electronic devices while they play. At local events you do not need to bring a board or clock as they are all provided, so you just show up and play. So these differences kind of
led to this happening but ultimately it’s on me to know the rules, simple as that.
Lesson learned! I am planning on doing the U-2200 over 4th of July at the World Open in Washington DC. That one is 9 rounds and it’s quite a bit bigger than this. It used to be in Philadelphia each year, it’s the big one I won back in 2009 with the last day being during the Federer-Roddick Wimbledon final. I missed all but the first set while losing a game that took 5 hours and 55 minutes. Hopefully it will be a great tournament for me again.
