Mobile Phone problems at local league level.

[Paul McKeown]

It basically came down to one game - our player hadn't played for years, theirs was a very experienced though perhaps eccentric Barrister. Their player was fidgety all the way through the game, and talked to himself. My player made no complaint, and so I ignored it. Then in a blitz finish our player's mobile rang. It may not even have been a call, but it was clearly his phone. His opponent almost did a lap of honour - whilst his team looked a little sheepish. But the rule is clear - defaulted instantly.

xxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx - a preeminent pain in the ariss. I've seen him in action so many times, happily never had to play him. I suspect his ridiculous antics are worth 10 ECF grading points in any given season. Personally I have made it clear to any team captain and to my friends in the Kings Head, that if he came his abhorrent antics with me, I would tell him to shut it, and if he didn't I would simply write a letter to the league claiming the full point under 12.6 and 12.1 and let them deal with it.

It's not like no one knows who you are writing about, too many have witnessed. I have heard enough pulling their hair out after receiving the full treatment.

I feel sorry for your player to have had his evening ruined in this manner.

Regards,
Paul McKeown.

EDIT: Name deleted purely to spare Carl any unnecessary kittens. Everyone who plays chess anyway seriously in London knows who Adam was writing about anyway.

[Sean Hewitt]

Tonight we had a player who has recently returned to club chess lose to the mobile phone rule.
As instructed, he switched his phone off, but it has a medical alert which he does not wish to remove which woke up the phone and made it bleep. Yes, we could have spent half the evening arguing about it but it was much better to instantly accept that it was a loss (this is Surrey, after all!). But what can he do in future? He comes straight to matches from work, needs to keep the phone with him, should not delete the alert. removing the battery is not ideal for this phone. Hopefully we can get it agreed that in future the opponents are informed of the issue and if it happens again he just switches the phone off again and does not lose the game.

A few suggestions

1) Take the battery out. It may not be ideal but it must be possible.
2) Switch the phone to silent before turning it off. If the phone wakes up for an alarm, the alarm will then be silent.
3) Leave the phone in his or a team mates car for the duration of the game. Glove box is best to avoid thieving glances!

[Mike Truran]

Nice pun Paul!

[Anthony Taglione]

A few suggestions

1) Take the battery out. It may not be ideal but it must be possible.
2) Switch the phone to silent before turning it off. If the phone wakes up for an alarm, the alarm will then be silent.
3) Leave the phone in his or a team mates car for the duration of the game. Glove box is best to avoid thieving glances!

Not all phones have a user-accessible battery.

As for the others, Niell suggested that it was a medical alert. If it's an alert which he needs to attend to in some fashion then his only options under current rules are either to stop playing club chess or to accept that he's going to default the occasional game. Neither of these is really acceptable.

[Sean Hewitt]

A few suggestions

1) Take the battery out. It may not be ideal but it must be possible.
2) Switch the phone to silent before turning it off. If the phone wakes up for an alarm, the alarm will then be silent.
3) Leave the phone in his or a team mates car for the duration of the game. Glove box is best to avoid thieving glances!

Not all phones have a user-accessible battery.

As for the others, Niell suggested that it was a medical alert. If it's an alert which he needs to attend to in some fashion then his only options under current rules are either to stop playing club chess or to accept that he's going to default the occasional game. Neither of these is really acceptable.

I wonder how people survived without mobile phones

[Adam Raoof]

Mind you, Anthony has a point - Apple deliberately made it impossible for users to remove the battery for the iPhone, iPod and some Mac computers.

This is a trend that is probably going to continue with manufacturers like Asus following suit. As you know, the size of laptops is diminishing at such a rate you can't tell them from phones

[David Shepherd]

I was left wondering last night what would happen if my watch alarm ("an electronic device") went off in a match (I was present at the match - but not playing). The alarm which went off was a medical alarm as I understand it, the fact that it was on the phone was incidental.

I would suggest that if the alarm is required for medical reasons then it would not be that sensible to leave it in another players car in case they left with it by accident. My understanding is that the player did not know that the phone could turn itself back on for the alarm, and that it is normally left on all the time but left at home when there is a chess match, but in this instance the player came straight from work.

It is also my understanding that in the same league this season (discussed by others above) a player also lost a game when their phone vibrated and made a noise in silent mode.

[Mike Truran]

The Kings Head case is a nice example of somebody being able to get away with constant noise and disturbance throughout a match without any penalty (and having played the person concerned I know just how distracting his behaviour is), while the opponent gets defaulted for a minor mobile phone infraction. Sorry - I don't quite see the logic.

[David Sedgwick]

I was left wondering last night what would happen if my watch alarm ("an electronic device") went off in a match (I was present at the match - but not playing). The alarm which went off was a medical alarm as I understand it, the fact that it was on the phone was incidental.

I would suggest that if the alarm is required for medical reasons then it would not be that sensible to leave it in another players car in case they left with it by accident. My understanding is that the player did not know that the phone could turn itself back on for the alarm, and that it is normally left on all the time but left at home when there is a chess match, but in this instance the player came straight from work.

It is also my understanding that in the same league this season (discussed by others above) a player also lost a game when their phone vibrated and made a noise in silent mode.

The SCCA Board and the AGM will be reviewing the rule for next season. We'll take account of the incident reported by Neill Cooper.

[David Shepherd]

PS Just to make it clear I was in no way being critical of any decision in the vibrating phone incident, just pointing out that phones in silent mode still seem capable of making some noise, so to put them in silent mode still caries some risk.

[Sean Hewitt]

PS Just to make it clear I was in no way being critical of any decision in the vibrating phone incident, just pointing out that phones in silent mode still seem capable of making some noise, so to put them in silent mode still caries some risk.

Silent mode is different to vibrate / meeting.

[David Shepherd]

ok - I just about manage to hit the on off button so stand corrected

[Sean Hewitt]

ok - I just about manage to hit the on off button so stand corrected

Which reminds me of...

Actual dialogue of a former WordPerfect Customer Support employee (now I know why they
record these conversations)!

"Ridge Hall computer assistance; may I help you?"

"Yes, well, I'm having trouble with WordPerfect."

"What sort of trouble?"

"Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden the words went
away."

"Went away?"

"They disappeared."

"Hmm. So what does your screen look like now?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"It's blank; it won't accept anything when I type."

"Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out?"

"How do I tell?"

"Can you see the C: prompt on the screen?"

"What's a sea-prompt?"

"Never mind, can you move your cursor around the screen?"

"There isn't any cursor: I told you, it won't accept anything I type."

"Does your monitor have a power indicator?"

"What's a monitor?"

"It's the thing with the screen on it that looks like a TV. Does it have
a little light that tells you when it's on?"

"I don't know."

"Well, then look on the back of the monitor and find where the power cord
goes into it. Can you see that?"
"Yes, I think so."
"Great. Follow the cord to the plug, and tell me if it's plugged into the wall."

"Yes, it is."

"When you were behind the monitor, did you notice that there were two
cables plugged into the back of it, not just one?"

"No."

"Well, there are. I need you to look back there again and find the other
cable."

"Okay, here it is."

"Follow it for me, and tell me if it's plugged securely into the back of
your computer."

"I can't reach."

"Uh huh. Well, can you see if it is?"

"No."

"Even if you maybe put your knee on something and lean way over?"

"Oh, it's not because I don't have the right angle -- it's because it's
dark."

"Dark?"

"Yes, -the office light is off, and the only light I have is coming in
from the window."

"Well, turn on the office light then."

"I can't."

"No? Why not?"

"Because there's a power failure."

"A power... A power failure? Aha, Okay. Do you
still have the boxes and manuals and packing stuff your computer came in?"

"Well, yes, I keep them in the cupboard."

"Good. Go get them, and unplug your system and pack it up just like it
was when you got it. Then take it back to the store you bought it from."

"Really? Is it that bad?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it is."

"Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell them?"

"Tell them you're too stupid to own a computer."

[Anthony Taglione]

That's an old one, Sean. It's always worthy of a chuckle, though.

One of the issues with "vibrate" mode is that people do equate it with "silent" mode and then leave their phone on something hard and resonant, such as the table-top. The vibrations from vibrate mode will be heard from transmission through the table. If the phone is in a pocket next to the skin, then it's likely to be inaudible and the haptic nature of the vibrate should alert you to an incoming call. However, even then, some phones do have a fairly noisy vibrate and it's worth checking in the dead of night as to whether it can be heard. Of course, you should also set it to silent mode to prevent alarms going off and to silence the ring-tone.

[David Shepherd]

Maybe I should pack up my phone and send it back then

I just had a feeling that on some phones at least if it is set on vibrate and silent at the same time. The vibrate setting would need to be turned off too to make it truly silent i.e. silent and vibrate are not mutually exclussive although one might have thought they would be.