Unfortunate start and end to county match

[Robert Stokes]

Last Saturday I was due to play in an U120 match for the home county A against visitors county B. I will leave them unnamed as the matter has not yet been resolved. The match was to take place in business premises which have no chess connection so all equipment must be taken there. I arrived at 12.30pm for a 1pm match as I had some sandwiches to eat. I had a few words with the captain and got on with eating. At about 12.45pm the captain realised that, although he had bought the chess sets and clocks, he had forgotten the boards. He quickly produced some large sheets of white paper, a very large ruler, and some felt pens and proceeded to make temporary boards with squares of the right size. I helped by quickly putting large black crosses on the squares which would be black ones and labelling the appropriate edges with a - h and 1 - 8. When we had made about six of the 12 needed, the opposition said that they were not willing to play on these makeshift boards and walked out. The home side had no option but to go home as well.

I have since had an email from the captain apologising for his error and saying that the matter had been referred to the county controller. He had declared that, since there were faults on both sides, he would say that the match was a 6 - 6 draw. County B have appealed against this ruling. One relevant point is that the county controller lives in county A and plays for one of its clubs and so I am sure that county B will regard him as biased. Another factor may be that, some days prior to the match, our captain had told us that a draw would allow us to qualify for the next stage of the competition.

I am in two minds about county B's refusal to play. I would have been happy to use the paper boards but I can accept that they were not perfect. Does anyone have any thoughts about this matter?

[Robert Stokes]

I posted this before seeing that the second 'and' in the title should be end. I can't find a way to change it.

[IM Jack Rudd]

I posted this before seeing that the second 'and' in the title should be end. I can't find a way to change it.

That's something that had to be done at my end, and I've done it for you.

[Roger de Coverly]

I can't find a way to change it.

As thread author, you should be able to edit it. Go back to the original post and choose the edit function. (I see Jack has already intervened).

As to the shortage of boards, would it not have been possible to delay the start possibly with a time concession by the home team whilst they were fetched?

[IM Jack Rudd]

Irrespective of my thoughts on the events themselves, I think the controller should have recused himself on the grounds that he could not be seen as a disinterested party on the matter in question.

[JustinHorton]

My first reaction is to think that the home side not bringing boards is a default victory for the away team.

[Alan Walton]

I can wholly understand the refusal of the opposition not wanting to play on these makeshift boards, I would definitely be against them

I would expect the rules to state reasonable equipment has to be provided (and makeshift boards don't seem to be covered under reasonable), as Roger stated a delay in the start to possibly get the correct equipment seemed a compromise or even the home team starts losing time whilst this delay is happening

I cannot see what error County B committed to award the 6-6 result

[Robert Stokes]

I think that it would have taken a long time to get proper boards. My guess is at least an hour.

[Chris Goodall]

12-0 win to County A in my book. Walking out is pathetic behaviour. If I was the captain of Team B my reaction to the paper boards would have been "Excellent, now they're completely embarrassed and bound to offer us draws in better positions".

[Angus French]

Oh dear. If I was a county B player I'd very likely have wanted to play - the more so if I'd travelled a distance - using the makeshift boards.

It wasn't possible to retrieve the missing boards (or get some from elsewhere), possibly at the cost of a delayed start (possibly with the lost time borne on the clocks of the home players)?

Was there no discussion between opposing captains?

Although the controller has a conflict of interest I'm not sure he should recuse himself - since, for example, it may not be practical to do so (who else would make the decision and who would then hear an appeal?). If the controller makes the decision then I think the conflict should be acknowledged and the controller should show, as far as he is able to, that he has acted impartially.

[Andrew Zigmond]

If the match started at 13.00 and the unavailability of boards realised at 12.45 with an hour to obtain some that would have made a start time of 13.45. If the clocks of the home team were started at 13.00 that would have left them with a time deficit of 45 minutes which wouldn't have been completely insurmountable, unless the rules specified a default time of half an hour after the clocks were started.

My personal view is that makeshift boards are not acceptable. And if the county controller has an allegiance to county A then he has a conflict of interest and nominates another individual acceptable to both parties to make a ruling, plain and simple.

Angus' post crossed with mine. As a league controller myself, if I had to rule in a decision affecting my club I would refer to the matter to the committee and ask them to nominate an individual to make an initial ruling.

[NickFaulks]

Oh dear. If I was a county B player I'd very likely have wanted to play - the more so if I'd travelled a distance - using the makeshift boards.

I agree. Unless the boards were hopeless, and we don't know that, I feel that in this and other circumstances the proper course of action is to play chess while reserving all rights. Claiming the match and going home is pathetic.

[JustinHorton]

On the other hand, if you've given up other plans to travel to a chess match, with the commitment that entails, you might think the least you could expect in return was that the home team would bring the actual boards.

I pretty much agree entirely with Andrew Zigmond, though I'm not necessarily opposed to what Nick said about playing and reserving rights. But at the end of the day, you're supposed to bring the proper equipment, and if you don't, I can't see how it's on anybody else but you.

[David Robertson]

I'm surprised no one thought of the obvious solution. Just slap the white paper on the tables. Set the pieces up. No need for lines and squares.

Might add a little to the randomness of the games. But not materially in a u-120 match

[Neil Graham]

This matter is subject to a Disputes Committee of the MCCU.

It would be very helpful if discussion of the event could be curtailed until after the meeting which takes place on Saturday afternoon. I'll let everyone know what happened then.'