Revised: 2018.08.16
No Requested Byes in Sections with Only 1-3 Rounds
1. No requested byes in sections with only 1-3 rounds: Varsity (2 rounds) at MD-Sweet-16 Qualifiers (a.k.a. Local Scholastic Tournaments) & Championship (3 rounds) at Mid-Atlantic Junior and Mid-Atlantic Spring. Players in these sections must either play all of their games or withdraw from the tournament.
Fine for Insufficient Withdrawal Notification
2. A player who forfeits a game for an illegitimate reason must pay a $20 fine before the player will be permitted to play in a future scholastic or open tournament organized by Maryland Chess or Baltimore Chess. Examples of an illegitimate forfeit include (but are not limited to) the following:
- before Round 1 a player fails to withdraw from the tournament properly by notifying MD Chess at tournaments@mdchess.com by 8:30 AM (that is, by at least 1 hour before the scheduled start of Round 1 at 9:30 AM);
- after Round 1 a player fails to withdraw from the tournament properly by notifying the BackRoom Tournament Director before the pairings for the next round have been posted.
Ensuring Fair Play via Anti-Cheating Measures
3. At the board a player may have an electronic device that can receive and/or transmit data (such as a mobile phone, tablet, smart watch, visual aide [such as Google Glasses], etc.) only if the device is off (not just in airplane mode), completely out of sight, and not readily accessible because it is contained in something else (such as a carrying case, jacket pocket, pants pocket, backpack, etc.).
4. At the board a player may not have in or around the player’s ear a device that can receive and/or transmit data (such as headphones, earbuds, etc.)—unless it is a medically approved hearing aide. A player may have in or around the player’s ear a device to block out sound (such as earplugs); however, a device such as earmuffs is forbidden, because it would be too difficult and intrusive for a tournament director to determine whether it has been electronically modified.
5. At the board a player may use a personal electronic-recording device only if, with a quick glance from 20 feet away, a tournament director can differentiate the device immediately from any mobile device that can receive and/or transmit data. 20 feet is approximately the farthest distance between a tournament director and players at their boards, as the TD walks throughout a tournament room to ensure fair play. It would be impossible for a TD to ensure both fair play and the perception of fair play, if a personal electronic-recording device were to resemble from afar a mobile device that can receive and/or transmit data. Players' concentration at the board would be disrupted unnecessarily far too frequently, if players, TDs, and/or spectators were uncertain from afar whether a player is using a personal electronic-recording device only to record, or also to cheat. Therefore, at the board a player may use only the following personal electronic-recording devices, because as of 2018.02.07 they are the only single-purpose personal electronic-recording devices created to serve exclusively and continuing to serve exclusively the purpose of electronic recording:
- MonRoi's Personal Chess Manager (no longer manufactured?)
- North American Chess Association's eNotate (no longer manufactured)
- PlyCount's PlyCounter (no longer manufactured?)
At the board a player may not use a re-purposed personal electronic-recording device. That is, a personal electronic-recording device may not be used if it was created to serve, or if it was subsequently modified to serve any purpose other than electronic recording.
At the board a player may use a personal electronic-recording device only if it has been approved both by MD Chess and by US Chess. MD Chess reserves the right to prohibit the use of a personal electronic-recording device, even if it has been approved by US Chess. Here's the list of personal electronic-recording devices approved by US Chess as of 2017.12.18: US Chess’s Guidelines for Certification of an Electronic Scoresheet. The following list includes (but is not necessarily limited to) personal electronic-recording devices approved by US Chess, but prohibited by MD Chess:
6. At the board a player’s ears must be entirely visible; they may not be covered by a hoodie, hat, etc. No exceptions for religious headwear, etc.
7. A player must move before recording (notating) the player’s move.
Clocks
8. For a game with an increment time control, a clock that halts on end is preferred.
9. In a section for which MD Chess provides clocks for all players (such as all sections at a Blitz or Bughouse tournament), if both players are absent from their board at the start of a round, then a Tournament Director will start White's time.
10. If both players are absent from their board, and if there is no clock on the board, then a Tournament Director will put a clock on the board and start White's time.
11. For a game with an increment time control of 30+ seconds, if the digital clock being used does not support an increment time control, then it must be set to delay of 30+ seconds. Furthermore, the recording requirement will be enforced (will not be suspended), even though the clock is set to delay of 30+ seconds.
12. If players are not using a clock in a game with an increment time control of 10+ seconds, & if that game has lasted longer than the sum of the 2 players' base times, then a Tournament Director will add a clock set to G5 d5. (That is, when setting the clock, the TD will not add to the players' base times the increment time the players would have accrued after previous moves, if the players had been using a clock; nor will the TD set the clock so that increment time will be added to the players' base times after subsequent moves.) The remaining portion of the game will be played under standard sudden-death, time-pressure rules. (Because of the G5 d5 setting, the recording requirement will be suspended. Because of the d5 setting, the players will not have the right to make a claim of insufficient-losing chances.) The game will be submitted with its original increment time control to US Chess for rating.
13. In a game with a single time control, if a Tournament Director sees that a player’s clock has flagged (that the player has run out of time), then the TD will declare the game over and declare a winner (or any other appropriate result).
MD Girl Chess State Championship
14. A school's team score in a section is the combined score of the top 3 players—rather than of the top 4 players.
Mid-Atlantic Blitz Scholastic Championship
15. A player's Regular rating (rather than Blitz rating) determines the section for which the player qualifies.
Mid-Atlantic Bughouse Scholastic Championship
16. A team's players' combined Regular rating (rather than combined Blitz rating determines the section for which the team qualifies.
17. 2 games per round. In the 1st game, partners select which color they’ll play as (1 as White, the other as Black); partners are not assigned a color by the Back-Room Tournament Director. Variation: in the 2nd game, however, all players must alternate colors & play against the same opponent; they may not play as the same color again, and they may not play against a different opponent.