Monday, October 15, 2018

Knickers in a twist at the Mid-Sussex League

With the season about to kick off I'd just like to expand on the options under the new time controls the MSCL voted in at the AGM in June, which Jan talks about below. The AGM was a shambles of proposals and counter-proposals with, it turned out, only a minority having given much thought to the very real problem of concluding the game in the time available. There was a kind of obsessive panic over detail which made a completed scoresheet a higher priority than playing the game. How could a three-fold repetition possibly be proved? .. etc.. etc.. And yet the league has had G/80 +10 in its rules since 2015 without problem. And so, finally, a very small majority voted in favour of the scoresheet over common sense.

The result is we have G/65 +30: game in 65 minutes plus 30 seconds a move, with notation to the end - the bitter end, however long the game. So, late one dark and stormy night in Hastings or East Grinstead, with all the team dependent on one car to get them home, one game continues...... never mind three hours.... the game could go on to four, and on..... The common sense at the AGM suggested that the venue might have a night-patrolling caretaker jangling his keys round the ears of the players and insisting they go home to bed. OK, said the AGM, still digging its heels in over G/80 +10, we'll make an exception for that - but only that. So the host club - not the players trying to get home - can rule that the circumstances of their venue can allow for the game to stop at 60 moves, a decision which has to be made at the off as presumably the conditions of the venue will be unlikely to change during the course of the game.

For further clarification see Matthew Britnell's notes on the MSCL website. Note that the league may require evidence of the need to vacate the premises. The common sense in the room - only short of a majority by a whisker - was exasperated that the league still wasn't going all out for a completed game, that adjudication was still on the cards and that captains will still have a non-result to consult their computers about when they get home. The only difference is - less often.

So, G/65 +30 is the default, will result in a completed game, and we should assume at this stage that it has merit. Most games will finish within reasonable time. However, and only if the venue time is limited, there is 60/65 +30 (60 moves in 65 minutes plus 30 seconds a move). This is the short session default time control. Beyond that there are two further options for players who both agree: one is 42/90 (the old 42-move game) and the other is the new G/80 +10. There is one more option for no digital clocks: 30/60 f35 (30 moves in an hour with 35 minutes to finish). Whatever the time control - and there are five possible ones - it will from now on go onto the match card so the league can monitor the situation for next year. We also need to get nifty with clocks and leave time to make adjustments if we want any options to be realistic. Then there's the problem of one match with multiple time controls....

Well, I hope that's cleared things up before we start!! Good luck everyone and enjoy the season. Next year we might all get G/80 +10 and go home with a result. And anyway, aren't nearly all repetitions either fully intentional or blatantly obvious? and we're only talking when there's less than 5 minutes on the clock.....

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