On Feb 16, 12:46 am, "Wlodzimierz Holsztynski (Wlod)"
wrote:

The high level tournaments
should use chess sets which record the moves
by themselves, without players wasting
their time and concentration to write the moves
down on the scoresheets.

The same goes for punching ther clock.
There should be no more of it. The chess
set, including the chess clock, should
record time by itself. And one should not
have to claim winning on time. A player
who has exceeded his/her time limit should
lose automatically (except when no checkmate
is possible).

In short, chess players should just play chess.
Everything else is at the best the necessary eveil
which should be reduced to bare minimum, as much
as possible.

Wlod

On Sat, 16 Feb 2008 00:46:54 -0800 (PST), "Wlodzimierz Holsztynski
(Wlod)" wrote:


It's so idiotic! The high level tournaments
should use chess sets which record the moves
by themselves, without players wasting
tyeir time and concentration to write the moves
down on the scoresheets. This way errors
will be avoided, and the moves made in the
time scramble will be recorded too, even
in the case of blitz games.

Sure, there are a few things to discuss but
don't be pedantic in a negative way. What
I've written above makes sense, granted
that a few details should be spelled out.

Wlod

Would this lead to two sets of rules -- one for high level events with
the new equipment and one for large Swiss tournaments and other
contests lacking the self-recording, self-timing sets?

To maintain a single set of technology independent rules is a big
reason the USCF first took away the option of recording one's move
before making it. Of course, it would have been simpler to forbid
this option only when recording with devices that present the position
graphically, but this would have put the graphic devices at a
disadvantage and made it more difficult to market them. They provided
a raft of other reasons when a firestorm of protest broke out after
the decision, but this little post facto dance fooled only the
gullible.

The Blue Book and Encyclopedia of Chess

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0923891927

The final draft of the new revised Blue Book and Encyclopedia of Chess
has been sent to the printers. It will be out in about ten days to two
weeks from today.

The new revised Blue Book will have 438 pages. The original Blue Book
had 393 pages, so I have added 45 new pages.

(Actually, I have added a few more pages than that, as the original
Blue Book had several blank pages and I have filled them up as much as
possible.)

The price will be $24.95. It will first become available at the
address above.

Sam Sloan

"Wlodzimierz Holsztynski (Wlod)" wrote in message
...
On Feb 16, 12:46 am, "Wlodzimierz Holsztynski (Wlod)"
wrote:

The high level tournaments
should use chess sets which record the moves
by themselves, without players wasting
their time and concentration to write the moves
down on the scoresheets.

The same goes for punching ther clock.
There should be no more of it. The chess
set, including the chess clock, should
record time by itself.

I agree for top level players with everthing Wlod wrote before this about
the need to record moves. The trouble with this last one is for a sensory
board to establish when a move is complete?

How does it tell if Qd2-d4 is a 'hover' and if the piece is actually
released onto d4, or held there while thinking of what happens, or
eventually moved to d3?

And one should not
have to claim winning on time. A player
who has exceeded his/her time limit should
lose automatically (except when no checkmate
is possible).

I agree with that.

In short, chess players should just play chess.
Everything else is at the best the necessary eveil
which should be reduced to bare minimum, as much
as possible.

I don't know if Wlod likes this idea also, but the software associated with
the board can also /BLEEP!/ illegal moves - so that it either does not allow
an illegal move to stand as amove.

One other great advantage of allowing softare/hardware to record the game is
not just clarity of moves played, but also how many moves have been played.
A scrawled score sheet, or one with dashes to indicate a move, may not
accurately record if the time limit is reached or surpaseed, without
subsequent analysis and reconstruction of the game - which can be
contentious, no?

Wlod

The Blue Book and Encyclopedia of Chess is out, published today.

It is available on Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0923891927

I have just uploaded the new cover

The Blue Book and Encyclopedia of Chess: with Introduction and updates
in 2008 by Sam Sloan

The Blue Book was originally published by Kenneth Harkness in 1957.

It is listed on Amazon as "Currently unavailable" but it will become
available in a few hours.

Sam Sloan