Process for recording results.

Running Chess Tournaments
1

My group is thinking of revamping our process for recording results in scholastic events. Right now, we just have the recording sheets on a table at the front of the room and our process is for both players to come up together and write the result down in the presence of an adult room monitor. This person is instructed to have both players come up and agree on the result and then to have them (the players) write it down. The problem is that when you have 11 sections in one room, multiple boards finishing at once, and people everywhere that you can’t watch every results sheet constantly. As such, we just had a tournament where twice there was a result that was erased and changed on a scoresheet (in sections for grades 3-5) and then later the modification was noticed by the disadvantaged player and then both players claimed they won. In one section notation wasn’t required and in the other notation was taken for part of the game but then stopped in time pressure so notation wasn’t a help and they weren’t able to recreate the final position. We investigated and talked to the players involved and players at the neighboring boards and resolved the matter but we don’t want to be in that position again.

So, what do other groups do to prevent this? Some people in our group just want more people to watch the scoresheets and/or more and better training for them. This has the advantage that things largely continue with the system that our kids are used to at all the other tournaments they play. These people are just volunteers though and may only do this once per year. So, personally, a higher ratio of monitors to recording sheets can only help but lapses in attention are unavoidable so I don’t think this system is foolproof. Something potentially better is to have all the scoresheets on one clipboard and the adult monitor writes down the result and keeps the clipboard with them at all times.

What process is used in other areas of the country. If we are using a non-standard process then that would be a strong argument for us to change.

2

There’s probably no ‘best’ way, but having one or more scorer’s tables at each exit, each one staffed, seems to work fairly well. If possible, a separate exit should be used for access to the bathrooms.

Not all facilities support that type of setup, and not all tournaments will have that many people on staff, either.

We once tried having pre-printed results slips at the table at each game, showing the section, the round, the board and the two players’ names, with spaces for the result and for signatures. Both players had to be present to hand in the result slip. It was a challenge to get them printed and distributed before each round started, but other than that it seemed to work fairly well.

3

A number of tournaments use a scorers’ table with both players coming up together to report the result, which is written down by the scorer. That requires constant volunteers at the scorers’ table but does keep anything from being altered.

Another alternative is to use results slips that are signed and verified at the board by TDs. This requires more TDs.