Can someone please tell me where I can find the list of TLA deadlines? I couldn’t find it in the April CL.
Alex Relyea
You’re right. Looks like they stopped running it in March. A really bad editorial decision. Here’s a scanned copy: westernchess.com/hold/tla_deadlines.pdf. The tint block makes it a little hard to read, but that was true of the original as well.
The explanations and symbols used in the TLA section has also been removed. Maybe this is a precursor to eliminating the magazine entirely; as it stands now, you need to use the website to understand the TLA section, or to see the special “Information For Players,” which contained some important infomation not found elsewhere. Some players will have a good case for being misinformed or being left in the dark as to what is going on (e.g., informing new players that they they are not “unrated” because they have a provisional rating; adjustments added to foreign or FIDE ratings, 5-second delay with time controls, prize requirements and restrictions, encouraging organizers to contribute to the PPHBF through enhanced Grand Prix points, etc.). Such information, which can head off misunderstandings and bad feelings at the tournament, is evidently no longer important enough to be included in the magazine. I guess I’ll have to make a note to always carry the March issue to tournaments.