OTB Cheats?

Some rules are clear on cheating OTB. But I have 2 things to inquire about -- both of which have happened against me. If anyone has answers, please advise....

The first, I suppose, I already know the answer. It was a strong kid player. She castled but touched her rook first, then her king. She probably didn't know any better, but it;s definitely a no-no, right? I didn't protest, but I informed the TD after.

Second, at many club tournaments there's books either on display and/or for sale. Can a person leave the tournament the hall and browse the books? I've seen this waaaaay too many times and no one seems to care. But if you're in book lines of an offbeat opening, say the Latvian Gambit, wouldn't this be an opportunity to look up the best continuations? It seems obvious to me that this is cheating but I've come across tournament directors who disagree.

Opinions????

Depends, usually its up to the TD. If the player is new to chess a TD would often just warn the player. But if a player does this again, touch the rook first in castling, then the TD could enforce the touvh move rule. I usually don't care if the person touches the rook first in castling. Its too petty for me to be concerned as a player.

The other problem is more serious. The TD should be informed and the person warned about looking through chess books while the game is in progress. I once told a young person, who was looking through a chess book, that he shouldn't because it gave the appearance of cheating even though he was just browsing about.

I don't have any problems with my opponent touching the rook first when castling. That's not really why the touch-move rule was implemented anyway. You're just being petty if you force them to move your rook, aren't you? I believe the rule is in place so that if someone suddenly realised their move was bad, they can't just put it back and do something else.

As for the second scenario, it seems underhanded to do such a thing, but I don't think any rules forbid it at this moment in time.

About the rook touched first, I wouldn't say anything if the intention to castle is clear. I'd advise a younger player not to do it again, though.

On the other hand, I tnink reading chess books while playing a tournament game should be seen as receiving external help and therefore treated as cheating.

Below is the article and section from FIDE rules of chess:

Article 15: The Conduct Of The Players

15.1 Prohibitions:

(a)

During play, the players are forbidden to make use of hand-written, printed or otherwise recorded matter, ...

Touching the rook first didn't bother me. I was more concerned for the player to know the rules though. If she did it against someone else, the other player might demand she move it.

Is it really being petty though? If you have a close game going on or there is big money on the line, a guy playing 0-0 or Rf8 might be a huge difference in the outcome. When I played at the Continental Open, the final game for the top 2 players in my section meant winning $2,000 for a win, only $700 for a draw.

The cell phone rule seems to be arbitrary too. At FIDE events, I think a cell phone going off is an automatic DQ. I've played in tournaments like that too.

But I always played in one tourney where if a player's cell phone went off, his time was cut in half. Therefore, if you have 30 minutes left on your time controls, the TD comes over and resets the clock to 15 minutes left. Not sure if that acts as an incentive, depending on when the phone rings.

basketball can call timeouts. boxing has rounds. gameplans are being discussed, players get tips from coaches, but it is the player who would still deliver the game. No matter a chess player uses books in the opening, they still had to carry on the middle game to the endgame all by themselves. this is where chess becomes interesting, variations occur in the middle making no two games alike. it is the skills that matter, tactics and strategy, and endgame mastery. nevertheless, since history tells us that chess started out that way - no opening books nor computer assistance - to be fair with our predecessors then contemporary players had to memorise opening variations.

I understand that there are slight differences in protocol between the US and Canadian rules of chess.  That said, the USCF's Official Rules of Chess states:

10I1. King touched first, or king and rook simultaneously.  If a player intending to castle touches the king first, or king and rook at the same time, and then realizes that castling is illegal, the player may choose either to move the king or to castle on the other side if legal. If the king has no legal move, the player is free to choose any move.

10I2. Rook touched first.  If a player intending to castle touches the rook first, there is no penalty except if castling is illegal, the player must move the rook if legal. 

In a previous edition of the US rulebook, it was cited that the king must be touched first. If a touch move claim was made based on the rook being touched first, the TD then had to determine the intent of the offending player. If it was clear that the player's intent was to castle, then no penalty was assessed but the player was instructed to move his king first in future games.  This rule has now been modified to allow either piece to be touched first with no penalty (as described above), providing that the player intended to castle.  This was done to eliminate "petty" touch move claims and allow the players to continue the intended course of their play.

Since this may be slightly different in Canada, I suggest you ask this question to an experienced TD in your area.  If they seem unsure, ask them to look up the official rules to verify the correct procedure.

In the matter of assisting a player during the course of the game, the US rules are clear that each chess game is a contest between the two players, and any sort of outside interference is not allowed.  Whether this interference is a distraction, spectator comments, or actual assistance in the game, the TD is obliged to level the playing field by eliminating any outside interaction during the game.  The skill and knowledge of the players should determine the outcome of the game, and any intentional advantage attained by other means constitutes cheating.

Brian