Insert standard disclaimer - these are all true stories that were deployed on me in the days before Al Gore invented the internet, when correspondence or "turn based" chess was commonly played one move at a time on a postcard through the mails. I will name the organizations, but not the players involved and in no way do I condone such behavior. I only share these tricks for their entertainment value.
1. In a Golden Knights tournament, wait until you are checkmated, then send a letter to the USCF postal chess director stating you had intended a different move earlier in the game. Astonishingly, the postal chess director allowed my opponent to take back several moves and resume play! I prevailed on appeal to the USCF executive director.
2. In another Golden Knights tournament, I had an opponent send a move Rb3 which lost a rook. He sent a letter to the USCF postal chess director claiming he had written Bb3. Astonishingly, the postal chess director sided with my opponent even after being provided a copy of the postcard! Again, I prevailed on appeal.
3. Abandon a lost position in a USCF-rated TCC tournament and then report it to USCF as a win for you! This was about the time The Chess Connection went belly up so USCF had no way to verify or adjudicate until I provided them with copies of the postcards. More trees killed.
4. If you are in danger of missing a time control, send multiple postcards with different move #13's on the same day. This will buy you extra time as the opponent is obligated to clarify. Or better yet, send them from another country with longer transit times than your own. Although, if some of the postmark dates are illegible this could come back to bite you because as a general rule the first postmark is the move you've played (kinda like touch move).
5. In USCF or APCT play, falsely claim that you have sent multiple repeat moves to an allegedly silent opponent. The unfounded time complaint gets logged against your opponent and if there is another complaint, unfounded or not, you could win by forfeit.
6. In ICCF play, repeat moves must be sent by international registered mail. If you live in a country that subsidizes postal rates and it costs you 30cents, send every move by registered mail and your opponent will be obligated to respond by registered mail as well else he will forfeit. Great, but in the USA it costs almost $10 to send an international registered letter.
7. When ICCF cup events first ventured onto the internet, play by e-mail was by mutual consent of both players (same for APCT). One problem with this was players who would give then withdraw consent multiple times during the game. Withdrawing consent to use e-mail was often used as a tactic to increase transit time when you were in a tight spot.
8. In one of my ICCF e-mail games an opponent once claimed I had overstepped the time control because (in his words) my receipt date HAD to be the same day he sent the e-mail, because, well, it's e-mail! It travels at the speed of light! This was back in 1997. I had just moved to Oregon and was living in a hotel while my house was being built and he thought he'd take advantage I guess. The flaw in his theory was that my isp had been down for a week and I was able to document same. But the ICCF ruled that e-mail (in the late 1990's) was as reliable as and was the equivalent of registered mail. Ummmm, right.
No doubt as soon as I press "submit" I will think of some more stories from my chess experiences, but this is a good enough start.
lol, so the dastardly are not confined to the modem age...
anyway, geez Rich, who wants to know about paper CC when we can bitch some more whether chess is a sport or a game.
you know, your experience with paper CC might have batgirl trumped on this part of the history of chess. would be nice if others chimed in.....
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