Admin Guide: Vote Chess Guidelines

Admin guides are not rules that you must follow in your own club.  They are examples that you can adopt in full or in part if you find them useful.  Feel free to copy them and share them elsewhere, but if you borrow heavily from someone else's work it would be polite to credit them.

Please DO the following:

1. Comment on the games, giving suggested moves or strategies.  Giving your analysis and getting feedback from stronger players is a great way to learn.  And you might help us find the best move; teamwork is very important.
2. Feel free to question stronger players; it's a great way to learn, and you might pick up on something they missed.  We recently won a game because I spotted a tactic that had been missed by people rated several hundred points above me.  I've also suggested moves and had someone explain why it was a very bad idea.
3. Wait to vote until the last 24 hours or so; this gives time for people to comment with their analysis of the position.  The more people we have looking at a position, the better our chances of coming up with the best move.  The later you vote, the more comments you can see and take into account as you decide what move to vote for.
4. If we are coming up to the deadline and we still have no consensus on the best move, feel free to post on the TUTC main page with a link to the game asking for input.
5. I like to go to the main vote chess page (under the Play menu, click "Vote Chess") and vote on everything with a deadline in the next 24 hours.
6. Read the comments before voting. 

Please do NOT do the following:

1. Vote early, unless you won't be able to vote closer to the deadline.  You can't change your vote, and if you vote early, you miss the benefit of all the comments that come after your vote.
2. Vote for a move that has not been discussed in the discussion thread for the move.  If you want to play a move that has not been mentioned, add a comment explaining why you think it's a good move, so that other players can consider it too.
3. Vote without looking at the opinions of the players in the comments. 
4. Use an engine to help you come up with a good move.  This is cheating and can get you banned from the site.

Have another useful set of rules for vote chess, or any other useful comments?  If so, please share in the comments!

I would like to see admin posts the vote chess rules from their clubs.

Below picture was created by DrStrangeLuft. Feel free to include in your rules or post for the first few moves in every vote chess game.

Very good and concise guidelines @MGleason. Thanks!
I'd like to suggest that for the "do NOT" part you switch the first verbs of each item to infinitive so it doesn't have an imperative ring to it. For the "DO" part keeping them as is, to strengthen the positive idea assimilation.
Just a psychological communication aspect of course.

@VirtualKnightJoakim pretty cool suggestion. We're just taking our first steps at one of the clubs I help with, so only a few people have been participating. I've made some guidelines based on previous big clubs where I did participate and help manage VC as a "captain", but there's not yet enough people to justify major guidelines there, so to be honest we kind of didn't practically use most of the stuff I wrote.
Based on that experience, I would advise that if a club is just taking it's first VC steps, that the approach be a little more light and free-willed, but of course always focused on the discussion and also trying to be very positive when warning the "do NOT" voters. Someone could just be new on the club (or even the site) and that wrong vote can be his 1st attempt into something new, if you take this in consideration and be nice and polite when addressing it, you might just get a very positive voter (and club member) in the future.

Here is a rule example from another club:

From The Pup Pack (under 1200 group)

Here are some guidelines for our vote chess team:

First - let me say that a vote chess game is a very good way to learn and have fun 

Its important not to vote early (and without discussing the moves)  Since the Pup Pack is a learning group of beginners we will use vote chess as a learning experience. You can join a Vote chess game at every time - not just before starting.  However, if you leave the vote chess game, you cannot rejoin that game.

Vote chess at its best has 3 stages when its our turn to move:

1.) Present your candidate move - Please do not just move! - Think about your favorite move in the position and then show it. Provide thoughts on why you like it. 

2.) Discussion - We discuss and analyze the different moves and normally we find a "Team move or 2" for the team to vote.

3.) Voting - 24 hours before we reach the timelimit - The "Captain" of the game will announce the Team choice(s) and we vote for one choice.

All comments are welcome - keep them positive and constructive please.

Important - Check "Track new comments" - so you receive a message if there is a new comment in the Voting game! Hope to see you in the vote chess games!

Below is the standard in my clubs:

One Rule

Do not vote for a move unless it has been suggested in comments in the discussion forum and has not been refuted. If your move of choice has not been suggested then suggest it before you vote for it. There are NO exceptions to this rule. Offenders will receive one warning and if it re-occurs they will be removed from the game.

One Suggestion

It is recommended that members withhold their votes until the clock reads 24 Hours or less, so as to make the best use of our time to determine the moves we choose. There ARE exceptions to this rule. However, voting on the 1st day of our turn is forbidden except in forced situations.
Prior to 24 hours on the clock; please do not submit a comment that you have voted early or a comment which contains the current votes. I expect everyone to use good judgement.  Votes are far more effective when we have discussed the pros and cons of our candidate moves.

Chess engines are NOT allowed in 0ur vote chess games. Archived computer games are also NOT allowed. Please avoid mentioning computer analysis in our vote game forums. Moves can be submitted from experience, books, articles, videos or from chess databases which can be found at various websites.

If you see a foolish move or blunder being suggested by another team member please be courteous, respectful and constructive in your appraisal of the move. Let us judge the moves - not the people who suggest them.

If you get madand decide to leave the game or if you should accidentally click on [Leave Game] you will see a confirmation pop up which will give you a second chance to stay in the game (suggested). If you still chose to leave; that action is irreversible.

Please show respect for your teammates and keep the language clean.

Enjoy the games! 

The Chess Dojo
https://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/vote-chess-rules58 

Our method is twofold: 1-Find the best move. 2-Play the best move.

1 - Find the best move - To accomplish this goal we submit and discuss candidate moves in the game forum.

2 - Play the best move - To accomplish this goal we strive to reach a consensus and vote for a move selected from the candidates which have been suggested. Voting secretly for moves not mentioned in the forum is contrary to the purpose of this group and could result in your being removed from the game or from the group.

Our games typically allow three-five days for us to make a move. The first 48 hrs is for submission and suggesting of moves, plans and strategies and for the subsequent discussion, evaluation and appraisal of those candidates by the members of the team.

Votes are far more effective when saved until the final 24 hrs. If you must vote early for personal reasons there is nothing to prevent you from doing so. However, please do not mention it as that may encourage others to vote early.

Moves can be submitted from inspiration, experience, books, articles, videos or from chess databases which can be found at various websites.

“Chess engines are not allowed in normal vote chess games. Archived computer games are also not allowed according to chess.com's definition of cheating. Please avoid mentioning computer analysis in our vote game forums.”

If you see a foolish move or blunder being suggested by another team member please be courteous, respectful and constructive in your appraisal of the move. Starting or participating in a flame-war will get you removed from the group.

If you get mad and decide to leave the game or if you should accidentally click on [Leave Game] you will see a confirmation pop up which will give you a second chance to stay in the game (suggested). If you still chose to leave; that action is irreversible.

Please show respect for your team mates and keep the language clean.

If anyone feels any of these suggestions are unfair, send me a message.

Enjoy the games! 

The Chess Headquarters
https://www.chess.com/groups/forumview/vote-chess-guidelines-for-the-chess-hq

Hi, here are the basic guidelines for vote chess here at The Chess Headquarters:

Vote Chess is a form of consultation chess. That is, the players work together as a team to come up with the best moves. In order for this to work, there are some basic rules we need to follow. For now, we will only play games that are between 2 days and 7 days per move. Usually, we will only play games that are 2-3 days per move. That will give us a chance to discuss the moves, hear each other's thoughts, and respond without getting bored waiting for the next move. 

• Wait until the last 24 hours before voting

• Discuss the move you want to make in the team chat. 
• Only vote for a move that has been discussed
• Respect each other. 
• Disagreements are encouraged, personal attacks are not! 

It's perfectly acceptable to say "1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 is a stupid move." It's not ok to say "Smyslovfan, how could you be so stupid as to suggest such a move!"

• Have fun! If you're not having fun playing chess, you're doing something wrong! 

What you may and may not consult: In vote chess, you may consult books, databases, internet articles, and each other. You may not consult engines, tablebases, players who are not directly involved in the game, cats, psychics, dogs, ouija boards, and so on. Vote chess on this site is played by site rules!

If you copy and paste information, please cite your source!

If I missed anything or if you have any questions or discussions, please send me a personal message! 

Some teams are pretty strict.  They have a vote chess captain who will organise the discussion, call for votes, and tell people what moves they can vote for.  Other teams are less strict; they still want people to wait and not vote early and only vote for moves that have been discussed, but don't have a captain calling the vote or saying what moves can be voted for.

Both approaches are perfectly legitimate and are merely a matter of preference.

There are other clubs where there is no meaningful discussion and people vote for whatever they want without discussion.  That's not wrong, but it seems to me to eliminate much of the point of vote chess.

It seems to me that if there's a team captain who is going to tell everyone what to vote for then what is the point of having a team at all. It's just one person calling the shots.

If it's well run, the captain calls the shots based on the discussion, not merely his own analysis.  He tries to guide the discussion to a consensus, either to a single move, or to a list of 2-3 candidate moves that people are allowed to choose between.  I've seen it work well and be a genuine team game.

It's not my preferred style, but for those who like it it works well.

I do that in my clubs as the SA, not as a team captain but more like a moderator. That is I maintain order and encourage participation but I do not tell people what to vote for and I don't want anybody telling other teammates what they should vote for.

My experience with team captains is that quite often they go off on a power trip and start bullying people. When there is a team captain, all the other teammates will sit back and wait for the team captain to tell them what the good move is. So it hurts participation.

I want the moves to be decided in a free democratic manner. I think it is a mistake to think that the team "must" reach a consensus because that narrows the field of view. It is true that most of the time it will boil down to a single move, but there are many cases when there are several moves that are all about equal.

I say this because I often perform post game analysis with an engine and sometimes I compare the engine results with the discussion on specific moves:

I have seen many cases when the best move was completely overlooked in the discussion and the move everyone had agreed on wasn't even in the top ten engine choices. I have seen cases when the best move was suggested, but then rejected, sometimes even appearing to be refuted, even by strong players. But of course their analysis turned out to be faulty.

I have seen when strong or popular players would suggest an absolutely terrible move and everyone agreed and voted for it.

I have seen cases when there were as many as a dozen or so moves on the engine's list that were all within a few thousandths of each other, and yet someone had insisted that their choice was the only good one and would pressure other players to join the consensus.

Therefore, in order to be fair to all teammates, any move which has been suggested and not refuted can be voted for when it's time to vote. Each person can make their own decision between the moves which have been suggested.

So the votes always decide it and I believe that's how it should be.

I agree with this. But if you are the SA then you should be the one to do this. Why do you need a team captain?

For anyone who wishes a concise list of vote chess rules, here is the most concise I have seen:

1) In a 3 days per move vote chess, wait until thee is 24 hours left before you vote.

2) Only vote for a move brought up for discussion and group analysis. Please study the diagrams and analysis posted before voting.

Key phrase: "If it's well run". 

But if you're the SA then why don't you be the one who does this? Why do you need a Team Captain?

Time.

If you people who are good at this and like doing it, it lets you delegate, freeing you up for other responsibilities, or allowing your club to run more games.

I tried to keep our rules simple and informal. Here they are"

Please take notice:

In our vote games, if it is a one day per move game, we want to wait till the clock is on 12 hours or less before we vote.

If it is a 2 days or 3 days per move game, please do NOT vote until the clock is on 24 hours or less. We need time to discuss and find the best move.

Please don't vote early! But if it is the first 2 or 3 moves in a game, early voting is OK.

Also, if you see a move good enough to win your vote, please tell the rest of us about it in the comments of the game. We should not see votes for a move that has never been mentioned in the comments.

Also be aware that your vote is not secret. In v3 once a person voes, they can see who have voted for each move and when they voted.

Thanks! 

I woulkd add communicate only in English. Some Russian and Spanish speaking temmates want to speak in their languages.

Depends on the club.  Some clubs use a different language - my club is currently playing against a Hungarian team, and they communicate in Hungarian.  There's nothing wrong with that.

It is helpful, though, if you don't have a particular language for your club., to at least include a translation into English or some other agreed-on common language.

In one of my groups we have a member who accidentally falls back to his native Dutch from time to time. Sometimes we ask him to correct but sometimes we sorta ignore it. 

google translate