Admin Guide: Vote Chess Guidelines

Vote Chess Played As a Team

Dear Teammates,

Let me begin with a short historical note. Vote Chess is a modern, internet-based variant of what were once – and still are – consultation games played by correspondence (or radio) in chess. One of the most famous instances is the game played in 1824 between the London Chess Club and Edinburgh during which the Scotch Game has been played for the first time.

Hence in order to be able to play Vote Chess games we can learn from and also to learn from each other and together please try to play them as consultation games, or as a team, by following the guidelines listed below:

1. Check the ‟Follow” box below the Comments section of each game You joined. This will allow You to track the discussion and participate in it. At later stages of the game, You can also consult the archive to remember/refresh what has been discussed earlier.
2. At the beginning of each game, suggest an opening or move, depending on the colour we play with. Furthermore, suggest a move each time it is our turn and state Your reasons for recommending the respective move, or supporting it, if somebody else has already suggested it. You can also insert a line, a variation, Your analysis (as a diagram) etc.
3. After reading the evaluations made by Team Members, the Coordinator/Captain of the game selects the move (or the best two or three moves) recommended by Team Members. If there is a clear preference for a move (s)he will post a comment asking everybody to vote for the agreed move. If there are more moves that seem to be equally good, another short round of consultations will follow. (In the early phases of the game, the Coordinator/Captain may also ask Team Members to select by majority vote one of the seemingly equivalent lines.) Finally, the Coordinator/Captain will post the agreed move or the competing recommendations in Bold at a decent time interval before time control in order to allow all Teammates to vote.
   • In competitional VC games it is advisable to play openings and lines familiar to the top board players on the Team.
   • It is a good idea to allow two thirds of the consideration time for discussion and one third for voting. Thus, the call for voting the candidate move(s) should be made 24 hours before the time control in 3 days per move games and 16 hours before time control in 2 days per move games. (The 24 hours mark can be used is slower VC games, while 1 day per move games should be avoided.)
   • If necessary or prudent, the Coordinator/Captain may postpone the call, in which case (s)he will signal this in the Team’s Private Chat.
4. Please, play as a Team and do not vote independently (before) the agreed move has been posted! Please communicate Your vote and the vote tallies in the format shown at the end of the guidelines.
5. However, if the Coordinator/Captain fails to make the call (in time), players are free to vote any of the moves featuring in the discussion, provided the respective move has not been refuted or proven wrong.
6. Be polite and civil! If You don’t agree with another Member’s suggestion, argue in a polite manner, and refrain from negative comments. Even if a suggested move is an obvious blunder, explain this in a way that will help the other Teammate to learn and become a better player.
7. A short note on cheating. (I think it is commonsense that we do not want to be cheated against. Hence, we should not cheat either. Not only because of this. But mainly because it is both morally and practically wrong. In the latter sense: we also deceive ourselves, or – at least – run the risk of doing so.) Engine analysing our ongoing games by any computing means is cheating. This should be done neither by our Coordinators/Captains, nor by any of the members who joined a certain game. (However, post-mortem analysis is permitted.)
8. A short note on techniques that do not count as cheating. Using databases for checking statistics and particular lines, move orders does not count as cheating. Nonetheless, the databases shall not contain engine evaluations or allow engine evaluations to be TURNED OFF. The use of books, of other printed or electronic material (CDs/DVDs) as well as internet resources on chess is not cheating either. Hence, Vote Chess Game Coordinators and participants should take advantage of these resources. (After all, these are learning, not cheating tools, we may use in correspondence chess.)

The format for communicating Your vote and the standings:

 Your vote 3. d4

3. Bb5 (36%, 4 votes)
4. Nc3 (36%, 4 votes)
5. Bc4 (18%, 2 votes)
6. d4 (9%, 1 vote)

Finally, this material has been inspired by experience and similar texts from this site. Feel free to suggest improvements, additions etc.