Notation Rule Question

Ah, I see. Yeah usually the TD will make an announcement if notation is required throughout the entire game. That should be fine.

Yeah, I knew that. I figured that it wasn't super important, since in OP's story, they were penalized. Plenty of TDs allow it, and like I said, I'll only call it if someone claims it, since I personally believe that, while stupid, it has some reason to it. Most of the time, the "penalty" I'll issue will be a warning, but there are variations to the rules.

Other people have answered this correctly, but I thought I should add on. In USCF tournaments, neither player has to notate after one player drops below 5 minutes of time, with one exception- if the time control has an increment or delay of 30 seconds or more, then you MUST notate, no matter how low your time is. In FIDE events, however, you must notate, regardless of how much time is left on the clock. Hope this helps!

I don't think the issue is with "veteran". When I was an OTB player, 30 plus years ago, almost nobody ever wrote their moves down first. A few people did, and usually blocked what the move was with their pencil, but I see no advantage in doing this and, if anything, it is a disadvantage as you give your opponent an opportunity to analyze a move they may not have considered, on your time. If you can't remember what move you are analyzing, I don't think you will have much success either way. So the rule is silly, calling the TD to get a penalty is lame, and penalizing without a warning of any sort, is also lame. In this case, with the complainer having so much less time, perhaps the TD figured that those two minutes were irrelevant for the game, and would shut up the whining player, so I guess his actions were OK.

Multiple people I've talked to about the rule, including a national master and an NTD, mostly agree on one main thing- player's coaches telling them to do this. It's apparently supposed to help players slow down and think

False! The same rule as USCF about having less than 5 minutes left, except with 30 second increment or delay, applies. Of course, 30 second increment is common, but not universal, in classical FIDE tournaments.

You’re right- I misinterpreted what the rule said. In FIDE tournaments, you DO have to keep notating if your opponent has less than 5 minutes left, however. That’s what I should’ve said.

MasterMatthew52 said, " Guess that TD wasn't really qualified."

Like any other skill we have to start somewhere. Tournament directors have rankings based on their experience. The rank we start with, club TD, is earned by claiming to have read the rules. It's a thick book that we can't expect someone to remember early in the career as a TD, but hopefully if an issue arises they remember something about it somewhere in the book. So they direct tournaments that have no critical issues--small or no prizes, no title norms at stake.

I mean, you really only NEED to read the first chapter or 2, the rules are the most important thing. You should still read the whole thing though

No, Modderman8, the rules don't end with chapter 2.

I know. What I'm saying is that the majority of the rules that will be applicable are in the first two chapters. You absolutely SHOULD read every chapter, but if you just want to help direct a tournament for a local club or something small like that, the first two chapters are the most important by far. I worded my response poorly, and I apologize for that.

Thank you for the explanation, modderman8. I hope you continue playing the game.