Sheffield & District Chess Association

Established 1883

 

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S&DCA Guidance regarding Mobile Phones and other Electronic Devices

 

The Fixture Meeting of 19/09/2023 agreed to adopt the following, which could be formally incorporated into the S&DCA Rules at the next AGM.

 

a)

Except in exceptional circumstances [see (c)], such as the player being a doctor on call, mobile phones, and other electronic devices (including smart watches) should be switched off completely.  Captains are advised to remind players to switch off their devices prior to the start of a match.

 

b)

If, during their game, a player’s device which has not been exempted from being switched off nevertheless makes a noise, then the player shall lose their game, unless the opponent cannot win the game by any series of legal moves in which case the game shall be drawn.

 

c)

Exemption from having the phone switched off requires either that such exemption has been requested by the player and has been granted for that match by the opposing captain, or else that the circumstances fall within the scope of a general exemption issued by the Executive.  If a player is claiming such general exemption, then they must still inform the opposition player and captain prior to the start of their game.

 

Example 1: One player is missing from a team when the game starts. Their captain cannot contact the player, and requests permission from the opposing captain to leave his phone on until the player arrives. This would be granted.

 

Example 2: A visually impaired player uses an electronic board which transmits his opponent’s moves to a small monitor on which he can focus more easily.  This would be granted.

 

Example 3: A diabetic player wears a glucose monitor and the information is accessed via their mobile phone.  An alarm will sound on the phone if their sugar levels go too low or too high.  This would be granted.

 

Example 4: A player’s favourite football team are playing in a big match, and a request is made to set up goal alerts on the player’s phone to keep track of the score during the chess game.  This would not be granted.