Chess

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December 16, 2006

Writing it down...

One of the things I really like about playing at the MCC is that you're required to write down your moves as you play. It's part of the rules for tournament play.

Casual games between friends are always so fun, but you can never remember anything about them - because they are not written down. When you write down the moves of the game, you can replay it later and learn from it. There are even chess programs that will analyze the game for you and show you where you really went south (which is usually a lot sooner than you think). It's one of the biggest benefits I've enjoyed from joining a league.

But the rules are changing. When I first started writing down my moves, I found it very helpful to write the move first and then look at it and think about it. I have sometimes found a better move before actually moving the piece and changed it. Now (after January 1, 2007) you're required to move first and then write it down.

It was helpful to me because it allowed me to not forget my initial 'best' choice while considering others. It was also helpful because my turn had not ended yet and I wasn't rushed to record the move so that I could still remember my opponent's quick reply. I'm sure as the notation becomes more familiar, this will become second nature, but for now the record-keeping eats into my mental cpu cycles...

The announcement of the USCF rule change was made at one of the MCC meetings, but was presented as changing because the official rules had changed. It seemed pretty arbitrary to me at the time. But, I read something in the December 2006 Chess Life that helped to make more sense of the ruling. [In The Best of "Ask GM Joel" section -where GM Joel Benjamin answers questions from USCF members.]

GM Joel does acknowledge that

Most school programs and coaches teach kids to write down the move first. (I don't know if it helps you to play better, but for lower-rated and younger kids, it often provides the only hope for a complete scoresheet.)

He explains that the new USCF rule echoes the FIDE policy which prohibits writing the move first. And here's how (and why) that rule came about:

Recording the move on an electronic scoresheet allows one to see the pieces in the changed position - clearly an advantage. If the MonRoi device is tied to a demonstration display, the move could become "official" before it is actually played on the board. Therefore, inputting the move before playing it must be prohibited with an electronic scoresheet.

Ah...thanks GM Joel. That makes sense now. Although as he also points out - the rule could have been amended to allow paper scorekeepers the option of continuing to record either before or after the move (since the clear advantage presented above would not be present).

Oh...and speaking of the MonRoi system... I forgot to ask Santa for a Monroi Personal Chess Manager.

Although at $359 - it's something I doubt would be in my stocking no matter how many cookies I left out. The MCC has mentioned that if there's enough interest, we could possibly purchase these 'in volume' as a group at a lower rate. Since I won't be getting mine until after the holidays, I might as well see if that develops.

It sure would be nice to record it electronically - rather than manually record the game and then enter it electronically. I still have all the paper records of my games which have not been converted to electronic format yet. Not that I'm any great player whose games need to be recorded for posterity. But, it would be nice to learn from my own games and my own errors in analysis and tactics rather than from other people's games. [Most books use games from GMs to illustrate concepts.] I don't make the same mistakes that the GMs make in their games against other GMs. I'm still making amateur errors. Those need to be corrected first before moving on to the more subtle aspects of the game.

Hopefully someday I'll improve enough to be able to post a few games as a demonstration of my progress. Until then, it's back to the books and the exercises.

Posted by BlueWolf on December 16, 2006 11:35 AM