IHSA

IHSA Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes - 2006-07

Chess Team Advisory Committee

March 21, 2007

Minutes of the 2006-07 IHSA Chess Advisory Committee Meeting

March 21, 2007

The IHSA Chess Advisory meeting was held at the IHSA Office in Bloomington, Illinois, on Wednesday, March 21, 2007, beginning at 10:00 a.m. Committee members present were: Chairman Mike Zacate, Fr. Phil Hogan of Chicago (Hales Franciscan), Mike Neenan of Carol Stream (Glenbard North), Don Porzio of Aurora (Illinois Math and Science Academy), Bryan Devine of Peoria (Richwoods), Ted Cipicchio of Highland (H.S.), and Dick Stewart of Quincy (Sr.). Scott Johnson, IHSA Assistant Executive Director, was also in attendance. Committee member Chris Merli of Urbana (University) was absent.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS RECOMMENDATIONS

The committee recommended the following changes to the Terms and Conditions:

1. Recommendation: Allow teams from the same conference to be paired anytime after the fourth round. Currently this restriction is lifted only when teams have accumulated four points in the tournament (change to Section V-B-3).

Rationale: The pairings in the final three rounds are integral to determining places throughout the field. Some conferences have several teams of about the same strength who would conceivably be playing in the same score group (for example, with a 3-1 record at the start the fifth round). Allowing these teams to play each other after the fourth round will help avoid some of the odd pairings necessitated by the current restriction.

Approved

2. Recommendation: Add language defining exactly how the Communication Card process works. During a game, all communications between player and coach must be written on a Communication Card and passed through a steward. (Add new Section VIII-H as follows:)

1. A Communication Card may be obtained on request from any steward.
2. A player may initiate communication with a coach or authorized representative by handing a Communication Card to a steward.
3. A coach or authorized representative may initiate communication with a player by handing a Communication Card to a steward, but only under the following circumstances:
a. to inform the player of a meal or an emergency, or
b. to inform the player of the match score and the player’s ability to help win or draw the match, but only when no more than two games remain on the table and the player’s clock is under five minutes.
4. Improper communication is considered kibitzing.

Rationale: Communication Cards were mentioned in the Rule Book but were not included in the Terms & Conditions. This change formalizes the process.

Approved

3. Recommendation: Alter the “Team Tournament Requirement,” starting with the 2008-09 season, so that qualifying tournaments must include at least 6 teams and not have a predetermined schedule (such as a round-robin format) (changes to Section III-F).

Rationale: One reason this requirement was added two years ago was to acclimate coaches and players to tournaments that were paired after each round. The current provision is open to interpretation, and a few such qualifying tournament are paired in a predetermined, round-robin fashion. The change will take effect in 2008-09, giving teams a year to adjust their schedules accordingly.

Approved

4. Recommendation: Allow players to come and go freely during the first 60 minutes of competition in each round, or if accompanied by a coach (changes to IX-A).

Rationale: The once-out, stay-out policy was judged to be too strict during the first hour of a round.

Approved

RULE CHANGE RECOMMENDATIONS

The committee recommended the following changes to the Chess Rule Book (new language is underlined, deleted language is stricken):

Recommendation: Rule 14-4. If during a game, it is determined that a clock is not functioning properly, other than a flag fall, or if the initial settings are determined to be incorrect, the Steward and/or players shall replace or correct such defective clock.

Rationale: If the clock was not set up correctly by the competitors, clarifies that the steward may correct the settings.

Approved

Recommendation: Rule 17-2-3. Add new article: Passing a Communication Card to anyone other than a steward is kibitzing.

Rationale: Clarifies that communication cards can only be passed to and from a steward, and not to a coach or teammate.

Approved

Recommendation: Rule 17-13-4. Add new article and renumber subsequent articles:

In team tournaments, the coach is allowed to initiate a message:
a. to inform the player of a meal or an emergency, or
b. to inform the player of the match score and the player’s ability to help win or draw the match, but only when no more than two games remain on the table and the player’s clock is under five minutes.

Rationale: Relaxes the restriction on communication slightly so that a coach has the ability to indicate information related to the team's match in certain specific situations.

Approved

Recommendation: Rule 19-1. A player or coach may appeal for a review of new ruling…

Recommendation: Rule 19-1-1. …providing the player or coach states his/her intention…

Rationale: Allows a coach as well as player to initiate an appeal of a steward's ruling.

Approved

Recommendation: Rule 19-5. Rewrite completely:

Section 5 – A coach may appeal a pairing to the Pairing Chairman only if the coach can demonstrate that the pairing is illegal or potentially illegal:
Article 1. Demonstrations of an illegal pairing are:
a. being paired against an opponent from an earlier round.
Article 2. Demonstrations of a potentially illegal pairing are:
a. being assigned the same color three times in a row.
b. being paired against an opponent outside one’s own pairing group.
c. being paired against an opponent from one’s own conference, if such a restriction is in effect.
Article 3. No appeal will be considered after 10 minutes have elapsed from the start of the round.

Rationale: Requires a coach making an appeal of the pairings to specifically show that one of the pairings is illegal. In the interest of keeping tournaments moving, the Committee felt it is necessary to prohibit appeals of pairings which are legal.

Approved

ADMINISTRATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS

The committee approved changes to the wording and layout of the Communications Card that were developed by Don Porzio. The committee also approved printing a sample of the card in the Chess Manual.

The committee approved adding to the Chess Manual a run-through of the procedures used at the Seeding Meeting, using the previous year’s tournament as an example. Currently this information is distributed at the state tournament. Including it in the Manual will help new coaches better understand the process.

The committee discussed concerns that some students were wearing inappropriate apparel at the 2007 state tournament and directed the IHSA to include warnings about such apparel in pre-tournament information sent to coaches and to stewards.

DISCUSSION ITEMS

The committee discussed using a team’s tie-breaker points, rather than its original seed, to pair teams after the fourth round. It was felt that in the later rounds this would give a more accurate reflection of the relative strength of the teams. Since the pairings for the state tournament are determined by the WinTD computer program, which does not have the ability to figure the tie-breaker, experimentation is required to see if the number can be imported from the IHSA scorekeeping system. The committee directed Chris Merli to conduct an experiment using results of past tournaments to see if this is feasible, and to report to the committee next year.

The committee reviewed and discussed a lengthy correspondence from a coach who was critical of the seeding and pairing processes. The committee took no action on the correspondence and affirmed its confidence in the processes and the personnel involved.

The committee discussed an incident of disruptive behavior in the seventh round.

The committee asked the IHSA to investigate whether coaches can obtain in-out parking privileges at the state tournament site. Coaches frequently have to leave the site during the day to check into hotels, buy meals, etc., and are required to pay a parking fee each time they return.

Scott updated the group on the renovation of the Peoria Civic Center and issues related to the move to the upstairs ballroom in 2008.

The meeting adjourned after setting the next meeting date for March 20, 2008.