Chess Scotland Rule Book - Telephone Matches

A. Organisation

1	Any team may propose to its opponents that a particular match shall be played by telephone. If the proposal is accepted, then the telephone costs shall be shared equally between the sides.
2	The sides must agree on the date and the exact times between which the match must be played. Each side must notify the other of the telephone number which it will use.
3	The teams and officials (see section B) should be in attendance at the appointed venues well in advance of the agreed starting time.
4	The boards should be clearly numbered and arranged in order of play, either in a straight line or a U-shape, with all the players on one side.
5	The telephone should be out of earshot of the playing room, but as near to it as possible.
6	The rate of play should be as indicated in the competition rules. (Note that there will be a considerable loss of time in transmission of moves, eg a clock time of 100 minutes per player will require over 5 hours playing time).
7	As soon as the telephone connection has been made, the two captains must exchange team lists. One must then toss a coin, and the other call for choice of colour on top board.
8	The captains should agree before play begins on the move numbers at which the times recorded on their players' clocks are to be transmitted to the other side. (A possible arrangement might be at moves 5,10,15,20,25 and then more frequently as the time control approaches. See rule 12)
9	If, during the course of play, it is discovered that an error in communication has resulted in a move by the other side having been wrongly made on a board, then the position shall be restored to the stage immediately before the move was made, and the correct version of the move made on the board. The game is then restarted from that position. The question of adjusting the clocks and/or the time shall be settled by the Arbiters.
10	At the agreed time for the end of play, the position of unfinished games must be checked by each side against the other immediately (otherwise queries and delays could arise on adjudication). Any possible quick agreements on the results of unfinished games should then be made by the captains.
B. Officials and their Duties
11   The officials required on each side are an Arbiter (see Rule 12), stewards (Rule 13), and telephone operators (Rule 14) 12 The Arbiter must be completely independent of his side's team or club. Besides the usual duties of ensuring that the Laws of Chess are observed (including the prevention of consultation, observing the chess clocks, etc), he has some special functions. First he must ensure the fairness and accuracy of the tossing for colours (rule 7). He must also ensure that time checks are carried out as arranged, and may agree to request a time check on other occasions when it appears justified. He should be alert to the possibility of each side thinking the other is on move at any particular board, and try to remedy this. He should investigate any clock-time problems and see that the provisions of rule 10 are carried out. 13 Stewards are the links between the players and the telephone operators. They should be provided at the rate of at least one per three boards, but if space and availability permit, they could be up to one per board. At each board there is a special Steward's scoresheet, clearly marked with the board number and the names of the players. On it, the Steward records each move made by the player, and takes it to the telephone operator for transmission. When the reply move has been recorded on it by the Operator, the Steward takes it back to the board, makes the opponent's move on the board and presses the clock button. Any requests by the player for clock-time checks, or queries about times, are referred by the Steward to the Arbiter. 14 Telephone Operators must be unflappable and able to speak distinctly. There should be at least two per side, alternating their spells of duty at the telephone. Their duties are: a To receive from the Stewards their special scoresheets, check each one for the accuracy of the last move recorded, and then transmit the board number, move number and move to the other side, checking the read-back. b To receive from the other side their board numbers, move numbers and moves, recording each one on its correct scoresheet, reading back the data for confirmation, then handing each sheet to its appropriate Steward c To transmit, request or receive clock-time checks, under the direction of the Arbiter. It is advisable for the Operators to keep the current position on each board on small chess sets, in order to check the accuracy of moves by both sides. It is also useful for the Operators to perform regular checks as to which side is on the move at each board.
C. Notation
15  The notation used should be either: a Algebraic, with the letters named (eg a=able; b=baker), for example, White moves Rook on able 1 to able 4; or b To receive from the other side their board numbers, move numbers and moves, recording each one on its correct scoresheet, reading back the data for confirmation, then handing each sheet to its appropriate Steward c Descriptive, for example, White moves Rook to Queen's Rook 4.