Players online, especially juniors, can be tempted to break the rules by getting assistance from a computer engine. All Arbiters and Organizers need to put measures in place to protect the vulnerable members of our community.
Our Fair Play technology is implemented to:
a) Assist arbiters in identifying players that are most likely to be getting assistance
b) Protect players with exceptional performances from accusations of unfair play
Arbiters should support vulnerable players who may not have sufficiently well developed self-control mechanisms with early reminders to make better choices in their daily lives and when playing chess on Tornelo.
Real Reputations at Stake
We require all players to use their real names and verified genuine identities in order to play on Tornelo. Anyone found to be playing under a pseudonym or false name will be removed from the site. Identity verification is done by the Organizer of your event.
Unfair Play is Prohibited
We define this as using any external assistance to gain an unfair advantage over your opponent. Some examples might include computer engine assistance, opening books, endgame tablebases or asking another player for help. This is not an exhaustive list of what we deem Unfair.
Ensuring Fair Play
Our expectation is that all players in an Organizer’s community are behaving ethically and treating their opponents fairly at all times.
We recommend Arbiters start from a Presumption of Innocence.
Event Arbiters must have a process in place to identify and penalize players who undermine the enjoyment of community members by obtaining an unfair advantage in some manner. We suggest:
1. Identify Players to Investigate
We encourage Organizers to investigate players based on the Fair Play report. See more here.
2. Collecting Evidence
Once a player has been selected for observation, undertake additional supervision to collect behavioural evidence that supports the statistical evidence.
3. Communication
Event Organizers should notify:
- The Player, and
- Where the Player is under the age of 18, the Parents and/or School Teachers
These parties should be notified that an investigation is underway and that one (or several) games were flagged as being likely to have been played with Assistance.
We realise that people (young players in particular) may occasionally make poor decisions. All players should be provided with an Amnesty Period where they will be given an opportunity to either:
- Admit to having received assistance
- Deny having received assistance and request further investigation take place
4. Investigation and Consequences
All Event Organizers should have their own documented consequences.
We suggest that if a first-time offender admits to having received assistance:
- The player commits to playing future games without assistance, and no further action will be taken
- The player remains on probation for 12 months; subsequent offences will not be permitted this Amnesty
5. Public or Private?
Where this process relates to someone Under the age of 18, all details of proceedings will be shared with Parents and/or School Teachers. Otherwise details will remain confidential between:
- Event Arbiter / Organizer
- Player
Event arbiters will be required to maintain confidentiality of this information at all times.
6. Appeals Process
There should be checks and balances in all sanctioning processes to minimise the number of “false positives”.
7. Tornelo’s role in Fair Play
Tornelo is a platform for Arbiters and Organizers to run online, hybrid and OTB chess tournaments.
Arbiters are always in control of their events. We provide full insight into the workings of every tournament. There is very little that we can see that the Arbiters cannot. We do this so Arbiters can give players the best possible experience.
If players have concerns they should speak to their Arbiter, Event Organizer or National Federation so they can share with them the policies applied in their Events. Tornelo has no involvement with choosing the number of rounds played, the time control, the entry fee or any Fair Play decisions. All control remains with the Arbiters and Organizers. Tornelo deliberately doen’t not auto-remove players for Fair Play violations, preferring instead to give all the information to Arbiters and allow them control over the decision making process.
