08-01-2014, 12:38 AM
Quote:If play by remote were permitted in the future. You would not be allowed to refuse to play such an opponent.Steve -
Why not? The FIDE Handbook, Chapter 01, para. 1.2., refers to ‘discriminatory treatment for national, political, racial, social or religious reasons or on account of gender’. I cannot for the life of me see how preferring not to play online in an OTB tournament could be classed as discriminatory (unless you know something we don’t). IMO, playing via computer would be virtually a form of correspondence (in the truest sense) chess. If I want to do that, or play online, I can stay at home. That’s why I play on the circuit – so I can compete against a guy or gal sitting across the board, mano a mano, with all that that entails. Simple as.
As for disability, as I said in an earlier post, I cannot think of any current congress venue which is not disabled-friendly, so the main thrust of the proposal is surely the remoteness factor.
Anyway, as someone observed, it will probably only affect a small number of players in middle events downwards, so I guess open players can sleep easy in their beds.
