The 2005 Aeroflot Festival

The 2005 Aeroflot Festival

[ uit: An Arbiter’s Notebook (op www.chesscafe.com), door Geurt Gijssen ]

Ringing Mobiles
A message was posted at the entrance of the main playing hall that mobile phones had to be switched off and this was also announced several times before the start of the round. Nevertheless, two such situations arose and in both cases the game was declared lost for the player whose phone was ringing.

In one case the player protested and even brought a lawyer who informed us that the phone belonged to the player’s brother. I upheld my decision, because even if it was his brother’s mobile, he was still responsible for it, as it was in his bag. Also, this player had previously told some arbiters that he had forgotten to switch off his mobile because he was very late for his game. He went to the Appeals Committee and paid an appeal’s fee of $200, but only ended up losing his appeal and his fee.