Zero Start Rule

Whatever does it mean?

Zero Start Rule Explained!

The Zero Start Rule is a new rule by the World Chess Federation which further regulates the start of tournament chess games. This rule basically forces a player to be seated at his/her table at the start of the game. This rule was first applied during the 38th Chess Olympiad at Dresden, Germany in 2008, has become mandatory for all FIDE events since July 2009. Below is an excerpt from the rules of the 38th Chess Olympiad regarding this particular matter:

7.	Start and Finish of the Sessions
7.1	Five minutes before the start of each round, the Chief Arbiter must announce the approaching start of the session by a double acoustic signal; whereupon all Players are to be seated at their designated matches.
7.2	The beginning of the playing session shall be announced by the Chief Arbiter or by a single acoustic signal. At this instant, any Player who is not seated at his/her Match shall be defaulted immediately. Where both Players are absent at the beginning of the playing session, both Players shall lose the game by default.
7.3	Once the signal for the start of the round has been given, the clock of the player with the white pieces shall be started by his opponent or an Arbiter.

Before this rule came into force, a player had one hour to show up at the chessboard before his opponent could claim a walkover. For example, during the 1967 Interzonal tournament in Sousse, Tunisia, Fischer turned up just short of an hour late for his game against Samuel Reshevsky, and avoided forfeiting his game. For the record, Fischer won the game as Reshevsky seemed quite shaken up by Fischer's late arrival!

In trying to popularise the game, FIDE has decided to see the game from the eyes of the spectator & sponsor. How would it look, if say, Nadal entered the tennis court 45 minutes late? The frustration would be evident right from his opponent, to the spectators, to the sponsors and the television viewers, who have been waiting for the match to begin. And if this were to persist over a period of time, the sponsors and their 'dollars' would move to another sport!

A little discipline from the chess players to correct this 'lateness' seems to be a small price to pay to bring in the sponsors and the money into Chess! This is a step in the right direction. Well done FIDE.