This is a guide to help people who act as captains for Hendon’s teams, in the Middlesex League or other team competitions.
A captain’s traditional role divides into two broad parts: preparing for matches (e.g. finding players, selecting and confirming teams, coordinating with leagues and other clubs) and actually running matches “on the day”.
At Hendon, in recent years we have split these into separate roles: we have tried to centralise and automate the pre-match preparation tasks as much as possible, but for the latter set of responsibilities, we need a broad base of players able to act as captains, because it is not possible for the same few individuals to attend and captain every match.
This guide focuses on the “on-the-day” duties of a team captain.
If you have agreed to take on this responsibility for the Club, many thanks! We could not participate in team competitions without people like you.
As an “on-the-day” captain, your duties fall into a few categories:
This guide will cover each of these responsibilities in turn.
You should make sure you have read the rules for the competition you are playing in, as these will affect some of the details below. The latest published Middlesex League rules I can find are here but please check to make sure this link isn’t out of date (if it is, please contact us).
As an “on-the-day” captain at Hendon, you are not responsible for recruiting and selecting players. By the time you take responsibility for the match, the team should already have been selected.
You should have received an email, normally a few days before the match, confirming the players representing the Club, and another email (usually on the morning of the match) confirming the players’ contact details.
The players involved in the match should also have received confirmation that they are in the team, and a reminder on the morning of the match. So you should not have to worry about any of these things.
The match reminder sent to players should inform them that you are the on-the-night captain for the match, and give them your contact details. Players should contact you if they need to withdraw from the match at the last minute, if they are going to be late to the match, if they are having difficulties getting to the match, or if they have questions.
Please watch out for such communications and try to respond in as timely a manner as you can.
Player information should be treated as confidential in keeping with our privacy notice. In particular, the contact details of one player should not be shared with others without their consent. For example, if emailing multiple players, use BCC to prevent players seeing each others’ email addresses, and do not add players to WhatsApp groups (it’s fine to use messaging apps like WhatsApp, but players should not be forced to join groups: send them an invitation link and let them decide).
This is especially important if there are any junior players in the team. If there are, please read our Child Safeguarding Policy and ensure that you include parents/guardians on all communications with the player.
If you need a last-minute substitute player, you may need help from the organising captain. If they are not available and you do not have access to the available player lists, you may try to find another committee member who does, or try to recruit a player through the Club WhatsApp group or similar.
In the event that it is impossible to recruit a full team, we should notify the opposing captain of the default as soon as possible, so they can inform their own players.
If any players have not turned up by the time of the match, and have not contacted you to confirm they are on their way, you will need to try to contact them to find out where they are. If you are playing in the match, this can conflict with the ban on using electronic devices using the game.
Opposing teams are normally very understanding of this: if you believe you will need to use an electronic device to contact late players after the start of play, inform your opponent and their captain at the start of the game, and try to get it out of the way as early as possible.
There will be some time (currently 30 minutes in the case of the Middlesex League) after which the game is defaulted if no player has turned up; after this default time (or when all our players are present, if earlier), there should no longer be any need for you to use an electronic device, so you should switch it off just like the other players.
In most competitions, team lists are exchanged between the captains a few minutes before the match starts. The League rules often stipulate how far in advance of the match start time this must be done (in the Middlesex League this is currently 10 minutes). You will need to arrive in time for this procedure, or arrange a deputy in advance to do so.
Normally, the organising captain will send you a part-filled team sheet in advance of the match, which you can print out and fill in. If not, you can write your own. The minimum information needed before the match starts is:
In most competitions, one team will play White on the odd-numbered boards and one on the even, and this is determined by a coin toss before the match. The winner of the toss decides whether their team will play White on the odd- or even-numbered boards. (Try to remember to bring a coin to the match! In these days of cashless payment, fewer and fewer people routinely carry coins with them.)
If you win the toss, you should make the decision you feel is in the best interests of the team as a whole. Normally it does not make a big difference, but there are a few considerations which can tip the balance one way or the other. For example, if there is an odd number of games taking place (which normally only happens if there are defaults), it is often best to choose such that our team gets more games as White. Another example is if the rating differences between the teams are very different on different boards – so it is advisable to look at the full team sheet, including ratings, before making your choice.
You should be aware that if you win the toss, the player on Board 1 will often expect to be consulted about the choice of colour. You are by no means obliged to make the choice they want you to – to repeat, your priority is the interests of the team as a whole – but you should always consult them if possible, and it generally makes sense to respect their preference if there are no reasons to do otherwise, and explain your decision to them if there are.
If the Board 1 player is unavailable when you have to make the decision, and you don’t know their preference, taking White on the odd-numbered boards is a safe default choice.
Typically, in team competitions, the two captains are expected to act as joint arbiters. (There is currently an exception in the Middlesex League if there is an ECF-registered arbiter present, either among the players or spectators, but this is rarely the case in practice.)
This means it is important to be familiar with the Laws of Chess in the FIDE Handbook. The vast majority of matches pass without any disputes between players, but it normally happens a few times each season, so it’s best to be prepared.
Our OTB Players Guide is a good reference to read through, but it’s no substitute for reading the official Laws.
Particular areas to pay attention to are:
In addition to the Laws of Chess, it is worth reading the FIDE Arbiters' Manual which explains some situations which may arise.
It should be very rare that any disputes cannot be resolved by the captains or other players present. The worst case scenario is if the captains cannot agree. In this case you may need to let the game continue and work with the organising captain to make an appeal to the League later, but you should be aware that there will be a strong bias towards letting the on-the-board result of the game stand, so it’s good to have access to a copy of the Laws which you can refer to during the match.
Generally speaking, for a captain to intervene in anybody else’s game (as for any spectator) is a major no-no. However, there are a couple of exceptions.
Firstly, if you are acting as an arbiter (which, as mentioned above, you mostly will be), the Laws of Chess specify some situations in which you may or must intervene in that capacity. One common example is that you should point out when a player has run out of time (“flag fall”).
In addition, there are a very small number of situations in which you may intervene in a game in your capacity as captain. For this, you should read the “General Regulations for Competitions” in the FIDE Handbook.
The relevant part of the current version is section 7, “Team competitions and Team Captain’s Role”. This allows you to advise your players to make or accept an offer of a draw, and to respond to a player’s request for advice as to whether they may offer or accept a draw.
Match players should ask the captain for advice on draw offers, but less experienced match players may not know to do that, so be aware of this, especially at lower levels.
For home matches, there may be others on hand to help manage the venue, and there may not. If you expect or need help, please arrange it with others beforehand!
My experience is that it takes at least 20 minutes to set up the equipment by myself beforehand, including setting up the tables, boards and clocks, and putting out the scoresheets. Given that we need to exchange team sheets 10 minutes before the match, this means if I am on my own, I try to arrive 30 minutes before the match start time to begin setting up.
Obviously, if others are on hand to help, it is much faster.
One key point often forgotten is that for home matches, you need to know how to set and operate our chess clocks. There is a guide to this on our website here, but if you are doing this for the first time, it is advisable to practice beforehand, when not under any time pressure.
In addition to knowing how to set the clocks initially, you should also know how to adjust them during the game, e.g. in case of the need to apply a time penalty.
Before the match starts, you will want to make an announcement (assuming nobody else is around to do it). Normally you’ll be a bit flustered having just made sure the room is properly set up and completed the other pre-match formalities, so I find it’s best to have a checklist of things to announce which I can refer to, like the following:
At the end of the match, if no other club officers are present, it is your responsibility to put away the equipment and clear up the room. You should have been informed in advance if you need to do this, and arrangements should have been made for you to have access to cupboard keys and other things you need.
Often people are willing to stay and help with at least part of the clearing up, but if you are relying on this, please make sure it is agreed beforehand!
As the games finish, you should ensure their results are clearly recorded on the match score sheet. Ideally, you should also ensure they are recorded on the opposing team’s score sheet (there should be two match score sheets at every match, but sometimes the captains agree to share for expediency).
The important thing is that all results are known and agreed at the end of the match, because missing or disputed results are very frustrating for everyone to deal with afterwards!
The final score sheet should indicate the result on each board, who won the toss and which team played White on odd boards, any defaults, and the final match score.
The completed score sheet should be sent to the organising captain afterwards, so the results can be recorded for League and rating purposes. Normally the easiest way is to take a clear photo with a mobile phone and send it to the organising captain.
Thank you again to on-the-day captains for all that you do, and happy captaining!