Dear Mr.Benjamin,

Your column in Chess Life addressed something we have been discussing at the club recently. We are instituting the 'move before writing' rule, which some of our players (especially the youngsters) do not like. It was new to me, but after a few minutes reflection it seems like the only way to go. Consider this situation - you are at a 'big money' tournament like Foxwoods. You are playing in the 'A' division. Your opponent writes down his next move. His friend, a master, happens to walk over, pensively scratches his chin for a minute, then walks away. Two minutes later your opponent crosses out his move and make another. Would you be happy with this? And it would hardly be an unusual situation. A player walks over, gives a little shrug, a little grimace, (as players often do when watching others' games) and your opponent changes his move. I wouldn't like it.

Now if this thought occurred to me (and while a USCF expert I rarely play tournaments and never seriously), I'm sure it must have occurred to all serious tournament players, perhaps there is a good reason for it being dismissed. Is there anything I'm missing, if not, wouldn't that be a very valid reason for the change, for written as well as electronic scoring?

Tom McMillen-RI