Beginning July 1st, players will no longer be allowed to bring cell phones into the playing venue at FIDE rated tournaments.
In yesterday's Supreme Court decision regarding cell phone searches by the police, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that cell phones are "such a pervasive and insistent part of daily life that the proverbial visitor from Mars might conclude they were an important feature of human anatomy."
This raises the question as to whether FIDE's cell phone rules violate the constitutional rights of American citizens. Nowadays people rely on their cell phones for voice messages, texts, and e-mails.
Just because a few "bad apples" are using their cell phone apps to cheat at chess does not justify punishing the overwhelming majority of honest chess players. The new FIDE rules go too far.
