[CQ-Contest] sketchy rules vs. verbose rules

[Doug Smith W9WI]

Three things to be careful with when you consider making rules more
specific: 

1. Inadvertent violations become easier.  Will well-meaning competitor
K0ABC get DQ'd because he didn't notice Clause VIII of Part F of Rule
38?  Will he beat W9XYZ because XYZ noticed & obeyed Clause VIII and
K0ABC didn't & didn't get caught?

2. Less-serious competitors become confused & discouraged.  Will N1DEF
decide not to send in his log because it's not worth the effort of
figuring out whether he obeyed the rules?  

3. Excessively-specific rules discourage creative efforts, often
inadvertently.  Imagine that, in 1965, we established a rule prohibiting
a SO station from having more than one transmitter connected at a time. 
20 years later, someone gets the idea of SO2R -- but that's not
allowed.  

4. Excessively-specific rules encourage "competition by lawyer" - the
more rules, the more loopholes.  You'll never imagine *every* way a
competitor could possibly work around the restrictions in your rules. 
If your rules are too specific, you outlaw K0ABC's creative idea while
allowing W9XYZ's.  That measures luck, not operating skill.

We did a massive revision of the Tennessee QSO Party rules this fall. 
Some VERY lengthy rules were proposed, and I think we did a very good
job of whittling them down to the bare minimum to achieve the desired
goal.  
-- 
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN  EM66
http://www.w9wi.com