During a friendly game last night my opponent picked up my ships maneuver dial instead of his own after I had "locked in." I have encountered this situation in casual multiple times and usually brush it off as no big deal. But with worlds this weekend I began to wonder what happens in a tournament when this occurs?

Are you saying that it was during the planning phase, he went to double check one of his own dials and grabbed (and looked at) one of yours by mistake? Because there is no 'placement' phase.

Yes that is weekday I mean, planning phase.

The rulebook, the "competitive play" section of the FAQ and the tournament rules do not cover this situation. So it is up to the TO.

One player accidentally looks at one enemy maneuver dial. He gains knowledge he is not supposed to have. How to prevent him from gaining an advantage due to that knowledge? How about he can no longer change his own maneuver dials this planning phase? That does not eliminate every potential advantage. But some.

I'd pick up all dials and begin the planning phase again from scratch.

The "gained information" can very well lead now to a trap, so it becomes uncertainity again.

I'd pick up all dials and begin the planning phase again from scratch.

The "gained information" can very well lead now to a trap, so it becomes uncertainity again.

The problem is that, in theory, you placed the dials in an optimal direction. your opponent now knows this and there is very little that can be done that wont disadvantage you further again for their mistake.

The rules clearly state that you are actually supposed to ask your opponent if its OK to recheck your dial, though clearly this rarely happens it does create a significant issue.

Also this is the sort of thing that can lead to abuse if an official solution isn't presented by FFG.

I would imagine however that due to this being quite rare, any instance of it happening to the same person more than once in a certain period of time it would hopefully be alerted to the TO's in the region to keep an eye on.

The rules clearly state that you are actually supposed to ask your opponent if its OK to recheck your dial,

That's outside of the planning phase. The question was about while still in the planning phase when everyone is allowed to look at and change their own dials

I'd pick up all dials and begin the planning phase again from scratch.

The "gained information" can very well lead now to a trap, so it becomes uncertainity again.

The problem is that, in theory, you placed the dials in an optimal direction. your opponent now knows this and there is very little that can be done that wont disadvantage you further again for their mistake.

Well, that's not neccesarily true. An 'optimal' movement to you may be 'foolish' for your rival. How many times when your opponent reveals his dial have you thought "WTF is he doing?".

In fact, in the event discussed, both sides gain information. Player A gains the knowledge of an opponent's intended maneuver, and the Player B, knowledge that his opponent knows it. As any spy could tell you, if the enemy knows that you extracted a given information from him, that information is mostly useless.

That's why the planning phase should start all over again. Your opponent won't never be sure if you'll try to turn the previous information against him, or radically alter your course of action, or simply act as if nothing happened. The previous knowledge enables new optimal decisions and new uncertainities.

If both players are playing the same faction, the first time you would have to assume it's a mistake. If it happens again, it's time to get the TO involved.

If the players are playing different factions, the colours of the dials are different, and it just shouldn't happen at all. So the "mistake" excuse is a bit harder to believe.

Honestly, if I was a TO, I'm not sure how I would settle something like this. Would you have to stand over the game and observe? Would it be fair to just assume the worst and penalise the player in question?

With this one, it's a fine line between making an honest mistake and cheating.

THIS IS NOT OFFICIAL:

This was discussed between myself and FFG representatives while at World's as it was brought to my attention. I will speak for myself that this is a difficult ruling to make as this could have an impact on the game. Accidents do happen, and if it is a one time occurrence then the ruling would be to allow the player to reset his/her dial if they choose to. The offending player would receive a warning that if it happened again they would be given a match loss as a result of the continued action.

There is one thing to think about. If two players are playing the same faction, dials may become mixed up by both players. I have played in over 300 games of X-Wing, observed over 1000 games, and have run 25 tournaments and have never had this issue arise. If this happens you must also look at the circumstance before ruling on this issue.

I know it's technicaly against the rules, but if there is a risk of mixing up dials (mirror match or just realy crowded on the board) I place my dials on the ship cards instead of next to the ships. With my opponents approval ofcourse.

That way, you will not acidentaly pick up your opponents dials.