You Be The TD
Players A and B are playing in a tournament. A gets up, takes a step back from the board and leans against the wall behind his chair. He’s farther away from the board than he would be while playing, about where a spectator would be standing, maybe just a little closer. Other than that, he’s not moving. B complains about his behavior and insists he has to sit down or walk away from the board.
What would be your ruling?
March 25th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Hi, you know I have a comment. Adult chess players at tournaments need to be encouraged to a spirit of fair play. Not peevishness and loud arguement. I was appalled at my last tournament to see two grown men in loud arguement over their game, right in the tournament room. Much of this arguing over trifles is bad for chess. I would suggest that someone who has a frivoulous complaint about the behavior of their opponenet, be moved, together with their opponent, from their board to another board, close the where the TD is positioned, his table or HQ or whatever. This unspoken “dunce” seat would accomodate several problem pairs, and it would be obvious to everyone that the players thus seated cannot get along, and yet no spoken punishment need be administered. Thus, the prestige of sitting at board one, or on down to whatever position, would be given up, for the dunce seat, if frivoulous complaints occur. That should encourage players to be gentlemen, and focus on their games. And as to the question at hand, why should a player have less right of place than a spectator?