I am looking for the place in the Rulebook that most clearly states that players should not use finger-pointing to assist in choosing their next move.
There are plenty of references that disallow “analysis” during the game, but I have not found a place that clearly defines “analysis.” (Obviously, players have to mentally analyze possible moves.) I have always instructed players to never move a piece to several squares, looking at each position before choosing a move with that touched piece. They cannot write down a move, think about it, mark it out and try another one. I have also told them not to point to squares while thinking. I have considered all of that to be “analysis.”
In a local tournament that I ran yesterday, I noticed an adult player pointing at squares, but from a distance, with his hands nearer to his face than to the board. I did not intervene, because his opponent did not object. (So “irritating the opponent” did not apply.)
He is relatively new to over-the-board rated chess (still provisionally rated). However, he is a strong enough player that he was the leader in the tournament, ahead by 0.5 before the last round, and this happened in the final game, which he eventually lost. He might have done this kind of pointing in previous games or tournaments, but if so I never saw him. I was watching this game closely because it was the final game and a very interesting one.
After the tournament, I told him that such pointing was not legal. He apparently thought it was legal as long as his finger wasn’t touching the squares and was not near the board. I don’t know where he heard that.
Can anyone refer me to an appropriate section of the Rulebook? I tried several search words on my electronic copy of the Rulebook without success.
I wouldn’t consider pointing or “trying out” different squares (without removing the hand from the piece) to be illegal. I don’t do either of those, but mainly as a matter of vanity – it would make me look like an indecisive beginner. What I do object to is a player writing down a move, then thinking about it for a while, crossing it out, writing down another move, etc. – until he finds a move that he likes, and only then making that move. I consider this to be “taking notes” – and the rules do require making a move first before notating it. But, as far as I know, there’s nothing in the rules to prohibit pointing, and I would not object to it either as a player or as a TD.
Ideally, a player should do all analysis in his/her head, using no visual aids at all (except to look at the existing position on the board), and that’s the standard I hold myself to. But the rules do not prohibit the first two actions you describe, and they don’t cross any lines that are important to me.
Seems really obnoxious (also moving a piece to just one square, then pivoting the finger all around so that the player can look at the potential move from all angles before committing) but I’ve never considered it illegal. Of course I’ve never heard of a player pointing at squares during play before. Far more common is moving up the side of the board to see where rows and columns intersect to write down the move “correctly”.
There used to be a player in my area (rated around 1900, I think) who would, every so often, think about his move for a long time, then leave the board (while it was still his move and with his clock still running), go out into the hall, flip a coin, then return and immediately make his move.
I don’t know whether anybody ever objected to this.
Another player (a beginner) would, after being checkmated, move his king to each of its 8 surrounding squares, saying “mate” each time, then eventually return the king to its original square and stop the clocks. “Mate, mate, mate, mate, mate, mate, mate, mate.”