Has anyone found a schedule that allows the players reasonable times to eat their meals during tournaments? I think of this because I am diabetic, and I know many players have this and other good reasons to eat at regular intervals. Recently, I have been to several tournaments which have 10 am rounds, which allows for a leisurely breakfast, but plays havoc with lunch if we have long time controls like 90 + 30 inc. And hotel restaurants are not known for fast service. Any suggestions?
How often do you need to eat? I’d think if you brought a snack it would be no problem to duck out in the middle of a round for a snack, especially if you informed the TD in advance. Bring food with you!
That’s what I do. It’s a loss of time, but mitigated when I do it at times I expect my opponent to take a long think. Maybe they will rush a bad move! In any event lost time beats lost concentration.
Diabetics do need to stay on schedule for meals, and I’m not sure a snack is an appropriate substitute, I don’t know, I’m not in the medical field. We should think of ways to assist with these players, though.
Remember that 10am is pretty much the standard for the first round on a Sunday. I have seen as early as 9:15 and as late as 11 am. I have never seen a noon or later (first) round on a Sunday.
Larry S. Cohen
Yes, 10 am does seem like a standard time. I am just wondering if there is a better schedule. I can handle my own food needs when playing or directing by packing a lunch and leaving the hall to eat it. My own inconvenience has just made me more aware of the difficulties other players may face. There is clearly no perfect schedule.
I think my best personal solution would be bringing a private valet to fetch for me. I know fetching was one of my major responsibilities when my son was playing.
I think the worst solution to this problem is the ASAP schedule so popular with scholastic organizers. A deliberate player may (unpredictably) have only five minutes to eat. The problem is that someone who needs* to eat at ten may play in a tournament with someone who needs* to eat at eleven.
ASAP is, however, pretty much the only way to run a one day multiple time control scholastic tournament. If someone really had an issue, possibly accommodations would be to get the opponent before the break to agree to a slightly shorter time control, or to delay the player’s game in the next round. The latter certainly has been common practice around here for the late finishers if the rounds get turned really quickly. (Jeff Wiewel is famous for getting rounds paired and up practically before the pieces have been reset after the last game).
One recommendation to the OP is to pick and choose your tournaments. Given your dietary needs, it might be better to play in one game per day events, or tournaments that span several weeks. The typical four rounds on a Saturday tournament generally provide 30 minutes or less from the end of the round to the next round’s start time. That is barely time to go out and grab something to eat even for a fully healthy person. These types of tournaments tend to put your metabolism out of whack for a day or two.
At our club’s tournaments, we try to provide snacks, drinks, and pizza for the participants. We know they may not be able to get out between rounds. We even put an extra time cushion in between two to the rounds for a lunch break. Still, this is not adequate for someone who has special dietary requirements. You may have to talk to your doctor to recommend the types of foods that might best fit with your schedule.
I see players arrive late to the round for all manner of reasons: smoke break, food break, couldn’t find a parking space near Chipotle, find out who the opponent is then book up on their main line.
I guess you could choose time controls that are long enough that you can throw 10 minutes away in a round, though you still might not be able to eat at the exact time that’s best.
I’ve always wondered whether a day of competitive chess affects metabolism and insulin regulation for diabetics. It’s a lot of brain work and would seem to burn a lot of calories.
I know fetching was one of my major responsibilities when my son was playing.