What do you do when people crowd around your table to watch your game? Do you let them watch if they are being quiet or do you ask them politely to leave? I had this happen to me a lot in the tournament I just played in (usually happened later on when more people had finished their games), and I felt somewhat distracted and pressured when I was surrounded by people watching my game, but at the same time I didn’t want to interfere with them if they wanted to see the game and I took it as a complement that they were interested in my play. This was especially true for the money round.
I think it depends what you mean by “crowd”. Spectators have no rights, and if they are getting too close then you should ask the TD to remove them, but spectators are a part of competitive chess, and it is unreasonable to expect the TD to remove them just for watching.
Some TDs will not allow anyone (who is not actually playing next to you) to sit in the chairs next to your board, or stand about that far away, either, but further than that is OK.
Of course if they say anything audible to the players they should be removed at once.
Alex Relyea
I think a good TD should be proactive in this situation. For me, as a rule of thumb, if spectators are hovering close enough to be able to physically touch one of the players, I will move them back on my own initiative. (And I have seen spectators leaning on the table, which is completely beyond the pale.)
As a general rule, if you’re within arms reach of a seated player, then you are definitely too close. Some players prefer even more breathing space.
I frequently experience trouble with spectators crowding my board. When I go for a walk, spectators will crowd into the space vacated by my wheelchair. They don’t always move as I return, even if they see it is my move. Either they don’t see me, or don’t hear me, or simply don’t pay attention at all.
Funny story: I was facing a well-known veteran California Grandmaster in an overcrowded tournament venue about ten years ago. This GM already had a reputation for getting mad at spectators for crowding him. Once I left the board, a couple of older spectators moved the space into where I was sitting. As I returned, my GM opponent literally got up, mumbled a few things and firmly pushed the guys out of my way. Gee thanks! Who was the Grandmaster?
Michael Aigner
Walter Browne, perhaps?
I follow an eight foot rule with regard to spectators. This is the distance a fainting body will generally fall without hitting one of the players. I have seen many tournaments where spectators stand on chairs to watch a tie break blitz game. At one event, a chair collapsed and the spectator fell onto the players’ table scattering the pieces and the clock.
Correct.
When I was in college, several classes (psychology and sociology) touched on the concept of ‘personal space’.
One of the more interesting things is that people suffering from paranoia tend to expand their personal space, especially in the area behind them.
That expansion of personal space probably applies to chess players in tense games and/or in time trouble.
I’m sure we’ve all met chess players who qualify as paranoid on and off the board.
Yup…the other guy really IS out to get you.
Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.
Bill Smythe