Every national scholastic with a K-1 section seems to have at least one player who has an “accident” - they have to leave the room too.
And you have to watch what chairs you sit down in if you come into the room to help as a TD! 
Eating at the table can be rather gross. At the Marshall I had an opponent take out some sort of wrap he had gotten at Mac Donalds and start eating at the board on my time. It looked messy and it stunk of onions and peppers. I asked him not to eat at the board. He did stop, and put it away.
I don’t mind if someone is eating a candy bar or a small sandwich, but anything that’s messy, noisy, or smelly really should be eaten elsewhere.
How is quietly reading a (non-chess) book different from getting up after every single move, walking around the room, watching other games and quietly chatting with his buddies? As far as I know, there is no rule prohibiting such behavior as long as the player doesn’t make noise or leave the immediate vicinity of the playing hall. Many players do exactly this all the time.
Over the years, I’ve seen many rude and distracting behaviors at the board, ranging from eating potato chips out of a super size bag to undressing from the waist up (opposite gender). Some young kids (we have too many 1600+ rated K-3 kids here) sit at the board but never stop moving. Frankly, quietly reading out of a book seems pretty low on the annoyance scale.
Michael Aigner
Well, I guess if the great chess masters stretching back over time were able to get by without reading a book at the board, I can too. But no limericks either, or I might start to snicker by mistake.
I just read a short story by Stefan Zweig, “The Royal Game”. One character, a lawyer to the monarchy of Austria, is imprisoned by the Gestapo, and kept in solitary confinement. He manages to discover a book of chess games, which he memorizes. After some weeks of reviewing the games, he decides to play himself in his mind. It makes him crazy–so much so that he is released as a mental defective. Later in life he encounters the reigning world champion and is tempted into a game–but he can’t concentrate at the board. The champion takes too long for his moves, deliberately, and the former prisoner starts playing chess in his mind. He drifts further and further away from the actual board, and suddenly, when it is his turn, … well I won’t spoil the ending. Suffice it to say that it’s best to be able to pay attention to the board.
I think that if the TD is going to allow this, he should at least tweak the boards so that both games are at the same table.
Alex Relyea
Personally, I agree with you, but the way that it is different is that reading is explicitly against the rules, specifically rule 20B, which says in part:
Alex Relyea
Ah! Okay, that’s that then. There would be no reading, period, anyway. I assume that this means anywhere in the tournament location.
The rule is probably a very important one. How could anyone verify that helpful information for the game was not somehow recorded into the text? Steganography, etc. The way some people worry about their ratings, it wouldn’t surprise me. I was just thinking about reading a poem or two, but hey, rules are rules!
Does this rule mean that I am not supposed to read the sign on the door at the end of the tournament room that says “Fire Door. Alarm will activate.” 
Getting back to chess, perhaps I am not allowed to read the pairings (to see whether my friend won or lost) or wall charts during my game. I do this all the time, sometimes while discussing something with the TD himself. And believe it or not, nobody has ever stopped me from reading a flyer for a future tournament. These are all examples of printed matter.
No, Rule 20B does not apply to ALL “printed or otherwise recorded matter.” It cannot! Common sense says the rule merely applies to content that might be in any way be helpful during a chess game, including handwritten moves, Chessbase printouts or chess books. If there is a question, then the TD has to make a judgment call. Most TDs that I know will not object to a non-chess book.
I have even seen players browsing in the on-site chess bookstore while waiting for their opponent to make a move. I’ve never seen a TD intervene. In fact, I confess to reading some of the historical memorabilia during my games at the 2007 US Championship. I know… I’m a bad boy. 
Michael Aigner
I have, I believe it was at a National HS event, when the bookstore was just outside the playing hall.
Glad to see. However, it is a poor example for this thread: the enforcement at scholastic nationals always tends to be extremely strict out of necessity. Many common behaviors at adult tournaments (e.g. US Open) are flat out banned at scholastic nationals.
But may I ask you: Were these players forfeited for leaving the playing floor, or were they forfeited for violating Rule 20B?
Michael Aigner
I don’t think it got that far, as I recall several players were warned privately and an announcement was made ahead of one of the rounds and that seemed to bring matters under control.
I also seem to recall a TD at a National Open telling me that he had to deal with a complaint about a player browsing opening books in the bookstore during the the early minutes of a round, I don’t know if any action was taken.
95% or more of tournament don’t have a bookstore at them, I suspect.
You make some good points, but for some reason, it just feels different to me. Walking around the room looking at games is still somewhat related to the tournament. Reading a book isn’t. I don’t believe it’s a rules violation, but it does seem disrespectful. Then again, maybe I’d be more likely to win if my opponent was preoccupied.
I had a player do this in a norm tournament of mine. He was an IM playing a WFM. Then he proceeded to play the Elephant Gambit against her and continued to read.
Completely disrepectful to the young lady, fellow players, the game, and me.
She went on to tromp him.
Well, then the punishment fit the “crime”.
But I’ve never seen, or even heard of, a TD enforcing rule 20B on players with non-chess material. I’ve OFTEN seen players read SOME material during a game – rulebooks, tournament flyers, and printed announcements are obvious examples. It’s such a widespread practice, I don’t see how such a 20B ruling (no printed material whatever) could possibly hold up.
Simple - just like Moderators, TDs feel no particular need to be “consistent” or bound by precedent.
Let’s see, Ken Sloan is a TD, isn’t he?
His posts are quite consistent.
Of course not ALL consistent behavior is a GOOD thing.
I once ran a tournament in Daytona Beach during Spring Break where this happened. One of the opponents lodged a complaint, and it took a while before everything was brought under control.
Igor Ivanov often read books while winning tournaments at the University of Utah. In a high school tournament a friend of mine was paired against an expert who went across the street for lunch during a G/30. The expert returned with five minutes remaining on his clock and had no trouble winning. I have played several games against a master who was busy being a TD. There is usually no reason or benefit to taking offense at another player’s distractions.
My same friend was most bothered by being paired against an opponent with serious personal hygiene issues at another tournament. The class B player was arguably incapable of understanding that he was the source of the imposing stench that surrounded him, or that his heavy breathing could be heard many boards away. I would much rather have an opponent who likes to read on my turn.
Must’ve been all the heavy breathing on the nearby boards…