I have asked all my prizes winners to sign the prize chart and then I pay them in cash. This system has worked well for a year and a half.
However, one player refused to sign and even threw a profanity-laced tantrum when I asked her to sign.
Has this happened to any other TD and how do you handle it from here?
Tell them that since you need proof of payment you’ll have to mail them a check instead.
Never happened to me.
Should someone refuse to sign (well I only require initialing) I would tell them that prize checks would be mailed within a week. That way I have confirmation that they were paid.
The profanity laced tantrum would lead to either their apology and a pledge to never do so again or to their being banned from my events.
I cut two checks. One to the player for the prize amount, and another for $25 attached to an Ethics complaint.
Hah-an easy question!! They forfeit their prize. Look tournaments are not meant to be a democracy.
To paraphrase a saying “he who risks the gold gets to make the rules”.
This is no different than the dad who told me that unless I changed the time control from Game/30 no delay, that he and his son were leaving. I opened the door for them. Trying to please all all of the time
is difficult.
Rob Jones
There are other forums with more aspects to this story - and it sounds somewhat less clear than what was represented here. Admittedly, there are two sides to every story, the truth is somewhere in between. It sounds like, for some reason, people allowed this to escalate out of hand over a pittance.
Supposedly, (at least this is my impression from what I’ve seen) the player said that they’d be happy with a check - and the director refused, insisting upon a signature - which is what led to the profanity. The player had just had their best result, and having the edge taken off in this way apparently struck them the wrong way. Also, it sounds as though the player was ALSO a certified TD.
It is very easy to be dogmatic on the forums. In real life one would hope all of us show a better ability to understand both the facts and the perspectives of the parties when conflicts arise, resulting in a better decision. Almost everything is harsher in print than it is face-to-face.
I have had the chance to meet a few forum regulars face-to-face. I’ve found that even the folks who drive me nuts here are much easier to get along with in person, because for most of them the love of chess comes out more clearly and outweighs the need to be right.
She didn’t ask me for a check.
Did she give a reason for refusing to sign? Did signing indicate she agreed with anything, or was it just to acknowledge that she received the prize money? 
She also didn’t ask you to “prosecute this case publically”. She didn’t have to ask you, you could have said, “Then you’ll receive a check within X days” or some such." By every account I’ve seen, the amount in question was $3 - a ticket to a matinee would have been a better bargain than the admission price to this brouhaha.
Yes, providing some sort of receipt for an accountability process is good practice. It didn’t have to be her signing. You could have a receipt book. You could right a check. You could pay via Venmo or Paypal or some other service (Venmo and others - including Paypal in some circumstances, do not charge a fee.) Heck, you could have paid it via Venmo in 30 seconds and been done with it right then. You have a right to the accountability. Fine, exercise that, don’t start a fight over it, and certainly don’t elevate it to national chess news over $3.
One of you could have chosen to be the bigger man or woman. For some reason neither of you did, and now both of you should, for the general good of the game you both love. Time to shake hands, let bygones be bygones, and move on.
My earlier post presumed an amount in controversy of substantially more than $3.
De minimis prizes require de minimis record keeping.
If $3 led to a disagreement leading to profanity chances are neither party acted optimally. I would wager this isn’t the first time they have had a conflict. But I would have to put more blame on the TD if he was getting picky over $3. I doubt I would want to play in his events.
At our tournaments (Wisconsin Chess Association), we regularly require people to sign for cash prizes, whatever the amount, and have never had a conflict. Recently we had a $30 class prize that was split 5 or 6 ways, and they all signed without complaint. If someone wanted to make an issue of it, I would probably just pay the prize and make a note that they refused to sign (and maybe get some witnesses to initial my note). But I wouldn’t make a federal case out of it.
I think if I spewed profanity after being asked to sign for a cash prize, I wouldn’t want it public either. Note that Mr. Anderson didn’t mention specifics or any identifying information in the OP.
Alex Relyea
Exactly. It took two people to make a mountain out of this molehill. And that’s just at the site. To thin create a thread about it speaks loudly about the TD.
This isn’t the only place he’s posted it.
To me omitting the trivial amount involved is a material distortions of the facts. The fact that one poster already indicated his answer would have been influenced supports that view. I’d say more but I might run afoul of the AUG.
She mentioned, “You can’t make me sign because it is not in the rule book.”
I just told her that signing allows me to release the money to you like a bank or the IRS.
I copied and pasted exactly what was posted here in a group on facebook to get advice on different options I should consider.
I appreciate everyone who took the question seriously and got some great advice I never would have considered on my own.
If anyone’s advice requires more details, I would be happy to supply them.