This topic has raised its head at several events I have been a part of as a tournament director, lately. Namely, say a 6-7 year old rated
over 1400 in a championship section continuously asks for a draw in a losing position. Should the TDs reaction to him be the same as that for an
older player?? Should the warnings, and penalties be the same as well??
Taking from another thread - if a 6-7 year old spectator yells time should he be treated the same way for his transgression as say s player 30 years old??
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If a 6-7 year old watching a game blurts out “no it is not checkmate” should our thoughts as TDs be the same as if the transgressor is an adult??
Note, I am not comparing inexperienced youngsters with experienced older players. In my mind, players regardless of age who have earned the right to
play in the top sections also should have the responsibilities that go along with this higher level of play. I tell ya though, I have had parents scream at me
for treating their kids without kid gloves when they do some of the actions above. \
Those are two different things. A new player shouldn’t be expected to know the ropes. An experienced player should be, regardless of age. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t use judgment in dealing with kids; they should be expected to act like kids. But they still have to meet minimum standards. Thus if a child with a 1400 rating, obviously fairly experienced, calls a flag on another game, he has to face consequences just as an adult would. If they pester an opponent with incessant draw offers in lost positions, the rules against annoying your opponent apply. On the other hand, if a child fidgets a lot, well, that’s virtually uncontrollable childlike behavior.
A player rated over 1400 playing in a championship section has the same rights as any other player in that section, but also the same responsibilities. This holds true regardless of the age of the player. It is best not to be too technical in enforcing rules with beginning players of any age, but anyone rated over 1400 is not a beginner, and qualifies for no special treatment. If you do loosen the rules for a young player under these circumstances you are not being fair to the other players in that section.
A young child rated over 1400 playing in a championship section does not get to distract or annoy an opponent by fidgeting a lot, or by any other means. If as TD I would get a complaint about this I would warn the child to stop it, and penalize him or her if they don’t do so. If he or she cannot avoid fidgeting then the child is not ready for tournament chess at this level irrespective of rating. Again, a player with this high a rating playing in a championship section should be treated no differently from any other player in that section. The age of the player in question is irrelevant.
I had that situation in a US Open. The opponent was 9. He rocked his chair incessantly. A couple of times when he did it on my time I held up my hand and he stopped for a while. Finally I complained to a TD. He went over to observe but never said a word to the child. Fortunately justice was done. The kid was beating me but I created a fortress to seemingly secure the draw. As I offered it, I made a bad move, and he was able to tempo me and infiltrate. To his horror, he discovered that my desperation pawn break on the other side of the board led not only to the perpetual I was going for but a forced checkmate for me. Even when it was mate in one it took me two minutes to see it - I was in poor mental shape in that event, held a week after my father died.
As an extremely fidgety 57-year-old player that recently pushed my quick rating back up over 2000, I would have to disagree about whether or not fidgeting makes a person ineligible for strong tournament chess. My co-workers have yet to see me sit still at work, but then I’ve only been there for almost 22 years.
I have seen a number of strong adult players that were fidgety.
Every case needs to be judged on it’s own merits, of course, but if as TD I got a complaint from a player that his opponent was annoying him and/or distracting him by fidgeting uncontrollably I would probably warn the player not to continue doing so. The age of the fidgeting player would be irrelevant. The only exception would be someone with medical reason, like Parkinson’s Disease, that would make it impossible for the player to desist from fidgeting.
Why does one player’s right to be involuntarily distracting outweigh the opponents right to be free of distractions?
The answer, of course, is that there is no answer. If is a kid, one can hope he will outgrow it. We can reasonably say " come back when you are able to comply with the norm". Harder to say with an adult. Or suppose the player has Tourette’s? It isn’t that easy.
This is one of those situations where a TD has to use good judgment. I used to work with a knee jiggler. Most of the time we ignored it. On occasions, he would really get going. When we could feel it through the floor and our monitors started shaking, we’d jokingly say something about “Earthquake Eric” and he’d stop. The TD needs to evaluate if it’s a true distraction or an overly sensitive opponent and respond accordingly. It’s a judgment call.
If the pieces start dancing on their squares, you probably waited too long to address it.
It becomes a question of the situation. The initial situation relates to a rules violation about interfering in another game [yelling time], or the proper ethics and way to offer a draw. Distractions are another different, but similar issue. The continual draw offer, or the sticking out and keeping the hand out in the opponents face are not considered to be proper. One thing I have not seen in a long time is the advice that all players should have a copy of the rule book. After all, all players should have a certain minimum responsibility as to knowledge of many of the rules that applied to a USCF rated chess game.
You should treat the players no matter what age the same as to enforcement of the rules. However, that does not mean you can’t take into consideration the player’s age when explaining why you as a TD are enforcing a specific rule. I still recall once watching Wayne Clark explain to a crying child why a touch move ruling required outside verification [i.e. someone besides the players to confirm/deny the claim]. At the end of the explanation the child was no longing crying [maybe just a few sniffles] and the child went back and continued the game.
