| Waiting for my Opponent |
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| By Joel Benjamin | |
| March 18, 2007 | |
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Dear Joel,
Recently, at a tournament, my opponent showed up 20 minutes late for his game. I had started his clock, and he seemed somewhat annoyed that I had, although I know what I did was within the rules. I wasn't expecting him to show up once it had been past 10-15 minutes. Would I have had to wait the entire two hours for him to show up had he not come? This would seem pointless given that it was the last round of the tournament and that the game would not have affected my rating had he not shown up. Dan Holmes Of course, there are times when a player will quite legitimately be ten or fifteen minutes late (stuck in traffic, for instance), but no latecomer should complain if his clock is started. Late starting games can delay the next round, so it is important that you don't give an opponent too much grace. Often directors will insist on the two players splitting the elapsed time off their clock if the game starts too late. At a recent tournament I heard an amusing story about showing up late. Player A, notorious in Irish chess circles for coming 59 minutes late to games, mistimed his arrival and forfeited. Player B, positive that A's lateness was intentional, insisted on the point. Later in the tournament the controllers decided to pair the two again, on account that they hadn't actually played. Player B stated that he would refuse to play if Player A did not turn up for the game on time. Player A stated that he would not be on time, so Player B kept his word and forfeited! A bizarre story indeed, and probably the only case of two players forfeiting to each other in the same event.
Joel Benjamin
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