Originally posted by TimmyBx Having an attractive woman watch your game
Alisa Melekhina did this to me once. I was playing a kid and was a piece up, had him hemmed on the back rank, and she came up to the board and just kept looking. So I started looking at her...and lost my extra piece. I'm like "okay Ill win this endgame," and then she comes back! So I start looking at her and end up getting mated on my back rank!
Then the little kid comes up to me and tells me that he feels sorry for me and that it's basically an amazing feat that I managed to lose from such a strong position.
Now I have a special pair of reading glasses that only let me see the board that I bring with me to tournaments in case I need them. They also make me look like such a dorkus that they should keep any attractive women at least 20 feat away from me.
Speaking of attractive women at chess events. Have you noticed that if a pretty woman is playing, she always has a crowd around her "watching her game". Meanwhile, across the hall are two super grandmasters playing the game of the decade with only a spotty wee boy watching it.
I know I have seen people writing little annotations on the scoresheet. I can't specifically remember ever seeing someone actually putting a "??" though for an opponent's move. Technically putting these annotations could be consider illegal under USCF rules.
Originally posted by TimmyBx here is a list that I made a couple months ago of "mind games" I have seen at tournaments - some of them are duplicates of your list...
Complain about the pieces or board before the game
Eating at the Table (I have seen people eating full meals, not just snacks)
Constantly offering Draws (Kids love to do this)
Wearing sunglasses at the table
Making co ...[text shortened]... ging a pet to the tournament
Having small children running around
Hovering chess parents
If you are playing in a tournament put = on your score sheet when your opponent offers a draw. If they offer more than 3 times call the arbiter over.
If I'm playing in the evening straight after work I often have to eat at the board.
Originally posted by hedonist Annoying things the person sitting across from me can do:
Shackey leg
heavy breathing
bad breath
lack of personal hygiene
constantly adjusting pieces
not putting piece in middle of square
banging the clock
banging the moves out
staring at you
talking to themselves
being late
being drunk
being a junior with a grate 1000 points below their t ...[text shortened]... f a little steam cos I'm having a bad over the board tourn at the moment. Ahhhh. Thats better!
The worse one (that is no longer allowed) is smoking at the board. Many year ago before the ban my 10 year old son was playing in the local league and his opponent smoked the whole game and blew smoke over the table towards him. He played the game from a distance and only came to the board to make his moves.
I once asked an opponent not to smoke at the table and lucky for him he decided to go outside as i was just about to start spitting in his direction.
Originally posted by kingshill The worse one (that is no longer allowed) is smoking at the board. Many year ago before the ban my 10 year old son was playing in the local league and his opponent smoked the whole game and blew smoke over the table towards him. He played the game from a distance and only came to the board to make his moves.
I once asked an opponent not to smoke at th ...[text shortened]... d lucky for him he decided to go outside as i was just about to start spitting in his direction.
When was this? Must of been back in the '80s. Been going to congresses since the early '90s and can't remember anyone smoking at the board back then. Even when they were held in bars/hotels when at the time it was allowed to smoke in these places.
I'm a smoker and I'm waiting for someone to complain about the smell when I come back from having a quick fag outside. Not sure how I would react to that one.
Originally posted by hedonist When was this? Must of been back in the '80s. Been going to congresses since the early '90s and can't remember anyone smoking at the board back then. Even when they were held in bars/hotels when at the time it was allowed to smoke in these places.
I'm a smoker and I'm waiting for someone to complain about the smell when I come back from having a quick fag outside. Not sure how I would react to that one.
My son is 24 now so the smoking incident occurred about 14 years ago c.1998.
Just after this the league rules were changed and the games had to played in a smoke free room . Yippee..!!!
Rant
30 Jan '12 18:58
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