you are right tamagen ...that was what it was before .... start the clock immediately after the play of the day is announced to start! why the change now???? ... Chess is not all life bro ..... its only details in ones living ... :):)

I think the fairest thing to do is start the game and the clock.

If the opponent is not there and they run out of time, they lose.

If they arrive before they run out of time, they can still play with whatever remaining time they have.

Anything else is just unfair.

the rule also gos for all sports if you got a match you must be there on time lets not forget about the poor person waiting for the late comer to turn up.

I like the rule that allowes you to arrive 1 hour late, I hope they will never implement this in the national competition.