tournament etiquette?

I normally would let a few minutes run off the clock.. then I'll point to his clock.  Yeah technically I could let it keep running.. but seriously.. why be a douche?  Oftentimes I'll forget myself.. til I make a move go to punch the clock.. and realize my plunger is already down. 

For those of you who have never played in a big tournament (usually 500 players or more) I would seriously consider going to your local chess club and play under clock tournament conditions several times to get the feel and habit of playing under those conditions.  I have even had arrogant players try to "stare" me down when it was my move and very important.  They were hoping that their "stare" down would "make" me do a wrong move.  Sometimes I would get up and go around the tournament tables and look at my position from behind my opponent.  This would make them irritable but there was nothing they could do.  You would be surprised at what happens during these tournaments!  There was one guy eating potato chips 4 chairs down and the crunching was maddening,  I finally got up and told the monitor to make him stop or I wanted my tournament entry fee back, I refused to play under those conditions.  I always pay for my entry fee with paypal so I can reverse it if necessary!!!!!!!!

You are right ThrillerFan about reminding them about the rules.  They should know the rules.  I only did that after a while then went back to not saying anything.  Outside the tournament room, you can play the skittles games in the outside halls any way you want if you can find the company to do so but inside the tournament hall, serious chess is being played and all rules apply.  

I don't think you can get your entry fee back nor can you stop somebody from eating chips,I mean,so many people eat different stuff in tournaments.

So you'll happily stand over your opponents shoulder staring at the board, but if a guy eats crisps too loudly 4 tables down, you want your money back because you can't play under those conditions? lol

I know which I'd find most irritating.

I remember one local tournament where I won by the 50 move rule which my opponent was not aware of.  You may be surprised to find that some tournament players have not taken the time to memorize the rules and how they work.  He was upset, but nothing he could do.  THERE IS CHESS FOR FUN AND THEN THERE IS CHESS FOR BLOOD.

Now you sound exactly like Fischer!:)

Helping an opponent with his clock is no different than helping him with his moves. 

I have never had to get my entry fee back because of bad tournament conditions but it has been close.  You can get your fee back but they may not let you play again in their tournaments.  Thankfully I have never had to do so.  That day Likhit1 there were several other people who were irritated at the chip eater and they kind of joined in on the complaint, it was bad.  Not only do tournament chess rules apply, tournament conditions must apply as well!  

Judit Polgar agrees with me on the eating and so do tournament directors:  Judit writes, "• It is considered rude and inappropriate for a player to eat or have a meal at the playing table."   see the link:http://lubbockonline.com/stories/062109/col_453063396.shtml

Some of my opponents ate chips while playing but i didnt get irritated cuz they were really polite and considerate.Never made any crunching sounds,Maybe crunching during is really very annoying but thankfully i havent experienced it yet.

I agree Steve212000, you must be firm about the tournament rules and conditions but always be a gentleman and friendly and conduct yourself with class.  

I'd still be more annoyed by my opponent walking round the table and breathing down my neck. Personal space is more important to me than a guy eating crisps. Personal opinion I suppose.

Walking around is perfecly normal but I dont think you should allow anybody to touch ur shoulder or anything.

NOT TRUE!  You mentioned the World Open.  That one, along with many of the other large ones (Chicago Open, North American Open, Philadelphia Open) are ran by an organization called the "Continental Chess Association", or CCA for short.  Their Website is www.chesstour.com, and here is the specifics of refunds.  You can NOT get one once your first round starts:

REFUND POLICY:  If you cannot attend any of our tournaments, send us an email at least 2 hours before the first round.  If this is not possible, call the tournament site and ask for the chess tournament.  You can apply the entire fee to future tournaments, or obtain a refund of the fee minus a $15 service charge.  You may also give notice of withdrawal by mail by writing us at least 8 days before the first round.  NO REFUND,full or partial, is EVER given once you have started playing your game in the first round.

Now contrary to what another post says here, you actually can go to the director to report distracting noise, and the director will make the person do it outside the tournament hall as long as it's not a necessity.  Kettle cooked potato chips are not a necessity, and the director would make the person eat the chips outside the tournament hall.  Something like a breathing machine, where the person would die if he didn't have it, oh well, gotta deal with those types of things.

You can't just freely, willy nilly, eat whatever you want in the tournament hall.  If nobody says anything, you're fine, but anybody reports to a director, and yes, in all seriousness, they will make you eat outside.  This especially goes for messy foods (Hamburgers, Subs), loud foods (Potato Chips), or foods with a horrible odor (Canned Tuna, Limburger Cheese).

At large tournaments, I don't allow my opponents to eat at the table outside of maybe breath mints, or something silent, like a small supply of non-shelled peanuts.  Even chewing gum I will report if you are chewing it with your mouth open (a huge pet peeve of mine, open mouth gum chewing) or blowing bubbles with it.

Genghiskhant, he was being rude to me with the "stare down".  There are many people who walk by the boards behind players, evening standing there watching the game, if you have been to these big tournaments, you know that is so.  He finally, without saying a word, got the idea.  There are no rules that say you cannot stand up infront of your board and look at the games, nor is there any rule that says you cannot look at the your board from  behind your opponent!  In fact I have done this occasionally just to get a different "feel" for the position from my opponents "perspective".  

fischeriii, are you "double clicking" the submit button when you post?  Everything you submit comes up twice.

This is chess.com, not a Windows desktop full of icons!

I was walking away but happened to glance back at my board and my opponent was messing with my side of the clock. I thought what's he doing, and then it dawned on me he must be running my time up. He spotted that I saw him. He had the better position and I knew it would be his word against mine so quickly thinking I made the most of the situation and walked back to the board and standing there I offered him a draw. He immediately accepted. He was in his teens (as I was too) and I kinda knew him (not well though) from seeing him a few times at the chess club so I hoped that put a scare in him and he would never do it again. I like to believe in second chances after something foolish, especially if someone is young, so I never said a word to anyone about it (other than here). I saw him playing in a few more tournaments once in a while and he always seemed to be quiet and following all the rules as far as I could tell.