Sore Losers, No Handshakes, and Temper Tantrums
Horse racing is called the sport of kings. Chess is called the game of kings. Historically, both pastimes were associated with sophistication and gentlemanly manners. Participants wore formal attire and held mutual respect for each other, their environment, and the sport. With so much influence coming from the royalty, why is modern chess mired in ungentlemanly behavior?
We’ve all had strange opponents. Some of us have even experienced outright rude behavior during our games. You know who I’m talking about. These are the players who talk to themselves. Players who do a lot of distracting hand and body movements. Players who frequently get up, rightfully raising your suspicions of cheating. Players who offer you a draw on every move. Players who won’t resign when they’re down a lot of material. Or the players who just get up and leave when they’re losing, letting their clock fall. The list of unroyal behavior goes on and on. We all want to win, but where do we draw the line?
I consider myself a good sport, both on the board and off. Yes, I get annoyed when I blunder, draw when I’m better, or miss a winning combination. Who doesn’t? But I’ve never trash-talked my opponents or generally shown poor sportsmanship. Not in real life or online. In fact, some of these opponents became my good friends and acquaintances. Besides, it’s not my opponent’s fault he survived, but mine for not being able to finish him off. My expectations and the reality didn’t match up; hence, my frustration.
Recently, however, I’ve been experiencing a particularly bad streak of unsportsmanlike conduct from my opponents. I don’t remember it ever being this bad. In fact, I’ve never reflected about what constitutes ‘bad sportsmanship’ until I began facing these bizarre occurrences. The most appalling OTB unsportsmanlike behavior I’ve ever experienced was in 2001, but on that a bit later.
In the last year, I’ve had a quirky opponent who would grab a piece, make a rainbow wave in the air, then proceed to place it on the board. He did that at least 3-4 times during the game. Then, I had an opponent who not only didn’t offer a handshake after losing, but immediately left in cowardly haste. This same opponent also didn’t fill out his scoresheet. It had no names, no date, no result, and no signature – just the moves. He simply left his scoresheet on the table. The TD had to fill everything out, and put a thick strikethrough where his signature had to go. It gets better. This same person was a no-show-no-tell the next 2 rounds, making both of his opponents wait 30 minutes before officially forfeiting.
Next, I had an opponent who not only didn’t shake hands at the beginning of the game, but also after he lost. While I can understand the absence of a handshake at the beginning of the game as I was late, and he wasn’t there when I played my first move, the one at the end is unforgivable. This same opponent made me suffer the indignity of playing with the rook up, and forcing me to mate him soon after, instead of resigning. Now, we are both competitive players, him being 1800+ FIDE and I being 2000+, but this is very unroyal behavior towards me, and especially to himself. I can’t be the only one who thinks that hearing your opponent utter the word mate is extremely embarrassing.
Now, onto the ‘Piece Gate’ or ‘Piece Rage,’ whatever sounds more befitting. The most memorable incident that I remember to this day, almost 20 years later, and will probably remember for twenty more was when I was playing a tournament at the Marshall Chess Club in NYC. I got paired up with Sunil - the Sunil whose-last-name-is-too-confusing-to-remember-to-spell. Americans would get the reference. I was 13 at the time, a freshman in Edward R. Murrow high school in Brooklyn. He was in his 40s.
Some time in the middlegame, I made my move, noticed his fallen hair on the board, and automatically cleared it off. A rookie mistake. I’m sorry Sunil, I was just too grossed out. I should’ve done it on my own move, or asked him to clear it off – also on my own move. But my OCD got the better of me, and he wasn’t cleaning it. He grumbled loudly, made a few arm gestures, but we played on. I felt like a ‘neat criminal,’ immediately began regretting my action, and continued reflecting on it the entire game. After I beat him, he became so infuriated that he decided to show his displeasure…by throwing all the pieces on the floor. With one swift motion, they all came flying down and caused a ruckus. There were 3 boards still playing.
Was that hair really worth all the fuss? Newton’s Third Law of Physics states: "For every action has an equal and opposite reaction." He has some merit here, but his reaction was overkill, in my opinion. Did the TD ever have a chat with him after the game about his despicable behavior at the end? Not that I saw. Why not? I have no idea. Do I think he should’ve been punished or at least given a warning? Absolutely. Will he continue throwing similar temper tantrums? Most likely. If undesired behavior happens without reprimand the first time, it will probably repeat. As for me, I didn’t call the TD over because I was intimidated. He was much bigger, older, and taller.
Which incident mentioned above is punishable by FIDE or USCF rules? Which one is just plain annoying, but doesn’t warrant a warning from the TD? Oftentimes, the majority of these cases are only discussed after the fact. Players may not feel that getting a TD involved might be beneficial to them as it stops the flow of the game and throws the players (and neighboring boards) into confusion. But what are the actual rules?
