The following is a list of how a player should act to best to best follow the ethics and manners that mark the honest chess players that make up the great majority of daily chess.

1. Follow the rules of your organization.

2. Ask not for assistance in selecting your moves.

3. Be Honest

4. Remember - you are playing another human.

5. Reply times are not perfect. Make sure you didn't miss a vacation notice.

6. Don't be angry when an opponent "plays on" in a lost position. It is always a player right to choose when to resign. The best antidote is strong moves. Don't ask your opponent to resign.

7. The drop out: of all sins of daily chess, this is perhaps the worst besides outright cheating. Don't drop out without informing your opponents. Resign the games you believe are lost and tell the tournament director that you are withdrawing.

8. After your opponent resigns, acknowledge his resignation. If you can send a brief analysis of critical points in the game, it might be appreciated. Use your best judgment.

9. Most of the time unsportsmanlike or abusive behavior is the result of a language or customs problem or a simple misunderstanding. This is especially true in international play! Don't always think the worse of your opponent.

10. Avoid Gamesmanship. Do not try "psychological" chess to entice your opponent to make mistakes. Do not try to fool your opponent through comments that are designed to mislead them.

11. Take advantage of mistakes! Do not make second and third best moves to keep the game going.

12. Don't annotate your game in progress for your opponent. Putting question marks next to your opponents moves is an insult.

13. When your opponent asks a question, respond to it. Act as if you were face to face.

14. Practice the Golden Rule! At all times treat your opponent the way you would like to be treated if the situation were reversed.

(Sourced partially from a Chess Life article in 1997 by Alex Dunne)

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