Are Tournament chess rules becoming ridiculous ?

I have been told that at the Chess Olympiad in Dresden this month the players MUST be on time for the games. If anyone is even one minute late they will forfeit the game !  I think this is ridiculous myself, what do you think ? 

A point to consider is that there is probably a TV tie-in, with sponsors paying millions per second. If you want decent prize money, it seems reasonable not to keep the prize-givers waiting!

Oh my gosh, expecting someone to be on time.  Thats shocking.

if u dont come to battle on time u are quitting.   unless u are planning a sneak attack by being a sniper in the watchtower.

I'm sorry but I doubt anyone shows up at the exact minute the Chess Olympiads start.  They're most likely there long before hand.

i don't think starting the clock is adequate since an opponent may give up a few minutes in order to psychologically unsettle the punctual player.

i'm in favour of the rule that they forfeit the game. additionally i would ban them from the next tournament for demonstrating such bad etiquette.

I agree with it.  If you're late for a tournament then you shouldn't be in it.

If only the same rule was applied to football teams who come out late after half time!

I think the clock should be started and that's it.  Also, the person waiting should only have to do so for a given amount of time.

Chess players are often late and some are always late. The rules of chess state that if you are one hour late you forfeit the game, which I think is fair. However, a few minutes late ?  Fischer often came a few minutes late to his games and he isnt the only player.  Kramnik in his recently completed match with Anand was late at least once to the game. I will be interested to see if this new rule is actually enforced.

I think it s normal this rule, 5 min tolerance should be enough.

That is crazy, I have never been late for a tournament, but I see other people start the clock when that happens. A forfeit is going to far, maybe increase the time penalty.

Also, every single tournament I have been to didn't start on time, spent more time than scheduled, and I have seen nobody get forfeited (but I have seen countless people showing up a few minutes late)

personally I love it when an opponent runs in late and isn't paying attention to the you, the board, or the clock... most tardy people I have played just breathe heavily and look around the room... I use that opportunity to glare at them

but I don't really know anything about the olympiads, I have just played at the us chess center, and their tournaments at schools

 This rule is not normal at all in tournament chess. People who arrive late 1 hour are forfeited but not a few minutes. I dont know of anyone ever being forfeited for being a few minutes late in classical chess.

In April 13, 1612, Musashi (aged about 30) fought his most famous duel, with Sasaki Kojirō, who wielded a nodachi. Musashi came late and unkempt to the appointed place — the remote island of Funajima, north of Kokura. The duel was short. Musashi killed his opponent with a bokken that he had carved from an oar while traveling to the island. Musashi fashioned it to be longer than the nodachi, making it closer to a modern suburito.

Musashi's late arrival is controversial. Sasaki's outraged supporters thought it was dishonorable and disrespectful while many others thought it was a fair way to unnerve his opponent. Another theory is that Musashi timed the hour of his arrival to match the turning of the tide. The tide carried him to the island. After his victory, Musashi immediately jumped back in his boat and his flight from Sasaki's vengeful allies was helped by the turning of the tide. He briefly established a fencing school that same year.

I don't agree with the immediate forfeit. Also disagree with the 1 hour before forfeit, I think a more reasonable 10-15 mins should be applied. In most sports I have played, it was 10 mins and then forfeit if the other team hadn't showed. This would allow for those situations like Kramnik's where he got caught in traffic and was 1 minute late for the start of the game.

Of course the flip side to this is that organiser's take on the onus of starting on time. It is most infuriating to arrive at the playing venue for the start of your round and find it delayed for whatever reason, in one case I recall waiting 45 minutes for the organisers to be content that they couldn't get any more entries, or whatever! Can we possibly forfeit the organisers if they fail to start the games within 15 minutes of the advertised start time :)

I play tournament chess and team matches so I can tell from my expirience. The current rule is one hour, but it was not always so. I remember a story about a player in some american student competition being 1h 59,5m late and have to make 40 moves in 30 seconds!! He made a draw!!! Capablanca was said to be more than an hour late once, and remember Reshevsky - Fisher at Souse 1967. I am offten a few minutes late to my games, not because I underestimate my opponent or to gain psydhological advantage, but because I don't like waiting for the game to begin and the tension before the game. So I sacrifice a few minutes and I am calmer when I sit at the board. BUT I ALWAYS APPOLOGISE TO MY OPPONENT FOR BEING LATE!!! If your opponent is late then you have more time than he, so why complain?

About the Olimpics: I haven't heard about this rule, and I think it is a rule for a sake of making rules! Sponsors have very little to do with it - there are no money prices for the competitors. But FIDE is constantly inventing new rules that make little sence - example: first make a move and then write it down!

 BRAVO !!  This is an EXCELLENT point ! I have played in more than 100 tournaments and very, very few of them started on time ! Its rare indeed that the first round actually starts at the posted time, in my experience . Even worse ofcourse is that often other rounds also dont start on time if the first round doesnt. Maybe there should be some "punishment" levied against the organizers when they dont start on time?  Perhaps every player who paid an entry fee and is on time for his game gets a certain % of his entry fee refunded or something similar? 

 Yes, that's the usuall reason for starting late - organisers waiting for late entries. First round never starts on time. Alas, there is no way to punish them. 

The way you can "punish" organizers is to vote with your feet and dollars -- or whatever currency you use. If a tournament is unsatisfactory, you can choose not to participate in the future. There may be little choice among non-professionals if all of their potential tournaments are run the same (haphazard) way.

I do think that the Olympiads are somewhat different, however. It's not "just" a tournament. The players are representing their countries and there is more than just professional interest at stake.

Does anyone know the origin of the 1-minute rule? Has there been a problem, are the sponsors carping?

Rex,

   As a Senior level TD who worked at a number of events in the USA, I can only suggest:  if you don't like the specific start time rules, you don't have to play in the event.

   As far as phil's organizers holding off the start time of the first round, it is usually advertised, and the event should be started on time in order to be fair to those who showed up at the posted starting time.  Collecting full entry fee, while only giving a half point bye to those who arrive late for pairings in first round is a normal organizer's tactic to stimulate them to show up ahead of start time.

   Players are not obligated to participate in future events if they decide the organizer's behavior is intolerably onerous.

      Remember, some folks like to complain about things that they cannot change, and that too, indicates something about them.

You bring up a good point that the Olympiad isnt "just" another chess tournament. Its a team event with over 150 teams participating from all over the world. Team competitions are very different. I have had to sit in team events and watch my clock run and wasnt allowed to move, even though I was on time, because my team mates were late ! The rule here is that in team events at least 2 players from the team must be present before ANY player on that team is allowed to play.  I have had several games in which I was the ONLY punctual player on my team and had to sit and watch my clock run until another team member showed up, which I think is also ridiculous. I have lost as much as 30 minutes from my clock before due to this.