Starers and Shakers
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What do you think? Good or Bad?
Nov 23, 2007
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#3
USCF rules require that you do not annoy your opponent, so you can try many of these things, but when your opponent is clearly annoyed, you should stop. Under FIDE rules, the things that cast disrepute on the game are not allowed (although this rule seemed not to apply to a player's manager during the Topalov-Kramnik match).
lol. Thanks for the info.
Suppose you won 10% more games by annoying all your opponents. Would you be proud of your victories and consider yourself a better chess player?
Slightly. I would keep it up if it was an important game.
I wouldn't. Neither the world championship nor large cash prizes are on the line for us.
That's what I meant.
"Tigran Petrosian used this tactic against Viktor Korcnoi in 1977. Korcnoi asked him to stop, but Petrosian responded by turning off his hearing aid. Korcnoi replied a swift kick under the table. For the next game a partition was built under the table."
I think this was not simple gamesmanship. Remember that Petrosian's campaign against Korchnoi was one of the reasons he defected from the Soviet Union only a year earlier. These events would still have been very fresh in their minds. A lot was riding on these games. After losing, Petrosian was fired as editor of Russia's largest chess magazine.
Korchnoi defeated Petrosian with a score of 6.5/12.0, although it's clear he could have scored more wins if he had needed to. Here's their fascinating twelfth game.
When I was 15, I played in my first tournament, in Class C. I won my first four games and came to the final round with the chance to win my class. One of the adult leaders of my chess club advised me that my undefeated co-leader, someone of a similar age from out of town, was a nervous sort and could be distracted. He urged me to fidget and pretend to have a cold, coughing and blowing my nose often--he wanted the victory for the home club. This was someone who was something of an authority figure in our club, so to my shame I listened to him. I didn't do anything till I stupidly lost a piece to a fork in the opening: after that in desperation I deployed the distraction strategy , and in the end, my opponent fell into a trap near the end of the game and was checkmated.
So I won my first tournament with a perfect score and was hugely congratulated by my club. But I can had no joy in my victory, only my secret shame. I swore to myself I would never do anything like that again and I would never let anyone influence me like that again.
And I never did anything like that again.
Good choice.
Fascinating game.
That last post was great. In the same way I wouldn't sneeze in the middle of someone's back-swing while playing golf, I wouldn't attempt any stupid gamesmanship tactics during chess. A friend of mine whom shall remain nameless (Chester Gremillion) talks incessantly while playing me...of course to throw me off course. It hasn't worked; it just made me want to never play him again. That's unfortunate since he's one of the few friends I have who play chess. I see chess as a sport, too, but it's something more. The trash-talking and fidgeting is classless and cheesy. I was telling someone just this week that chess is a different kind of game/sport that is played by people who strive to be intellectual, and I mean that in a positive way in that the striving for intellectual pursuits is good. I'm not against sports like basketball, football, etc., but it's not the same and shouldn't be played the same. I'd imagine that most serious athletes would tell you that trash-talking is without class, too.
True, very true.
I heard that about the jiggling chess pieces. Why didn't the arbitrator make him stop?
I recently faced someone OTB who was smashing the pieces down. I was winning but short of time. He generally behaviour was unsporting and I refused for the first time in my life to shake hands at the end.
In chess we should first be grateful that we have an opponent. He is only our "enemy" in a transitory and narrow way and we should remember first and foremost we are grateful for someone to spar with in a MUTUAL unifying passtime. .
This article is for beginners looking to improve their game. However this only applies if you can see your opponent, NOT online.
Starers and Shakers
Such are the passions aroused by chess that, occasionally, some players even break the rules in order to win. However, much more common than outright cheating is "gamemanship." This is the art of unsettling your opponent, but staying within the rules of the game. As long ago as 1561, Ruy Lopez, one of tge best players of his age, suggested positioning the board so that the sun shines in your opponent's eyes.
Unsporting behavior?
A fairly common tactic is for a player to develop certain exaggerated mannerisms at the board. You might recognize the following types.
The piece-thumper will smash a piece down right in the heart of your army, usually to distract your attention from another part of the board.
The smug opponent will cast a bemused look at your move, and follow with a quick reply and amused smile.
The starer is more intimidating. World Champion Mikhail Tal's penetrating stare unnerved one opponent so much that he countered by wearing reflective glasses.
The table-shaker can be equally unsettling. It is difficult to concentrate properly when the pieces are wobbling. Tigran Petrosian used this tactic against Viktor Korcnoi in 1977. Korcnoi asked him to stop, but Petrosian responded by turning off his hearing aid. Korcnoi replied a swift kick under the table. For the next game a partition was built under the table.
-Wood13-