Can one move before the opponent pressed the clock?

@lizani said in #19:

The bathroom issue is a separate one. There is no rule that says you must sit at the board while waiting for your opponent to move.

This is correct.

There is no rule that says you must sit at the board even when it is your own move.

Right, you might stand up, but.... (Article 12.2)

Players are not allowed to leave the ‘playing venue’ without permission from the arbiter.
The playing venue is defined as the playing area, rest rooms, refreshment area, area set
aside for smoking and other places as designated by the arbiter.
The player having the move is not allowed to leave the playing area without permission of
the arbiter.

The toilets do not count as playing area, so you are not allowed to visit them on your move.

My point was that I don't want to go to the bath room when my opponent can immediately start my clock even without making a move, and I must not go when it is my move, no matter who's clock is running.

So if I present them a difficult move I suspect them to ponder on for a while, I am effectively tied down to my seat.

Big problem or difference in practical play? Probably not. But it would be nice if the rules would somehow allow for a resolution of your opponent not having pressed the clock.

Also, not sure about just hitting the clock for your opponent in such a case. The rules don't seem to mention this at all.

@tiranor said in #20:

To add to that, even if he presses the clock, you make your move and go to the bathroom, nothing is stopping him from making a waiting move and pressing the clock to make it run on your move
Right... that's why I mentioned the problem with rules using "completed" moves for time controls with prescribed number of moves. Consider this scenario:

• white makes move 40 but does not press clock
• black makes move 40 and sees white's time is already running anyway (*)
• black, with, sigh of relief, hurries to the toilet, expecting to have enough time
• (optional: white makes move 41)
• white presses the clock
• black's flag falls

Based on literal interpretation of the rules, black has not completed 40 moves until he/she either presses the clock or makes move 41. Therefore in this scenario, black should lose on timeout.

(*) - an interesting question here is: if black presses the lever on his/her side but it does not have any effect because his/her clock is not running, does it count as "pressing the clock" and therefore completing the move?

Another question is how would players prove what exactly happened. Even if some clock models have a move counter, an arbiter seeing the move counter showing only 39 still has no idea if that one skipped move happened right now or some time earlier. But it's not the only case (by far) where the judgement depends on players' claims and their honesty.