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Tournament Etiquette

Here's something I wrote on Reddit (slightly edited for accuracy) when giving advice to somebody who was preparing to attend their first OTB tournament.

(The original post is here: www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/9675yp/tips_for_a_noobs_first_tournament/ and has additional insights, and more in-depth explanations of things.)

Congratulations on preparing to attend your first tournament!

Play a slow game online, with a physical chessboard set up next to you, and move the pieces on the physical chessboard so you can start getting used to the visual difference. You'd think it wouldn't feel different, but it definitely will.

Don't announce check (it's considered rude, and if a Tournament Director (TD) thinks you're doing it to try to "distract your opponent" (by talking), you can lose the game by disqualification).

In fact, the only things you should say over the board are "I offer you a draw" "adjusting", "I resign", and "Would you like to analyze the game together in the other room?".

If your opponent doesn't say anything and just reaches their hand over the board at you to shake yours, that is *normally* how people resign, and not ask for a draw. If this happens, ask them out loud "are you resigning?"

Speaking of "adjusting", your tournament (like all tournaments) uses the "Touch Move" rule.

If you're not familiar with it, become very familiar with it. The short version is that if you touch one of your pieces, you must make a legal move with that piece. If you touch one of your opponent's pieces, and one of your pieces has a legal move that captures that piece, you must play a legal move that captures that piece.

It's expected for each player to keep notation of their games. If you don't know how to do this, get some practice. If there's a dispute about a move, and only one player has been keeping notation, they're the one the TD will listen to.

There's a rule that says you must make notations with the same hand that you move a piece with and that must be the same hand you use to hit your clock.

If you need to promote a pawn, move the pawn to the final row, then place the proper piece in that square. If there isn't one available, you may pause the clock to get the TD for a replacement piece.

Castling is a king move. If you touch your rook first, and you try to castle, your opponent can call the TD over and force you to make a rook move.

If your opponent plays an illegal move or is trying to distract you, it is your responsibility to call the TD over and they will take care of the issue from there.

Turn off your phone.
Its ok to fart but its not ok to then giggle. There is a big difference.

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