Is it allowed to wear earplugs at a tournament? I often wear earplugs, they help me concentrate. But maybe they aren’t allowed. I have no idea.
As long as you don’t have antennas coming out of them. :mrgreen:
Seriously though, you should be able to wear them. Be prepared, however, to remove them and let the TD inspect them if your opponent complains or you happen to be at a tournament with a large prize fund.
Local tournaments, you shouldn’t have any problem.
Yep, they could be remotely controlled microphones so I can get the right move from my buddy in the rafters!
Seriously, with miniaturization of technology, cheating is bound to be a growing problem.
But earplugs are nice. You still hear everything but it’s like turning down the volume.
Now I wonder if I can wear kneepads, for when opponents kick me under the table! (Josh Waitzkin writes about this problem in his Journey book.)
Why? Do all of those ticking analog clocks bother you? 
I once played a guy who had a very annoying cold. The snorting and snifling was very distracting; and I thought about complaining to the TD.
But what can one do?
I asked the person who was my chess tecaher at the time; and she told me to get earplugs. This was her solution to playing against a guy who breathed very heavily and bothered her.
I followed her advice, and now the you-know-whats [euphemism used in deference to whatever aug interpretation at the present moment] that seem to infest every tournament no longer bother me.
What will all the tapping Russians do, when we start wearing earplugs!
(Just kidding, Russians.)
I’d recommend earplugs AND one of those green eyeshade things that jewelers in the 1940s movies all wear. That way you can’t hear OR see Mr. Annoying Opponent. Serves them right.
You’ve already been scooped on the eyeshade thing, by a certain Mr. fischer in 1992.
It’s a good idea.
I’ve had this happen a couple times with breathing, but also with other noises – one opponent kept sort of doing something with his mouth that was making a subtle “tsk” noise. At a larger tournament, a kid next to me was, every now and again, making a small humming noise, for maybe a second at a time. In all cases I was not only wearing headphones, but listening to music too! (granted, I listen at a very, very low volume as to avoid bothering other players)
The real question is what do you do about invading smells…
I work/see patients on Saturdays so my rated game experience is mostly on Monday evenings at the Peoria Chess Club. Needless to say it can be noisy. My solution that works well for me without disturbing anyone nearby is earbuds. I have a couple pairs and use an older MP3 player that still takes a AAA battery. It works great. The companies now say these are “noise isolating” which I find hilarious. They are basically earplugs that pipe sound to you.
Didn’t Guert Gijessen have a column on this on Chess Cafe a few years ago? I think it was called “What shall we do with a stinking player?” It’s probably in the archives somewhere.
Alex Relyea
HA! I just read that yesterday…Guert’s response was something to the effect of, “I’d tactfully encourage a shower.” Always practical.
It’s certainly a delicate issue, but one that exists.
Tal had a reputation for a hypnotizing stare in his younger years. Once back in the '60s Benko showed up for a game with Tal with sunglasses on. Not to be outdone, Tal sent out for a pair of those super-large gag sunglasses.
Huebner lost his Candidates’ Match against Petrosian in 1971 because of noise. The venue was underground, and trains passed nearby. The high-strung Huebner was a nervous wreck in the match, which became a marathon of tense draws. Finally he cracked near the end and lost a game, and soon after the match. Petrosian wasn’t bothered. He was mostly deaf and simply turned off his hearing aids.
I’ve spoken to players who were thinking of wearing the noise cancelling headphones without plugging them into an MP3 player, simply to negate the background noise of most tournaments.
I enjoy listening to my iPod during both casual and rated games (perhaps my ADD has something to do with that) and even find that the music helps me to focus on the game more.
Earplugs, however, shouldn’t be a problem. I just wish all this paranoia about cheating would go away. How many documented cases of electronic cheating have we had? Compared to other forms of cheating?
I’m with you on this. I find music helps me stay focused on my game, and is an effective way of blocking out background noise. It works better for me then noise canceling headphones. I keep the volume low enough that people can’t hear the music.