After a recent search on the forums, I saw that headphones are legal unless specifically stated within the TLA. Does a TD have a right to ask you to remove them if it was not stated?
Yes (“… forbidden to distract or annoy the opponent in any manner whatsoever”), but the TD should exercise this authority with restraint.
But isn’t that subjectable? If your opponent can’t hear what you’re listening to, how is that being distractive or annoying?
I think that this is a topic that will never be satisfactorily resolved for many people.
Personally, I’ve never used them, and I’ve never played against someone who used them. However, I can see some potential for distracting behavior. Suppose that the music cannot be heard, but the player who is wearing them is (without realizing they are doing it) nodding their head to the beat, or using even more body language. I’d probably be distracted by that.
It’s more for me to zone out the normal distractions while playing… the typical 8 year old that wont shut up, the constant clicking, people talking about the games, the guy that always “shhhh’s” people, the TD solving an argument
I agree with you about the nodding, but an 8 year old who’s parents forgot to give them his ADD meds would probably be more of a distraction
My wife says when I’m sitting concentrating on something, I tend to nod my head in time with my heartbeat.
I’ve seen players nod or shake their heads, hum to themselves, shuffle their feet around, grind their teeth, pop their knuckles, drum their fingers on the table, etc., all without the benefit of headphones.
I knew one player who would turn the chair around and sit leaning on the back of the chair. In one tournament I directed he progressed to kneeling on the chair, and finally standing on it. At that point, I told him to sit down ‘normally’ again.
That doesn’t get into the really offensive behaviors, belching, passing gas, etc. There used to be a question on the Senior Exam about such a player, supposedly inspired by a real player.
We may need a whole new series of exam questions dealing with headphones.
In Michigan, we have a player who likes to look at the position at board level, almost with his chin on the table. Another player has some eyesight difficulties, and needs to stand, slightly hovering over the board. It was amusing to watch them when those two were finally paired against each other! Happily, neither of them were bothered by the other’s “idiosyncracies”.
That’s a judgment call on the part of the TD. The opponent doesn’t get to object to anything – e.g. “My opponent is looking at me too hard” wouldn’t fly. The TD has to decide whether a reasonable person would consider the thing to which the player is objecting a distraction. I think one can make a decent argument that, since wearing headphones at the board is not a necessary part of the game, it could be considered distracting to the opponent in some circumstances. (As would wearing a Bozo the Clown mask or a Viking helmet.) However, as I said before, the TD should make every effort not to intervene if he can avoid it.
I absolutely HATE getting distraction complaints. They always seem to be over something stupid that shouldn’t bother normal people.
My personal favorite was a FM complaining that an IM was intentionally distracting him by not precisely centering his pieces in the squares.
If the opponent wants to fabricate an excuse to complain about the headsets, they will find SOMETHING as the basis of their complaint, real or imaginary.
One of my favorite tales about this rule comes from the National Open. A little old man came up to complain to me about his opponent’s distracting him by eating at the board. I walked over to his game and saw no food at all, until his opponent took out a donut from under the table and took a bite leaving no crumbs. All of which was something one could hardly see. I denied his complaint. He appealed up the chain of command and lost each time. I did not have the heart to tell him the organizer had ordered donuts for everyone for later on!?
Tim