I just played in the CCA Midwest Class Championship and only got to play four games instead of five because my opponent decided to not show up for the rest of the tournament. My friend had the same thing happen in round five. Does anyone think there should be some sort of penalty for not properly notifying the tournament directors that they are not going to play the rest of the tournament? I came to play chess, not to sit and watch my clock tick for an hour. I would rather play and lose.
There is; see rule 13G in the Official Rules of Chess. The organizer may fine the player an amount up to the entry fee for the tournament and may bar the player from the organizer’s future tournaments until the fine is paid.
Of course, the issue is that the player is not physically present at the time, so collecting the fine may be difficult. Then again, that’s the organizer’s problem.
Please note that Ken is our newest ANTD! Nice Job Ken!!
Actually you can collect from the player at the next event you run that they want to play in. On the other hand tellin a player they have to pay 2 entry fees for 1 tournament will not go over well. I believe [but I am not certain about it] that Bill Goichberg will fine such players $20 for failing to notify of a withdrawal from a tournament. There is also the question of proper notification. A friend was suppose to tell the TD(s), it was written on the wall chart or pairing chart. The proper way is of course to tell the TD yourself, that is why they have those green sheets for byes and withdrawals!
Larry S. Cohen
Instead of a fine, impose a forfeit in the first round of the next event.
“you didn’t finish the schedule in your last tournament here, so you get a zero-point bye in the first round”
If you don’t mind giving him a full point - pair him with a non-entrant, who will, of course, not show up. Make him wait the full hour before posting his 1-point bye.
If I go to the store and buy a 6-pack and find one can empty when I get home. Somebody is going to hear about it. Normally you get a couple of coupons for free 6-packs.
It’s a bummer if I don’t get a game, but I have no problems just taking the free point. I can find some other way of amusing myself until the next round.
What if it’s the last round and you’re out of the running for prizes? If the only reason you stuck around at the tournament was because you really wanted to get in one more rated game? Sticking around for an hour and not getting to play (especially if you’re putting off a long drive home just so you could get the extra game) really stinks. I can understand the opponent wanting to withdraw, but not telling the TD is seriously rude.
I like Ken’s suggestion (the second one). But to make it completely fair, at the next tournament (for the player that left without withdrawing):
- Pair him against a player you know will be absent.
- When he comes to report his result at the end of an hour, tell him “Oh no, I changed your pairing to a zero point bye because you forfeited your last game in an earlier tournament. Did I forget to tell you?”
No, I probably wouldn’t actually do that. But it would be deserved.
People who are new to chess tournaments are often a little confused about what is going on and don’t know about some of these things like the requirement to officially withdraw. It is one of several things a new member has to learn, but which isn’t efficiently communicated to them up front.
How about creating a web page called “What You Need to Know About Playing in Tournaments” and post it in the “New in Chess?” section on the USCF website. New members could be told to go to the USCF website and click on “New in Chess” to get their basic info for them in a complete package. There are already some similar things there (see main.uschess.org/content/blogsection/19/28/), but the FAQ only talks about how to use clocks and not a lot of these other issues.
Question: In a smaller tournament, could a TD offer up an extra rated game as compensation to the player who stuck around if there’s another person willing to play? (Or, for that matter, a non-rated game if the non-forfeited player is just looking for a game at tournament time controls and doesn’t care if it’s rated?)
I know there are some other practical limitations to this (not least of which is that one hour has already elapsed in a final round. eek!) Could a TD get away with enforcing 20H (greater than 15-minute absence from playing hall) - especially if the TD ‘knows’ the other player withdrew without announcement? I suspect not - I know letter and spirit of 20H is geared towards absence during an actual in-progress game.
(I suppose time limit for forfeit could be scaled back by site rules.)
I don’t see why not. As long as the player gets a full point in the main tournament, there should be no reason why he shouldn’t be allowed an extra rated game. After all, presumably the tournament entry fee covered rating fees for five (or whatever) games.
At a recent tournament, I had two players “withdraw” from the last round by email about seven minutes before the round was to start. The pairings had been posted by then, and many games had started. In any event, I didn’t notice that they had “withdrawn” until a half hour into the round, but I immediately told their opponents that they would be given a forfeit win. I offered the opponents a house game, and one of them asked if he could be transferred into the section that hadn’t started yet, while the other said he was content to watch the games on the top boards.
The problem with 20H in this situation is that you might be wrong about the player “withdrawing”. In this case, you’re in direct conflict with 13D. You’re correct that the amount of time before forfeit can be changed at site, but it is not a good idea to do that in the last round, at least not to shorten it. That could come across as horribly unfair to a player who thinks he has to be there by 5:00 not to be forfeited, only to find that he was forfeited at 4:30.
At the risk of being taken seriously again, I’ll suggest that we could always adopt the FIDE rule of requiring players to be at their boards at the round start time or else be forfeited.
Alex Relyea
I had a player withdraw once by leaving a message on my HOME phone about a half hour before that round was paired. (Nobody was at home, of course.)
My experience has been that more no-shows mid-event are from experienced tournament players than from rookies to tournament play. In any event, I usually try to make a point to the newcomers (and again at the start of the first round) that they are NOT out of the tournament just because they lose a game or two and that they need to notify a TD if they wish to withdraw.
This guy was rated in the 1500’s and definitely wasn’t a rookie. He was 1-2 after three rounds and had obviously decided to call it quits. Plus it was hard to miss the signs on each board to give notice ahead of time about not playing in the next round.
I like the idea of an automatic forfeit in the first round next tournament. It’s not too harsh but it does have an impact.
Maybe instead of forfeiting him for the first round of the next tournament he should have to play an odds game instead. If it’s his first offense, pawn odds. Second offense, knight odds. Third offense, rook odds. Fourth offense, queen odds. 
… Although, then again, losing a knight sometimes hasn’t kept me from making the same mistake in a future chess game soooooo…
I hate forfeit wins. Free points don’t help a lot of the times. I come to play chess. I played in a tournament at the Marshall where my opponent was a no show and I won on forfeit. If he had told the TD he was withdrawing there would have been an odd number, and I would have been in line for the bye. At least having a bye the TD most likely would have been able to find me an opponent amongst players who were hanging out. With a forfeit, unless it’s a long time control that’s not a possibility. The “free” point was worthless.
I think a fine works well as a deterrent, as long as it’s high enough. $5 - $10 just doesn’t do it anymore. Something along the line of $25 would make a player think twice about dropping out.
Yeah, that’s like the people who email me at 8:30 a.m. day of the tournament with their pre-entries, then are shocked that they’re not on the pre-entry list when they arrive. 
Surprising how irrational chess players can be.
Pig Jones wrote:
Playing games at material odds would play havoc with the rating system. It could even legitimize sandbagging as the player dumping points wouldn’t even have to throw the game to lose. This is a very bad idea!
Sloan wrote:
This is also a bad idea. If a forfeit is bad, then a TD should also not engage in the same activity. Arguably, it is an abuse of the TD’s authority. I can’t find any place where the rules allow it. I also don’t like the idea of giving a full point to someone who doesn’t deserve it. It could also start a trend of forfeiting in the last round of a tournament with no prize potential to start with a win in the next one. I think the best solution is an escalating fine based on how many times the offender did it. The offender will either modify his behavior or stop playing. I would not consider it a great loss to have this player quit my tournaments. Other reliable players might stop playing if they keep getting forfeit wins.
Then I can drive home after collecting my forfeit win or hang out and chat with people as they finish or go hit the buffet somewhere or…or…or…
I really can’t think of any reason why it would annoy me to get a free point. The free point is good compensation for the lack of a game caused by being without an opponent even though ready and willing to play. I guess I’m more relaxed about it than others, though. I go as much for fun and socializing as I do to play.
If you had paid $150 or more as an entry fee and were out of the running for any prizes, would you still be content with a forfeit win in the last round?
NO! At the 2007 US Open in Cherry Hill, my last round opponent was a no show. It ticked me off because I spent another night to play the last round. Fortunately another player’s opponent was a no show, so they paired the two of us and we split the elapsed time between the two of us. I lost the game, but the free point wasn’t going to put me in the money and the game I played was very interesting.
The weird thing was if my real opponent had showed up and beat me, he would have won a part of the D prize. I often wondered if he forgot that the 9th round was at 3:00 pm, not 7:00 pm, though they certainly made enough announcements on Saturday reminding players about the last round time. The other weird thing was he won his 8th round game on forfeit. Maybe he went home and just said the heck with it. Woulda been nice if he told the TD.