When one TD’s lots of scholastics, as I do, the situation is rarely players trying to game the rules. It is more often a case of forgetfulness. A bigger problem is an excited kid who wants to move before the opponent even has a chance to press the clock.
The scummiest thing here is sitting silently while opponent’s clock runs. Everyone agrees it’s legal though.
But if I am ready to move, opponent has left the board with his clock running, and I need to use the bathroom – I don’t think that moving and getting out of there should make me angle-shooting scum.
I disagree with this line of reasoning; player A did not follow the rules for making a move. Therefore, though he is not penalized for this, he can’t gain the benefits of a potential touch-move situation (simply touching the piece, not something overly egregious like actually moving it).
For what it’s worth, in the real-life example Player B was a kid, who pointed out the clock situation seemingly like an arrow-in-the-dark making a lucky hit, as I did consequently rule (answer A’s question) that touch-move only applies when it is your turn to move and player A had not legally completed his move. I think he was surprised when his protest actually worked for me.
You can’t “penalize Player B more-or-less as if it were a touch-move violation,” because it’s not a touch-move situation, That rule simply doesn’t apply. You could consider penalizing B for "distracting or annoying the opponent – I wouldn’t but that’s a judgment call by the TD – but the penalties are quite different.
What do you consider an appropriate penalty for distracting and annoying the opponent?
Ken, what about my example? The opponent is away from the board (hence I would not be distracting him), and I just want to move and get it done.
Uh, no thanks. Odds are he still hasn’t noticed, and there’s no way I want to call his attention to it at that point. He might get piddled off at me for not reminding him sooner. No reason to risk creating hard feelings. Let sleeping dogs lie.
Incidentally, if the clock’s move counter is turned on, then, in order to preserve the correct move count, after I eventually move I have to first press his clock, and then mine. I have done this on a few occasions, and the opponent never seems to notice, even then.
Bill Smythe
Yes and no.
Certainly it’s good sportsmanship to remind the opponent, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s bad sportsmanship not to. And if the opponent keeps forgetting, move after move, then you may be doing him a favor by not reminding him. He has to learn somehow, and the hard way may be the most effective way.
Now, if you continue to sit silently, pretending to think, even after you have decided your move (especially if your move is forced or obvious), then I might agree that your actions are (at least a wee bit) scummy.
Bill Smythe
I said scummy even though I’ve done it myself, of course.
I only used the word because Ken used it, to describe something else (moving without opponent’s permission, if he hasn’t pressed the clock) that to me is not scummy at all.
Sorry I didn’t pick up on your subtlety, artichoke. 
You make a good point, of course.
Bill Smythe
That’s not what I said.
Please go back and read it again, and then post a retraction.
Did you mean that he can’t try moves out and retract them?
If so, then I agree with you. Tournament chess is always touch-move unless you are adjusting pieces on their squares in accordance with the rules or accidentally knock into a piece. But I thought this went without saying.
In context, I thought you were saying that someone could not touch any piece until opponent had pressed his clock. Please clarify.
I usually get annoyed when people whose posts have been misinterpretated tell folks to re-read their posts instead of saving people the aggravation by clarifying their posts.
In this case, though, it looks pretty clear to me. It was the combination of letting the opponents clock run knowingly and then trying to use the running clock to get around touch move that Ken called scummy. And he’s right.
Re-read his post, David.
I did reread it. If it’s clear to you, it’s not clear to me. As I said, everyone knows you can’t analyze by moving pieces around during a game.
Maybe the player has made his move and hasn’t pressed the clock because he is considering offering a draw.
It seems to me like we have some minor conflicts with the rules.
We have sportsmanship vs not talking ( which I can only find the one rule where the TD announces a complete ban )
In reality often times a nod towards the clock does the trick.
In 39 years of tournament play, and after literally thousands of tournament games played, I have never seen this happen, and I doubt if I ever will. It would be illogical for a player to commit to a move before he has decided whether to commit to a draw offer.
Just barely. The point of “move, then offer, then press clock” is that the draw offer is part of the move. Equally logical would be “offer, then move, then press clock”. In fact, the rulebook comes within an eyelash of endorsing the latter (14B3). Either way, it’s as if you picked up the piece, then announced “with this move, I am offering a draw”, then set the piece down on its new square and pressed the clock.
Bill Smythe
I’ve seen it happen in an adjourned game, but how many tournaments even have those kinds of situations any more?
Along those same lines, I wonder how many TDs have NEVER had to adjourn a game (and how many of those know the proper procedures a TD should go through?)
I’ve done it once, ten years ago, at the Atlanta Chess Center, early in a 35/90, SD/60 game. I forget why, but I had to move one board from the main hall to the first floor. I directed the person on move to seal, and we resumed downstairs three minutes later.
I wish I could remember why I did it, but it was a sufficiently good reason that neither player complained. I remember being surprised that I actually had an opportunity to adjourn a game, and remember this was a decade ago.
John, are you saying that an opponent is obliged to tell his opponent to stop his clock? Earlier, in answer to Bill’s question, you said no.
At any rate, the touch move rule doesn’t apply to a player who isn’t on the move.
A player is not obliged, under the current rules, to tell his opponent to stop his clock.
A player may not make a move until he is on the move. This means if his clock isn’t running, he may not make a move. Any penalties would have to be determined by the TD onsite.
A player is not obliged to tell his opponent to stop his clock. You are perfectly free to sit there until his flag falls. Technically, however, you cannot make a move until it is your move, so if you want to make a move on the board, you must tell the opponent (or the TD) to stop his clock and start yours. Any complaint about “distracting or annoying the opponent” based on such communication would be utterly frivolous, and I would reject it out of hand.