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Time to confess. As a 16-year old who thought he was to be the next Fischer, I lost a dead-drawn ending. Instead of resigning like a gentleman, I sort of flung my king across the board and promptly left the table. Phooey on me!
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I actually resigned a dead drawn game, thinking i was going to be mated. After the game, my opponent and his friend were laughing about it… just a few feet from me. How’s that for class. Perhaps the jerk should have shown his friend the actual game, he was dead lost from move 10 and for most of the game, and played tremendously bad. (which tells you how bad I myself played!)
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Two guys broke into a fist-fight on the next board from me. This was in the days where smoking was allowed. One guy lit up one of those cigars that smells like a used Army blanket, and every time it was the other guy’s move, he would deposit the ashes and smoke on/over the board.
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I was watching a USCF game of a guy I knew from the local chess league. He gets up and starts loudly spitting out opening variations to me, trying to demonstrate that his opponent had no idea how to play this opening. I walked away of course without saying anything. Was I glad to check later and see that this bozo lost the game!
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I was 2-0 in some local tournament, so were a couple of other people. The pairings for round 3 go up. Some guy starts shouting hysterically that he should be paired to play ME. He was out of control, turning red with rage. Perhaps it was my age (I was the youngest in the tournament), perhaps he saw me play, even though i had won, i hadn’t played particularly great. Anyway the TD had enough, he said to me, do you mind if i change the pairings, i said, I don’t care. Of course you know the end of the story. I crushed the guy, topping it off with a winning exchange sac.
Years ago in a tournament I went into the last round 2-1. I had my class prize wrapped up. I won my last game. My opponent knocked the pieces over and said to me “Why did you have to beat me? You already won your class.”
This one is subject to debate: I made my 4th move as black. I either missed the clock button or forgot to press it. My opponent sat there for about 2 minutes before I noticed my clock was running. I pressed it, and he immediately castled. Here’s the debate. I know the opponent is not obligated to say anything when the opponent doesn’t press the clock. But to sit there and let the clock run in the opening like that I think is rather unsporting. I think what upset me the most is that it was a player who has known me since he was a little kid, and for whom I’ve done many favors for over the years. A fine way to treat a friend. 
This wasn’t done to me, but I saw it happen. A kid wins against an older player. The older player knocks his king over and when his young opponent stuck his hand out to shake hands afterward the opponent says “I don’t need to shake. I know you won.” This same player when he has beaten me talks down to me and gives a lecture on why I lost.
Years ago at one chess club I belonged to there was this one player who had a nasty reputation. He always wanted to sit at a specific table away from others. One time I played him in a game/30 (pre-time delay). He let go of his queen which would have been hanging, picked it up and moved it somewhere else. When I called him on it, he denied it. Because we were sitting at his special table away from other players, nobody saw what happened. After that I refused to play him at his table.
I can probably list another 50 to 100 incidents spread out over 38 years of tournament play, but these are the ones that stick out in my mind.
I remember at one of my tournaments a player yelling “If you were a gentleman, this wouldn’t happen,” and threatening a fistfight.
When they came over to me, the player said with a straight face that he called his opponent a gentleman.
Heh. I’m sure we’ve all got a ton of stories for this thread.
I have a vinyl rollup board that’s a little smaller than the normal ones you see everywhere. Most have 2.25 inch squares, but mine is only 2 inch squares. I actually prefer it, as it’s easier for me to see the whole board at once and take everything in. But I occasionally have opponents complain, and I don’t mind using their boards instead, if they prefer. One time, I had the black pieces, so I set up my board as usual. My opponent wasn’t there at the starting time, so I start the clock. He shows up 10 minutes later, and starts complaining (loudly enough to disturb the boards around us) about my board being too small. Because he was late and being a jerk, I refused to change. We played the game with my board, and I won. He left angrily without shaking my hand, still muttering about the small board size. I was “playing up” in a higher rating section that tournament, so I think that was my only win the entire tourney. Afterward, I actually asked the TD to look up the equipment rules for me. Apparently, USCF rules say the squares should be between 2 and 2.5 inches, so my board is perfectly legal for tournament play.
Of course, the absolute worst I saw was an actual fist fight at the 2007 Miami Open. I was across the room, playing my own game, but I heard some of the yelling. Apparently, an adult was playing against a kid in one of the lower sections, and the adult got angry. It sounded like he thought one of the observers was passing hints to the kid. A TD came over and settled things down, and the game ended a few minutes later, at which point the adult started yelling again (I’m assuming he lost). The TD tried to walk him out of the room, and somehow a fight broke out. I think the guy punched the TD, and the cops were called. I’m not entirely clear on all the details. As I said, I was still playing my own game at the time. The TD involved in that visits these forums sometimes, so maybe he can fill in the gaps in the story.
I’m sure I’ll think of more later. Anyone who’s been playing for a while probably has a few of these stories.
Worst sportsmanship? The adult who threw his chair at his opponent, a kid. Fortunately, he missed, striking only a glancing blow.
I hope that guy was not only ejected but prosecuted for assault.
If my opponent forgets to press his clock, I’ll remind him – the first couple of times he forgets. After that, I figure he needs to learn his lesson the hard way, so I’ll just let his clock run.
Bill Smythe
A father loudly berating his kid’s primary-section second-round opponent in the skittles room because there was no way that a mere girl could beat his son unless she cheated.
P.S. she was about 300 points higher rated and won the section.
All too many times I’ve seen parents try too hard to make their child the next wunderkind of the chess world. There’s a difference between a “you’re going to have to work at anything to get good at it” message and failing to recognizing the child doesn’t enjoy the game and should be doing something else.
Yeah, I’ll usually remind them once, maybe twice in the same game. After that, they’re on their own. But I also won’t delay my own move just to maximize how much of their clock time I waste. I’ll take the same amount of time that I would have taken anyway.
One of the worst acts I saw was actually one of conduct not becoming a gentleman. The player of the black pieces had his board, set, and clock set up for his pairing, but he intentionally set the black pieces on the white side, so that someone like his opponent, who was new to tournament chess, would have difficulty in keeping score. After they had each made a move, he asked if they could restart it, so that he could more easily keep score, but he refused, stating that the game had already started. And to make it worse, these were guys that played at the club together!
And the same culprit, who had a penchant for wacky-tobaccky (not sure of the spelling there 
), actually came to his next round once very chinese-eyed, and kept laughing during the game. Needless to say, everyone thought he was either looped or crazy.
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Coaches with binoculars, telescopes, and phone cams complaining that kids are cheating their team members.
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A mother(coach) who told her daughter she had to continue playing after the young girl threw up on the chess board. She said the team needed the point to get a trophy. The girl put her head down and cried.
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A prominent GM who threw his opponent’s queen across the room after the guy promoted a pawn.
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A player grabbing a wheel chair bound opponent with multiple handicaps around the throat because the handicapped guy misspoke when announcing his move. The player was infuriated that the touch move rule was not applied.
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Player who is constantly late to first round of tournaments he enters but insists that his opponent use his set, board, and clock. Argument with opponent and TD who rules against him disturbs all of the games.
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Spectators who take calls on their cell phones during a round. Spectators who walk around watching games while munching on a bag of potato chips.
It wasn’t in chess. On TV, I saw a baseball spectator snatch the ball right out of a little kid’s hand. If he could pay for a ticket, I think he could pay for a ball.
As bad as that sounds, and probably is - it is unfortunately not limited to chess. I have witnessed several cases where overzealous baseball parents, anticipating their son(s) as the next Albert Pujols or Tim Lincecum, completely destroy the kid’s interest in the game. Kids that have considerable talent and (initial) interest actively seek other activities (other sports, games, or in some cases less positive pursuits) just to avoid the undue pressure put on by Dad (or Mom).
I haven’t been around youth chess much, but from what I read here and can imagine, I’m sure the dynamic is not much different. Pretty sad the offenders can’t see that for themselves.
I agree with both posters’ approach here, particularly the point about using your normal time, not milking it. The 1-2 “free” warnings reflect good sportsmanship; beyond that is… beyond what should be expected.
I recently had a case where I was under time pressure (maybe 4 minutes left to make about 10 moves), and my opponent - for the first time in our game - forgot to hit his clock. He had something like 20 minutes remaining. I admit that I thought about it for a few seconds, maybe 10 seconds, but then I quietly pointed to his clock. I had a winning position, and managed to get my moves in and win the game.
Holy cow, what a list!! Sounds like the western side of our great Commonwealth is a lot more exciting - at least in terms of chess tournaments - than here in the stodgy old eastern side! Either that or you’ve been playing for about 130 years. I’m torn between your #2 and #4 as to which is the worst. Great stories!
One case of bad sportsmanship I remember is a player in a dead lost position refusing to resing, & refusing to move. He just sat sideways in his chair for over an hour until his flag fell.
In the other direction I once had an opponent who after his 40th move (T/L of 40/1, SD/30) call his own flag for his own losing of the game [in a dead even position]. I had not noticed it at the time, although it is of course possible I might have before my opponent made move 41 or I made move 40 myself. How about more tales of good sportsmanship?
Best “Chess” Regards
Larry S. Cohen
Maybe that wasn’t good sportsmanship. Maybe he was dead lost and too embarrassed to resign, so he let his flag fall and then called it.
Bill Smythe
At an NAO at the MGM in Vegas about 10 -11 yrs ago there was a fight in the D or C section. The tables were end-to-end about 4 tables long so it would take some time to walk around if you were playing in the middle. Somebody said something the opponent didn’t like, he flicked some water in the guy’s face, the opponent then tossed his full cup of water over the board into that guy’s face and that guy then dove across the table and the fight was on… over half the players in that 2nd floor room (GMs on down) stopped and ran toward the altercation to watch. It happened so fast.
I’d never seen so much commotion going on so quickly. 
Something about teenagers: They’re often flippent rude when asked about a game.
Once I played a 5min game against a 16 years old, and got into a king/pawn endgame, where I clearly had an advantage, but no way was I able to win, since the entire game was only 5min long, and the 16 year old was several hundred points higher than me.
So I asked him where I went wrong (figuring I was up a whole pawn at the beginning of the endgame). So what does he do? He rolls back the postion exactly 3 moves and re-shows me how I was mated. I got up and left in a huff. (It was his flippant attitude that rubbed me wrong, btw)
Edit: I never did go back to that chess club, since I could never get anybody to play anything slower than 5min chess, which is too bad, since I do enjoy 10 and 15min games. That was years ago: that chess club folded a long time ago, because the person running it retired, and it was mostly teenagers that went to it.