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One More Post about Clocks
Posted By: Chuck Bower In Response To: One More Post about Clocks (adambulldog)
Date: Thursday, 2 February 2012, at 4:06 p.m.
The other guy had played in the limited JP the night before and had won two rounds. He was playing OK, but really slow. His match in the limited JP finished 1.5 hours after everybody else had left the room.
I sat down with him and told him that he would need to play faster the next day. I told him I might have to put him on the clock. He had played with a clock before in chess. He told me it was OK as long as I didn't clock his match in the limited JP. I said OK since the limited JP was no longer going to be an issue as far as keeping the schedule. I also told him could play in the novice division if he wanted to avoid the clock (he had never played in any tournament and had almost never played on a real board against a live person).
Nonetheless, the next day he entered the Advanced, I put him on the clock in the 1st or 2nd round and he clocked out and was pissed off.
From the tone of your article it sounds as though you were feeling a bit of remorse (related story below). From your description I think you handled things well. I add that players need to enter the divisions appropriate for their skill levels. If this player had the option of the novice and chose the Advanced, he should have accepted the conditions of that contest and played at the appropriate speed. He should be pissed off at himself, not at the director.
A couple weeks ago at our fledgling local club (where we have no entry fee and no prize money, just club points and pride are on the line) I was playing against a nearly raw novice. I'm the director, BTW; this was his fourth appearance at the club, but you wouldn't know it from his speed or skill set. The very first roll he tossed his dice (from the cup) onto the LH side. I required a reroll and told him the rule had NO EXCEPTIONS. Twice more in that game he rolled onto the LH side with the same ruling. A couple games later he faced a critical diceroll and to my surprise threw the dice from his hand, leaving the cup on the sideline. Unfortunately (for me, the director+player) it was a good roll for him. I required a reroll without hesitation and his subsequent toss was a fan. He was deflated and I started to question my own action. Even a week later I still wondered if I had done the right thing.
I always tell the players at the club that, yes, I am a stickler for the rules. But then I explain that the best time to avoid developing bad (procedural) habits is as a beginner, from day 1. The pain and resentment will be a lot worse in an important competition when they are called for their impropriety when the outcome REALLY matters. I don't want to hear anyone from Bloomington say -- as I've heard more than a couple times elsewhere -- "but that's the way we do things at OUR club..."
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