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Given that photographers are banned from events after the first few minutes, having people show up late to games is a real disservice to the chess press, who are working just as hard to advance the game as the players are.

Now, for those who aren’t at the professional level, say those outside of the top 200, it really doesn’t matter much because the photographers don’t want pictures of them, but the rules should be the same for everyone. If you want “professional” attached to your name, showing up on time should simply be expected.

Particularly if chess wants to develop broadcast revenues, and sponsorship, not having players at the board when the game is scheduled to start is a real problem.

On draws — I’ve kind of thought that we could best achieve the goals of the draw rules by doing the following:

1) payouts based on final scores grant more dollars for wins than draws.

2) No draw offers at all, but 3 move repetition would allow for a draw to be claimed. If people want draws, they’ll get them as it’s a reasonable result in some positions. But by point 1 - there’ll be fewer players seeking them if they can’t get an offer.

With respect to the late arrival, zero-tolerance - there’s no need to default people, just hit them with a prize money reduction for late arrival.

1st time more than 5 mins late in the event - 10% deducted from prize money 2nd time - say 25% gone 3rd time 50% reduction, final warning, late again and there will be a forfeit.

This also addresses the which board is it issue - people near the top, in with a shout for the decent prize money will be there - lower boards may not have prize-money to worry about.

Is the next episode late? I thought it was bi-weekly…

We got a little off due to the Kramnik - Aronian match, but will be back with Ep #21 soon!

Given all the whinging about showing up on time, maybe you should have a peek at what happens to PGA golfers that miss their assigned tee times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/26/sports/golf/26barclays.html

Aside from the subject of the story, there are references to other times when missing a tee time eliminated the golfer from the entire event. More commonly, they’re penalized several strokes (Snedeker, for example, got a 2-stroke penalty for being less than 5 minutes late) effectively putting them way behind the rest of the competition, and probably enough to ensure they cannot win the tournament, barring a herculean effort. (Rather the same effect a full-point penalty has, eh?)

Another reference: http://www.pga.com/news/pga-tour/dustin-johnson-penalized-two-shots-being-late-tee-time-riviera

Johnson was penalized two strokes for being less than 5 minutes late; had he been more than 5 minutes late he would have been tossed from the tournament.

Late happens, yes, I know. It’s even happened to me a few times over the course of 40 years of tournament play. But it’s disrespectful, both of the opponent and of the tournament itself. I don’t have a problem with anyone raising the penalties to “get the attention” of the players.

If you still think the penalty is unreasonable, how about this: Full access for photographers until 10 minutes after the last player arrives at his board or is forfeited. Maybe a little peer pressure would induce the deadbeats to condescend to keep their commitments.

Great, look forward to it!