The chess is intense, but please don’t fidget

The chess is intense, but please don’t fidget
By Joe Holleman
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
05/17/2009

ST. LOUIS — The crowd at the U.S. Chess Championship, being held this year in St. Louis, may be the quietest gathering of people this side of a cloistered religious order.

In fact, being quiet is the sport’s prime directive. This is outlined on a small etiquette card at the front desk of the St. Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center, where the tourney is taking place:”

1. Most importantly, be very quiet! This includes talking, fidgeting, noise from wrappers, cell phones, watches, or anything else.”

Fidgeting?

That’s right. Fidgeting can get you tossed. Actually, your mere presence can get you in trouble.

Rule No. 3: ” … if a player complains that a particular spectator’s presence near his or her game is disturbing … it may be correct for the director to simply require the spectator to move away from that game.”

The action, 12 matches each day, began on May 8 at the club, in the city’s Central West End. It ends at 4 p.m. Sunday.

Like other sporting venues, the club has a gift shop. While you may not be able to buy a foam finger or cooler cup, you can get books such as “Dvoretsky’s Endgame” and “Guide to the Benko Gambit.” (Apparently, “Chess for Dummies” had sold out.)

The edgy player can pick up a T-shirt, the best bearing a picture of one king looming over a fallen king, with the caption “I’m Into Confrontation.”

Security has been tight. To keep unauthorized electronic devices out, every spectator gets the metal-detecting “wand” each time he or she ventures upstairs.

Once there, spectators — a dozen or so at a time — are allowed to stand and watch while the elite players sit and stare.

Chess players in action have three basic positions: arms crossed in front; chin in hand; and chin in both hands. When a critical point is reached in a match, players often adopt a fourth position: head in both hands. That’s when you know it’s “crunch time.”

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