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Re: Chinese Championship
Jordan
There is another/better reason professional tennis may have only a 15-minute grace period: the limited on site tennis courts are needed in time for the next round of a tournament. Also, I'm guessing you may be joking regarding having a player begin serving when his opponent is not present. One the spectators would not be amused, and two what happens when it's time to let the absent opponent serve his first game?
I think for televised chess matches a 15-minute grace period would be best. Any longer and, like Gary wrote in an earlier post, a TV station might switch to another show. Chess colour commentators would be interesting to listen to for only so long. If a baseball game is rain-delayed such is what happens, though in case of baseball a game from another city might be shown in its place while the rain delay is on, at least. The Rubinstein 1 hour grace period rule for chess games was written in a pre-television era.
Perhaps a 15-minute grace period should also apply to televised chess tournaments with more than two players as well, in case all (or all but one) of the players are late, however unlikely that scenario is.
For untelevised games, especially those not involving top players with paying spectators present, dropping the Rubinstein rule makes less sense, especially for a zero-tolerance policy. At least make it a 15-minute grace period. As an aside, at the RA chess club here in Ottawa in non-cash prize club swiss tournaments there was/(still is?) a policy that if one's opponent was late after 15 minutes then one could ask to be paired with anyone who was free that night if they didn't have a game/opponent present.
Jordan
There is another/better reason professional tennis may have only a 15-minute grace period: the limited on site tennis courts are needed in time for the next round of a tournament. Also, I'm guessing you may be joking regarding having a player begin serving when his opponent is not present. One the spectators would not be amused, and two what happens when it's time to let the absent opponent serve his first game?
I think for televised chess matches a 15-minute grace period would be best. Any longer and, like Gary wrote in an earlier post, a TV station might switch to another show. Chess colour commentators would be interesting to listen to for only so long. If a baseball game is rain-delayed such is what happens, though in case of baseball a game from another city might be shown in its place while the rain delay is on, at least. The Rubinstein 1 hour grace period rule for chess games was written in a pre-television era.
Perhaps a 15-minute grace period should also apply to televised chess tournaments with more than two players as well, in case all (or all but one) of the players are late, however unlikely that scenario is.
For untelevised games, especially those not involving top players with paying spectators present, dropping the Rubinstein rule makes less sense, especially for a zero-tolerance policy. At least make it a 15-minute grace period. As an aside, at the RA chess club here in Ottawa in non-cash prize club swiss tournaments there was/(still is?) a policy that if one's opponent was late after 15 minutes then one could ask to be paired with anyone who was free that night if they didn't have a game/opponent present.
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