Hey. So I was watching Kit and Julius in a match last weekend broadcast from the St. Louis tournament. Julius repeatedly forgot to hit his clock at the end of his play; for the first dozen or so times that happened, Kit would remind him to do that. Things got pretty intense playing-wise, and everyone (commentators, online audience) apparently forgot to keep an eye on Julius's clock. When it got down to post-Crawford, the commentators (John and Marty) realized that Julius hadn't been hitting his clock again; this lapse resulted in him having less than a minute left. Dave (director) went over and stopped the match, there was some discussion, and the match was allowed to continue after a break, without adjusting Julius's clock time.
It seemed that some people were upset that Kit had stopped reminding Julius about hitting his clock, but honestly, I'd seen him do it repeatedly. At what point does this become too much of a burden to place on the opponent? Ultimately, that responsibility should be on the player himself. I would find it distracting to add "make sure opponent keeps hitting his clock every play" to my list of things to think about while I'm playing.
I don't suppose it's a huge deal, but it's been nagging at me ever since, so I figured I'd ask you folks what you think.
I completely agree with you. I think it is o.k. to remind my opponent, but 2 or 3 times in a shart match seems enough to me (unless he uses clocks for the first time or so).
At the end of the day we are all responsible for ourselves and when he looses leading 7-1 by time he'll probably remember this.
We're missing something from this story. If Julius is not hitting his clock, then Kit is violating rules by picking up the dice before Julius has completed his turn.
It's never correct to pick up the dice before your opponent has hit the clock.
To the main thrust of this post: I'll remind my opponent a few times, but I will NEVER pick up the dice while my opponent's clock is running, and after a few times, I'll just let the clock run, but I won't pick up the dice.
Hmm, I didn't think of that. Neither of them was acting out of malice, I know, but with everything else going on, I suspect it just got missed. I also wonder if Julius thought he was hitting the clock, but missing or not hitting it enough to click, or...something?
They're both open level players, and this was a final in the masters tournament, so they both do know the rules. Hmm! Again.
Too bad the video cuts off. I watched it and didn't see where Julius neglects to hit the clock. I'm with Frank - I'll remind 2 or 3 times, but after that I don't consider it my problem anymore. (I'll be more generous if I'm playing a beginner, of course.)
I've even heard that a certain German player does this trick where he finishes his move, touches near the clock, but doesn't hit it. Then, if he doesn't like what the opponent rolls, he can just say "I didn't hit my clock yet. It's still my turn."
