Today I watched a relay on KGS where there was some talk between the players, I wondered what people believe the etiquette of this to be.

I think it's okay, but a bit BM if you're trying to hold a conversation with someone you don't know. If I'm playing in an online tournament game and my opponent tries to chat with me, I will probably just ignore him if I don't know who the person is.

I answer the poll question before reading your first post. So I said "not at all". Then I realized you were not talking about real tournaments, but online tournaments. There is wouldn't bother me because I can just ignore anything typed and it would not be a distraction for the person on the next board (which is my main reason for saying no).

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Still officially AGA 5d but I play so irregularly these days that I am probably only 3d or 4d over the board (but hopefully still 5d in terms of knowledge, theory and the ability to contribute).

One thing that happens sometimes on Tygem for big games is that there will be a pro commentator that will leave diagrams and explanations of what's going on.

You can then toggle back and forth between the regular game chat, where kibitzers might say wild stuff, and the pro commentary and sample diagrams, if you're not interested in the chat.

KGS doesn't have this functionality exactly, but it can be replicated if a pro, for example, made a clone of a big game and turned on moderated chat. This way, the wild kibitz can happen in the regular game room, and serious study can happen in the pro commentary game replication.

The benefit of allowing wild chat is that it lets people have fun. The benefit of having an area where there's quieter educational chat is that it lets people that want to to be serious about the game and study hard.

I think that since we have functionality for chat moderation and also cloning games in KGS, we can allow for both.

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be immersed

the poll is about the players themselves chatting

Well, the poll does not distinguish between player chat and non-player chat - I thought that Javaness just gave player chat as an example.

However, if we are talking only about players, then I see no reason why they should not be able to talk, as long as they are not demeaning to one another.

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be immersed

It is a fine line to me.

In F2F play, if I didn't know the person I was playing I wouldn't really be interested in getting into casual conversation (or starting it). Seems to me that'd frequently look like someone had waning interest in the game itself. But on the other hand, I'd have to feel that no-one could say anything during play (like 1-player pair go...).

So I'd really have to say it is OK as long as neither player objects, game related or not. Which is pretty darn subjective.

Bruce "Babbler" Young

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Currently reading: Plutarch, Cerebus, and D&Q 25th Anniversary

I answered "between friends". It's just much better to concentrate on the game instead of chatting. Comments can be saved for review after game.

I was talking about real face to face tournaments actually

I simply do not talk about the ongoing game. I usually just smile when my opponent tries to; talking about the game can be done in the postmortem. Other topics might be OK briefly, but I consider seriousness, including the will to concentrate, part of the fun of tournament games.

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A good system naturally covers all corner cases without further effort.

Then it is absolutely not acceptable. It may be okay with you and your opponent but it is almost certain to disturb the people on the board next to you. Even post-game reviews should not take place in the playing area for the same reason.

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Still officially AGA 5d but I play so irregularly these days that I am probably only 3d or 4d over the board (but hopefully still 5d in terms of knowledge, theory and the ability to contribute).

I think it is a matter of etiquette not to talk too much and too loud during the tournament if the matches on the neighbouring boards are still running. This shows respect to these players. Some greetings before the match starts and some very brief analysis at the end and exchanging KGS nicks with the opponent (which I like to do) are ok in my point of view if it is done with a low voice. That is because there is always background noise anyway, e.g. of playing children, the click of the stones, people who put the stones back after having finished their game (which is quite noisy), or people walking around who have to go to the restroom or who have already finished their games.

Only place I talk while playing is at club where games are just fun anyways and there's no time. Playing online there's usually shorter time limits, so how can you have time to chat O.o

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TucsonGo.org - Play Go in Tucson
We meet twice a week, visit us!

i wouldn't be so strict about not speaking during the game... some occasional comments are ok (between freinds, which is my actual answer). as long as it doesn't disturb none of you two and of course nor other players, that goes without saying.

for some examples from my experience, i remember one tournament this spring, where i played with one friend of mine and before game he offered me one of cookies he brought for himself and added "Of course there is no marihuana in them." (and of course there really wasn't). still i had to laugh all the opening and first i started playing manego just to deviate to try taisha
and another example, better for this topic, this weekend i played at a tournament with another friend and he asked me several times during the game "Don't you want to resign?" and when two of our groups were fighting for life, i said "I don't want to die." and he answered "Neither do I."

hmm, when i think about it, maybe i got you wrong and we all agree - i surely also think bigger or louder chat is unacceptable and you are also ok with occasional one-sentence comment

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Spilling gasoline feels good.

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