Bathroom breaks

[dfan]

People started talking about bathroom breaks during amateur tournaments in this thread but since the discussion is now longer about professionals I'm picking it up here.

What is the etiquette/rules in your community about clocks and using the bathroom during a tournament game? The stress of tournament means that I usually run to the restroom during a game if it lasts an hour or more, even if I went right before it started (tips for overcoming this need are also welcome!).

In chess tournaments this is just part of life; of course your clock keeps running if it's your move, and part of the art of chess is timing your breaks just after you've made a surprising move and given your opponent something to think about.

In local go tournaments I've sometimes had my opponent stop my clock while I am gone. This is very polite, but I always feel a bit bad about it, since I don't expect them to and feel like they are bending the rules on my behalf. Now I wonder, if my opponent runs off for a minute, if I should stop their clock temporarily. I certainly don't want to be rude. Are there common unwritten rules?

The local go tournaments that I attend are much more casual and relaxed than the chess tournaments, which are always deadly serious, so the general atmosphere probably has something to do with people's natural behavior.

[Uberdude]

From the other thread:

Really, you're not allowed toilet breaks during byo-yomi in Canada? No one does that here in the Netherlands either but I'm pretty sure EGF rules allow it (within reason, of course).

I'm in Britain, playing under BGA rules where we usually have Canadian overtime (e.g. 20 stones in 5 minutes). I'm not sure if I've requested and been denied a toilet break between overtime periods at the EGC, but I certainly have in Britain. I tend to drink a lot of water whilst I play, and have to reduce my intake as I approach overtime or else lose some time to go to the loo (or have a nice opponent who lets me use theirs).

[Bill Spight]

You know, they make underwear nowadays for such situations. Urine Luck (TM). See http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/astronaut- ... d=12932069