Chess is a great game that has many benefits in your everyday life, because it teaches you how to concentrate, plan, focus and think ahead. The fact that you can experience friendly competition in a way that doesn’t require any more than a board, pieces and your ability to think is wonderful too. That’s probably why you see so many chess tips out in the world. People have known the game’s benefits for generations.

But it takes more than just studying chess strategy to play chess well. Many new chess players are surprised to discover that when they go to a tournament or a chess club. One of the more important of these aspects is specific etiquette that should be adhered to so you can both enjoy the game and gain the respect of your fellow players. It’s amazing how many chess players who should know better breech these basic etiquette rules. They should have gotten this information from whoever helped them learn to play chess, but that’s often not the case.

Here are some important chess etiquette tips:

* Mobile phones and beepers
Cell phones and beepers aren’t allowed when playing in a tournament, even if set to vibrate. It’s also considered good manners to keep them turned off when at a chess club, whether or not you’re playing in a tournament.

* Talking during a game
The Golden Rule applies here: Do onto others as you would have them do onto you. If it bothers you to have people talking while you play, then don’t talk while they play.

* Moving pieces
If you touch a chess piece, you’re obligated to move it. If you pick up a piece, place it on a square and keep your fingers on it, however, it’s OK to move it back to the original square. You still have to move it, but you’re free to choose another square. Once you let go, though, it’s officially considered a move.

* Offering a draw
The correct way to offer a draw is to move a piece and offer the draw before you press your clock. Once the draw is offered, then you can press your clock. Don’t offer a draw while time is running on your opponent’s clock.

* The chess clock
It’s essential that you use the same hand to activate the clock that you use to move the pieces. Also, once the clock has been pressed, you must move your hand away. When playing a tournament, you should stop the clock if there’s ever a need to speak to the tournament director about any aspect of the game.

These are just some of the many etiquette rules that should be adhered to when playing chess. If you play the royal game, you owe it to yourself to learn all of them.