"Hereabouts there occurred the first act of a drama which I've dubbed 'The Double Bathroom Episode'. On a quick trip to the men's room, I found <no paper of any kind there>. Returning to the playing room, I notified the appropriate official. After checking personally, he managed to arrange for a girl to obtain paper in the ladies' room, and placed said paper in the men's room. It took several minutes to arrange matters. On the way back to the chessboard, I realized that I had lost time on the clock <through no fault of my own>. I therefore accosted the tournament director and asked that my clock be set back about 5 minutes. He agreed, and so did my opponent, who stipulated that I be given <four> minutes. Half an hour later, my youthful adversary jumped up, said he had to "go," and requested that his clock be stopped for four minutes! The tournament director demurred, stating that no problem existed in the bathroom, and that the request therefore lacked any reasonable basis. I interceded--and the four minutes were granted. The importance of these technicalities was demonstrated late in the game, when both of us were afflicted by serious time-pressure. In fact, when my opponent resigned at move forty, both flags were ready to drop!!

Sadly, in this day and age, it might be necessary to check-up on the opponent away from the board. This is particularly true if it's the opponent's turn to move -- his clock is running -- yet he's left the board. Often, it turns out to be harmless, such as a 20 minute smoke break at the World Open before deciding to resign (as long as the opponent is not discussing the game while it's in progress).

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