Is it fair?

Is it fair that when your opponent forgets to hit their clock (in OTB) that you act like you're focusing on your next move, while their clock winds down? Also, is it ethical. I think it is perfectly fair and ethical. What do you think?

Tell him once. If he does it again, it's his problem.

We all play by the same rules.  I've had opponents who moved and didn't punch their clocks and I didn't say a thing.  Would you call your opponent's attention to a threat to win their queen?  If they miss it, it's their problem.  I never put on a show to deceive them, but I don't warn them, either.  It's like recording the moves of the game; if they don't do it accurately, the bad is on them, not you.  I am under no obligation to warn my opponent of impending doom.

what if you make your move as normal and then don't punch the clock.  see if they will run out their own time thinking that they are running out yours.  is that a reverse psychological blunder.

I've done that once. Opponents reaction when he realised he was wasting his own time instead of mine was worth the wait itself    :)

Just wondering though, is it actually "legel" (using the words definition loosely) to move when their timer is still counting? I mean they haven't technically completed their turn yet...

i think that would be really funny, yea i would do it and if it were just for the laughs. anyway do what you want, life is unfair anyway otherwise i would have money to go away were i can make sport, diet, heal my soul and play chess or do whatever i want

It's just something that we chess players live with. The one thing I disagree with is that you're "pretending" to think about the next move. It's best if you do in fact think about the next move -- because in my experience the opponent discovers it within the next 5 minutes anyways.

Not telling your opponent is perfectly legal - whether or not it's ethical is up to you. 

I will normally point it out to my opponent , once and only once. However, if I have some reason to dislike my opponent or the game is very critical I will not remind them even once. 

Is it fair ?  Yes, it is. 

i think he ment, if its legal to make a move when the opponents time is running. but i could easily have misread him.

I generally tell opponents even multiple times, but if the opponent has been obnoxious I would probably just sit there and study the board silently. I rarely win or lose an OTB game on time (but I avoid playing time controls less than G/45). A win on time in a lost position seems tainted to me. Earlier this year I was in time pressure in a dead drawn position. My opponent accepted the draw. Afterwards his teacher chewed him out for not trying to run my clock out with pointless moves. I thought that was bush league on the teacher's part. I was appreciative of my opponent's sportsmanship. Sometimes the pupil teachs the teacher.

well if life does your bad, you wished you were unsportsmanlike your entire life. better feel mean than sorry.

I don't know about fair, but it's legal. After all, you are at the tournament to win. 

I wouldn't tell, I was told by one in my club, that is isn't bad sportmanship not to tell. actually until he has punched the clock he can still offer draw.
once I did not tell my opponent that his time was running. I waited to make the move I had planned. It was a good thing cause I notied the planned move was a losing move. I won because I waited five minutes to make my move and I won because in the time I waited I found a winning combination.
it was a 2 hours game each.
if he had stopped his clock I would have moved the losing move in a split second.
all players knows that they have to do it so why tell.

its absolutely fair and ethical and it's your opponents problem.

Even if you make up your mind and decide your next move,wait until your opponents hit their clock so that their time runs out.

Okay, what I meant was that I'm looking like I'm focusing more on my move than usual. I'm still focusing my next move. (Acting is my other passion) I have actually won a couple games that way and it doesn't feel cheapened to me at all. If I have known that person and the game doesn't really matter, I will warn them, but if the game matters, I'm going to take any advantage I can get.

I am usually away from the board when my opponent is thinking and, in case there is a computer screen that broadcasts our games (there often is), see that a move has been made only after it appears on the monitor. Or, when there's no monitor and you are walking around, you usually look at the watch, not the position, to determine if a move has been made. Therefore, I will likely not notice myself.

chessdude46

That's the tell that tips your hand when this happens.  You shouldn't do anything different or you'll give it away.  I just sit there until I'm sure what my move will be, and by then normally the other player catches on.  When he hits the clock, I move almost instantly, keeping his clock going.

WGM Pogonina

It must be nice to check a computer display to see if it's your move.  One-a-day games and monitors--that has to be the life!

a) Harrassing your opponent with tips about how to play the game better, such as remarking during a game (and, technically, during their as yet unfinished move) "you forgot to press your clock", might get you booted out of the chess club or tournament.

b) If appropriate (imo, which means, if I'd little to lose by doing so), in a serious game I'd probably gesture towards my opponent's clock if they appeared to have overlooked punching it (eg. made a move, and some chunk of time passed).  I'd always do so in casual games.