Expert: Tony D'Aloisio - 2/10/2011

Question
While I was playing tournament, my opponents family kept bringing drinks and food thru out the game at her request. It did become distracting to me and I almost lost. Is communication of any kind allowed by my opponent and anyone else during our game.
             Thank you

Answer
I doubt that bringing drinks and food to someone would likely be construed as "communication."  Generally speaking, aiding someone's play is banned, as well as anything which might be said to prove overly annoying to the opponent.

Of course, advice of any kind on the position is verboten.  What constitutes an annoyance however is a lot more vague.  You always have the option of notifying the tournament director if you believe your opponent's behavior to be a great distraction to your concentration; however, it is then up to the TD's discretion whether they will do something about it, and--unless your opponent was behaving in a truly disgusting manner--I don't think it's likely that they would act in this instance.