Tournament etiquette

I'm playing in a tournament at the moment that has the name of a well known opening, and to all intents and purposes appears to be meant for exploring this particular opening

Unfortunately there were no default moves, so everyone could play whatever moves they wanted

This means that over half of my opponents have not played the opening, and in fact played exactly the opposite type of opening (1.e4 as opposed to 1.d4), so it doesn't even have the flavour of the opening I want to explore

If I had limitless time I wouldn't be worried, would play all the games in the tournament, put it down to experience, and hope that next time the Tournament Director would make sure that the opening was dialled in correctly

However, I don't have limitless time, and really wanted to use my time efficiently in exploring this opening. As I have other games running, I don't feel like playing an extra 6 or 7 games at the moment when it is not going to help me understand this opening

The question is: should I resign all the games that don't follow the opening, should I resign all games in the tournament, should I timeout, or should I finish all the games (that's maybe 4 questions!  ;o)

Thanks for any advice on this point of etiquette

Well Jon maybe I can help

I have been very good and resolving issues like this in a diplomatic way(issues like this meaning any situation where you are duped into believing something that isn't)

Unless it was stated in the tournament rules, or what not, beforehand or you asked and were given the answer that the games would be starting with that opening then I would say you should either resign the games you are not wanting to waste time on, with a note to your opponent explaining why, or finish the games with the knowledge that next time you will make sure you are clear on the rules of the tournament. 

Timing out is also a viable option, as well as contacting the TD to see if he can resolve the issue for you.

In other words I have basically just reiterated your options back to you but in such a way that it sounds as if I have given you advice but in reality I have just repeated what you said!!!

I hope this was of help to you!!!

seriously though I think a quick note to your oppoent and a resign would be the way to go. You started the tournament and unless it was made clear that the opening in question  was the starting point then you should take the hit if you don't want to finish the games.

Now if I was the TD I would feel some responsibility to you because if a tournament was started with an opening for the name then that is strongly implying that it will start with that opening. Almost like false advertising!!

That's like going to Petsmart to buy something for your pet only to find out they don't sell stuff for pets.

Anyway, goodluck in the tournament and goodluck in the games with the wrong openings!!!! 

wjones4> Timing out is also a viable option

I would recommend against timing out as this may limit your ability to participate in future tournaments. If you resign on the first move, it should not affect your rating, although it will probably increase your loss count unfortunately. I think the TD is more at fault than your opponent(s) if they advertised the games would all be played in a particular fashion but then didn't enforce it when setting up the tournament.