> there aren't special rules for "serious play" as opposed to non-serious play
Of course there are. We don’t follow every rule in the FIDE handbook when I play at Christmas with my brother in law.
For example, I would bet that in 99% of home games, touch-move is not enforced.
> allowed under USCF rules
interesting, I didn’t know that.
The discussion was about tournament rules, not what you do at Christmas, where the FIDE rules have no jurisdiction. And even if they did, what are these "special rules"? I don't think that you made a serious attempt to engage with what I wrote but instead were intent on naysaying, so I won't comment further.