I have a question, why allways (well, almost always) when the people win a game should leave the "good game" or "gg" on the chat box even when it wasn't a good game?, this makes sense for someone here?

you can also say thank you.
i figure it is a way of being polite.
i don't imagine someone saying, "this game sucked" and you being happy about it.
Maybe saying something else like thany you could do the trick and would not trip egos over?

Some people think it's respectful, some find it insulting.

Does anyone know why threads like this come in bursts?

GG after my bad game make me angry! Not nice...

Surely its the game result that matters.

I only think that "good game", "gg", or similar have no sense when there wasn't a good game, or perhaps I'm missing a chess rule which says something about... "the opponent who wins the game must say good game to the looser"

If I lose, I congratulate my opponent. If i win, I normally thank him for the game.

If the game was particularly enjoyable, I'd comment on that.

But sometimes, the less said the better. I just won a game I reckon both of us would rather forget, so I kept quiet.

Have you ever been having a lousy day and someone making small talk asks "How's it going?" and you instinctively respond "Good."?

What maybe an awful game in your opinion could be an amazing game for someone else.

for an extreme example I am sure all my games would be considered awful in Kasparov's opinion. But they would hopefully be brilliant to someone new to chess.

Also I read one of these type threads awhile back and someone compared "good game" to the online equal of shaking hands after an OTB game is over. No mater how badly you lost or how much you slaughtered the person it is respectful to shake hands at the end.

rooperi, I totally agree with you and I do the same kind of things also.

chaosdreamer, I think "good game" or "gg" is not equal to shaking hands in OTB games, for example, imagine someone looses by the fools mate, can you imagine the "good game" here?, I agree totally with thank the game, but not allways the "gg"

In the same vein, "Thanks" is sometimes misread as "Thanks for handing the game to me, loser"  when really, the intention was to say "thank you for the time we spent together on this game".

lol, I guess you cant please everybody

Shivsky, sure, but these case is a little bit more subjective

myself I hate the good game massage, as even when I play my worst game ever people keep saying it and thats annoying

at the end of every game I leave a "Thanks for the game" massage, or sometimes just "thanks"

Thanks or thanks for the game is neutral enough, hard to imagine anyone being offended and it fits if you win or lose.

If someone is sensitive enough they'll be able to find reason to take offense in almost anything you say.  No reason to get worked up about it yourself.

Eg.: Either "Thanks" or "Thanks for the game" could be construed as "Thanks for handing me the game"

I think it's just like nh in poker, probably originated from it... Anyway, never heard anyone say "gg" to me.

perhaps because it's good by definition when players of your level play it .

what nh stand for?

nice hand

I usually say "Good Game", especially when they have a forced mate.

I never really thought about how people could take that badly.