Current problems with Team Mode and potential improvements

I've made an assessment of this game and what needs to be improve to ensure the continued growth of this mode. I see far greater potential for ingenuity and complexity in this than the game theory orientated FFA.

But there are current issues with the game and I think that need addressing.

1. The game is not exactly noob friendly and is quite tactically punishing. Cheese strats (like bring the two queens out early) and quick checkmates tricks make the game not very fun for beginners who would often get mated in less than four or five moves in a variety of ways. I was the pioneer of some of these strats since day one and the game has more or less became mundane grind for the top players, while most of the newbies get mated in the first few turns getting frustrating and quitting the game. To make it more fun and meaningful to ensure the game survives, I advocate for increase time controls to ensure they have some time to mount a defence. Currently 1 + 15 is way too short even GMs have trouble finding the right defended. There needs to be another minute at least.

2. Other changes u can rebalance this game is to make sure both of the teams kings need to be checkmated from your opponents team to ensure they still get some play instead of getting mated instantly.

3. Rating change formula needs revision. Currently, top players can find a low rated partner to be their slave and make huge gains compare to two competent players. Likewise players on the other team is severely punished for losing to a team with a lower rated. I argue that a low rated + high rated partnership is not much weaker than two strong players and the rating changes need to be adjusted to reflect that.

4. Players timing out on first or second move and causing their partner to lose tons of points is also killing the game mode. There should be an abort option for everyone to prevent this. A rating range option will also help.

5. Disable chat - this one is obvious.

6. Ability to take your partner's pieces - again this is pretty obvious and add dimension to the game

7. There needs to be an analysis board of some sort of people to share ideas and variations.

2. I definitely agree with both kings needing to be checkmated to win in teams. It's horribly annoying when your teammate disconnects, resigns out of frustration, or just plain gets destroyed because he can't play. 

1. In terms of the time limitations in FFA, I definitely agree that its pretty intense. With longer times though, a single game could end up taking 1 - 2 hours+. As of now I think the longest game I've had in FFA was 35 - 40 minutes. 

5. Disabling chat is kinds silly considering theres already an option for any player to disable it.

6. Wouldn't taking your partners pieces in "team" defeat the point if having a teammate?

7. An analysis board? As in the computer giving tips, or just seeing your previous game play and analyzing it yourself?

6. Taking your partners pieces allow some tricky ideas. currently ur pawn can't take their pawn so there is literally no way to promote to a queen if both you and your opponent have pushed pawn

7. Analysis board as in just an interface to move pieces around and look through ideas. Obviously an engine for teams chess is not gonna exist for the immediate future.

6. Ah, I see. Good Idea.

2. Good idea. It would make team games less blitz, more strategic.

And certainly it gives at least some chance for you, if you have a bad partner. Just two recent my own illustrations. 1) I am 1300 and get a partner 1000, with 2 enemies above 1300. They just dont care about me and mate a very poor player just in few moves. I really dont have chances to do anything and it frustrates. 2) I also was a bad partner. We had a very strong position. But I got urgent and very important phone call. I had to reply and left the board just for 1 minute or so. But certainly it was already enough that we lost the game. Though I think, a partner alone could win that game. I felt very sorry.

5. Disagree. Not obvious at all. 

6. Good idea. Especially helpful, wnen you need promoting queen on 11th rank

1. Yes, 2 or 3 minutes would be good, but needs to be implemented with abort also implemented.

4. Abort option needs to be available.

6. No, you can't capture  your own pieces in standard chess, it's just part of the game, and for the better.

2. if your partner gets mated, you are left alone in the sandwich vs 2. dunno how much fun thats gonna be, surely you won't last long in most cases?

3. rating i've been putting my ideas in the rating thread

https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/how-the-rating-system-works

so far almost no discussion

4. how bout an option to request an abort (during the first round of moves), and the other team must agree? then you can use chat to give a reason for you request to cancel the game

 6. don't like it. it's easy enough to attack, this will only add more fuel. not noob friendly imo (you can checkmate even faster)

7. i have one

1) Was proposed many times already. Chess.com team is aware.

2) Also was proposed. This would be a different variant of 4 Player Chess. It may be a good variant too, but it is not the reason to kill the current variant.

3) It is a vague description. What exactly do you offer?

4) Was proposed many times already. Chess.com team is aware. But they are not going to add an "Abort" button, because people abuse it and other people send lots of complaints to Chess.com.

5) Yes, it is obvious.

6) Also was proposed. This would be a different variant of 4 Player Chess. It may be a good variant too, but it is not the reason to kill the current variant.

7) Also was proposed (in August) for FFA, but of course it is obvious we need it for Teams too.

1. I think more time controls will be added if/when the player base expands.  I have no idea if slower games that take a long time will be better at attracting people.  Weak players will find ways to die in slow time controls too.

2. If your partner dies, you're fighting 2v1.  Not only do they probably have more material than you, they also have two turns to your one, which could let them win even if you do have more material.  I think it will be very rare for this to change the result; usually it will just drag it out when the result is already certain.  And meanwhile the defeated player has to wait to see if his team won or lost.  This could occasionally make a big difference in endgames, but those are rare.

3. You have a good point.  Perhaps a solution is to double-weight the rating of the stronger player in the rating adjustment.

6. I disagree.  It would leave you open to trolls and people who didn't realise they were playing teams.  It also just seems wrong; you can't capture your own pieces, why should you be able to capture your partner's pieces.  As for the objection that you might block each others pawns and make promotion impossible, that shows a lack of coordination or foresight earlier in the game.  If you don't advance pawns on the same file, you won't have that problem.  Be very careful about pushing a pawn to your partner's 11th rank when they've pushed the opposite pawn.

4.  how about: abort when

 - all players abort

 - 3 players abort?

 - one member of each team aborts?

+1 for " 3 players to abort " (during first 1-3 moves)

1) yes team mode requires more time than FFA

2) No

3) true

4) yes abort is needed

5) disable chat wtf? why?

6) completely agree, have already suggested that

7) yes analysis required

last picture is my illustration to 2 and 4 

5. instead of disabling chat, i think there should be an option to mute each player individually.