Incredible toxicity in the chess community

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DiogenesDue
lemaudit1 wrote:

@btickler, post #688--‐--says the TROLL...!!...sounds like you speak from experience, B (UM ) tickler!! Hahahahaha

I'm thinking you would fit the definition much better than I.

Jalex13
Lol.
sator12

I think the far greater problem at the moment is not the toxicity, but the idiocy.

BornWinner01

I am glad to see that I am not the ONLY one who gone through all this. I am still here because I love chess.

jeffzatkoff

feels bad brah

jeffzatkoff

oh btw my blitz is way better than yours OP LOL

Laskersnephew
FizzyBand wrote:

"People use their rating like some kind of social credit system"

Yeah that is basically how the chess world works like it or not, The higher rating you have the more respect you get

At least when you're talking about chess. And it makes sense. An IM is naturally going to have more credibility and get more respect when he offers his/her opinion on a chess topic.  On any non-chess topic, forget it!

Stuckfish

I disabled chat a few weeks ago just to try it out and I'm never going back. I can concentrate better knowing I'm not going to get an unpleasant message at a critical moment. I'm pretty sure it's also made some of the players who would prefer to stall and trash talk me, just resign instead, since they aren't going to get the satisfaction of doing so. Can't do anything other than that about the number of sore losers hurling abuse, that's just the internet for you. The popularity of chess has skyrocketed at a time when online gaming culture is extremely toxic, so unfortunately there is some overlap to treating chess like a videogame. The good thing is, they can never hack it so they end up quitting.

However, I have different views about the forums toxicity.

In every thread I've seen where somebody says they can't seem to improve and are thinking of leaving, they get plenty of advice and constructive criticism, even game analysis. The negative comments start to appear when the user has ignored or dismissed all of these comments.

'Venting' about the site conspiring against you and half the people you play being bots or cheaters is currently in vogue (especially among low rated players) and imho is the most pathetic thing I've ever seen in chess. It's self-pitying, paranoid, rude, egotistical, and absolutely screams that competitive games like chess are simply a bad fit for your personality.

So yeah, absolutely here be trolls and tribal fascists and 'edgy' children. But honestly, none of those really bother me. The fascists aren't allowed to get too political which limits their ability to spread misery, the trolls are either entertaining or easy to spot, and everybody just ignores the kids when they act out.

I don't see a hive mind here, either, there's plenty of different approaches people take. It's just that opinions tend to converge when you get members who make the same self-indulgent, baseless complaints which have been posted a thousand times before, and then refuse to be helped or informed. That's the toxicity.

Gas
Toxic
Laskersnephew

It's not just Chess.com, the entire internet is full of ugly, negative trolls. But here's an important piece of chess (and life) advice: pay no attention to those nasty, negative trolls! They mean nothing. Chess improvement requires a certain amount of hard work and self-discipline. And if you allow yourself to be distracted or discouraged by trolls and naysayers, you won't improve

AlchemyDungeon
Laskersnephew wrote:
FizzyBand wrote:

"People use their rating like some kind of social credit system"

Yeah that is basically how the chess world works like it or not, The higher rating you have the more respect you get

At least when you're talking about chess. And it makes sense. An IM is naturally going to have more credibility and get more respect when he offers his/her opinion on a chess topic. On any non-chess topic, forget it!

What FizzyBand is trying to say is that chess is too much about ratings. It's amazing how you and many can't see it or justify it. Of course, Federer's opinion is better than mine on tennis but tennis is a fun sport. People playing tennis don't care about ratings unless they want to turn pro. However, with chess even casual players are hungry and arrogant about ratings. Like one could chess with another and he or she would look at the rating or ask what's your rating. In other sports, we just play. Hard to explain, either you see or feel it or you don't.

RikLikesTacos

your bringing up a thread from 1 year ago?

davidk67

It may be true that there is toxicity in the forums, but overall I think it's a pretty good forum with more constructive conversation than toxic conversation.

AgileElephants

IRL OTB chess there's practically no toxicity. The chess community is friendly and supportive. Very welcoming (maybe not so much when it comes to women but we are working on it). There are some occasional jerks, but really not that many.

It is the internet where things go haywire.

DiogenesDue
Optimissed wrote:

There are a few working together on Chess.com. That makes it a bit worse, especially given chess.com's rules. Psychopaths have no difficulty working within those rules whereas healthy people don't want to, which gives psychopaths a big advantage here.

Making up stuff about other people is toxic.

HolographWars

Chess is more toxic than other games? In CSGO for example, you can be yelled at by some random dude with a deep voice and thick foreign accent for hours. And the toxicity in that game isn't even close to what we've seen in mw2 lobbies. I've seen some truly disgusting behavior in other games that makes "heated" chess.com "arguments" sound G-rated. (Which they are supposed to be, since children frequently comment on this platform.)

The chess community is a lot nicer than the vast majority of playerbases out there. Don't engage with trolls, instead have fun with your friends and people who actually value you as a person. Have fun!

Butterbillcrumpet

Depends on what you consider to be toxic. Offence is so easily taken today and often when it isn't intended. Often those looking for it will find it and does it really affect your day if someone is a little brusque?
The bottom line is this; hurt feelings are only hurt feelings and you will live. Just be thankful you aren't part of the war generation and you don't need to fear anything more than 'mean words' (whatever that means) on a silly chat forum. Just move on. Toughen up.

TumoKonnin
Optimissed hat geschrieben:
DiogenesDue wrote:
Optimissed wrote:

There are a few working together on Chess.com. That makes it a bit worse, especially given chess.com's rules. Psychopaths have no difficulty working within those rules whereas healthy people don't want to, which gives psychopaths a big advantage here.

Making up stuff about other people is toxic.

When it concerns you and you have been making things up about others on a massive scale. Finally you understand how others feel about you.

I think you’re talking about yourself.

Thee_Ghostess_Lola

id probly stop doing poisons if s/o could crawl thru my desktop wire & pop up behind me.

meanwhile ?...enjoy !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCChxBSRo1Y

TumoKonnin
Optimissed hat geschrieben:
TumoKonnin wrote:
Optimissed hat geschrieben:
DiogenesDue wrote:
Optimissed wrote:

There are a few working together on Chess.com. That makes it a bit worse, especially given chess.com's rules. Psychopaths have no difficulty working within those rules whereas healthy people don't want to, which gives psychopaths a big advantage here.

Making up stuff about other people is toxic.

When it concerns you and you have been making things up about others on a massive scale. Finally you understand how others feel about you.

I think you’re talking about yourself.

And I think you are one of these "people" who appears when their master is losing an argument because more than one honest person is making the same case against him and his henchmen.

I'll go further. There is no honest person on these forums who would support him.

Wow, describing yourself in detail is crazy