Incredible toxicity in the chess community

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It's not "toxicity", but I have started blocking people who ask me to "play quicker" or however else they choose to phrase it.

You can pick a lower clock time or resign. 

I can take all the abuse under the sun but petty things like that irk me.

FrogStupid Stronk

why bump

Bumping is often what trolls do with the threads they think give them some kind of twisted glory.  It's an easy marker for connecting new sockpuppets to their old trolling accounts.  Trolls are not that bright, and they are creatures of habit.

yeah why bump

Yup.

bump

@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.

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

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.

feels bad brah

oh btw my blitz is way better than yours OP LOL

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!

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.