disappearing act

i make good moves very fast.  i'll sit and ponder over a bad move for days.

The Wait of Resigning Late

I do that sometimes too. When someone throws a strange move at me and I want to take some time to think about it then I take some time to think about it. In turn based chess that's perfectly legal. In fact that's the whole idea. If I've got 10 days to make a move then I might take 10 days to make a move and it's perfectly legal. Sometimes my wife comes home just when I'm contemplating a move and there's no sence in me trying to think about chess when she wants my attention. But I don't feel like I need to explain this or every other little detail of my life to my opponent because it's really none of his/her business. Most of what I do has nothing at all to do with my chess games. Sometimes I go to work, answer the phone, go mow the lawn, eat a meal, sleep, fix the car and yes! I do all of those things without any concideration for my opponent's feelings. That's the thing about turn based chess is that I can set it aside any time I want and pick it back up any time I like. Some people shouldn't play turn based chess because they can't handle the pressures of not knowing why thier opponent does what they does. They should find a pastime less stressful than correspondence chess.

I've been one of the disappearers myself on occasion.  I see a diffucult position, can't figure out what to do, so I take a break for maybe half an hour and do something else.  Maybe chess related (study, tactics training), maybe not.  When I come back to the board and take a fresh look at it and a good move can just pop out of nowhere.

It's just like curing writers block.

For the record, just because you see that your opponent is online does not necessarily mean that he is sitting there pondering his/her move for your game. I volunteer to play games with newcomers to chess.com, so at any given time I have upwards of 30 games to pour through. Furthermore, I use chess.com's tactics trainer, chess mentor, and I like to occasionally tweak my profile theme. All of these things will indicate that I am in fact online, but are ultimately unrelated to my sitting there and staring at one particular game. 

There is also the whole issue of it being a correspondence game. If he takes 3 days to move, so be it. Try live chess if you simply can't wait that long for your opponent to make a move. 

Yeh! Sometimes I forget to close my browser and it shows I'm online when I'm really in bed sound asleep and dreaming about something besides chess, (I hope).

Same here. I spend seconds on the opening and endgame but with the middlegame it might take me days to decide on the right move. This time is useful for analyzing correct combinations, which is only more difficult as one moves through the ratings.

This is a good question I have wondering the same thing I really hope people don't cheat here I mean is winning at all cost that important here ?

Just because your opponent leaves for a short while and then comes back does not mean they are cheating. I myself have dial up service, yeah i know i am behind the times but i have an elderly parent and can't always tie up the phone line for an extended period of times so i am likely to jump in and out and be online for 5 min. and then log off to check on things and come back later. This in no way means i am cheating just that some of us have other things going on in our lives that require our attention from time to time.As for telling your opponent when you are logging off, yes it is a nice gesture but it is not mandatory.

 Not defending those who abuse the subject matter; but sometimes a person could log off after maybe contemplating a move for 10+ minutes only to still not be sure if it will be the best response. Besides, it is just as easy to have a chess engine running while playing your real game...won't take several days to come up with, "the perfect move". It'll be funny if both players are using chess engines. People who consult chess engines are only hurting themselves and making the one playing fair the stronger player.

 Sometimes, a person may log off because he/she is at work while playing correspondence chess. This can really be stressful on the mind when you are trying to focus on both your work (especially when its hectic) and playing your best game...possibly facing the same scenario in the first paragraph.

 Nonetheless, just as fncll states, as long as your opponent meets the time controls the game will end as either a win, lose, or draw.

~The Doctor

Hello everyone who has taken the time to read my post.I have read all your posts, taken into consideration all the reasons he could possibly be away and concluded I am a fool. I'm Man enough to admit I was wrong and the person is probably at work,on dial-up,got chores or any number of things to do.I let my own impatience get to me,but once again the good people of chess.com enlightened me with their wealth of knowledge.Now if you could all just apply it to your chess and stopped posting here we could get these games over with, damn my impatience. LOL........

By the way, while you are here reading all of these lovely posts, your opponent thinks your cheating :P

I do that. I make moves in the games in which I know what I want to move. In games where I have to think more, I'll stare at the position for a while and move on. Perhaps I'll get board and pieces once I'm home. In hard positions I'll use the full three days for a move, while several other games may move on with a few moves per day in the meantime.

In short, take it as a compliment, he's taking the game seriously.