this is a chess site not a breast site

Beyond that, is every conversation between a man and a woman that is not about chess necessarily flirting?  Is it wrong to make platonic friends here?

Vance, no. But that is not what is being complained about by women (and some men) here. When a conversation goes from "Hi, how are you" -- "I'm horny" -- that is not a route to platonic friends.

And there are less direct but also infuriating conversations that sometimes I think are designed to distract a woman from the game, maybe. "Did you always have such penetrating eyes?" or a nice conversation where the man mentions his home town then starts saying "You can visit, anytime you like." C'mon. These are at least distractions and more likely worse.

And please don't join those who (here and elsewhere) say, Well just don't show you are female and you won't be bothered... I should not have to hide that I am female to not be harrassed on a chess players' site. Being female is not in itself provocation for harrassment or outrageous flirting. I understand some women post provocative photos, and I do not want to hear them complain to be honest. But just being a woman or girl should not be an open invitation to creepiness.

Let's just play and enjoy our games.

I think you'll find that the OP is the one who got offended. Maybe you should take a closer look at the subject of the thread before trying to be clever? 

This liar and imposter should be exposed for indecency and false advertising. If he's not ACTUALLY a cat, then why should we acknowledge him for being a National Master? 

i didn't know you could use a fake pic. i better take this pic of a fictional  soap opera star off my profile ...

 no im not offended. just wanted to no what others thought. i did get upset when a unicorn told me to use my real pic. and to those who dont no i am a guy the pic is of a deal or no deal model i think briefcase 21. ur avitar is what u like mine is what i like.

Reality check here: chess players, at least all of the ones I have met, happen to be human. I know this is sometimes rather difficult to believe, but its true.

Therefore, it only stands to reason that on a chess site one would find the same human diversity as one would find on, say, the street.

If a beautiful woman is walking down the street, maybe 40% of males wouldnt pay any attention, 59% would at least take a 2nd look ( maybe a bit too long of one) without saying anything, and the remaining 1 % would try to talk to her/ hit on her/ ask her for a date.

How do you expect to find anything different among chess players? Are we supposed to be THAT much different from the average human being? And the fact that you dont see us or know our names makes it a LOT more likely for us to be FAR less inhibited in what we say on the street.

This is a very simple explaination, and quite an obvious one, as to why that picture would recieve that kind of attention ( after all, while too young for me, she is very attractive). So why dont you a) remove the picture if you dont like the results of having it, b) ignore the problem and block the rude ones, or c) keep whining about human nature like a snot-nosed brat who cannot accept humanity for all it is and ist.

Look, I'll say this to the people who say "why not hit on girls here if you wanna meet a girl interested in chess?" there are many places to meet girls who play chess outside of this website. I met a girl awhile ago at a coffee shop who goes there every thursday to play chess. Go join a chess club, you might find you a good gal their. My point being, guys get off your d@mn computers for once and go out into the world to meet girls. Here is a question- out of all the couples you know how many of them met on the internet, and how many met each other somewhere else? I personaly don't know any couples who met in cyber space. I  know there are people out there who have gotten together online, but your chances of getting a girlfriend are significantly better in the real world. So why not give it a shot?

LOL -- thank you for saying that! My husband and I have been saying the same thing for weeks.When I tell him the things that go on here, he says, "What the heck is that place, a dating site or a chess site?"

Personally, I'm just here to play chess. And as my screenname is not overtly female, the treatment from some of the men I play changes whether I have up a photo of my face, my son, or my pet chicken... you can guess which one gets the most lude or crude or even plain old flirtatious chat.There are some men on here who will only play women or players they think are women, and never any men. One such guy started to flirt with me -- I told him, look, I'm middle aged, a mother, married and not intereted in flirting... he just abandoned the game and I won on time. Amazing.

But the men alone cannot be blamed, as there are quite a few females who sign up here, post exceptionally sexy photos, just to lure guys and flirt outrageously themselves. To each her own.

But I know some of the hottest female photos put up just must be men having a laugh, or who just want to post a photo of a their favourite Victoria Secret model or their girlfriend or their dream girl or whoever... and I find it hillarious that other boys/men immediately start to flirt and pant...  absolutely hillarious.

If you think the picture I posted is provacative you really do have issues. It,s just a pretty girl in a Tee thats not even tight. It's been a long time for you huh?

With all due respect, are we following in the foot steps of McCarthy here?  Yes, there certainly are some jerks on this site -- and many would say that I am one of them.  But that caveat aside, ducks do not play chess.  Women do.  Post a photo of a woman, and it is not unreasonable for someone to assume that this is your photo.  The same cannot be said for someone who posts a photo of a pet rock.

Whether or not someone is after sex, the chance to see the opponent facilitates conversation, which in turn facilitates friendship.  Maybe that is what they are after?  At least some of them?

If you directly accuse someone of being after sex, and he clams up, does this prove that he was?  The same way that in Salem denying being a witch was proof that an accused woman actually was a witch?  Maybe they find the accusation offensive, and realize that an effort not to be abused is not carte blanche to issue abuse.

Maybe we would all do better to judge each other by our own actions, and not by our projections of what their actions might become.  Someone says "Hello" -- wow, that is the same thing somebody else said, and that first one turned out to be a jerk -- by association, this one must be a jerk too.  Great logic.

I keep wondering if "Little Miss Sunshine" even knows that her picture is being used as an avatar. Would she approve? If someone places their picture somewhere on the internet is it fair game for anyone to use? Does this mean there may be someone out there using my picture? If so, why?