What's up with that?

Why do so many persons not reveal the city in which they live in their chess.com profile?

Are they afraid, ashamed of where they live, famous, super rich, what?

Why do you want that information?

I find it more enjoyable playing chess with a stranger if I know where the player is situated and what time it is, indeed what season it is, etc.

Maybe you could conduct a poll to find out.

oh, okay

And these international flags:  are they folks without a country?

If they don't list their town I always ask, because I like to keep a google earth file with the locations of my opponents, but I also tell them I understand if they're not comfortable revealing the info.  Sometimes they tell me their town, sometimes just a state or territory (which is also appreciated, and still gives me something to plot-- If I don't know their specific city I put their marker in the capital of whatever state or country I do know for them).  Some don't respond at all.  They get plotted out in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

you wanna know what up with that? just ask deandre cole:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3giSeLdjKJY

Speaking for myself, I live outside of national waters and often drift with the current. I think I've made the only fair and accurate choice.

I drift in and out of reality, but I still list this as my home planet for the moment.

But you must have a passport, a home port.

People in cultures that have severe restrictions on personal expression may fear the consequences of what they say. This may not be restricted to retaliation from governmental entities. A Muslim woman, for example, might say something that upsets a local imam or whatever. In that case, she wouldn't want people to know where she lives.

Government organizations wouldn't have any trouble finding you, and they could restrict content and access. You know the rules with them, but the actions of rogue or quasi - government organizations could be hard to predict.

And there are stalkers in all countries.

If that were the case, wouldn't they be afraid to be on chess.com or on the internet period?

A crustacean with a passport?

We sea-creatures are all just citizens of the World, my friend.

As for me, none of the above.  As for the people without a country, well, have you noticed how some people single out countries for ridicule and slander?  I can understand why people of those countries may want people to know only about their love for chess and discuss only that, instead of reading about others considering their country to be inferior or that people just plain hate anyone that lives in their country.  

To each his own.  I respect their privacy, but I can understand your desire to know such things that interest you.  You could alwasy attempt to chat with them.  

It would be good for the party

If I say I live in alliance Ohio, does anyone genuinely know where that is without mapquesting it?

You can see that I have dedicated my location bar to the simple message that two different countries are different.

What difference does it make if they know it ahead of time when the mapquesting process takes only a few seconds?

However, avoiding listing a country, state, or even town (at least in the U.S.) to avoid being "stalked" is nonsense if your opponents still don't know your name, address, or what you look like.