Why I'm leaving Chess.com

Friends, Opponents, Adversaries:

The time has come for me to leave chess.com. The reasons for this are:

 1. Vacation Abuse

 2. "MOVE!!"

 3. Threats to post ad hominen threads against me and my family.

 4. Banner ads which are served up with the chess board and therefore cannot be removed by ad blocker without also blocking all graphics (cool tactic).

 5. Being unable to increase my rating to my former OTB level. 

 Goodbye. For the convenience of those currently playing against me, I will finish all current games on the server. Once those are completed, I will never play the game of chess again...

With malice towards one (ok maybe two),

Reservesmonkey 

never give up

think more than once before you act

may if you play against I ,

i can inprove my game

be happy,your self,and add some fun

bla''

love if you wana

brov

reservesmonkey:

i'm sad to see you are leaving. i'm sorry to hear that you are so upset about things. 

1) vacation abuse: there are two things to be done about this. one is the stuff we are going to work on to smooth it out in the future. two, is to play more games so you don't fixate on the idiots out there :)

2) MOVE!!: do you mean people telling you to move?

3) threats: i'm sorry about these. i know this happens on almost any forum on any site. it is impossible for us to police the forums all of the time. if there is someone who is being abusive, you can let us know!

4) ADS: i'm not exactly sure what you mean here, but i don't use ad blocker, so i don't know how it works. in the future there will be an option to pay a very small fee to not have ads. but i think our ads are very minimal and are always chess related. many people actually like them :)

5) CHESS: chess online and chess offline are similar, but not the same. i happen to play better OTB as well. oh well :( still, these are just Chess.com ratings, and don't reflect your OTB play. also, i'm sad you would give up on chess entirely. i have, at times in my life, ebbed and flowed in chess interest, but chess has always been there to greet me. 

i'm sorry when almost ANY member leaves chess.com because it is like seeing a friend go. i have enjoyed your posts and though i may not see everything the same way you do, i respect that and will miss it.

best of wishes and hope to see you around again in the future.

erik 

please dont leave Reservesmonkey.  I don't know you, but i hate seeing good people leave the game they love.

Kenneth 

Reservesmonkey said:

"2. "MOVE!!"

if this is referring to the time for an opponent to make their move, I have noticed in a number of threads players becomming ever insistant with their 'demands' it appears, for their opponent to move significantly faster than the pre - agreed time control of the game, why do players try to impose their rate of play upon others?.

1. Vacation abuse.  What exactly is vacation abuse?  I can't find a definition of it in the dictionary.  I have an opponent who has been on vacation for a month after making 3 moves and I'm not losing any sleep over it.

2. Move!!  Do you mean 'move when I want you to?'  That's not the way any form of chess works.

3. Threats to post threads about you.  You are completely anonymous - why do you care.

4. Banner ads.  Never really notice them myself.  And if I do they vaguely interest me.

5. Being unable to raise my rating to my OTB level.  I don't get that at all.  Mine is way above my OTB level (although it lags significantly in UK).  Plus nobody knows who I am here anyway.

I just come on this site to play chess, learn and share some thoughts and jokes with like minded individuals.  I don't want to impose my views on anyone else.  I don't try to tell the site organisers how to run their business. Firstly I think it's great and secondly it's free and I really appreciate that.

I have seen several fairly barbed comments aimed at a certain other individual by RM on this site who I have only ever found polite myself.  And they (L) contribute in a positive manner to the forums and other's game analyses.  I don't get you, RM.  If you choose to leave, good luck to you, but you are only doing yourself out of something good.

PS. If you do stay on, why not play me?  I make several moves a day, don't cheat with a computer, and chat nicely in the chat box.  I'm serious!  Stop obsessing about the forums and what everybody else thinks and have some fun for a change

What do you mean by 'very wrong', Dave.

For what it's worth, in spite of your own inexplicable ad hominem attacks on Loomis, I've generally enjoyed your poignant observations and no-nonsense opinions.  If you really do choose to leave, I'll definitely miss you.

I'm just relieved that you didn't cite global warming as one of your reasons.

Lol, what an attention seeker. If you were truly that upset with chess.com, you would have left silently, and not allowed generated more forum posting with this thread.

Grow up bro. 

Since someone who really intended to give it all up would have simply stopped logging in, I get the sense you care about the game, and the people you play/forum with.

 As such, I have to interpret your complaints as demands in an ultimatum fashion.  Something like "meet these demands before my current games finish."

As for playing with poor sports, I suggest disabling chat, playing at your own rate and not playing them anymore.  I haven't looked for a "block player" option but I am sure there is or could be one as far as avoidig open seeks, messages, friend requests etc.

As for the ad thing, it sounds like your personal ad blocker program is more the issue than the site.  Why not add this .com as an exception?

 As for OTB ratings, the iernet is different than OTB.  The two are as interchangable as parts of cars from different brands.  I should work, but it doesn't.

And as for giving up on the game entirely,  you obviously enjoy OTB, you should not stop playing that way.  As for playing here, I think a little more attention to detail on your part would go a long way toward improving your own chess experience.

As Reservesmonkey leaves, I feel a small piece of me leaving as well -- hopefully it's that 5 pounds I've been trying to lose since Thanksgiving.

Seriously, while it's no great grief to me that my ex-stalker is on his way  out, I think the rest of chess.com forum readers deserve a little insight on what's really happened to Reservesmonkey.

"1. Vacation Abuse" -- I think Erik said the most important things. Another key here is that when someone uses a site feature abusively, you should report that abuse to the admins and move on. If you prefer to rant about it on the forums, you'll just make yourself angrier and stir up trouble with your opponents. This is not how adults behave, this is how children behave.

"2. MOVE!!" -- This refers to his opponents insisting that he move more quickly. This is rude behavior and I can sympathize with not wanting to hang around for it. However, there is a feature to disable chat. I personally have never experienced this, I guess I'm just lucky.

"3. Threats to post ad hominen threads against me and my family" -- We're starting to see a trend. Violence begets violence, rudeness begets rudeness, antagonism begets antagonism. Reservesmonkey has been blatantly antagonistic in the forums and what he sends around finally came around. I wouldn't wish it on him, but sane people could see it coming. If you act like an adult, you'll most likely be treated like an adult, but if you act like an ape you'll be treated in kind.

"4. Banner ads which are served up with the chess board" -- On the actual chess playing page I see no ads at all.

"5. Being unable to increase my rating to my former OTB level."  -- Very telling. Over valuing the meaning of the rating leads to stress, and this in turns leads to the lashing out and eventually backlash.

 i hate to say it but this reads like you are a sore loser. the rating comment does anyway.

it shouldnt be about the rating, it should just be about having fun and playing because you enjoy the game. 

It should be about having fun and the rating, the rating tells you if youre improving and you improve by learning and winning. Everybody knows that winning is fun....  So it should be about both.  Mainly fun though.

I believe that in all things human, there exists the full spectrum of experience, belief and opinion. I would suggest RM that you have a place here... even in opposition. How boring and mundane this place would be, if we were all in agreement on every issue. Argument and controversy will keep this site fresh, interesting and amusing. Without up, no down can exist... without bad, no good.

I appreciate your posts, as I suspect many others do.

You're probably feeling a little sensitive after "Vacation III-gate". Take a couple of days off and then straight back into the fray soldier! 

Interestingly enough, and I promise I'm not trolling here, but one thing I've learned about online chess is there are a few different reasons people play chess online. They range from "killing time" to "increasing my rating as high as it can go". That and of course everything in between.

I don't think too many guys play online chess to meet chicks... but I have met a woman or two who said they played online chess to meet men!

I personally play for recreation and educational purposes. I learn a lot playing online chess, and I have a good time doing it. But someone's purpose for playing here or there is their own business.. and any reason is probably just as valid as any other. If RM's purposes aren't being met here, then I wish him well.

Though I hate to lose anybody with monkey in their name.