Add a Pause Button for Live Games

Picture this:

you’re in the middle of a 30‑minute chess game. The doorbell rings, the dog is peeing on the carpet, and your wife is shouting from the doorway that she wants a divorce — not because she discovered the redhead around the corner you adore, but because you subscribed (like me) to a Chess.com Diamond membership.

The bright side?
You’re now free from your nagging spouse.

The downside?
Chess.com penalizes you for not finishing the game properly.

My point is simple: we need a pause button during live games. Life can throw unexpected situations at us, and players shouldn’t be punished for temporarily stepping away.

A fair solution might be this: if the player who paused doesn’t return within the remaining time frame, they lose the game automatically, and the opponent wins. That would be both reasonable and fair.

What’s your opinion?

So we punish the opponent instead?

It's just a game, you could resign.

Pretty confident nothing like that will get added.

It's a good idea, but the opponent gets ample time to think on the paused time. But you're right. I have lost plenty of games because stuff happened. Good idea, but we need a better solution

A black screen during pause would be a simple solution

I'm pretty sure this feature would be abused by people pausing the game as soon as they find themselves in a losing position. It would just be an addition to the stallers' repertoire.

Also, the opponent can still think when their screen turns black, if they're able to visualise the board in their head.

Nobody is punished? Let's use your example of a 30 minute game.

I start a 30 minute game, and I get matched with you. I know the game could potentially last an hour. I need to get ready for work in an hour. You pause the game for 15 minutes.

The game then lasts over an hour.

How does that not punish me? I planned accordingly, but because of your personal problems, I now need to choose between being late for work or resigning.

The cheating problem will never be fully solved — and it never has been. Just like you can outlaw shoplifting or prostitution, but they’ll still exist, cheating has been around since Adam, Eve, and the serpent. It’s part of human nature.

Neither in the real world nor on Chess.com can this ever be completely eliminated. Any kid can sit next to a phone running Stockfish during a game and pretend to be a top player. That’s simply impossible to prevent entirely.

Of course, platforms like Chess.com must continue the technical fight against cheaters — that’s essential. But that’s only the surface layer of the problem. It would be wise to also approach it psychologically: make cheaters understand that, if they think for just a moment, they are only cheating themselves.

In the end, it’s about finding a fair balance between user comfort and protection for honest players. And I believe the solution I’m suggesting offers exactly that kind of balance.

**Proposed Solution**
- Either player can request a pause (like a draw offer) once in a game
- The board hides (screen blacks out) during pause to prevent analysis abuse. - Pause lasts up to the remaining time frame; if the pausing player doesn't return, they forfeit, and the opponent wins.

Nobody talked about cheating until you brought it into the discussion. The issue here is stalling. Let's say you play your 30|0 game, each player still has 20 minutes on the clock, but you have a mate in 1 on the board. Then your opponent could just press the pause button and make you wait for 20 minutes just to annoy you as much as possible. There are plenty of players out there who would do that. Your solution would do more harm than good.

the assumption you mentioned is one I do not share. Apart from that, such behavior is, to put it mildly, of a very low level.

Cheating / stalling is the elephant in the room — everyone is aware of it, yet some appear surprised when one points out the underlying reason for the “timeout” policy introduced by Chess.com.
My intention is simply to contribute what I consider a reasonable and balanced suggestion to the discussion, even though I am fully aware that Chess.com is unlikely to adopt it.
I play chess purely for the enjoyment it brings — out of genuine appreciation for the game, without pressure, but with dedication and enthusiasm. Elo ratings are not my motivation. When I play stronger opponents and lose, I gain valuable experience, which for me is more rewarding than any number.
The process of finding solutions through personal effort is, in itself, deeply gratifying. For that reason, I will continue to play in the one- and three-day formats and will consider this discussion concluded from my side.

"Of a very low level"

Well, I've played enough games on here to know that this behaviour does exist. I agree, this is very poor behaviour, but there is a percentage of players who just sit, do nothing and let the clock run out when they are in a losing position. The pause button would just make that easier for them.

There is no pause button in OTB chess.

A pause button is definitely a bad solution. I can’t imagine an opponent who would want to wait; many would be upset. You also mentioned a black screen during the pause—that wouldn’t work either, because you’d be disconnecting the string of their ideas.

“Chess.com penalizes you for not finishing the game properly.” Regardless of the reason, the opponent didn’t get to play a proper game. It’s impossible to make exceptions.

The only viable option is a pause if the opponent agrees to it. This could be useful in instructional, unrated games between a coach and a student.

Too much long comments (don't worry, I'm not @Sir_TrashPanda