Blitz chess brings out the worst in people.

I play quite a lot of Blitz chess, 5/0 is my preferred time limit. In comparison to correspondence chess and games with longer time constraints 5/0 is agressive and genuinely seems to bring out the worst in chess players.

The subject of etiquette comes up a lot in chess, and in my personal experience if you ever want to see an example of extremely poor etiquette then just head to a 5/0 game.

There are several examples which often come up on a daily basis in my personal opinion.

1) Disconnecting when losing. I find this incredibly disrespectful. It would be interesting if some admin would comment on this as i've never seen anyone punished for it. Imagine if you were playing someone at a game in a chess club and you just decided to stand up and walk away. It would never happen. I would urge people to exercise more respect for the player who has just outplayed them. On a personal note, I have never intentionally disconnected on somebody. I simply don't talk pleasure in wasting other peoples time.

2) Not resigning in ridiculous positions. I also find this incredibly disrespectful. This has happened to me a huge amount lately. I simply don't understand people who are down 15 points and decide to run their king around the board with the only chance of winning/drawing being if i run out of time. I freely admit that I used to be guilty of this in the past, mainly in games where I felt I had deserved to win and felt begrudged. But gradually I have come to realise that it is quite a cathartic experience just slamming that big ol resign button when you know your beat. In my opinion it is a sign of respect for your opponent to resign when you know you're beat. Not resigning just wastes peoples time. Sometimes in games, if I feel that a player i'm crushing is trying to waste my time, then I try and Queen as many pawns as possible. This may sound petty, and a player challenged me over this the other day in chat. I simply responded, if you want to waste my time, they I will waste yours. I will add this is an extreme case, I'm rarely good enough to have the time to Queen 4/5 pawns!

3) Rematches

I don't feel as strongly about this, but I admit that people who continually play once as white then refuse rematches are annoying. Again its a simple common courtesy that I think all players should try and abide by.

4) Accusing other players of cheating.

I bring this up more out of bemusement than anything else. A couple of times recently, I've been accused of using an engine. Every single time I think, 'Are you f***ing serious??!' My rating generally fluctuates between 1300 and 1400, and you think I'm using an engine?! Its absolutely pathetic and makes me laugh everytime.

This might be because I have pre-move enabled. To any newbies, its a tool you can enable under settings where you can pre select a move and it takes 0.1 secs per move. Its a perfectly legitimate tool and isn't cheating.

I will be the first to admit that I will challenge people in chat if I feel they have exercised a lack of etiquette, which I also admit can come across as rude. But i feel poor etiquette should be challenged.

Anyway, I apologise if this comes across as a pointless rant. I just feel that the integrity of chess as a true gentlemans game is reliant on players having respect for each other and their respective games.

For me blitz chess games are not all about winning. I would rather play that elusive 'gg' than get a lucky win on time. I personally always offer draws if I feel I'm about to win a game which I think i don't deserve.

I welcome people's thoughts/responses on the issues I've brought up.

Peace, JJ

kaynight, it seems like you need to take a break from the computer.  Not trying to be a jerk, but you've been posting a lot of irrelevant stuff recently.

*Déjà vu :)

Since when is trolling relevant?????? Funny, ... maaaybe.

I never resign in games online or OTB, whatever the time controls. I see not resigning as persevering (you can sometimes find a win or draw, especially in bullet or blitz chess), not being rude. Also, you don't have to play a rematch in chess if you don't want to. There's nothing gained or lost by not playing a rematch. Disconnecting intentionally and accusing others of cheating I can understand (though it sometimes looks like there is cheating in online bullet chess, when in reality there is a connection problem).

If you offer draws in won games then that just makes you stupid. Do whatever you can within the rules of the game to achieve the best result possible.

Anything else is just stupid.

I only resign OTB if I am dead lost and only offer/accept draws if I can clearly see that it's dead or that I'm worse.

Recently? He's been developing this skill for years.

I've got one more: Crying in the forums about how other blitz players behave.

Thanks mate for that really constructive addition to the discussion. If you have nothing worthwhile to add why do you bother commenting?

That seems harldy fair. You had nothing worthwhile to say and you made a long ass post.

You've just proved my point. You've came onto this post specificially to post negative unconstructive comments. And as if the length of my post has any relevance whatsoever. I took the time to right this post so I could have a constructive discussion, not bicker with weird little trolls.

Hey, I'm not weird.

You might consider using the search feature on Chess.com. You will see nearly every week some little crybaby is on here crying about the same exact things you are crying about.

So, I am basically doing what you are doing. Complaining about childish behavior.

@Zigwurst, I'm afraid I disagree. I will offer draws in scenarios where my opponent is about to time out yet he has a decisive advantage, as I feel I have not merited a win.

You strike me as one of those players who will do anything to win, and I respect that, but I am not one of those players. You may categorise it as stupidity, but I get no enjoyment/personal gain out of cheap time wins etc. I am referring here solely to blitz chess.

@kleelof

The way you keep using the words 'crybaby' and 'crying' is struggling to make me regard your points as any more than trolling.

I posted for debate and discussion on these issues, if you consider them as 'crying' then I'm afraid you've completely missed the point mate.

I'd ask that if you feel these types of posts are whiny and irrelevant then maybe you would achieve more if you didn't respond in a brash, troll-like tone. Or, maybe even not comment at all....

bla bla bla

man up, grow a pair.

@GM_Siegfried

Again, thanks for the constructive comment.

One could argue instead that trolls ought to "grow" a little maturity.

If my opponent is running out of time then I will take the win. I don't like it when that happens, but I'll take it. That's why I prefer to play with increment OTB in blitz since my hands don't move very fast to keep up. But if you are given a free win then it is just plain dumb to not take it with open arms.

actually agree with blueemu on this.

the thing is, i wasn't trolling with my last post

My post was just a general remark, not aimed at you. No offence intended.

Most of the posts I make on this forum are light-hearted and even silly... but I seldom try to antagonize people. Just the opposite, in fact... I hope to amuse people.