Is Saying "GG" at the End of a Game a Sign of Victor's Mercy

In other words, is this simply another way for the victor to triumph over the vanquished by showing his power over him and then granting him a pardon?

why can't it mean "good game, I enjoyed it.  Somethings may have gone my way in it, some maybe not, but all in all it was cool."  "Vanquished", "power", "granting a pardon", those sound like real world despot stuff.  This is a game that we play.

I say it for "GOOD GAME" ... i didn't think that it could mean anything else ?

and .... I only say it if it was indeed a Good Game .... not just a note that i type every time.

Why do so many people read into something that for most players is a simple act of sportsmanship?

Why are so many people blissfully unaware of the unconscious content of their primitive minds?

Good comment. 

While that select few of us are so acutely aware of the conscious content of our exquisitely advanced minds.

If "gg" is deemed to be condescending, how about a simple "thx 4 the game"?

Sorry this kind of question makes people want to disagree with you. I don't think it's unrealistic sometimes for the loser to see the winner's "gg" as rubbing his face in it, but is it realistic to see it that way every time? (Even more to the point, would you want to see it that way every time?) Also, if a game you played was a bitter struggle in your eyes, does that mean your opponent must have experienced it in the same way? Of course not.

P.S. I admit I have said "gg" out of smugness before, but on a good day, a "gg" from me means good game.

Well, if we examine "thx 4 the game" through a combination of Freudian and Jungian analysis we find that what you are actually saying to your opponent is :

"Your father's dong is tiny, and that is why you are rubbish at chess and I am your Master, you should submit totally to my ego and accept your lowly position as my inferior and I have earned the right to mock you soundly for even thinking you could ever be any good at chess. You disgust me really."

apparently.

God bless the internet and the global *cough "community" *cough.

I tend to say it when beating someone who's better than me as a sign of respect, or after a particularly gruelling and hardfought game that I won and my opponent I'm sure is feeling pretty lousy. I will say it sometimes after a loss when I feel compelled to maintain my composure, show I'm not put out by the loss. I will not say it after an unnoteworthy game or a game that is noteworthy for extremely negative reasons.  I take that back, I did say "gg" only once sarcastically,  against an opponent who extended it interminably for no good reason whatsoever, and after the 80th pointless move, and the ordeal was finally over I said gg, thinking sure my opponent understood the sarcasm but then you never know. But generally I say it just to acknowledge I know there's another human being on the other end.

summary of my post in a sentence

gg is not somthing to be defined or overanalyzed; it is simply a non-required formality to say at the end of a game reguardless of how the game went.

oh god reading all of these posts makes me think the meaning of gg is lost because people started trying to define it. gg as i know it is an ainchent video game term still in use which technically means good game but it more of means 'games over' with no condecending sence to it and sometimes a excited note to it if it was actually a close game. GG its self is more of a formailtiy to say at the end of a videogame, and it happened to cross from videogames to computer chess for obvious reasons

think of it as shorthand for goodbye

even if it is not a good game and it is clearly a devistation i dont think i have ever seen anyone use 'gg' in any game ever as a condocending term, like ever, and all ive done since the old dialup days is play online videogames with other people

its strange to see this post as ive been using the term gg since i played starcraft on an old AOL dialup connection.

IMO if you take it as a condocending term then quite simply your taking it the wrong way.

another way of thinking of gg if you have to think of a phrase that convays its meaning is 'i enjoyed playing with you' hince it was a 'good game'

a short list of things i think it does not mean:

'I destroyed you'

'your a difficult opponent'

'i like playing with you'

'that was a close match' // note it can mean this usually denoted gg!

'n00b'

'i hope we play again some time'

the proper responce to gg is gg then the game is over, its as simple of a custom as saying bye at the end of a phone call. defining gg takes away from its meaning (as dialect tends to do)

a strange example of the ONE time i used it in a condecending way

i was playing counterstrike when it was still popular (a FPS [first person shooter]) and someone was using an aimbot blatently (computer aims for your head adjusts for recoil and shoots for you) which is clearly considered cheating. usually cheaters dont talk too much but this one was part of a group that was well known for talking as abusive as they play (called myg0t) i destroyed him, aimbots are predictable and have minor flaws which i was aware of, took advantage of, and got a better score then him. by the time he was announcing his departure i said gg.

the weird part is that it wasnt even condecending, its a game and if somthing is made to be unbeatable and you beat it it is infact a good game. at the time i felt like the best player ever and that cheating sob was just a low life pos, but even with all that considered gg was hardly meant to make him feel bad about it

it was more of a way to say Goodbye

well thats the end of my long disorganized rant/post

gl hf dd ka (good luck have fun dont die kill all)

and above all else, gg :)

not sure if troll or liberal arts major.

I usually say 'Thanks for the game' if I win and 'Well played' if I lose. Remember, it's only a game and most people play for enjoyment, without the need to read deep meanings into comments.

 In some cases, it's just a polite banality...like asking "how's it going?" when you really don't want to know the answer. If you say "good game" when your opponent played badly, you've probably rubbed their nose in it, whether you meant to or not. If you say "good game" and it really was a good game, yet you are an emotionally distubed person who connects way too much personal self worth to chess performance, and feel a smug sense of superiorty, then you need help. Or maybe you're a person who wishes to bow to your opponent after a contest, whether you won or lost, as a sign of respect and gratitude for the opportunity to have tested yourself and hopefully gained something from the experience.

Yeah, I don't really like it. Especially if I played really badly and lost. Because let's face it, it wasn't really a good game then.

"GG" is only worth anything if it comes from the losing side.

So, if you are a good player, who made a miscalculation, not decisive in itself, which allowed an inferior player to make an unusually solid attack to take the point, isn't that a good game, even if your play was poor according to your own standards? Couldn't this hypothetical player B say "gg" after that?

I don't think the result is the decisive factor in whether a game is good or not. In fact, what is the etiquette for "rematch"ing someone? Can you do it if you just crushed them like a bug? Isn't it also rude if you presented no challenge and want to waste more of their time?

How about just saying "gg" if and only if you think it was a good game, in your opinion?

For me a good game is something where both players played well. If I get outplayed by someone who is clearly better but I feel like I still played near the limits of my own skilllevel, then I wouldn't mind a "gg" from the opposing side, in fact "gg" at that point would be like a compliment. BUT when the decisive factor is that the stronger player just played really badly, it's definitely not a good game in my books. In fact, when this happens my first thought is always "didn't he realize I just played incredibly shit? Does he think I'm just that bad normally? Does he think he's better than me?"

Some people might find that type of thinking ridicilous but I'm just very competitive person and I have found out it's a curse and a strenght at the same time. Losing REALLY bugs me and I have to push and push to be the best. It has worked on some other things, but when it comes to a game like chess, I have to stay realistic. :D

Our views might also differ because I'm currently still quite horrible at chess and often there are blunders involved.

wait, i think a lot of person's unreasonably bashed the thread.  listen i truly believe that the majority of players are demonstrating good sportsmanship by saying 'gg' but the truth is I am without a doubt sure that this is not the only context in which it is used.  i have played several online games here, and after the opponent has made a move they deem to be great- they say something disrespectful, followed by 'gg'

because 'gg' is interpreted as being an end to the game, by saying it midgame right after you make you a move you think is winning (without waiting for your opponents response to the move or idea) is being disingenuine. that's my take

It really ps me off when someone says good game when mate is within a couple of moves when they are sure to win, if they would wait till the game is over mabie id make my last final moves a little faster instead of being compelled by ever fiber in me to throughly , throughly , look at all my options to just see if there is that one in a million chance i might have out of defeat. Then i check again. Then i see that i have no way out and i start to decide which of my peices i want to move next.  Then i pause and think if they know that them saying gg before the game is over was a bad idea. then i check one more time. before the end