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

This blog is the best argument I've seen yet for turning off chat.  gg (Good Grief!)

I think gg is indeed a sign of sportmanship. Because you also have 'rage quitting'. That is quitting/resigning the game very suddenly without saying gg or giving some other kind of sign. I used to play Starcraft (2). It's a VERY big esport 1 vs 1 strategy game. (In Korea it's even bigger than soccer in Europe, with tv channels and pro-gamers that are worshipped like famous rockstars). In Starcraft it's normal that the losing player says gg before he surrenders. In that scene there is a pro-gamer called Idra who gets bashed on the internet alot because he never says gg and ragequits all the time.

So in my experience is taking GG as an insult ridiculous.

When I first saw this abbreviation being used (on a different site), I thought I was being called a horse.

That key is broken on my keyboard, so I say, NM.  Nice moves, or nincompoop moron, however they want to interpret it.  Neat mustache.

There have been several forums on the arcane and secret meanings and/or insult(s) and/or innuendos posed by the magical abbreviation gg, and they're all getting to be extremely BORING!

Wait - eureka! Let's have chess.com start ejecting everyone who says (well types actually) gg at the end of a game so that we don't have to see anymore of these inane forums.

When online, I say gg (good game) if the game I played against my opponent was very tough and very tense, regardless of who won... a game of chess that both opponents had to fight hard is always worthy of saying it was a good game.

However, if the game was very 1-sided I never say gg to my opponent, because that means 1 of us didn't play well if the other got trampled on! :)

When I play for my club and in tournaments a customary pre-game handshake as a sign of good sportsmanship is the done thing, and at the end regardless of the result, another handshake and a simple "that was a good game, thanks" should come naturally to any player who has manners, it is also a very good sign of sportsmanship and respect for your opponent. If you don't respect your opponent you don't respect the game. ;)

Computer 4 Impossible says good game

I don't think anyone has problems with the loser saying gg.  It is when the winner says it that it causes hard feelings.  I think proper etiquette is for the loser to initiate any post game chat.

I usually opt for the ''Good game sir'', i find it more convenable for a game of chess!

I suspect the same people who get upset at "gg" also get upset if someone refuses a rematch request. 

It amazes me how personally people take the smallest action and how quick they are to assign deleterious motives to others. 

I honestly can not understand what the motivation for such behavior could be beyond some sort of deep seated insecurity or lack of self worth. Why else would anyone care? 

I mean that as an honest question, I don't get it. When someone asks questions such as "is saying 'gg' an insult?" I don't have any response beyond "Why on earth would you even think to ask that question?!"

+1

Well, yes. But why did they take it that way? That's the part I don't get. I can't relate to taking "gg" as an insult, or thinking that someone refusing a rematch is a coward, or any of the other responses seen around here that assign such personal insults to other people's innocuous actions. 

Since I can't relate to those responses, I can't understand why they took it that way. Hence my confusion. 

Why do some people take offense at perfectly harmless, even mindless activities? 

Indeed, that's the part that really gets me. On some chess clients for some sites, you can set up a script to say "gg" whenever a game ends programmatically so it's not even a mindless action there - it's a computer generated response!

Because it shows lack of empathy on the part of the other person. If someone says "gg" as a routine, it loses all its meaning.  And if someone lost the game because he blundered his queen on move 7, claiming that it was a "good game" can easily be taken as a mockery.

It can just as easily be taken as mindless. It is a personal choice to see it as mocking. 

GG

"Is Saying "GG" at the End of a Game a Sign of Victor's Mercy" was the original question.

I rank this question with another great philosophical question of our time:

When checking out at the grocery and the clerk says "Have a nice day, does he/she really mean it?" After all, the poor clerk would almost certainly prefer to be doing something else other than standing there all day ringing up goods. How could anyone be so cheerful after standing there for 8 hours dealing with all sorts of boring or obnoxious customers and be sincere?

Or how about a dress salesman who tells an old woman with an amazing resemblance to the wicked witch of the west that she looks great in the dress she is trying on. Does the salesman really mean it, or is she just trying to keep the customer from turning her into a frog?

Every day we face situations where people say things they probably are not sincere about. Or maybe they are. Or maybe they really mean the opposite of what they said. And what if it is really some kind of spy code? It could be any one of these things. Or all of them. How can we ever sort it all out? What if all those people who say nice things in a casual way are really in a conspiracy? What if it is really a plot by aliens to take over the world? Shouldn't we report it to the proper authorities, just in case?

Gosh, how does anyone ever sleep at night, after being told "gg", or "have a nice day."? If those sincere sounding people were really thinking evil thoughts, perhaps that innocent comment could cause nightmares. Or worse, the end of the world!

I mean, really?

In other words, you advocate that people say the things they don't really mean because it is the "polite" thing to do (even though some people might consider it a form of mockery)? You sound like Confucius.

BTW, your sarcastic comment is exactly the point you people seem to be missing. What you say is not exactly what you mean... If that's the case, perhaps it's better not to say anything at all.

 I took it to mean that PawnPusher3000 thinks people should stop trying to find sinister intentions in casual comments like "gg" and just enjoy playing chess.