Only the players who are playing the game should be able to chat.

Just look at a top game and open chat, and it's crazy. They are swearing, spamming, etc. It cannot be controlled.

they often enjoy the spam. they compete with it. spammers often ask "want spam?". answer's usually please nooooo! but sometimes it's yes. depends on the group. fun to one group is irritating to another.

but it does get policed. I've reported chat spammers and users making threats. both resulted in bans.

so i'd say it is best described as egalitarian chaos.

think of it as a chessboard at a sidewalk cafe. not every conversation around the board is about chess, right? do we kick people out for chatting about politics or picking each other up? of course not. it's a busy sidewalk. don't like it? leave.

more on this. :). because i used to rant about the game chats, too.

i do like to chat about what's happening on the boards, and sometimes i'll get people saying "cyth stop harping on the game," but even those people stop to say "good game" between games, so they're watching. even the spammers often do that. and with patience it's sometimes possible to draw them into talking about the game, because most ARE watching.

another interesting observation is that it's only the top board getting all the loud mouths. but ALL the page one boards are great chess! snd people ARE watching. I've gotten into very good discussions, game related, just three or four boards down. sometimes the IMs and GMs even join in on the quieter chats, if they're on-topic and civil. (i imagine they're in a way flattered that people are standing around Board Three.)

so yeah, i think the good outweighs the bad and let the chaos continue.