Sandbagging?

I have a legitimate question that many will find strange. I literally do not care about my rating. I often quit games when I'm bored or playing against an opening I dislike, and I think it has considerably suppressed my rating. I usually play unrated games and set it to -100 to +400 and often beat people who are several hundred points higher than myself.

The fair play policy states that one cannot artificially manipulate ratings, but I don't believe that's what I'm doing. I just don't take my rating seriously and don't try to raise it. A while back I played in a sub battle and insisted that I be put in a category that was 300 points higher than my rating and I won easily, and was accused of sandbagging.

Am I obligated to try to always play as hard as I can in order to make sure that my rating reflects my actual strength? I seriously don't care and am not trying to cheat, so I'm confused.

     If you started to play a game, got a few moves in, got to one of your favorite gambits or attacks, and your opponent just quit because that's an opening your opponent didn't like, you'd probably be saying damn, damn, damn, I wanted to play that out. Try to show your opponents the same courtesy you would wish to receive. As you're only playing 10-minute (at most) games, what's the big deal. And you might learn something about types of positions you don't usually see.

I wasn't asking for moral judgement. There are two openings that I've played against a zillion times, am sick of, and simply refuse to play against them anymore. Additionally, I don't always quit when I'm playing a boring closed position that's likely to end up in a 70 move draw, I usually make some kind of unsound sacrifice to try to liven things up a bit. As for learning something, that's not really my goal in chess. My goal in chess is to have a fun game, win or lose and certain kinds of games just aren't fun for me. I really doubt that most players are disturbed by being gifted a win.

I was just wondering if it would be considered sandbagging if there's no intent to deceive and I don't maliciously use my suppressed rating.

Having fun by outplaying opponents who are several hundred points lower?

I bet you can find better things than chess to have fun. Chess is stupid board game. It is not fun at all, it is mental torture.

If you read what I wrote above, I almost always play unrated games and I set the parameters at -100/+400. The only time I play rated games is when I'm challenged by someone who wants to play rated, and I always warn them.

Sorry, i cannot read.

Judgment is perfectly reasonable here. You're wasting peoples' time. Why would anyone intentionally screw up their online gaming and not see it as a real problem for their opponents? (That's 100% a rhetorical question.)

     You admitted that some opponents complained you are sandbagging. There are a lot of players who take their ratings way too seriously and will be upset with you. It's just good manners to try to play a good game once you have accepted a challenge. You are telling your opponents that they aren't worth being treated with that simple common courtesy.

     And regardless of your intent, the effect is that you are sandbagging.

If you don't do it to intentionally lower your rating, one might argue that it falls to a similar category as playing drunk or tired.

But I have to agree that resigning games just because you dislike the opening is bad etiquette and disrespectful to the game and to your opponent.

Also, "a boring closed position" might be "likely to end up in a 70 move draw" in a GM game, but not at our level where pawns and pieces are blundered every other move.

Sandbagging is deliberately lowering your rating to play lower ranked players who are easier to beat. 

Sound like a spoiled child if the game is not the way I want it then I am going to take my chess pieces and go home

That’s why I only play players -25-+100 unless it’s a tournament

TLDR; I don't think your posts here describe sandbagging.  Sandbagging is intentionally lowering your rating in order to get paired lower or participate in lower brackets in tournaments.

Making a (likely) bad move in order to mix up the position away from a draw is perfectly valid in chess!  It is up to the players to make these kinds of decisions: play safe for a draw, add chaos to try a win, play passively to attempt to draw out an endgame, etc.  After all, if you are "gifting" wins in these kinds of positions by not playing to draw, then your rating should reflect appropriately.

Think of the low-level players who do nothing but try the scholar's mate.  This is not sandbagging even though they are "gifting" a lot of wins to other players, but their rating will reflect their playstyle and success (or lack thereof).

If you never play in tournaments it's fine.

No, it's still not acceptable.

yeah

Sandbagging is an offense.

You can quit this violence.