Vacations To Avoid Losing On Time Is Cheating!

OR just blow it all off and don't give a shit that other people are waiting for your move.  being inconsiderate costs nothing.

I'm a Scout Leader.  You expect me not to ever go camping for a weekend?

that's an awesome response.  i don't expect you not to live your life.  but i do expect people to plan accordingly.  if you KNOW you're going camping every weekend with the scouts, then join 3 days per moves tournaments.  that's one way to work it.  if you are really up a creek... (get it) then the vacation is there, but everyone in the tournament waiting for you camping ass deserves an explination--at least.

I had to go to the hospital on an emergency basis last year before I was a paying member. I was in the hospital for 11 days and lost all my games on time. When I got out  I started playing a lot again and my rating was back to where it was in the first place in 3 weeks. It seems an unfair advntage that non-paying members have to make all their moves but paying members don't. Either way it's not that big a deal to lose all your games on time except for the time-out ration hurting your oppertunity to play in tournaments.

SensFan, hmmmm, I always thought of Scout Leaders as the resourceful types. I'm sure you can get internet access while camping. You're telling me none of those kids has a cell phone with internet? There's no internet near the campsite? Do you find yourself in these helpless situations often? How about making a phone call to someone with a computer who can make your move for you. Or, if that's too complicated, you can do as Ilikeflags suggested "blow it off and not give a $hit that other people are waiting for you to move."

Correspondence chess is not for everyone.  It sounds to me on this thread and several others of late that there are a few personalities that would enjoy playing live chess instead, either here or at some other site.  To be continually frustrated over the speed that moves are made can drive you crazy if that is what is focused on. 

For what it is worth I hope at some point that those who continue to beat this drum get their wish and that no vacation tournaments can be established.  I suspect they will be a fad for awhile but in six months (very short period of time in correspondence chess!) that many people in the middle on this arguement will return to vacation allowed tournaments. 

I would much rather play in a tournament with vacations with a move rate of a move per day than have to join a tournament with no vacations but then select a 7 day tournament so as to insure that I will always have the needed time.  With 3 kids and a wife (school activities, work activities, social visits) and my own bad health I cannot say for sure that I would always be able to move within the one day parameter.  What I do know is that if I join a seven day tournament that there are players who will not make their move until the seventh day. 

Today there are complaints over vacation being used.

Then there will be complaints that people are using the full per day time allotment to make their moves

Then there will be complaints that people are not playing enough tournaments with a low per day move requirement.

I would think if this issue has the support you think it may, that you should be able to round up a group of players and create your own tournaments that would move very quickly and you would be happy.  Create the "fasttourney" group and "solve" this issue for yourselves.

Failing that you can always continue to toss out insults to anyone who plays differently than you like.

When I go camping, I actually go camping.  No cell phones (emergency situations excepted), no internet, no computers, no watches. I've even been to an 8-day camping event without any of the above, and see no reason why I should have to forfeit every single game I'm playing if I want to take a week away from the city.

And I really am talking about once in a while, here.  If you look, you'll see my time/move is under 3 hours (and just 2 minutes higher than yours), and a week ago was under 2 hours.  Clearly I'm not holding up any tournaments, here...

I assure you, a 7day/move tournament will run much slower than a 3day/move tournament where moderate vacation time is used.  And I don't know too many people who can reliably commit to making a move every 3 days for the next 6-12 months.

I personally do not care how slow or fast a person moves, I just think that a time control should have meaning. A person on "vacation" should not have access to their games. As soon as you view your games (see what move had been made by your opponent) you would automatically be set to "active" status and the time control would be applicable. Ofcourse, you could set the pause for vacation time again when you are finished "analyzing your games". A person using the vacation time just to extend the time control is not using "vacation time" for its intended purpose. Ofcourse, its impossible to know exactly why a person is using their vacation time. I just wish that a restriction would be made that would dis-allow access to games while in vacation mode.

Mackus--I can easily support that position and think it would be a good addition to the site.

Well then according to gbidari you should call someone from your family that have access to internet so they could play your moves and put you on vacation mode afterward. No excuses are good it seems... come on calling someone to play your moves when you're out camping, that is not serious. You can't see the board, you can't remember all your games sometimes. I mean yeah it's cool you live in the US and have easy access to internet everywhere but it's not like that everywhere.

I'm not a paying member myself but honestly who really cares if I have to wait 40 days longer to play one or a few of my games if someone paid for a feature and he's using then why would I complain. I can just play one more while those ones are taking longer. They get more time to play their moves but I get more time to analyse which move they might be doing and what I'll play. With vacation they will still lose the game at some point if I'm better so in the end it's the same.
Other topics were made anyway about the "issue" but I can see how some people might have business trip and such things where they won't necesserly have their mind at chess and thus wouldn't play good games so I would rather have them wait a bit longer and have their mind to it and give me a beating than have them blunder a piece because they had to play a move right now before going into vacation even if they had 5 days left. Because yeah rating is one thing but I'd at least like it to be as accurate as it can be and reflect the strenght of the opponents correctly.

Some are probably abusing it, sure, just like anything else in life. Some people take vacations off work and use that time to work.

It's definitly not perfect but I don't think it's an unfair rule since if you can play all your games and not time out then you're not affected by that "advantage". In all honesty if you are not paying you can still play a move wait for all your time to expire take vacation, come back play a move and repeat in any tournament that you are a paying member or not.

I still fail to see what solution you are bringing too? You want this whole option removed? Just no access to games while you're on vacation? All games would have to be played before last logout for this to be able to kick in? I think maybe non paying could have the ability to take vacation time while still having active games. If I'm leaving tomorrow on vacation I wish I could take my vacation time now even if I have games left. But while being on vacation I would make it so you can't view your games. But then again that would have flaws and could lead to some abuse as well. I know another topic had a proposition fo rthe number of available vacation days to be reduced for both non paying and paying members, That could be part of the solution. There is probably a bunch of things that can be done but right now I don't think removing this automatic option is a good one since some members paid for premium just for it and it wouldn't be a good decision for the staff.

CLAATU BARADA NIKTO

PYL, I'm tired of the excuses because that's exactly what they are, and bad excuses too. Everyone on here can get the internet and make their moves. My point with the phone call is, if you really want to, you can get it done. We have heard a bunch of reasons, "what if I get hit by a car." "what if I'm out camping and don't want to use technology." What if, what if. In the end, the excuse makers, if they're being honest know they are being inconsiderate at some level as they CAN make their moves, they just would rather not inconvenience themselves, they would rather delay a tournament. It's pure selfishness. Bottom line.

Vacation is an interruption to your ability to play, not an outlet to subvert the time controls.  I've long argued for the inability to see your games during vacation.

Again, looks like you may want to consider starting a group for players who feel as you all feel.  There are several groups on this site that have disagreed with a component of the site and have made agreements to play in accordance to their own sentiments.  There is a group for those who only desire to play very fast games, a group for those who will not use a database or books during their games...why not create a group for those who agree to not use vacation time?  Promote it well and you should soon have exactly what you are looking for.

Erik has been quite clear that vacation time will not be removed.  Now may be the time to mobilize the vocal people who are upset and attempt to recruit those who are silently upset.  It may be possible to form a decent-sized group in very little time at all.  Good luck.

wait, wait,  TIME OUT!

Decent name for the group if you like.

Quit crying; pony up and pay.

i fail to see how this is a pay/non-pay issue. bidari isn't complaing that he thinks we all should have the ability to have auto vacation; he's saying it's stupid for everyone--paying or not paying member.

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this idea of fending a players ability to access the site while on vacation is a great idea.  i believe that auto vacation is bad and would prefer to see it gone, but i am not opposed to vacation time in general--just the abuse thereof.  vacation status is annoying but i don't think it's "wrong."  that bieng said, i'd love to see the ability to access games closed off to anyone on "vacation."

 The Basketball analogy is perfect if used correctly. Would a team be allowed to score a basket during the "time-out"? Ofcourse not, the game is paused. I do not want to win because my opponent lost on time, but if he agrees to play with a certain time control (ie. 1,2,3,7/days per move) he should abide by that. If he gets to use more time than his opponent to make moves that is unfair. I personally enjoy playing games that progress at a certain pace, so i agree ahead of time to play at that pace (time control). Now if someone needs to take a "time-out" or vacation, fine, no problem with me. Simply, just do not let them play while they are away.