What to do?

If you were pretty sure (or better yet, positive) that drawing a tnmt game would insure you getting into the next rd of the tnmt, would you do so even if you lost some rating pts in doing so? I'm wondering if playing hard to win is worth the effort if it cuts into my thinking time the rest of my games; on the other hand, since we're not playing for cash prizes it seems to me that rating pts are about the only reward that matters - aside from finishing 1st, 2nd or 3rd for a trophy. And yes, not cheating and trying play well matter too!

As a related question, is there any rule vs "GM draws" here ie will chess.com not recognize draws in games that haven't reached x number of moves? I've never drawn a game in under 18 moves here - and my short draws actually looked drawish or at least dead = to me at any rate.

Well it seems to you there is more than just the rating.  You'd like to get into the next round right?

I don't know what the site thinks about "grandmaster draws"

I don't play in chess.com tournaments so I can't relate to the sentiment.  I've done a "GM draw" at a tournament once before, last round of the day and I was tired.  We played about 25 moves of a french exchange... exchange all the minors, and I offered my lower rated opponent a draw and he accepted.  I got to bed early that night.  I also ended up losing some rating points after the tourney was over.

So anyway, if your opponent is lower rated you could try some tactic like that and no one can complain ;)

I would just play an opening that I know is reliable and see what happens. On the subject of GM draws I've gotten 2 in about 6 months of otb tnmt play.

"I think a rule should be made where you must play at least 30 moves before you can offer a draw"

How arbitrary.

It is, but you can't make people play for a win if they don't want to. If they are forced to play further when they are in an equal position and both think it's drawn, all they do is a few equal trades and draw a few moves down the line.

I agree and disagree. 30 is way too high, the average chess game is like 25 moves, many games can get into endgames which at GM level will 99% be a draw unlesso one side makes a horrific blunder. 20 moves may be a possibility.

FYI Here's my answer from the staff:

It looks like this is usually determined by the competition according to FIDE laws of chess: The rules of a competition may specify that players cannot agree to a draw, whether in less than a specified number of moves or at all, without the consent of the arbiter.
However on Chess.com there is no rule preventing a draw if 'x' number of moves haven't been made.

THANKS to everyone else for replying, even though youse guyz hijacked my thread at least it's still an intelligible and interesting discussion!

I pretty much agree and have about the same philosophy. I must admit though that I would pretty much always accept a draw when I get a draw offer in a worse position (unless I need to win and hope to turn things around).