What are the rules on Aborting games?

I've been playing a few months now and I always thought you could abort a few games (if you're matched with someone with a much higher or lower rating, e.g.) but once you had aborted three or so the Abort option disappeared and you could only Resign.

But today I opened my first game and there was no Abort option, only resign. Anyone know why?

Read this article on Sportsmanship policies in relation to aborting games~

https://support.chess.com/article/627-sportsmanship-policy

basically you can't abort too many times because players are expecting to be able to play, but then the game goes away.  the idea is to not start a game unless you are ready to finish it.  you can abort every once in a while if you really need to, but not that much.

Yeah I know that, I was hoping to find out what the exact number was, and why it seemed to be changing from one day to the next.

Set your game seeks with min/max rating of opponents, then you will have no need to abort.

There is no "exact" number. The system is working correctly, because aborting games is not for opponent selection. It's for the rare time you start a game and realize you can't actually play one. 

I've never aborted or abandoned a game and I'm fairly new, only in the 500-600 range. I was having a pretty evenly match with someone until the end, up to pawns and a few pieces, I took his last rook and he aborted?! How is this fair?! I'm trying so hard to get better and now this... Anyone have experience with lichess? 

I just had a similar issue. There probably is some kind of server problem. Your opponent can't abort the game at that stage of the game, so it must have to do with the server. I know it's frustrating, but don't get demotivated. Isn't it all about getting better and having fun? So one win should not count too much.

Same here. Also I can't find an opponent now.

What exactly is the problem? If the opponent aborts at that stage of a game, it's just a win for you.

Sometimes my opponent's flag is gray and when I click on it it's...Russia.
I guess what makes them hide like this is that their opponents - including me - refuse to play with them.
And in this case I happen to be penalized, the system removing me the same points as in the event of abandonment during a game.
It is in my right to refuse, it is in the rules of chess.com to penalize me. And this penalty is not very serious comparing to what the Ukrainians suffer. So no problem, just a note.

It’s not the people’s fault 

True or False: if you don’t move a piece once the clock has started, the game will abort automatically after 30 seconds.

That has happened to me more than once where I was playing white and moved; opponent did nothing at all, just sat there, and after 30 seconds the game aborted.

And no, it did not record it as a “win” for me in my game profile or add any points to my already very pathetic rating.

If you feel that way then don’t play Putin, Lavrov, Shoigu, Peskov, et al.

Ordinary people in Russia playing chess have no say in what their government does, anymore than you and I have in our own.

Chess should build bridges between people.

Don't underplay it, you're carrying a heavy cross. I'm sure the Ukrainians appreciate your support. Not as useful as reddit karma, but almost there.

True.

Depending on your time control, chess.com auto-aborts if you do not make your first move within a time.

15 seconds for bullet

20 seconds for blitz

1 minute for rapid.

You also auto abort if you wait 1/2 of the time control to make a move in the first 10 moves.

So if you are playing a 10 minute game, you will abort if you take 5 minutes to make a move.

Aborted games do not count towards your rating, although they do count towards a tournament score. 

Thank you, friend.

I saw a player who aborts a game, when he's playing black and the opening move is D4 (I guess his preparation is E4 )
I've checked his recent games, and sure enough all recent games he played as black were E4 (some E3). I wonder how many times he will be able to do this trick. So I also wonder: What are the rules of aborting games (in this case)?

Btw this happened to me three times [that is 9-10% of all my games, as I played 30 (+3 aborted after one move) games]. Time format 30min rapid.

Since he is aborting on a rare move in some games, the automated aborting bots will miss him.  I highly suggest you report him manually because aborting is not for opponent selection.