Why Abort?

That's not a bug. The increment determines your overall "think time" in a typical game: this is what the position of the dot represents. There is a huge difference between 2|10 and 2|0.

This article shows how the math works; we determine where to position the dot and which of your 3 live ratings the game affects in exactly the same way:

http://support.chess.com/Knowledgebase/Article/View/94/0/why-are-there-three-different-ratings-in-live-chess

We have discussed showing seeks based on "+ increment" time-controls with a different style of dot, but we're not confident about how much value it would add.

EDIT: Also, if you want to be sure before you click and don't like to hover over the dots (for fear of the dot disappearing), you might find the List format more handy:

I understand now! Thanks for explaining :)

 If there is an error in the system causing an unfair disadvantage, perhaps it is excusable.  But if it is merely a case of rank, nationality, or white/black... I don't think there is a reason to abort.  The point is: ethically, we can't allow a player to abort a game for any old reason at all.  This power will inevitably be misused by players that are desperately trying to preserve their rank by avoiding certain situations/players/nationalities/etc... 

I think it is for our own good that we play through a game to its completion.  If there is a server error, I believe there is an appeal process or built-in scripts to keep it from affecting your ranking...maybe I am wrong, but I certainly don't feel like I owe anyone an apology for having an opinion... 

The cure has become worse than the disease. Now everyone who does not wish to play waits for the server to abort.

What is the point ?.

 If they did it still counts against them. I haven't had an abort for a while so I'd say it's definitely working.

I did however have a player in a live tourney that waited about a min, played his first move and then let his time run out. What a jerk. The least he could have done was resign rather than make me stare at 1. d3 e5. Good thing it was only a 5 min. game.

when the opposite player with higher rating is not playing move for more than 2 to 5 minutes then i abort....................

 That is totally unacceptable to me.  I usually play 30 minute games and there are times that I view a certain move (usually in the late middle) to be so critical that I have to take extra time to analyze it in my head.  The time it takes me can sometimes take up to 5 minutes!!! 

I also have to say that I could probably be considered a newbie to this site because I've only just started to play regularly in the past week or so.  Before that I hardly ever even used this site. 

That also might have something to do with why I don't understand why I'm getting warning flags telling me that I could be restricted for aborting.  I've never once aborted a game intentionally!  However I have noticed a lot of the games that I've been matched up against have been aborted.  I assumed that the other player was doing the aborts.

If you don't make your first move in 15-20 seconds, the server should abort the game automatically, and you (whoever doesn't move) gets "credit" for the abort.

Perhaps a visible timer would be of benefit here?

Perhaps this discussion could benefit from Chess.com explaining [to those of us who are unenlightened] in what way they think aborting a game will  harm our opponent ?.

Chronic aborters, especially those who are trying to seek a particulal colour or opening, but also those who abort for other reasons waste the time of (and frustrate) their opponents.  I'm a little suprised an explanation is required.

Mmm, I second that.

The other day, the server aborted a game between my friend and myself, because I challenged, she accepted, and then I (as White), finished my sentence before moving.

Then a touch more recently, I had to manually abort a game vs a stranger, because I'd been waiting quite a while for them to start, and they did not.

So yes, a visible countdown would be marvelous, if it doesn't tax the server too much to display it, as presently the thing seems to have bizarre double-standards, which for a big hunk of silicone sitting in Erik's house (no idea if it really is, but hey) is strange.

True. But! Someone spending 2-5 minutes on their first move, however, which is the point of this thread, is distinctly subnormal, would you not agree?

Regards colours, I'd suggest making it clear that the server will do its level best to give you Black and White equal %s of the time, however many times you abort, so such an abortionist would know that they'd be wasting their own time.

Regards openings, how about having an option with live chess as with CC, to make a challenge that dictates a given opening?

There's no reason to abort a game outside of the opponent not playing the opening move for a long time and it sounds like chess.com has a fix in for that (but may need to improve it).

Trying to only play a specific color - guess what, chess is about playing both sides and learning how to play both sides. Learning only how to play one side isn't helping you in any way.

Afraid to play higher rated players - First, you should want to. I enjoy a game against a higher rated opponent because it helps me learn. Second, you can set up limits to determine what ratings you will be matched with.

Afraid to play a lower rated opponent - If they're lower rated what are you afraid of? Also every game helps you improve and as I said above you can set limits anyway.

Same opponent you've played before - Why wouldn't you want to play them again? You will both have learned from the last game and it will be a whole new and interesting game.

Opponents from certain countries - That is baffling and simply sounds prejudice.

Bad connection of opponent - Either their connection will prove bad enough that it will time out before the first move or it will be fine. Remember that a ping of 1000ms (which is considered bad in most latency tests) is lag of just 1 second so it should be fine.

Don't have time for a game - Then don't start one? Or start one with a time structure you have time for. Essentially you should assume that each player will use every last second and make sure you have time for that. So don't pick a 30 minute game unless you have a free hour.

I can't even think of anything else, but really if you feel the need to abort games and it isn't due to the other opponent taking forever to make their first move then to be honest you need to look inside of yourself and find out what is making you feel it is necessary to not just sit down and play a respectful game of chess.

I disagree.

I abort for several and various reasons.

However, if Chess.com will give me a satisfactory explanation as to how this harms my opponents I will certainly give serious consideration to discontinuing the practice.

I'm not chess.com, but I'll offer you the answer of "it wastes their time".

Really, though, Chess.com holds the cards in this one; you're not in a position to negotiate.

^ What he she or it said!

Sorry, no idea of your gender. The Xs around your name give a female vibe but beyond that, who knows. But yes, I agree entirely with what you've said, and while I speak only for myself, I'd hazard a guess that what you've said is an opinion shared by most people.

Alas, there's clearly a sizeable minority who think otherwise, though.