Option to block countries

Please add a setting page where I can select countries to be blocked. The block should be based both on IP addresses and flags. Add also a switch specific for tournaments: if I decide that the block works in tournaments too, I'll accept a loss if a user from a blocked country is selected as my opponent, and then another opponent is selected immediately.

I support this.

I strongly disagree. Chess is a game that breaks ideological borders, why would you implement those on a chess page? It's totally random in which country you are borne into, why would you discriminate people just because they're borne somewhere else?  

I also think this is a good idea. Chess is a social game, so it only makes sense to pick and choose who your opponent is. Just like you pick and choose who you associate with in real life. 

I don't see why it would be difficult to implement a system where players can be paired with other people from specific pools. Like if a person wants to eliminate opponents who play white, or eliminate opponents from certain countries, or eliminate opponents who have only played a certain number of games. Or even eliminate players with certain ratings. What's the harm in allowing someone to narrow their search?

I could be wrong, but I don't think the OP said anything about where someone is born. I believe he suggested narrowing the opponent options based on where they are playing from. Nothing to do with where someone is born. Plus, there is obviously no way to prove here where someone is born. So that's another issue that doesn't belong here. 

If you look at OTB tournaments they already narrow opponent options based on rating, based on gender, and yes, based on nationality, so why not have that option here as well?

To all those who ask "why:" having the freedom to choose with whom you play with should be the basic premise of any civilized game. If that player also wants to play with you, there is mutual consent. Choosing whom you would prefer NOT to play with is a great step in the right direction, in the direction of consent. Blocking countries in the manner the original poster described is the most simple (and least invasive) way to implement this.

After all, if you say that it's to the disadvantage of the person who lives with the option of blocking countries... why does it bother you? Why do other people's freedoms bother you?

Doesn’t seem very practical. Members can and do change the flags. You can submit as a suggestion but I don’t see the site moving away from allowing members to pick their own flags 

How is it impractical? Choices can already be narrowed based on things like rating and color choice right?

Besides, I didn't see where he asked that members be disallowed to pick their own flags. I think he was asking for more freedom in choosing opponents (without having to abandon a game).

Yes, they can choose any flag they want. That wasn't a concern or question. That's an entirely different issue that doesn't appear to be what anyone is asking about. 

The option to block people by country would serve the same purpose as blocking by rating, or blocking by color choice. OTB tournaments (and casual play) already have that option. I would assume the US Open chess championship blocks players from other countries. And also has divisions that block players of certain ratings. 

When someone signs up on a chess website I assume they can choose a rating. And opponents can choose to block players based on what they choose. Nobody is asking that the option of choosing a rating be eliminated, just more freedom in choosing an opponent. 

The fact that "members can pick and choose any flag they want" should make you less concerned if such a choice was implemented... but from what I'm observing, you are using this fact to argue against such an implementation?!

I am starting to become concerned regarding people who actually defend the status quo...  average user who doesn't even bother to check his or her settings clearly isn't "in danger" of ever using such an option... so what's the issue with more freedom?

As an added benefit, such a feature would actually draw people from Lichess; such people would enjoy the non-political atmosphere of chess.com, a site that prioritizes users and usability over things such as "FOSS" (a good thing that became malignant when it was absorbed into an aggressively left-wing milieu).

#15, already answered. 

I don't. But chess.com does. 

Besides, this is already done in OTB tournaments. Players can choose to play in international tournaments. But they can also choose to play in national tournaments, where players from other countries are blocked. It's just personal preference, more freedom in choosing an opponent. 

The server knows the IP address.

Then it probably wouldn't apply. 

A similar example would be a chess tournament where you cannot ascertain the gender of an opponent. There are divisions based on gender, and players can choose events based on who gets blocked. (a male is blocked from a female division). But, if someone wants to try hard enough to hide their gender (or in this case internet address) then it wouldn't apply. I'm not speaking for the OP, but if someone wants the freedom to choose their opponent in this manner, maybe they could also choose to not play anyone using a vpn. 

I dont know. I'm not very good with computers. But that's probably not the issue anyway. The suggestion was probably limited to the flag someone uses and the IP address. If they are using a vpn, and there is no way to know for certain where they are, then it wouldn't apply. 

Just like rating. If you want to block people who have certain ratings (either in OTB or online play) you probably aren't going to be 100% certain the rating they have is 100% accurate. That's life I guess. 

I don't see how. They already block people based on other factors, why not that one? If your settings block people above a rating of 1800 for example, there is no "realistic" way to know for certain what the rating of your opponent is. They just do their best. Again I'm not speaking for the OP, but blocking based on IP and/or flag used seems doable. 

Goodness, now people are wanting to block whole countries

The rating filter has a reason to exist, because it can balance the game based on user preferences. Blocking specific nationalities doesn't have a logical reason to exist nor to balance online games in any way, therefore is an irrelevant filter to implement.

This is a splendid idea, because if there's anything a chess website needs, it's a way to project xenophobia. How about filtering by age or, better, gender too? We do have women-only OTB-tournaments, or children-only OTB tournaments, so it only makes sense, right?

(for those unable to read, this is sarcasm)

Funny how people only discuss the techical difficulties (of which there are next to none).