Option to block countries

I guess that depends on who gets to decide what logical is. Is it logical that people choose to play against only their friends and not strangers? Is it logical that people choose to play only black, and prefer not to play white? Is it logical that people choose to play only people rated below them? 

That's the problem with people, they are always wanting to do something someone else doesn't agree with. I don't see the harm in allowing people the ability to choose whom they play with, regardless of their reason. 

If those were things that people wanted to sort by I suppose so. But I don't think the option currently exists to put things like weight, height, nose size, etc on a players profile. And as someone else pointed out, even if they did, they could by lying. 

But rating, and IP address and country flag are things that are identifiable, even if they are not always accurate. So if people want to sort opponents based on that, why not allow it?

When does what stop? When you play chess, do you play against random strangers or do you play against people you know, people you prefer?

When I play, I only play against people I know and like. I intentionally do not play against people I don't like or don't know. There is no reason for it, it's just what I prefer. I prefer the fellowship of people I know. For me, it's different for other activities. For example when playing golf, I often like playing with someone new. Just not for chess. 

It's just human nature I guess to have preferences, even if other people don't agree with it. I'll bet you can quickly think of a hundred or more preferences you have that other people might not agree with. Maybe you like vanilla ice cream, maybe you prefer blondes over brunettes, etc, etc. 

I don't think it's "extreme" to have preferences. I don't see the harm in being able to choose whom you wish to play chess against. 

That is a pretty big number of "if"s for such an open-minded person as yourself... even without including your previous posts.

You seem to come up with the wildest arguments, desperately trying to oppose a common-sense option. "What if they use VPN?" Well, if a whole group of people decide to use VPN to bypass an option independently applied by individuals, that is a pretty big red flag in my opinion and we should be grateful that such an organized effort was revealed with so little cost. "What if this means people will ask for the addition or removal of other features?" For the healthy psyche, that isn't constrained by extortion or politics, that should count as a positive thing, not something bad... why do you feel so threatened? Don't you trust the site's developers and owners? I recommend you take a break from chess and seek professional help.

Yes I agree. I like to play against people I like or at least can agree in some kind of understandings. 

But a blocking system for a whole country wouldn't support that cause at all.

How would it serve you to narrow down your opponents excluding certain countries? Chinese guys are cheating and so you want them get off of your list? Indian players are to difficult so get rid of them? German players (like me) are to systematic or what?

You see, that kind of system doesn't work at all. To exclude players because of the regions they're playing from has no benefits at all and is the opposite of freedom.

Your 'wild generalizations' weren't to far off.

I still don't get it why someone even wants to have such kind of option.

You've got nice peoples and a**holes all over the world. A filter by country wouldn't help in that matter. 

Not really. Since OTB tournaments already exclude people from certain countries, it doesn't seem unreasonable to offer that option here as well. Maybe it's unimplementable because it's too difficult, maybe not enough people want it, but it would offer more freedom in choosing who someone plays against. 

Freedom of association is a big deal to some people. For others it's not. Even in the chess.com forums people are free to block anyone for any reason, including where they are from. 

I would describe it as a form of "nationalism" because it lacks the biological compound so far. 

»Since OTB tournaments already exclude people from certain countries, it doesn't seem unreasonable to offer that option here as well.«

Exactly the opposite. If OTB tournaments are excluding players of certain countries it's even  more of a reason to including them here. Chess is not about about race, ethnics or genders.

Blocking people on the whole just where they come from is not in the spirit of the game. 

If you're unhappy what is happening in country X that's no reason to block all players of this country. 

This is a good idea if and only if it was implemented with tournaments grouping players from a certain country against a different country, or something similar (Imagine something such where all countries face and the victor is crowned the #1 chess country). There's really no point otherwise.

I don't think the original poster meant something along the lines of this, however. 

As others in this forums had said, chess is above these sociologically conformed identifications and therefore these factors should not be included as such, unless a good reason is given. An example of a "good reason" is in OTB tournaments, where only one country is allowed to join and be pitted against another country. What country you originate from shouldn't really affect your play.

It would be "nationalism" if you were obliged to use the flag of a state that recognizes you as a citizen. But as you are not (you can change the flag), it cannot be described any more "nationalistic" than asking people not to enter your house with dirty shoes.

I wouldn't mind avoiding the houses of people where I would be required to dirty my shoes in order to enter... but you are saying people like me are being unreasonable for wanting to have the possibility of having a clean house? Wow.

Feel free to ask any victim of racism you could find whom he or she would want to less of: racists or hypocrites. The answer might surprise you.

It'd be more interesting to know what countries will people want to block and why. What people do they "prefer" (ffs)? That would be more substantial than pointless analogies.

> If those were things that people wanted to sort by I suppose so. But I don't think the option currently exists to put things like weight, height, nose size, etc on a players profile.

Sure, because that's the main problem with that, right?

Anyway, can't imagine anyone just not wanting to play against fat or tall people... wait, no, it's the internet, of course I can.

Yes it's logical, since it balances the game based on user preferences. Choosing a specific color to play or a specific rating to play against seems pretty much what i was talking about. Blocking specific countries on the other hand doesn't define your opponent or your game at all, so of course is illogical and can't be considered a filter!

We haven't event touched the potential skewing effect on the rating system. If I block, say, India and the US, then I'd immediately cut off a huge portion of opponents. Maybe not top-2, but more top-user countries (I dunno, Canada, Russia, UK, Spain, something or rather, just guessing). The effect accumulates in the long run.

This whole discussion is baffling, tbh.

National tournaments apart, there's absolutely no point to block specific nationalities. The connection on chess.com is not even peer to peer, so i don't see a single reason that goes beyond racism and bigotry.

I don't see countries playing against me, just people from all over the world. You meet nice people, and some are not. But you don't have to marry your chess partner. You don't even have to talk to them. So why would you sort your opponents by Nation, if you don't have any kind of prejudice against them?

@meirge, your analogy made it quite clear. You want to have "a clean house" by excluding others from other nations which don't dirty their shows. That's straight-up nationalistic against whomever.

Good question.

Maybe because I believe in equal rights for everyone? And maybe I despise people who treat others as minor because of their random place where their born or live?

Could be. 

Caring about each other is a very basic instinct of each human being; appreciating the freedom of each other is a part of it. I feel sorry for you if you can't understand this.

d-discrimination? isnt this whole thing that

Yes indeed.