Agreed, vacation abuse is a big problem but that specific solution of being able to quit a game with no rating changes wouldn't be the right way to go about it because it can be abused then. If your opponent has genuinely gone on vacation for a few days or weeks and you're in a losing position then the game can be quit with no rating loss, which is basically robbing the opponent of their win.
Better would be, as you mentioned, setting up a 'No-vacation' option, or automatically cancelling vacation if the person using the vacation is still playing live games on a daily basis. Chess.com did reduce the number of vacation days Jan 2026 onwards but yeah people still abuse it.
Vacation Abuse Solution
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2 days ago
0
#3
I have been recommending a "No Vacation" option for a few years to no avail. Correct, if I quit a game at no penalty against a vacation abuser, the abuser can surely continue to do so. But not against me. A lot of times, people seem to quit the site with months of vacation, go on vacation, and never come back.
1 day ago
0
#5
Been asking for a few years Vitch. Nothing has happened to date. Thanks for chiming in!
Chess.com continues to not use a "No Vacation" option when setting up daily games. They have this feature when you set up a tournament. There is a considerable amount of vacation abuse on this site, specifically putting daily games on vacation and players then playing daily games, often until vacation runs out, which may well be months.
How about the option to quit a game when someone goes on vacation with no harm to the opponent's win loss record or rating? Seems simple to me. How about it Chess.com?