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crossquill
19-Mar-13, 12:42

Do players stall when they start losing?
I've had a few experiences now here on Gameknot where I'll get a decisive advantage in a game and then my opponent will just stop making moves, using all five days of their time, dragging out the game for weeks. Is this common? Is it a strategy people have when losing, or what? It's frustrating.
tactical_abyss
19-Mar-13, 14:32

Deleted by tactical_abyss on 19-Mar-13, 14:42.
tactical_abyss
19-Mar-13, 14:42

The old story with dust on it....
crossquill,
I find it hard to believe that you have not encountered this stalling more than just a few times since 2005 and almost 700 games!That is common practice in corresp chess.Sometimes its a legitimate slow down(not technically an intentional stall) due to your opponent trying to do a critical deep longer time analysis of the position to see if there is any kind of escape to not necessarily win,but possibly draw or stalemate....even if its one chance out of a thousand.For a decisive advantage to you may not necessarily be the opinion of your opponent and in some cases dosen't always mean that you will win the game for sure.I can illustrate games that I was down a Knight or even a Queen and have won or drew the game.I have even won games that my opponent announced a mate in 4 and I am about to lose!!!!!Now how is that possible you ask?

Well,thats where the "other" type of "strategy"comes into play....and is called "stalling".
Yes,stalls occur sometimes with the hopes that you may time-out in the game,even if you are winning.And yes,it does occur!Now,i'm not saying this is good etiquette to wait till the last hour in a losing position and your opponent "hopes"that you will time-out,kick the bucket,get stuck in a foreign country by extremists or your parachute dosen't open in a 10,000 foot freefall plunge and you time-out the game...but yes,this is the hopes of your opponent!!!!

I have played one or two GK opponents in the past where I knew ahead of time that there was a "high" probability of a time-out based upon their GK history of T.O's.And sure enough,both of those games were won by me through those opponents timing-out!Now,lets say,my opponents in those games were about to win in 2 moves?So I intentionally stalled based upon perhaps a 10-14% T.O.on their profile.Isn't it worth waiting to see?It sure is!!!

Now,I do not practice this procedure normally,because I am rarely in the "losing"position,so no need to stall!But if I was in the losing position and I seen that my opponent was at a 14% T.O ratio,even I under those circumstances might very well...."stall"!Now,yes,you crossquill are not at a 14% T.O. ratio,but you do have a few T.O's regardless....0.5%.Perhaps your opponent is praying?Better check your chute!Ha,ha!


TA
tactical_abyss
19-Mar-13, 14:54

Now above,you may ask,"well,what good is it to stall,when your opponent can just as easily time-out if you move sooner"?Answer:Not necessarily!In the minds of some opponents is that the LONGER they wait,the sooner something may "happen"to you.... so BEFORE they resign and by waiting longer...well....you get the idea!Now,will any of your opponents ever admit to this?
A million laughs...NO.But the abyss knows better!
crossquill
19-Mar-13, 18:49

Yeah, I've seen it before, but I guess I always gave people the benefit of the doubt and figured maybe they were busy or whatever. Stalling seems like such a lame thing to do.
tactical_abyss
19-Mar-13, 20:20

I'm with you crossquill.And yes,alot of players are busy...but then others are not.Sometimes observing those online lights and moves in other games can give you a hint!But I always say it the way it is.Been playing this game for about 50 years and can write a book 3 foot thick....with tiny print!OTB play is much worse in many ways,but thats a different tune.If anything,i've resigned being only a pawn down on many occasions,which lesser rated opponents would frown upon,but my opponents are many times 2400-2600 and higher than that in some of my OTB play at the Marshall.So it would be very hard,for example,to explain to a 1400-1600 player why it was wise to resign in a certain game position being only a pawn down,but there are many reasons.Anyone that does not believe this can simply check a good number of past games of the top players on this site and you will be able to spot a game once in a while that the strong player resigned being only 1 pawn down.

As to me stalling...well,with no time-outs ever in 5 years and an average move time of 2 hours or less,you can rest assure that I would not stall.But I just might stall if I was losing to someone like say,harpov.Why?Take a look at his time-out history.Need I say anymore?So,yes,there is a twisted logic in stalling,well...sometimes!
3253
31-Mar-13, 08:26

sooner or later
"Now above,you may ask,"well,what good is it to stall,when your opponent can just as easily time-out if you move sooner"?Answer:Not necessarily!In the minds of some opponents is that the LONGER they wait,the sooner something may "happen"to you"

There is a player taking forever to move, and is probably going to lose, so I'd just like to get the games done with, and the player has a 10% rate of timeouts. It's like if you're playing 5 minute chess, the other player is taking 15 minutes to move, and you have to get back to work! (I didn't say it made sense)  

It seems to me that if the player moves and doesn't come back for 2 or 3 days, and it's a 2 day a move game, if I move right away then that player would be more likely to time out. If I wait almost 2 days, that might be what the player is counting on. The more quickly I move, at least it reduces the game by 1 or 2 days for each move, and also it reduces the chance that I will time out, which I don't want to do!
sirissac
02-Apr-13, 10:42

Just Remeber...
That guy across the board is the opponent. He has the ability to do whatever he can (within the rules) to beat YOU (and not the position). Moreover, if your not prepared to play against an opponent who will try every trick, how are you going to win?