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wallaby66
27-Apr-10, 01:54

How to stop players abusing time-outs?
I'm currently playing a player called Levellerlevie in the 63rd GK tournament who is by far the slowest player I've ever played against. He routinely uses all of his 2 day time allowance down to the final hour or so for each move, which is within his rights - but he then also keeps postponing game for 2-3days apparently to slow the game down more. I've had to cancel his postponement on 3 occasions now.

He is currently playing 54 games, and has only completed 8 games in the past month - so at that rate he'll still be playing some to of these games in a year!

Now I recognise that not everyone has the time to play quickly - but in my view this player is not playing in the right spirit. He regularly logs on - but just doesn't move in games where he is not winning. If a move is forced - then why wait until the end of time period, and surely the postpone function wasn't meant to be used as a further delay device.

Is there anyway to stop him abusing this function except just by cancelling the postponement.
myrydin
27-Apr-10, 02:13

I don't think it is 'abuse' to do what you are allowed to do. There's nothing wrong with moving at the last moment, using all your time, being slow, using postponements or being on-line and not moving. I suggest just continuing with cancelling postponements. Also, it is better to say something like 'there is one player who...' rather than name them on the forum, in my opinion.
baronderkilt
27-Apr-10, 02:37

There was once a player from IOWA ...
of no great rank, fame or achievement, albeit a certain notariaty in online Chess circles; whose only true claim to noteworthiness was that he once said, " When your opponent becomes uncomfortable, you are starting to win" ...
***
( He also said, "When your opponent starts to become uncomfortable, you are winning" ... and never was sure which was quite right. But sure there was some truth in there like a grain of sand, in , uh ... your sandwich?! )
baronderkilt
27-Apr-10, 02:39

No Wait~!
Like a pearl in your oyster !
But its really too late, isnt it ? }8-(
wallaby66
27-Apr-10, 04:16

Myrydin,

I did think about using an 'anonymous instead instead of naming the culprit - but then I thougt stuff it - let's name and shame.

Yes it is abuse. It might be within the rules but it's not within the spirit. There are plenty of examples in life where you can act within the set rules, but still be anti-social in the process. This player is being anti-social on this site.... he's deliberately making it less fun for the vast majority of players who just want to get on with a game of chess. I'd usually avoid playing a player like this - or just resign after it became apparant in the first few moves that they were behaving in that way and start a new game with someone who's more interested in playing. However - in the main tournaments you can't really do that.

If there are too many players like this on the site eventually we'll get tired of it and find somewhere else to play - and that would be a shame becaase this is a good site.
kingdawar
27-Apr-10, 04:24

"so at that rate he'll still be playing some to of these games in a year!"

Woo exactly the point of playing on a website like this one  )
lighttotheright
27-Apr-10, 08:27

How many people have the time and tenacity to make sure that they play their moves in losing games within the final hour available? It's abuse alright - but not against other players.

He's abusing himself. You would think he had better use of his time. Eventually people like that will get tired of the process, adjust their strategy, or give up the ghost. Don't get mad. Have patience. He'll eventually get even with himself. Just keep playing.

You only have to contend with this behavior when playing against him. He has to contend with his own behavior all the time. If he gets results from this behavior, that would be the only reason to keep doing it. But he probably has a computer program or very high tech alarm clock that helps remind him to make a move on time...else he would eventually start timing out. Humans simply are not that precise (well, not normally  . Good Luck.
levellerlevvie
27-Apr-10, 08:33

Let's react without shouting on this one :-)
For one ... how can you abuse if you play by the rules of the game (being the rules Gameknot has given us).

About the postponements ... Sometimes I can play a lot .. , unfortunately sometimes I can't because of a busy life ... There are some times that I fear to timeout a game so I rather like to postpone for 2 days then to have another timeout. After all 2 days is not a lot of time to make a move when you're very busy and I can't do anything about the timing-setup of the tournaments.

But it's not that I can't move at all so when I can I do play ... even under postponement. I for one can't understand why someone would feel the need to cancel postponement because a game has to end at some point and after all this is correspondence chess, right? But I don't complain and let my opponent play within the rules of this site.

About the games in particular ... Both are not decided yet so I have no reason to resign and both are not close to a draw either. But if they would hit the 99% rule (1ste round Tournament), you would win the round in the tournament with 1 point more than I ... so I wonder what your problem is besides builded up frustration for some reason.

It's just a matter of perspective I guess and I advise you to stay calm and just play the games until they finish and may the best player win, not?

greetings
The timeout abuser  
skipwallace555
28-Apr-10, 10:41

HERE WE GO AGAIN
Please don't take my comments personally or as an attempt to stifle any body's right to complain but I have been a member here long enough to tell you that the subject of misuse of timeouts has been discussed to death and I for one am real tired of the same complaints couched in different ways as to make them sound fresh. The rules are the rules. If anyone is unhappy with players exercising their rights under the rules is playing at the wrong site. Also, it is against the rules to use a players name negatively in these forums. Therefore, let us stop ranting about things that we have no control over and direct requested change directly to the powers that be. All members should read the rules before posting and read the FAQ's as just about everything you can think of has been asked before. Now, lets take all that energy to the chess board.
tactical_abyss
28-Apr-10, 15:15

Deleted by tactical_abyss on 29-Apr-10, 01:17.
tactical_abyss
28-Apr-10, 16:49

Deleted by tactical_abyss on 29-Apr-10, 01:17.
tugger
29-Apr-10, 06:13

I just postponed my games so I can relax over the bank holiday weekend. I could make my moves, but I don't want to. Perhaps someone is pulling their hair out is disgust. Good, that means I have an advantage. I still have my hair.

One of my opponents had the cheek to wait 6 days 23 hours to make both his moves in our team games. I think I'll respond by taking my time, thinking carefully about how I will reply. That'll teach him.

In all these deliberate attempts to annoy the opponent, the irony is we might actually get a good, tight game of chess out of it. Bonus.

levellerlevvie, I feel you deserve credit for coming in an explaining yourself rationally, when you have no obligation to your opponent whatsoever to explain why you use time and postponements as you see fit. And wallaby66, I hope in future you accept that it is part of correspondence chess, people will make moves when they want to, not when you want them to. It's probably got a lot to do with analysis, work, kids, wife, husband, stress, health, or any number of other reasons. If you don't like this apsect of c-chess, then I sincerely recommend blitz for you instead.
baronderkilt
29-Apr-10, 12:50

Wallaby66 ...
I would like to say you are not alone in feeling the way you do about time usage. Many have the same attitude towards it. And for myself, I do not use extra time to annoy an opponent, but have many other things to do, and also have a very irregular schedule, aggravated by times of poor health which are most often completely unpredictable.
***
And that is one thing i wish to mention especially. The I-Net and online Chess of the corr variety are Much used by those in a similar situation, or worse, being "shut-in". This may be one of a few sources of good entertainment to be had.
I think we must remember, especially those who are young & healthy (when it is justifiably easy to overlook such circumstances, as when I was young and it would never even occur to me) , that others are not always in the same situation we are. And in some parts of the world, or anywhere, there will be others trying to make due on old & fallible equipment that may or may not decide to work for a give day/week .
***
On the other side of the coin, when some are impatient, it becomes quite understandable if we remember that most playing here are probably new to corr type play and the large majority will come from a background of OTB Chess instead. So this may be quite a new thing. And they are accustomed to faster gratification from their play.

Those of us, like myself, who do come with a Postal Chess background already realise that it's okay if a good game takes a year or two. And the play is the thing. We may already have experienced an opp taking vacation to wait for a new Chess Book to arrive & help save the day ... or maybe even an miraculous overturning of Theory (LOL at That, UNLESS you are Dragon player, when this may actually be likely during a game ... as it flip-flopped several times during one of my Postal game. Or perhaps Anand & Topalov are discussing your pet opening even now!? )
***
Hopefully we can all be as courteous, and understanding, as possible. Because the site really has a lot of great people & games played. Remember too, there are those with other legitimate aims to their play than us. Some aim to Win, and like it best to chalk-up their win and move on. Others want to play with artistry or to improve on theory, and will hope the opp Does take all the time he needs, and Not make any quick, weak move, that would marr the game. Some play for rating. Some for the Money (LOL, just not HERE~! But that is ok  )

Like the great Postalite Alex Dunne once wrote, very loosly paraphrased by me, I'm sure, ' ... a player must first decide Why they play ... will it be for the Money, for enjoyment, for rating, for art, to win tournaments, etc.' You must know your primary goal to plan for success. And these are all legit reasons to play.
***
HEY ... Come back here with That~!!
Sorry, I have to go .... someone has snatched my soapbox, and they're getting away~! . . .
HEY, .... YOU
}8-D
baronderkilt
29-Apr-10, 13:01

BTW ...
I didnt mean to make that all look aimed at Wallaby~! ...as really I just wished to make those reminders for anyone new to the site or having a Time issue to consider. A lot of things can be better than we think, depending how we look at them. And many annoyances may not be intentional at all; in which case they may become less annoying, or not so at all.

Our feelings are our own, and no one can "make" them unless we permit it to happen. ( Of course, don't ever say that to your wife, as long as she believes you Make her happy   Yeah, I read that in magazine somewhere . . .
wallaby66
30-Apr-10, 20:00

Thanks for all your comments - supportive or otherwise!

I'm here just to have fun and play some chess..... I'm not a particularly good player, I could probably be a lot better if I played as slowly as my opponent I'm complaining about! I'm often guilty of throwing a game away by a silly blunder made too quickly.

The reason this player annoys me is the way he's set up his play to deliberately take as long as possible. I've now been told he even has his settings set up to ignore conditional moves! So even if his next move was forced he still wouldn't play it for 2 days!!! I must admit - I struggle to understand the mindset of someone who would turn on this feature! If a conditional move is made, why wouldn't you take a quick look to see if the next move was forced? There are often situations where a game has a series of forced check moves or exchanges. When there's no thinking involved - you could make 5 moves in 10 minutes rather than 10 days!

Anyway - I'm calm and happy and just plugging away at the games..... we'll get there eventually I guess. Probably too late for the tournament though - I suspect we'll end up having a forced draw due to hitting the 99% game limit before we finish. In this case I'll still advance - but I'd be really annoyed if I needed 2 points to go through!!

A big problem with this sort of deliberate slow play is the mini-tournaments. you can only play in a certain number at once and I often have 3 or 4 of my mini-tourney 'slots' held up by tournaments that are effectively over apart from players who are slow.

To go back to the original post - the big problem here is that this player was using the postpone game feature to continually add more time to the games. The tournament games are set at a 2 day limit for a reason - there's a lot of games to get through!

I was hoping there would be a way to prevent players from using postpone game too often - but apparantly not.

Oh well.... on with the grind.....

tugger
01-May-10, 05:08

"If a conditional move is made, why wouldn't you take a quick look to see if the next move was forced?"

A conditional move is not designed to speed your opponent up, it is designed to speed your play up if you wish to, perhaps to gain some time incriment, or to play a move that you didn't want to forget to play perhaps. But it is not there to make your opponent play a forced moved immediately. I often have conditional moves played against me, and I NEVER reply immediately, I ALWAYS take longer than normal, to make sure I am not a) walking into a trap, and b) not already lost in a mating net. If someone plays a conditional move against me after the opening, my response is to analyse deeply, sometimes days after the move if I haven't got half an hour spare at an earlier point.

And this is true even if my move is clearly forced. Just because my next move is forced, it doesn't mean my next ten are (and if they are, I'll resign after I accept my fate), so I need as much time as possible for analysis to counter my opponent's attack. If 37... Kh8 is my forced move, and I have 7 days to play it, I might play it after 5 days so I have longer to analyse the resulting position.

"A big problem with this sort of deliberate slow play is the mini-tournaments."

I actually sympathise with you over this point. I think GK should allow people to play another mini once their commitment is another is complete. I have a game running with chessnovice, and it's the last game in the mini-tournament. Our game is very important in relation to both our final scores, so naturally we are both playing carefully and slowly. We have only just finished our first game, and this one took months. Everyone else in the group finished months ago, so we are holding them up if they want to join another mini. But this is not our fault, it is a flaw of the system GK have in place. We are both competetive, and play chess to win. We both like to study the position. I am happy about this, it's exactly the kind of opponent I wish to face on a regular basis, but I do feel sorry for anyone in the group who is waiting for the game to finish.

"the big problem here is that this player was using the postpone game feature to continually add more time to the games."

I do this sometimes. It is part of correspondence chess. I make no apologies for wishing to study the position as much as possible, and nor should anyone else.
baronderkilt
01-May-10, 06:33

tugger, you are No Fun ... lol
"I ALWAYS take longer than normal, to make sure I am not a) walking into a trap"
***
I always set a conditional string so that it will end where an obvious or hasty reply dies }8-D
but you are way ahead that game ...  
wallaby66
01-May-10, 19:46

Ok - let's end the thread....
I can see that there is a divided opinion here..... thanks to all those who sent me private messages of support - it seems lots of people agree with me but don't want to comment on it in the forums.

One last quick comment on Tugger's view that "A conditional move is not designed to speed your opponent up"....

.... actually that's exactly why I'm making conditional moves in these particular games. I usually don't make conditional moves because it smacks of arrogance - i.e. 'I know what move you're going to play - aren't I smart!'

I'm making conditional moves here so that the clock starts on my opponent as soon as he moves, otherwise we'd be even further behind.

Over and out.
black_cat_hamlet
02-May-10, 02:16

"I actually sympathise with you over this point. I think GK should allow people to play another mini once their commitment is another is complete. I have a game running with chessnovice, and it's the last game in the mini-tournament. Our game is very important in relation to both our final scores, so naturally we are both playing carefully and slowly. We have only just finished our first game, and this one took months. Everyone else in the group finished months ago, so we are holding them up if they want to join another mini. But this is not our fault, it is a flaw of the system GK have in place. We are both competetive, and play chess to win. We both like to study the position. I am happy about this, it's exactly the kind of opponent I wish to face on a regular basis, but I do feel sorry for anyone in the group who is waiting for the game to finish."

Touche! it's an annoying thing, isn't it?
myrydin
02-May-10, 02:29

"I do this sometimes. It is part of correspondence chess. I make no apologies for wishing to study the position as much as possible, and nor should anyone else. "

That nails it for me; there have been many times when I've found a better move by going away and coming back to have a fresh look at the board up until the last moment.