Let's talk about flagging opponents

#30
Why that?
Even if your intentions were good and you sincerly meant that they deserved a victory, everything you say after such win can be misinterpreted.
I think its better to wait for the person who lost to start the conversation - in case they want to talk with you at all.

Here, look at this: I felt like they were trying to provoke me somehow after they flagged me in a crazy flagfight in this game.
Considering that 10 moves before I even had a winning position...

I simply cannot physically move fast. It takes me at least a second to make any move, even if I anticipate it ahead of time. Therefore I lose every game which comes down to a time race. Luckily, my opponents don't always know this.
It infuriates me, either when I have a solidly crushing position, or when the position is dead equal and the opponent starts just moving fast to make it a speed contest.

Nonetheless, I agree that time is part of the contest, and I don't think it is ever ethically wrong to play to win on time. OTB blitz was exactly the same way, the other guy pounding on the poor battered and abused clock, moving his king around, to see if I could mate with bishop and knight. [Well, actually, that game I won, with two seconds left.] Watching the clock for the flag to fall, and the dreaded words, "You're down."

If I choose to play at that time control, as I often do, I should not complain about my opponent flagging me, no matter how frustrated it makes me.

There is a certain lack of sportsmanship in running out the time when you have been soundly beaten. It shows more respect for the other player to resign and say "well played."

It is a gloomy thought that respect and good sportsmanship are in short supply among online players. However, you cannot change how the other player is going to act. You need to be sure you yourself do not do anything you consider unethical. And let the rating points float on down the river.

Sorry to be so verbose.

I like flagging people :D

Speaking of flagging... I had a crazy blitz game with drawn R v N endgame (I was the Rook) yesterday.
I calculated an attack... using way too much time and was down to 11 secs when the opponent had 27 seconds. Luckily for me, I know how to flag the opponent, but if I did not, it was my punishment for not using my time well.

When I'm in a lost position, but win because I flagged my opponent, I kinda feel like it was a cheapo victory. And visa versa.

I know that the clock is the 33rd piece, but it still feels kinda yucky to win on clock only, and not on position.

Now if I win by flagging AND my position was better, then I feel fine. And if I lose by flagging AND my position was better, then I simply tell myself to play faster, and I'm fine with the result.

>>How about cursing in the chat? That’s a real problem.

I never found it a problem to curse smb. in the chat.

@xv6503 It can get quite toxic if cursing is allowed in chat, which is why Lichess does not allow it in their rules. Human emotions are quite hard to control, especially when you lose many games in a row where you could have potentially won. I don't have a problem with it, but not everyone is going to be fine with it. So it makes sense to not allow it in chat in the first place.

cursing is allowed on lichess. you just need to be sure your opponent isn't the type of "person" to lodge a complaint.

of course, if you are cursing at the "person", they usually are the type of "person" who will report you.

there's a word for these kinds of "persons", but lichess asked me nicely to be nice, so i will be nice and not say what that word is, as it is not nice.

@thomassowell123 Hmm it looks like I didn't read the Lichess rules carefully, thanks for letting me know. It looks like my opponent was that type of "person" you were mentioning, and I got a warning from lichess as a result.

I saw one of the titled WFM players give their opinion about cursing. I disagree with the WFM. Cursing is not representative of whether a game has broken my ego or not. There's no reliable way of telling whether a person has their ego broken unless you are there in person. Cursing is just another way of expressing emotion, especially after losing to flagging when in a completely winning position. Now if a person gets hurt because of a type of language, then they can simply leave, it's not my fault.

Even though this is apparently an unpopular opinion in this forum, I do not think flagging is acceptable in many different scenarios. Especially when a player uses a lot of time to make brilliant or excellent plays or defend a losing position and turn it around to be winning, or in a theoretically drawn position. I also think that it comes down to the personality and character of the player, and whether they want to uphold the virtues of sportsmanship and respect in the world of chess esport where anonymity is prominent. I'm not saying that there is no respect in online chess, but I think that we should all make an effort to commend players that make good play, and resign in completely lost positions or agree to draws where necessary in blitz no increment. I just think that it's a cheap way to win and gain rating points that doesn't require much skill than just premoving random moves (in blitz). In bullet, time becomes a much more important factor than in blitz in my opinion.

I agree that time management is important, and this is especially important in variants like bullet.
But in blitz, at what point does flagging become acceptable and unacceptable is a fine line, and it will ultimately come down to the situation at hand. If it's a tournament and your game is the deciding game, then maybe it is acceptable? What about just casual single matches?

TL;DR I completely disagree with anyone on here who says flagging is "part" of the game in a blitz no increment game. I don't care if it's increment or no increment, flagging is not something that anyone should be a proud of, especially when doing it in a losing position in blitz. (Please keep in mind that this opinion is based around blitz, not bullet).

I created this forum post because I wanted to gain everyone's perspective on flagging in blitz. I didn't want to fall prey to confirmation bias or other biases, so I wanted to get everyone's position on this topic. After reading everyone's replies, I still remain by my conclusion as written above, even if it is not popular. This opinion does not reflect the type of person I am in real life, and it's just how I stand on this issue. Thanks for everyone's replies!

Concerning chatting, citing the ToS:

"Be nice and courteous to all other players, always."

What exactly is it what you don't understand?

On-topic:

The clock is just as much a part of the game as the board and pieces, and losing because of time-trouble is no different to losing because of weak play -- it's still a zero on the score-sheet. - John Nunn

If you want to avoid this - be like Sarg0n, play with increment!