"Best" Win?

I suppose we all like to win; at the very least, it beats the alternative.  And as far as I can gather, there are three ways to reach this goal (check mate, resignation, and time).  In our stats page is recorded our best win, in terms of the highest ranked opponent we have beaten (as judged by the scores of these opponents after we beat them).  Recently I scored my best win ever, when a 2000+, who was creaming me, closed her account, and hence timed out.  Before this, my best win was when a 1900+ player did the same.  Having these recorded, instead of my best real wins, is counter-productive in that it deprives me of knowing what my real best win was (without an exhaustive search into my games archive, something I am loathe to do).

My proposal would be that by default the best win listed excludes wins on time, and considers only wins by check mate or resignation.  Then, as an option, one could exclude also the resignations, or possibly just certain ones among these.  Then we would all have something to be proud of on our walls.

Also to consider are those who have there best win due to a person having account closed due to cheating.

Yes, but that would fall under the category of winning on time.

I would go so far as to say that if an account is closed for any reason the remaining games of that account should not be rated, or count for any statistic. I don't know what the policies are on re-opening accounts, but you could work out any ratings punishment for closing and reopening accounts at that point rather than at the closing point.

Sorry, but winning due to the fact that your opponent had their account closed to cheating is not equal to winning on time. For an account closed to cheating, the staff causes the cheater to resign the remaining games before forcing the account closed (or at the same time).

Technicality aside, I would not want my best win to be versus a player found to be cheating.

But alas it is the same.  If a player without a membership does not move against an opponent whose account was closed, then this player (the one whose account remains open, but did not move) will lose on time.  If this player does move, then the other player will lose on time, at the time that the clock strikes midnight on the game (and not when the account is closed).  Moreover, the game will say something to the effect "Won on Time", not "Won by Account Closed".

If you do not want a timed-out win to display, then put in a request to Chess.com staff and tell them which win you want to be in your "best win" category and eventually they will change it for you.

OK, but I have played thousands of games, so the manual approach is not ideal.  I was suggesting that this be automated by simply excluding wins on time.

Here is an example:

http://www.chess.com/echess/profile/maestrogaffney

Look at the cheaters last 37 games (or a sample). You will quickly see the statement "player X (not the cheater) won by resignation."

Once the account is closed, the games are resigned in the non-cheaters favor , and the clock becomes a moot point.

If anything, this falls under the category "wins by resignation by opponent" but this goes to my original argument that I would not want this counted as my best win.

I'll take your word for it, but in my case, it did not go this way.  I had to make a move, then wait for the clock to wind down, and then I won on time.  Regardless, if this is a distinct category, then it seems that we agree that it should not count.

It must be the difference between a "forced closure" and "voluntary" closure of account.

I looked at the game you spoke of and it appears that you players did indeed have to make a move before she timed out.

Perhaps it should be considered a courtesy to resign ones games if closing your account.

Actually, I recently won another against a player who did have her account closed for cheating, and even here it went the same way.

Vance, for whatever it's worth, I agree with you. My problem is, poor sportsmen abound in this site. These borderline, unsporting players would as a matter of course, let the time wind down rather than resign. Of course, the end of game position would show how good a game it was.. but whose to judge that?

Anyway this becomes a matter of taste. You are the best judge of what you think is your best game. You could even post that game.. there is an army of kibitzers (which includes me) here who would give our opinion as to the quality of your game. Lol.

Thank you (salamat!), I appreciate that!  And I never thought that I would hear someone from the Philippines use the word "kibitzers" (now I have truly seen everything!).  But alas, this is not so much about my ego.  I know that I am not a great player.  I know that I was destined to lose these "best" wins of mine, and I am OK with that.  I am even OK with these players timing out instead of resigning -- that does not bother me one iota.  Really, I am just curious about my own best win.  I am not about to sift through all of my old games to find it.  Since this feaure already exists, I am suggesting merely that it be modified to become more of a service than it currently is.  I cannot imagine that this would be too difficult.  But then again, I am no better a computer programmer than I am a chess player, so what do I know?

Very impressive.  My "best" win is about the same.  A technicality.

my best win timed out, but my second best win was maybe 50 points less than that win.   however, i still feel a pang whenever i see it on my home page.  especially since the person's "handle" is 'vacations.'  I agree that there should be some sort of filter to discern what is truly the "best" win.

As has been mentioned, there are enough poor sports who are bound to let their clock run down instead of resigning, so wins on time should definitely affect the rating - just as in otb chess.

I agree that it would be great if an opponent's account being closed for cheating did not count, though.

Right now, I have a game running against a 2235 whose account has been closed. As that would be my best win so far, I have thought along similar lines like you, Vance917 - thanks for bringing this topic up. In my case however, I think I am the last in a long list of games bound to time out, so until that happens my opponent's rating will have dropped sufficiently not to show as my best win :-)

Yes, it sounds like we all agree.  Why has no staff member picked up on this yet?

I remain hopeful that a staff member will address this issue?  Thank you.

The solution is not so simple. If you exclude wins on time, what about a player whose opponent is losing very badly and then loses on time? Why shouldn't that win count?