When you have eliminated the impossible

I have made some deductions about the chess.com community, but I don't have enough data to establish the accuracy of my hypotheses. Can you help?

Observation #1: If a member hasn't added a photograph and hasn't added a profile then that member is unlikely to be keen on chatting during a game.

Whereas someone with a pic is chatty?  Dunno.  How about someone with another kind of picture?

People who add a photograph and compose a profile are just more committed to chess.com. They not only want to play a nice game of chess but also want to make new friends :).

what about a profile, but no picture?  artfizz, when we play we seem to have some good reparte..... I think you are adding 1+1 and coming up with 7......  I have not put a picture on, because I have never done it before  I suppose I could figure it out, but I want a really cool picture if I bother to do it.  It may just be lack of incentive..... but it has no bearing on my willingness to chat or commitment to chess.com......

There are many reasons people may be uncomfortable with giving information about themselves over the internet.  The majority of the reasons are not necessarily tied into being an introvert.....  not feeling tech savvy does not correlate with being nonverbal.  Nor does one's desire to maintain a sense of privacy mean they are unwilling to communicate, they may just wish to talk about everything except themselves.....  Perhaps they have been a victim of identity theft and are being overly cautious.....    Maybe..... they are concerned about the epidemic of computer viruses and are attempting a form of on line monogamy in an effort of preventing infection.....  I suppose they are being a bit silly though if that is the case; they should just fit a condom over their mouse like I did for protection.  Then they could chat with as many people as they wish worry free!

Observation #1 is clearly contentious so I'll try this one:

Observation #2: If a member HAS added either a photograph/image and/or a profile then that member is more likely to initiate/respond-to chat during a game. (I should examine the surveys to determine this - but I'm too busy playing chess, causing irritation in the forums, etc.)

A youngster I became friendly with was simply very shy as I learned later- in fact I chatted too much in trying to help him with playing hints etc. and eventually he went  " right off" me ( or perhaps it was parental fear of grooming ?)and ceased to respond to my helpful suggestions.Others have given me a strong impression of arrogance and that they did not want to waste time chin-wagging with a low points player .The obvious problem is with language but there are more subtle ones to look out for.

The main opening I use, xqsme, when I notice that my opponent's opening/attack appears unco-ordinated, is to ask them if they have seen this information http://www.exeterchessclub.org.uk/openings.html

It was brought up in an 'advice for beginners' forum.

Many thanks artfizz-I'll daunder down to Devon for a look

Some people just prefer not to chat while playing (like myself) unless it's with a friend. What is the purpose of these "observations"?

yoshtodd wrote:

Some people just prefer not to chat while playing (like myself) unless it's with a friend. What is the purpose of these "observations"?

 the purpose of having observations ? or sharing them?  I suspect that artfizz being the polite, sensitive, caring person that he is, merely wants to respect the wishes of those players who prefer to refrain from chatting during their games.  He is seeking out your assistance in determining if he is correct in his interpretations of such observations.  or....... perhaps being a devious competitive sort, he wishes to identify those who do not wish to chat so he can bombard them with endless chatter in an effort to throw them off their game!

xqsme wrote:

Others have given me a strong impression of arrogance and that they did not want to waste time chin-wagging with a low points player .The obvious problem is with language but there are more subtle ones to look out for.

 xqsme, you poor guy......  you have mistaken them as being arrogant when in fact, they are envious as hell of you!  What they are really thinking is "that lucky SOB gets his pick of all those great scotches whenever he wants!  While I sit here with a lousy Budweiser!  I am so jealous I cannot bring myself to even talk to him!"

What they failed to realize is if they had taken the time to befriend you - hey, they would be receiving a different bottle of single malt every birthday.....  ah-h-h-h the shame of it, a kind word instead of petty silence could have reaped such benefits for them.......  speaking of which.....  my friend request to you is on its way!

if I may quote that British snake fella.....  "always looking on the bright side of life"

Why do some people insist on bringing 'chess' into these forums? These forums are for chatting, surely. If we are to keep chat off the chess board, let's keep chess off the chat board - for consistency's sake!

Don't have a pick but I wouldn't mind for a chat unless I am in a quick game or am pressed down...:)

This is clearly a topic that needs more research. e.g.

SURVEY SUGGESTION

Which type of photo/image/avatar are you using to represent you on chess.com?

• portrait photo of myself
  
• line drawing/artistic version of myself
• picture of a more attractive person that I pass off as myself
• family/friends group photo
  
• famous person
  
• recognisable object
  
• abstract image
  
• no image

I'm fairly chatty, but lazy - didn't put an avatar on until 8 months in and even then just grabbed the first image I liked from my pictures folder. I've meant to update my profile, but haven't got round to that either.

The laziness factor adds another variable.

Maybe a simple survey would provide enough data after all:

Why aren't you using a picture? Is it because you're ...

• unattractive?
  
• lazy?
  
• dozy? (no offence to Dozy)
  
• shy?
  

If that doesn't encourage participation and generate warm feelings among the chess.com user base, then I'm sure I don't know what will.

Everyone: time is running out; play paul before the spring - he may look really scary!

One difficulty is re- arranging pictures after they are in the Chess .format- I can't, so recommend sorting all out in holding file in PC then transferring   to Chess.

I guess the light wasn't quite right.