Correspondence chess.

One thing I wondered about is the reason behind the long time controls in correspondence chess. I don't really understand why someone would require 14 days to finish a match. I know a 1 day time control would be normal but 14 days means you finish a match in a month's time.

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I recently finished a game that lasted 15 months. That's still relatively fast. The time control was seven days per move. Most of my games are three days per move.

When I played via postcard, three days per move was standard, plus transmission time. Thos game typically lasted almost two years.

That's the nature of correspondence chess. I've written about it more at http://chessskill.blogspot.com/search/label/correspondence

I don't do them if the time control is more than 3 days.  I made the mistake of starting a 14 day game, but resigned when they waited so long to make a move.

That's one day per move. If both players use most of their available time, a typical game should last 2 1/2-3 months. Fourteen days per move means that slow players will finish one move per month.

Most of my chess on this site is two time controls:

In LIVE CHESS, I play three minutes per game. An average game lasts five minutes. Some, when one player lags, will last more than six minutes.

In DAILY CHESS (formerly called "Online", i.e. correspondence chess or "turn-based"), I play three days per move. Most of these games last three to six months. Some are over in a few weeks, but those are the exception.

I do not play correspondence chess faster than three days per move. 

Then, you do not really play correspondence chess. Rather, live is more your cup of tea.

3 days is corresponance,  chess have no idea what you mean--14 day is crazy way to long

I like CC because of work. Some nights I just like to chill. But what I am pissed off about is this Online tourney I entered several weeks ago. This guy moves and goes on vacation for about two weeks, moves and goes on vacation for another two weeks. Never again will I enter another one when vacation is allowed.

Perhaps it would help if you knew a little of the history of correpondence chess.

Many years ago, one chess player would write down a move on clay (cuneiform) and send this piece of clay via a runner to an old college friend now living hundreds of leagues distant. When the runner arrived, the other player could not move right away as he was tired after a hunt and still had to attend to the labor needed to prepare the next month's meat. The next day, he was able to examine his opponent's move, prepare his response on a piece of clay, dry the clay, and send the move via a runner to his old friend.

Centuries later, writing became more efficient and some correspondence players did not work more than ten or twelve hours per day. It became possible to expect a reply within one to three days of receipt, making allowance for the time required for the Pony Express to deliver the letter. As the world's several postal systems became more efficient, time of tranmission was reduced. Eventually, most people only worked eight hour days. Games could be expected to end in less than two years in most cases.

Then, with the arrival of first email and then the internet (with websites like chess.com), transmission time could be reduced to seconds (as long as Comcast was not the email provider) and only the "reflection time" was needed. Of course, some people still needed to work overtime on occasion or go see a movie with the wife, girlfriend, husband, etc., or take a day or two to go hunting (now more for sport than necessity). 

Sorry to bump this thread but I just found it and that last reply was golden!