Stalling in Daily Chess.

I've been playing a current opponent since 7th May, we've made 47 moves. They have been on vacation many times. Currently they have been on vacation for two days with the option of 7 weeks! They have on average 40 games in play all paused, yet I know they have been online in the last two hours. I play other games while waiting...if I go away I try to make sure I've  completed all my games before I leave. However, I had to pause this opponent when I really did go on vacation for 2 days! While this game has been going on I have won and lost many others most of which were very entertaining, some educational and one absolute classic (in my opinion). The reason I say this is because I agree with the OP. I understand some people need to pause games but I feel this facility is often misused. I have reported my opponent for stalling but I don't think anything will be done about it as it's within the rules. Just venting my frustration. Still, this is a marvellous site and I hope to have many more good games in the future. Have fun x

It's funny how some people can sound loud even though it's just written words. I guess you're saying I/We need to have a sense of perspective. I particularly like your final comment

I play for fun and am too busy to have to think about Chess for very long each day. I moved fast last Sunday and got CMd quick. I like being able to go over all the possibilities and will only play 2 day games. I thought I was pretty good until I joined up here. 😁

May 7th is not very spectacular. I have one ongoing game since February 15th, and today is July 4th (happy independence day, by the way). This game is decided at least since a month or so, but I don't care... it'a a daily game, so these things happen a lot.

My May 7th game is still on going. Opponent hadn't moved for 28 days and has 4 weeks vacation left. "It's a daily game, these things happen". I don't know my opponent's circumstances, but I don't see this as daily, it's now monthly. My other games are moving along nicely so not that bothered any more... 

This is absolutely infuriating. I have one opponent who has 100 or so active daily games, and is playing hundreds of moves a day: but in 3 or 4 of their games, they're losing pretty badly, including against me.

I noticed them taking 6+ days per move suddenly, and lo and behold, there they are, playing with hundreds of other people, except the ones they're losing to.

I get it, the time control is there so that nobody loses on time. That's what I signed up for. When someone's made all their moves within a few hours, but then waits 7 days per move when they start losing, that's not time management.

That is a tactic; it's a stalling tactic, and I'm pretty sure that stalling is against site rules. If they weren't playing any other games/moves, then I'd understand, but this is part of their playstyle. I assume many people resign. It's going to take me a year to beat them.

I am currently having the same problem with a daily game im playing with 10 moves a turn. Im in a completely won position, im a few moves away from checkmating, and the guy is waiting until day 10 to move. 

The game has been dragged out incredibly long, but theres nothing I can do, i signed up to the tournament and its a 10 move a day tourney, so you can't really report them and get them in trouble for it. they're allowed to use any amount of their time they want.

trust me i understand your beef with it more than anyone, if you look at the tournament my daily game is being played in, the tournament has been going on for over a year and a half because some of my opponents just refused to move despite being in a lost position. 

Just make sure if u join a daily tournament or accept a daily game, make sure the time limits short, like 1-3 days.

If I play a daily game I will probably take a day to move if I take the game seriously. If I play 1 day game, I may very well take 20 hours to move.

I'm currently playing two tournaments, and have four games left.  In each one I have a clearly winning position, and the opponent is taking the maximum time (3 days) to finish.

I find this frustrating.  I like daily chess, but I don't want to deal with this again. 

One alternative would be to only play daily with trusted people, however it takes time to have enough players at the right level in the roster.

I have a suggestion, please reply if you think either of these suggestions make sense for daily games:

1. Allow players to require for matching that their opponent maintains a good average time per move.  So if you are a player that likes 3 days time limit, but often plays more moves, you can match with similar players.
2. Allow players to choose to match with players in similar times zones (so there is a better chance your opponent makes a move when you are also available to play).

There is already an option in Daily Tournaments to require players to have an average move speed of less than 12/6/3 hours.

https://www.chess.com/tournament/create

I generally play games that allow 3 days per move. Sometimes I make my move within a couple hours, but sometimes I take a day or two. There is such a thing as real life. Medical emergencies, errands that cannot wait, etc. Also, before I retired I spent 40 years meeting deadlines and keeping schedules set by my employers. I'm done with that. I like to play chess at my own pace, taking the time to set up the position and study it.

I so agree Antonin.

This isn't at all what people are talking about, and there's a vacation function. We're only talking about games that are *COMPLETELY LOST* for one side, both players know it, but one side takes *the maximum time to move possible*.

I'm sorry, but it takes more effort to use as much time as possible than to just move normally. If someone has a REAL EMERGENCY, they're not going to be timing their moves to occur every 14 days, perfectly, on-the-nose. This is twisting the core issue into something entirely different.

We're all well aware that people have reasons they may not be able to play their moves, but let's stick to the specifics: players who will be engaged in 100 games, actively playing all of them *EXCEPT THE ONES THEYVE LOST*. I can see them making moves each day, sometimes minutes a part, while my game sits there until there's 30 minutes left in a 14-day period.

Please, don't whitewash this topic. It's important, and it has absolutely nothing to do with emergencies or vacation mode. Use vacation mode if you need it, no one cares. Resign your totally, 100% lost positions though.

There are people in this thread who have games that've gone on for THREE YEARS. Trust me, it's NOT AN EMERGENCY. They're stalling and refusing to resign; this isn't an epidemic of broken knees or cracked ribs, it's literally poor sportsmanship, it's widespread, and we need to talk about it. Absolutely ZERO people have a problem with emergencies. That's a complete and total strawman.

Some people like to look closely at games to avoid making mistakes. Some people just have lots of daily games. (As of posting this, I have 42, but some people have way more). Some only want to do daily games once per day. 

That being said, if you don't want to have to wait a long time, then don't join daily games. Simple.

Which is why I never sign up for daily tournaments longer than 3 days a move. With current technology why would anyone want 14 days between moves?  Simple maths.

A game can easily last 50 moves. Per player. So 100x14 days - more than 4 years?

@ScroogeMcBird

Except what Antonin1957 mentions is kind of what we're talking about too. You seem to claim that the discussion is only about people who refuse to resign in a completely lost position where both players are aware of the fact, when it isn't. OP started the discussion to get some insight into why people take so long to move in general. Sure, the thread was resurrected by AdamMtl2021 in frustration over a few games he deems completely lost but calling someone out, with terms such as "whitewashing" or "strawmen" seems a bit silly, don't you think?

Now, about positions that are completely lost; I can come up with a few reasons why people play on, although I'm mostly reiterating what others have said already:

• Both players may not be aware of the fact that it is a completely lost position
• Even where both players would agree that either side is clearly losing, there could still be something to play for. It is no reason to give up just because you are down material. While refraining from making any more specific comments about AdamMtl2021's ongoing games (and I suggest you do the same as Chess.com could count that as cheating), I can safely say that there are games where I would continue to play as his opponent.
• Even in a lost position you could be able to lure your opponent into a stalemate
• People may have a schedule where they only visit Chess.com, or at least only consider their daily games, at certain times (say, every other day)
• While not having any direct emergencies, people may be otherwise busy and that one almost lost game on Chess.com may not be their top priority

Even in the case of clear stalling, the question of a completely lost position is hard to determine, as a chess engine will deem it lost long before a human does. The question then becomes when should Chess.com automatically cut off a game and declare one a winner and the other a staller? The answer is never. In doing so we would try to solve with code what is essentially a social problem.

Also, maybe I'm the odd one out but I have far more times won by timeout in cases where my opponent likes to "take their time", than been frustrated about stalling.

I do agree with you about emergencies though. No one who is going through a "rough patch" will be worrying about signing in to Chess.com to make a move at the absolute last minute.

i forget about it until it reminds me that i'm low in time xD

Your argument doesn't make any sense, insofar as it attempts to justify players who are intentionally stalling games.

It is not impossible for players to engage in intentional stalling, and whataboutisms are entirely unhelpful if you're genuinely interested in finding a resolution to a problem that bothers an awful lot of users.

I don't think you have any genuine interest in resolving anything here, it seems as though you want discussion to stop completely, and for absolutely zero resolution to be arrived upon by anybody involved in this thread.

Stalling is a huge problem; it's flagrant, obvious, and should be something we can easily report. Many people didn't know there was an option to pick opponents with average move times, as just one example. This simple feature greatly improves the quality of life for everyone using this site.

Let's be very clear: People are playing rated, competitive games. They want a resolution to a problem they think is serious. The mainstreaming of unsportsmanlike behavior is entirely unacceptable to me. These people need to play casual games. We should not have tournaments that last three years. I couldn't care less that there's a 1 in 500,000 chance of a draw. That's not fun. People are here to play chess and have fun; people who stall for 14 days a move *the moment they hang a queen* are absolutely ruinous for this site. 

Stop making excuses for these people. They're literally playing all their other games, and for some reason, the debate lords in this thread have realized that they need to ignore that very salient fact to keep their argument going.

Just... stop ignoring the facts. This is flagrant and abusive behavior. It needs to be stopped. How do we stop it?