Lag, it's a problem

I may have found something of import here, <--- get a load of that word "import" hehe. Anyway, things were acting laggy again, so I took a look inside Task Manager and noticed Adobe Flash disguised under one of the 5 instances of chrome.exe. It was eating up massive memory, around 1,000,000 Kilobytes or 1 Gigabyte. So I ended that process and the process "chrome.exe" restarted itself automatically. Chess.com sprung back to life, everything is snappy again. 

Anyway, I'll continue to monitor chrome.exe through Windows Task Manager and see if chrome.exe/Adobe Flash starts hogging massive amounts of memory again. I will end the process again if it does. Others should try this if they are experiencing lag just to see if this is the culprit or possibly one of the culprits. 

I use the developer version of Firefox and it automatically blocks Flash from loading ... I have to manually approve it for any sites I want to use it on. I never load flash for this site unless I'm watching videos ... no other feature I know of actually needs it (and in v3 Flash isn't even needed for videos).

So, it is very possible that Flash is the problem. Not really sure why Live tries to load Flash (it does but I don't alow it).

Just a little update. I've been keeping close attention as to when I experience lag on Chess.com. I have been keeping especially close attention to Shockwave Flash by Adobe. Using Google's Chrome browser, Shockwave is enabled by default. 

Under Windows Task Manager, Shockwave Flash runs under one of the "chrome.exe" processes. When I play Live Chess on Chess.com and when I use Google Chrome, it is normal for Chrome to open no less than 5 processes. 

I've noticed, with regularity, almost everytime I have lag issues on Chess.com, Google Chrome's process instances are all eating massive quantities of system memory. Sometimes as much as 200,000K or more a piece. This doesn't seem like much, but when 3 of the 5 process instances are gobbling up that much system memory, that can bog down most systems with 8GB of system memory. 

Solution... ditch Google Chrome, disable Shockwave Flash or be prepared to end chrome processes within Windows Task Manager when they start abusing system memory. That's my 2¢ anyhow, YMMV. 

Yes, imo disabling Shockwave works very well, especially if for whatever reason there are two competing copies on your computer (go to chrome://plugins to see if you have excess copies)

Opting to use Mozilla Firefox instead, Firefox runs under 1 process instance unlike Chrome's 5 processes. Also, "firefox.exe" as a process is consuming a mere 360,000K for that one instance and Adobe Flash runs under its own process within Windows Task Manager, unlike with Chrome where it is incorporated into the chrome.exe process itself.

Normally I find Chrome the more efficient web browser for general browsing purposes, but for some reason Chrome isn't the most efficient when using it to play Live Chess on Chess.com.

I believe Chess.com's Live Chess requires Flash to play, so I'm not sure how others say they aren't running Flash but are still able to play. Can someone confirm that Flash can be ditched entirely and still be able to play?

As I mentioned in my last post, the default is for Flash to be blocked on my browser instance and I do not enable it when I'm on Live.

The lag is ridiculous. Makes the website nonfunctional.

Nope, still laggy as ever even without Flash running. I suspect this issue will never be resolved. I like to support websites I derive a great deal of pleasure from, but Chess.com just won't ever get my money. They seem to miss the point entirely. Provide a superior service and people will be all too willing to part with their money, provide a subpar service and remain forever subpar in your customers' mind. All I can say is, the peeps at Chess.com are in desperate need of business 101 classes, that's all.

I played a game yesterday on FICS. With two minutes remaining, my opponent stopped moving. When his clock was at -5+, he lost by disconnection. This was a three minute game. I've seen opponents go as far as -11 before the site recognising that they have disconnected.

Whatever lag chess.com has, it is minimal compared to that. It does seem to be the case in this thread that everyone experiencing lag is a non-paying member. That would seem to point to the ads.

A staff member should address this issue. Are there specific ads that mimic lag?

Can I ask whether you're getting this problem at the moment? Chess.com has disabled the ads for now, and I'd be interested to know (a) whether you're still getting ads, and (b) whether your lag is as bad as ever or whether it's improved and/or gone

dannyp how stupid are you? they NEED ads to pay for the site. Idiot

Due to increasing numbers of malvertising attacks, it's getting dangerous to allow flash ads to run in your browser. I wouldn't have a problem watching ads if they were static and had no chance of dropping a malicious payload on me. Unfortunately, that's not the current state of affairs on the internet.

I kinda enjoy getting malware becuse i like the challenge of getting rid of it. however im kinda of a computer nerd so i can see why ads would annoy some peple

I can think of better things to do with my day than to have to deal with stuff like ransomware.

I couldn't tell you to be honest because I was not on at that time, or at least I don't believe I was. The lag I experience is sporadic, as in, one day it's horrific and other days it's only for a few hours.

Lag aside, I'm okay with the ads too, as long as they don't interfere with game play itself, like causing lag for example. But to be totally honest, I've never once clicked on one of these ads on Chess.com, not once. I guess others do and that's all that matters. I realize the need to generate revenue, I know Chess.com has to pay for its costs so I don't know what the solution is.

In bullet, the lagger benefits more often in my experience. I've waited two minutes for my opponent to move in a one minute game, my feel tells me that I've won on time; the game clock shows that I'm down by fifteen seconds. Each lagger is different, but they experience the same time scheme game after game. Rhythm is vital in bullet. That's why cheaters who use a lag switch gain an advantage. By intentionally lagging, cheaters gain precious seconds.

Mine always lags, but it's because of how much memory and storage this site takes up because of the thousands of forums, activity, games, etc.