Sportsmanship on Chess.com
At Chess.com, we encourage players to be kind and demonstrate good sportsmanship during their games. Our Sportsmanship Policy outlines expected behaviors, ensuring a respectful and enjoyable environment for everyone.
Players are expected to avoid the following actions:
Intentional disconnection: Do not disconnect during games to disrupt play.
Stalling: Avoid making your opponent wait unnecessarily by stalling the game.
Frivolous game abortion: Do not abort games simply because you don't want to play as Black, or for similar reasons. (Note: Chess.com has implemented a limit on the frequency of game abortions. Please abort only when necessary.)
If your account is flagged for consistently violating our Sportsmanship Policy, your ability to play will be restricted. You will be required to wait five minutes between games, including aborted games.
📚 Check out this article to learn more about our Fair Play Policy: What do I need to know about Fair Play on Chess.com?
Tips to avoid aborting games
Aborting games too often will temporarily suspend your ability to abort games. This means that if you cannot play, you will have no choice but to resign or risk further sanctions described above, by abandoning your game or disconnecting. If you have to abort, then do so of course, but whenever possible, consider the following tips to avoid aborting:
Tips
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Details |
Be patient at the start | Each player has 15-20 seconds to make their first move. If a player fails to move within this time, the game will be automatically aborted, negatively impacting the Fair Play record of the inactive player.
However, if you manually abort the game, it will affect your record as well. It's best to wait patiently for a few seconds to avoid any penalties. |
Use filters to find opponents
| If you're not open to playing against just anyone, navigate to your Live Chess settings and adjust your incoming and outgoing ranges.
In this section, you can tailor your challenges to find games that suit your preferences. Use the drop-down menus to select a range relative to your current rating for the specific game type. |