Aborted games
Aborting a game is useful if you start one by mistake or realize you don’t have time to play. When you abort a game, it gets canceled and won’t count as a win or loss for either player. Aborted games also won’t appear in your game history.
How do I abort a game?
The 'Abort' button is available only before either player makes their first move. Once both players have moved, the option changes to 'Resign.'
Web
The 'Abort' button is located in the right-side panel of your screen, between the move list and game chat.
Mobile
Tap the four stacked lines at the bottom of your screen, then select 'Abort' from the options that appear.
Tap the checkmark at the top of the screen to confirm you want to abort the game.
I don't see the abort option
The abort feature should only be used when you’re unable to complete a game. Frequent misuse may result in the feature being disabled. Please follow our community guidelines and only abort games when necessary.
If your ability to abort has been removed, simply continue playing games without aborting. After playing a certain number of completed games, the option will be restored.
Check out this article to learn more about our Sportsmanship policy: What is Chess.com's sportsmanship policy?
My opponent aborted in the middle of the game! How can this happen?
In rare cases, your game may be aborted long after it starts, with no record of it ever happening. This can occur for different reasons:
Scenario
|
Details |
The Arena you were playing in has ended | When an Arena tournament ends, any ongoing games are automatically aborted. Since these games weren't completed within the Arena time, they cannot count toward Arena points and must be canceled. |
Both players disconnected | If both players disconnect at the same time and neither reconnects within 15 seconds, the game is aborted.
|
Server restart | If a scheduled server restart occurs while you're playing a game, the game will be aborted when the restart happens. |
This applies to regular games (both seeks and direct challenges) and Arena games, but not Swiss tournaments.