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Chessville
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Online Etiquettepart oneThe Internet has been a wonderful thing for chess, in my opinion. Online servers have made it possible to chat about and play chess more conveniently than we might have thought possible even a decade ago. However, the online world has its down side too, especially when it comes to common courtesy. In this article, I’d like to offer a little friendly “Ms. Manners” style etiquette advice for the online chess enthusiast. First, and most importantly, try to remember that there is another human being on the other end of the connection. When we can’t actually see the other person’s face or hear their voice, we have trouble taking seriously the reality of this other person. This makes speaking flippantly seem as harmless as mouthing off to a computer program. Keeping this in mind, try to make a rule of not doing or saying anything that you wouldn’t do or say if the person were right there in the room with you. I also recommend making full use of those cheesy little “emoticons”, like the smiley face: :-) or winking face: ;-) . They’re a bit goofy, but they let the other person know that your comments are meant to be taken in a friendly way, not in a snotty or sarcastic way. Remember: they can’t see your face or hear the tone of your voice, which makes it easy for them to misinterpret the things you say as rude rather than friendly. Generous use of emoticons can help prevent that. On the topic of misinterpretation, it can be very easy to misinterpret the tone or purpose of someone else’s online comments. Make it a point to assume that they are trying to be friendly and helpful unless they provide irrefutable evidence to the contrary. If they are quite clearly and obviously being rude, try not to respond instantly. If it’s a real-time conversation, count to ten before responding. If you are posting to a message board, consider waiting 24 hours before responding. This will allow you to cool off a bit and respond in a controlled and rational manner, which will help keep the situation from escalating. Alternatively, consider not replying at all. Rude chatters usually get their kicks by aggravating others, so denying them their kicks by not responding is often the best revenge While playing serious games, I recommend keeping the chit-chat to a minimum. I do suggest a friendly and polite “Good luck” before the game, and “Good game” after, but that’s about it. I’d like to especially emphasize the post-game “Good game” (or “gg” for short). Whether you’ve won or lost, it’s a bit rude to simply log off after the game without a “gg” virtual handshake, as it were. During the game, though, play without talking. If your opponent makes comments or asks questions, do respond politely, but briefly, and hopefully they’ll get the idea that you’d like to save the conversation until after the game. If they don’t catch the hint, then say so, politely. Of course, there are times when you’re feeling more social than serious, and you might actually like to chat a bit while playing. However, unless you are co-analyzing or kibitzing for instructional purposes, I recommend saving chit-chat for the chat area (which most online chess servers have). Chatting, even during a social game, promotes sloppy play that can spill over onto your serious games. You’ll notice that there’s really nothing too original in this article: it’s just common-sense common courtesy. And in my experience (other than the logging-off-without-a-“gg”-virtual-handshake thing), most players follow these rules without having to be told so. However, there is a small contingent of extremely rude chess players out there. In part two of this article, I’ll give some advice on how to deal with these little snots . . . Copyright 2002 S. Evan Kreider. Used with permission.
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