regarding timeouts

as mentioned in your message on chesshere sometimes they just cant be avoided ive timedout before because my comp died (i really loved that pc ) i think a warning (if there is no good reason) then its bye bye. its just a fact of life people get bored so they just cant be bothered.

each one i have removed i sent a message.and received no reply so thats when i removed them from the team...

I agree. One reminder and if the opponent still timesout then claim the game. I know its not an ideal way to win but it has to be done. At the moment I have one opponent who has timed out once on a 7 day move game, I have sent a reminder and it is now close to timing out again. There has only been one move in both games, that was my opening move as white so unfortunately if the timeout comes up again I will claim. I always send a reminder to opponents and always have done. It is galling though as when I have inadvertently timed out in games my opponent always claims the game without giving me another chance:(

I claim all Timeouts that opponents fall prey to & am happy for them to do the same if I've managed to neglect a game. I'm all for excessive offenders being removed from the team but a clear limit needs to be set I think as it's something that each of us is liable to, especially if you've had a heavy weekend of it.

With the vacation option there is really little excuse to time out. Although it is only a bit of fun I do think that there is a certain amount of responsibility to other players on the team.
My suggestion is that if someone times out they should post a message on the forum saying sorry and perhaps explaining any extenuating circumstances (i.e. my computer broke) perhaps a two week deadline. This I think shows a degree of commitment from the player and allows for a degree of flexibility in any rule. I think it would be unfair to expel someone when there are extenuating circumstances.
If they are not prepared to post a message then there is sufficient cause for expulsion as it shows they are not taking there responsibility to the team seriously enough.
I know it is a bit formal, but it seems fair to me.

i think that as this team carries on you should get the "right type of commitment" and timeouts will get fewer i think that like me most people got an invite to join so they probably 'thought it was a good idea at the time' but just got bored if people ask to join then you can expect more comittment from them. im not saying an invitation to join is a bad thing otherwise this team would probably have alot less members.

maybe we should all take any timeouts of our opponents and in the long run it will all even out

a couple of comments sent by message to me..

first by buzzwold

Hi Captain! To lose 30 games is criminal. I don\'t think it\'s draconian to remove people from the team for not complying with what, after all, is a pre-condition of playing chess online. It\'s correct chess etiquette. I also understand there are times when gals and guys may well lose connections, beyond their control. A friend of mine lost her line last year when a coconut tree cut through it in a storm. You have my vote in whatever you decide. Good luck Regards buzz

and gramstone

My first thoughts are, to find out why people timed out, but I guess you probably ask that anyway. Maybe set some rule in place on the expectations of being a team member, some advice on avoiding time outs and possibly a 3 counts and out rule?

I have claimed 4 time outs.... 2 did not make a move... 2 after 17 moves. I can't understand why someone wants to join a team and go time out

Timeouts are just indiscipline. If you know you can't make a move in time claim a holiday. I generally forgive my opponents two timeouts, but that's the limit.

Hi - first of all, please accept my apologies for my recent timeouts which occurred in won games. My attitude used to be that I was quite proud of my time out record, but then life keeps on happening, and games get missed. I check my games every day, but recently I have timed out in a load of games. Partly that was due to playing too many short games, and partly it was due to playing too many games full stop. Well I've got a few less games now. When it comes to dealing with the issue of timeouts, I really think that the team captain has to make a judgement call on it - is it in error, did the guy apologise, it this looking like a habit?? Lots of things influence the decision, but the team has a captain for good reason, and yes, you have to be reasonable, but then also, if you loose faith in someone, you can't realistically have them on your team. Maybe you start off reducing the games then are picked for..? I don't know, but I pledge to be more mindful now of my team games, and I'll try and rescue wins from defeats to make up for my errors.
ALB
SiColl007

hi SiColl007
thanks for the apology mate..dont feel this topic was aimed at you personly mate..your right in what you say mate about that is what we have a captain for..but the way i see it is..we are all members of this team and has such we all have an equal say on how it is run..also i do my best to try and keep players games within there prefs..and give them more or less games as they request them..sometimes they do get a couple more then they wanted due to the set up process on chesshere.also good point rimrunner on your topic..the invitation was to get the team started and i have since turned many players with bad records down.....

Hi Robbo
As you are obviously contacting them prior to kicking them out seems to me to be sufficient - if they cannot be bothered to reply & explain any circumstances then they should go - I suffered a few timeouts because i didn't take into account the Bank holiday & i only play at work [seems like a contadiction] i had to accept it was my stupidity

Paul

from leemcadam


I always give the benefit of the doubt to my opponent when it happens the first time, but if they continue to time out 2 or 3 times in a match and dont give a reason then i will lose my patience and take the win. I believe if people are not going to respond in time they should tell their opponent before hand and let them know. Or they should agree to longer response time before starting the game. Lee

Dave,

I think your judgement has been fair and in the teams interest so far, so I will go along with whatever you decide.

If someone timesout against me I will claim the win unless they send a message or i have played them before.

Adam

Perhaps, if you were to get a persistant offender, then he or she should only be picked for games with longer time controls. If they still time out then they only have themselves to blame if you kick them off the team.
If my opponents time out then I always send a reminder, especially if I'm losing ( Perhaps I should be more ruthless in team games though). If I am clearly winning then to claim the game on timeout just shortens the game a bit. On some sites the game is automatically ended when one player runs out of time. I have actually resigned games, which I was losing, on such sites because I didn't think I deserved to win them. ( Though, I wouldn't resign team games in such situations.)

myself & projectblue have decided to remove player smint from the team today.even though he is active on a daily basis he has timedout on 4 team games with a 7 days per move time control.also we have decided that any new member to the team must have a 10% or less timeout rating.........me & projectblue are here to help any member who is finding there games difficult.so please any player struggling with team games let us know thanks dave

To avoid further timeouts it is important that everyone makes sure the team captain is aware of their preferences, so if you have not yet posted yours please do so.

Also if you have reached the maximum amount of games you want, or Dave makes a mistake with your games, just send a quick message reminding him what you want. It is quite difficult to please everybody as Dave has to wait for other team captains to make decisions to accept or decline challenges, which sometimes take along time. He has to remember who he has sent on these challenges as they do not appear active until the challenged team accepts!!!

Hopefully we will not get too many more timeouts !!

Adam

A 1550 just timed out. He played one move. My retain did not go up, but team members will see 2 wins I did not win

if no more than 4 moves are played dave.your rating wont change mate..but the team will still get points.so i no what your saying dave about you did not win..but still take them mate....we have lost our fair share through people timeing out...i was just saying to projectblue that we have another 9 games that are going to be timeouts due to a player leaving chesshere and not willing to finish his team games......so dont feel bad dave....you just keep winning mate..apart from the team tournament give me a chance