CHESSDOTCOM WEIRD BEHAVIOUR

It is surprising. When trying to see the country of my opponent, that chess platform did not reveal it directly. Instead, it showed me the banner

"Click to see our stance on the war in Ukraine"

I am surprised because it is a chess platform that declares that it does not allow political propaganda.

It is even more impressive that it shows the US flag of the opponent and does not say

"Click to see our stance on the occupation of Iraq"

It also shows the Israeli flag and does not say

"Click to see our stance on the Gaza genocide"

Thus, that chess platform politicizes sports while doing it selectively and discriminatively.

There are other such features on that platform, too.

I am playing on such a platform only because I hope there are sufficiently many strong players.

I do not regard it as the best chess platform, and I do not appreciate such politicization of sports, particularly if it is selective and biased.

This is a disclaimer.

RATING 2300

Today, I scored 2300 in rapid chess on the Chesstempo platform. This is not the ELO rating but the Glicko rating.

It is not expected to rise. Instead, it is expected to decrease. 

I am not a very strong chess player, and there is an additional obstacle: there are not enough players on Chesstempo. Most of the time, I have to play with someone who is 200 points below my rating. As a result, even a draw would be harmful to my rating.

It is so even though Chesstempo is one of the best chess platforms on the internet. 

The popularity of the service is not directly related to its quality. This is a well-known fact from the theory of conventions. For example, the most popular social media platforms are far from the best. 

TACTICS: TWO KNIGHTS DEFENCE, 4 d3

With black pieces, I had an interesting rapid game on ChessDOTCom:

juradolebron - Mikreomeister 2024

FIDE ONLINE ARENA LOST CONNECTION

Today, I tried to play some games on FIDE Online Arena. 

Just as several years ago, suddenly, that Arena "lost connection".

FIDE Online Arena - connection lost

It happened in the section "World Chess". 

It's important to note that my internet connection was stable and did not drop during the game. 

Also, I did NOT switch the windows during the game. And I had only one window opened.

Moreover, I was able to surf on that Online Arena. Finally, I was able to go back to my game. Unfortunately, it still warned me that I had "lost connection".

Worse, the site demanded I "reconnect." However, what is the sober method for "reconnecting," and where is it explained? The only official explanation I later found from the Support section did not help:

Press "reconnect"

So where is that "Reconnect" button to press? If it was visible, it did not work at all.

Note that this Online Arena asks for 50 euros annually to obtain an official FIDE online rating and other comfortable services.

Of course, I shall not pay a single cent for that service.

Today, I played only two or three rated games in the "World Chess" section. In the second one, a low-rated opponent seemingly used a chess engine during the game. In the last one, I lost the game due to Online Arena's beautiful features.

Please reconnect with yourself if you want. 

I do not need such chess platforms (there are several such platforms) that arbitrarily declare that you have "lost connection".

Goodbye