I notice that in nearly all of my games my opponents stall before playing their first move, whether as black or white, whether the game is casual or rated. Sometimes it is relatively quick, but most times they wait up to 10 seconds or longer. This is especially true in blitz and bullet.
Why do people do this? Are people attempting to "surprise" me thinking that I have lost focus waiting for them to make their first move?
Any thoughts? Does anyone else experience this?
probably to drink water or make sure that there on decent condition to play a game.
I have experienced this on occasion. Sometimes, I hesitate. I figure I should make sure I want to play the move I am thinking about. It costs me no time off my clock, so I might as well be certain whether I want to play a king pawn opening, for example. I don't like to stall too much, so I rarely do it. I suppose it would be better if I thought about what first move (as either white or black) I want to make before trying to play a game. It bothers me when people don't move in the space of the pre-game time. I often wonder if my rating is too low for people to risk playing me. Well, I generally play people who are at least 1620...and currently I am barely above 1600.
I think I should stop worrying about my rating...I should have fun and try to learn some new chess ideas.
I think intentional stalling before the first move is quite rare.
I often spend several seconds on looking at the opponent's ratings and the age of their accounts, to know how to play. (I have a broad repertoire and sometimes choose the openings accordingly. It's also good to know who has better chances if the 3+0 blitz game comes down to flagging.) But it mostly takes me below 10 seconds.
And sometimes I wait for more than a minute to get paired, so spending some seconds before the start is understandable, especially if I'm not at the board when getting paired. (Why should I keep staring at the monitor for 2 minutes while waiting to get paired? When I can do a bit of housework while waiting, coming back in a few seconds?)
I agree with you that some opponents spend more time on the initial move, and sometimes also find it a bit disturbing, especially when playing with White. Once I even faced an opponent who spent on the first move a second more than the maximal limit, yet without aborting the game. (No idea how, the opponent wasn't lagging that much, nor was I.) That account is no longer here, it was closed after 2-3 months.
On the other hand, perfectly decent players also do that sometimes, so it doesn't mean anything in itself.
Taking 10 seconds is "stalling"? Seriously?
@mkubecek said in #6:
> Taking 10 seconds is "stalling"? Seriously?
How is it *not* stalling? It is literally stalling, by definition.
@ILikeBlitz said in #5:
> I often spend several seconds on looking at the opponent's ratings and the age of their accounts, to know how to play. (I have a broad repertoire and sometimes choose the openings accordingly. It's also good to know who has better chances if the 3+0 blitz game comes down to flagging.) But it mostly takes me below 10 seconds.
> And sometimes I wait for more than a minute to get paired, so spending some seconds before the start is understandable, especially if I'm not at the board when getting paired. (Why should I keep staring at the monitor for 2 minutes while waiting to get paired? When I can do a bit of housework while waiting, coming back in a few seconds?)
> I agree with you that some opponents spend more time on the initial move, and sometimes also find it a bit disturbing, especially when playing with White. Once I even faced an opponent who spent on the first move a second more than the maximal limit, yet without aborting the game. (No idea how, the opponent wasn't lagging that much, nor was I.) That account is no longer here, it was closed after 2-3 months.
> On the other hand, perfectly decent players also do that sometimes, so it doesn't mean anything in itself.
How much can you really glean from looking at someone's account for 10 seconds? I'm sure it is different given your rating pool and pairings, but for normal people that play anonymous strangers on the internet with no titles -- especially those that sit in a lobby waiting for a game when I join -- continuing to sit without moving seems bizarre. I just don't get it.
@KyoKushkin said in #8:
> How much can you really glean from looking at someone's account for 10 seconds? I'm sure it is different given your rating pool and pairings, but for normal people that play anonymous strangers on the internet with no titles -- especially those that sit in a lobby waiting for a game when I join -- continuing to sit without moving seems bizarre. I just don't get it.
In 10 seconds I can see the opponent's bullet, blitz and rapid rating and the age of their account, which is quite a lot. At my level most of the opponents are titled, so when someone is untitled or appears so, it makes sense to look at the account a bit closer before starting the game. Having very little information is still better than having no information at all. Looking at the opponent's bullet rating gives me information what to expect when both sides get below 30 seconds. I usually don't rematch against untitled accounts which are just a few days old, as I'm very careful and uncomfortable facing opponents with no history.
At the 2800 blitz level I often repeatedly play the same opponents, and then I understandably do not need such measures.
@ILikeBlitz
You use the time to screen out potential cheaters?