Feature Request: Don't change rating points when terminating abandoned match

Long time no see :)

I started a rated game and part-way through the opponent disconnected from the match. The game was undecided so I decided to call the game a draw - it could have gone either way. I lost rating points as a result.

I think it would be better to mark the game incomplete, and rating points should not be updated.

Hope you're doing well, @thibault

Fide defines a chess game as both players making a move
article 5.2.3

Before then the game is not rated but after the moves have been played it is a game and can be rated regardless of the result
which includes your opponent leaving

So since there has been a game played it should be rated

Yes, but this is online chess - I could also claim the win. I'm being punished for not taking cheap points.

What hurts so much about taking cheap points?

Besides it's just one single rating point you're complaining about anyway

It's the principle. The game is incomplete. It's not a win, a draw, or a loss, it's incomplete. Rating points shouldn't play a factor.

Imagine this scenario. You play your first move as white then your opponent abandons the game. But you lose a point and they gain one. Sure it's just a point, but it's not great.

If the suggestion is *only* about draw scenario I don't have a strong opinion about it but if perhaps you're suggesting it rating calculation should be removed for claim victory too then that's surely wrong.
Players are responsible for their connections so if they disconnect, regardless of the position, they should lose and the opponent deserves rating even just for the loss of time.

But I think you're suggesting the former.

I think @Clarkey has a point here. If we consider rating as a match-making mechanism and not as some weird kind of currency, someone leaving a game during the opening due to connection issues is not very informative. If this happened more often, regardless of the outcome (draw or win claimed), it would somehow introduce statistical noise, or even some form of systematic error in the estimated ratings (e.g., related to connection strength and willingness to establish a draw when it would be warranted). However, because this is a rare occurrence (ironically, because people tend to see rating as more than the matchmaking mechanism it is), I think its effect is negligible.

@Clarkey said in #5:
> It's the principle. The game is incomplete. It's not a win, a draw, or a loss, it's incomplete. Rating points shouldn't play a factor.
>
> Imagine this scenario. You play your first move as white then your opponent abandons the game. But you lose a point and they gain one. Sure it's just a point, but it's not great.

ever considered people INTENTIONALLY cutting their connection when they're about to lose, and getting away without loss of rating points (and the opp being denied their points) under your suggested circumstances?

@Cedur216

I don't think I'm making myself understood.

Presently when a player disconnects you are provided two options: Claim victory, or claim a draw.

If a game hasn't developed very far, neither option makes sense. As the higher rated player I'm presented two options: be a dick and garnish points that I haven't earned, or claim a draw and lose rating points. Marking the game as incomplete, null-and-void, makes more sense.

I'm not saying the existing options need removing.

How do you define "very far"? And if I blundered very early or am not satisfied with the opening, can I disconnect intentionally?

Also nobody's a dick for claiming win.

> I don't think I'm making myself understood.

you do, except you're wrong in a practical way.