Respect your opponent
Correspondence can be interesting and stimulating.
However, I suggest avoiding unpleasant subjects of correspondence.
Subjects
such as politics and religion may of great interest to you but can lead
to
bitter disagreements and unpleasantness. I really don't like it when an
opponent feels it his duty to convert me to his religious view. At
times it
seems as though I put more effort into writing my responses to the
message
than to the chess moves. Do not create a situation where your opponent
dreads receiving your messages (it's OK if he dreads receiving your
powerful
moves).
Respond to correspondence
When an opponent asks a question, respond with an
answer. However, there is nothing wrong with playing without regular
correspondence. Respect an opponent's desire to simply play without
(what
some competitors have described as) the distraction of correspondence.
Personally, I love to chat with my opponents and find it a significant
part
of my pleasure in CC.
Play strictly by the rules
It is not bad sportsmanship to expect your
opponents to play strictly by the rules, and you should do the same
without
question. If your opponent oversteps the time limit, do not hesitate to
follow the specified procedure and report the overstep. If an error
occurs
that calls for a time penalty (such as sending an illegal move) record
the
extra time, whether for you or your opponent. Such an action should be
a
non-issue. If there is a dispute about a violation then submit it to
the
proper authority, such as the Tournament Secretary (TS) or Controller.
This is not an insult to either player.
Remember this if your opponent reports your violation.
Write clearly and be complete
It's frustrating to receive a reply with
difficult to read information. It should not be necessary for an
opponent
to resort to using a magnifying glass and consulting friends to decipher
your writing. This seems obvious, but bad writing is not unusual in my
experience.
Record proper dates
Do not cheat on recording dates. Part of the skill
required for success in CC is the discipline of playing within the time
limits.
Record all required information
It is often a requirement that you record
information (your opponent's last move[s], postmark, dates received and
replied and time used by both players). A surprising number of my
opponents
do not go to the trouble, though.
Taking advantage of mistakes
There is absolutely nothing improper about
taking full advantage of an opponent's mistake. CC measures not only
pure
chess skill but also consistency, accurate record keeping, developing
and
following a good methodology and other skills. Notation errors,
oversights,
ill-advised "if" moves, recording errors, etc. are all the
responsibility of
the players.
An example: I started a game with 1. d4. My opponent replied
1...g6 if "any" then 2...Bg7. After 1. d4 g6 2. Bh6 Bg7 3. Bxg7
he resigned
gracefully. Mistakes are a big part of chess competition. If you are
on
the wrong end of an error, accept it without complaint. If you make a
bad
move, even one based on a notation error, do not ask your opponent to
let
you take it back.
Avoid excessive "gamesmanship"
One example: a player wrote an opponent
claiming to be his own wife. "She" said her husband was dying and his
last
wish was to obtain a Master rating, which would occur if he won this
game.
Would he resign? Though he did not resign he was quite distracted and
lost
the game. I believe "gamesmanship" of this type is bad CC etiquette
indeed!
Send a final message
When an opponent resigns or agrees to a draw, send a
final "good-bye" message to furnish some closure. After playing for
months
or years it is not very nice to just "take the point and run".
Leave off the Question Marks
If your opponent makes a terrible move he will
suffer enough in the play of the game. Do not embarrass him further by
applying a question mark (or exclaims to your own moves). I see nothing
wrong with giving your own move a "?" or an opponent's move an "!" when
appropriate. Of course, it is possible that your opponent may take
offence
if you blame all of his successes on your bad moves!
Do not ask your opponent to resign
Although it is sometimes annoying when an opponent plays on in a lost
position,
it is never appropriate to ask an opponent to resign. In this case you
should let your
chess moves do your talking.
Playing on in a bad position
If you are totally busted then it may be best
to resign. If you feel that you can still learn something, still have a
defensive resource, the position is complex or can be made complex
(inviting
a mistake by your opponent) or you are unsure that your opponent really
has
a won game, you need make no excuses for playing on.
Avoid analyzing the current game
I dislike it when an opponent discusses
the details of our current game position. General remarks such as "the
attack begins!" or "it looks like you've won a pawn" do not bother me.
Listing possible lines of play or giving detailed evaluations of
positions
seems inappropriate. Leave such comments till after the game has
finished.
Silent withdrawal scum
The worse thing a CC player can do, in my opinion,
is to disappear without trace. If you choose to quit for any reason you
must notify your opponents and tournament secretaries. For those who
violate this simple rule of etiquette all sorts of reasonable
punishments
come to mind. I shall not repeat them here. You know what I mean!
Never
be a "withdrawal scum"!
Remember the "Golden Rule"
In your correspondence, treat your opponent as
you would like to be treated. We are all friends sharing this wonderful
experience that is called correspondence chess.
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