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What is your policy on takebacks?

Every time you move your eyes, hands or say something, you are in a way assisting to the opponent.

With the help of one move deep, it makes a lot of difference. It removes blunders. All that is left is errors and imperfections.

If you are commenting a game, you need to leave your settings on for casual games. You explain to a student how to move and the student is not 100% listening ... they may place the piece on the wrong square and the variant you wanted to explain is gone. So you ask the student to press the take back and you accept to continue your subject matter.

If you play OTB rated ... if you touch a piece, you move it or remove it. With exception of knocking over a piece while reaching for another piece. Or the piece cannot move because of lack of mobility, like a rook in the opening position.

On the internet, there are mouse slips and miss clicks. Unfortunately there is no proof of the mouse slip or miss click or any type of clumsiness. If you have lots of time, then it is best to set preferences to Confirm moves.

So I recommend to that Rated games stay option to the ethics of the players. I level mine at not take backs for rated games, because getting asked to take back breaks my light train of thought. Concentration.

lichess.org/account/preferences/game-behavior
Here are the settings I use in Game behavior:

How do you move pieces? Click two squares
Premoves (playing during opponent turn): Yes
Takebacks (with opponent approval): In casual games only
Promote to Queen automatically: When premoving
Claim draw on threefold repetition automatically: Always
Move confirmation: Correspondence and unlimited
Confirm resignation and draw offers: Yes
Castling method: moving King two squares
Input moves with the keyboard: No

lichess.org/account/preferences/chess-clock
Give more time: In casual games only

lichess.org/account/preferences/privacy
Share your chess insights data: With everybody
Let other players challenge you: Only friends

I try to reduce the distracting bogus stuff when I concentrate during my game play.
Takebacks are beautiful, how could chess24 not have a redo option? That's crazy.
Depends on the circumstances. If i assume its an obvious mouseslip, i accept the takeback. But only if the position was equal before the mouseslip. If it was lost for my opponent anyways and the mouseslip just helps me to win faster i dont give takeback because i would have won anyways. And if i was worse before and my opponent mouseslips i give takeback, because i respect he was playing better than me and i dont want to win by the mouseslip
Rated games: What's a takeback?
Casual games: If it looks like a mouse slip, or if the player is really low rated

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