Your policy on blocking?

#10: Gyms improve your health, thus combating diseases and death (depression, cancer, car accidents, heart attacks, and so on).

Learning about the world that you live in helps you better deal with situations that arise in it. New laws? New diseases? New discoveries about food you eat? If your knowledge about the world is outdated, what’ll you do when your knowledge is tested?

Moving pieces on a board is a hobby: Hobbies are a method that we employ to waste time. Are they fun? Yes. Should we have them? If we want them, yes. Are they a nice way to waste an afternoon? Yes. Do they help us progress through life and become stronger, smarter individuals? No. Hobbies are a supplement to productivity.

Enjoyment isn't inherently a waste of time; hobbies are, however. Productive enjoyment could come from being proud of your improved health after using the gym, and so on.
—
#12: What’s with your tone? Are you having a bad day?

@Shadow1414

I think your perspective makes no sense.

But feel free to go to the gym in order to lift weights, then find out the weights have been removed, but you're not allowed to leave for the next hour anyway.

Or read that book, and then you find out on the first page that it offers nothing you don't already know, but you must keep going and read the remaining 250 pages.

There, I fixed your "better ways to spend time" for you.

PS: I don't think it is appropriate to judge what I think is valuable to me and what isn't.

@shadow1414 #11

Gyms improve your health, thus combating diseases and death (depression, cancer, car accidents, heart attacks, and so on).

I do not doubt any of this, my dear interlocutor. My point was never to discredit working out as a fruitful activity but rather to express my scepticism about your strong belief in chess being a “waste of time”, a rather arbitrary phrase, don’t you think? Attaching more utility to gym sessions than to chess games is a matter of personal preference, not a universal measure of “better” time spent.

As for the case you put forward about learning more about our world, again, I don’t disagree with your points. But I also don’t see how your arguments necessarily contradict mine. What one considers “productive” varies between individuals. Your #7 implies that if nadjarostowa considers engaging in a chess game with “trollish” players to be a waste of time, then they should not play chess at all since chess itself is a waste of time. This warrants a question mark as “waste of time” is a subjective measure. With utmost respect, I fail to comprehend your reasoning for using personal preference to dictate how others should utilise their time to maximise so called “productivity.” The definitive tone you adopted was puzzling.

As for your final paragraph #11, you call hobbies a waste of time yet in the same breath describe them as a supplement to productivity. A supplement by definition supports and enhances, so which is it? Even if we go by your definition of productivity (becoming stronger, smarter, more capable), chess still qualifies. Many people love the social side of chess, and neuroimaging provides substantial evidence that it’s excellent exercise for the mind. Some even make a profession out of it. By your own standard, chess isn’t waste at all. And in framing it as a supplement, you’ve already conceded it adds value. Your argument kind of shoots itself in the foot...

Enjoyment is the core of hobbies; they’re inseparable. By definition, a hobby is an activity pursued for enjoyment. Yet you claim enjoyment isn’t inherently a waste of time while also claiming hobbies are. What are you getting at? Relatedly, many professions and careers start as hobbies chess, music, coding, sports, art all began as someone’s “wasted afternoon.” If that’s waste, then entire industries are built on it.

(If I have misrepresented any of your points, let me know!)

blocking players for their chess play is rather silly imo. when you see bad play just punish it

They are sexist, racist, or otherwise using hate speech.

Opponent abandons game - block
Opponent runs clock down rather than resign in lost position - block
Opponent aborts because they don't want to play black - block

Don't wish to come across these losers ever again, life is too short

Blocking and reporting are tools that impact how we engage with the chess community. While they can be necessary in certain situations, overusing them may lead to social exclusion.

It's worth reflecting on whether we're using blocking to protect ourselves or simply to avoid differing opinions.

@nadjarostowa said in #7:

Some people very clearly only play to flag you, or play utterly stupid stuff, like 1.e4 d5 2. exd5 Bf5, or 1... a5, 2... Ba6 etc.

If your aim is to play a sensible game of chess, not to prove that you can win against "idiots", then the next 2, 5, 10, 20 minutes or whatever are a complete waste of your lifetime. If you win, you got nothing out of this game, and if you don't (which you very well might, as it might be quite hard to concentrate against this nonsense, lacking all motivation to do so), you not only wasted your time but also your rating.

Speaking for myself, I only play 15+10 and 5+3 games, and I don't recall opponents playing stupidly; perhaps it has happened, but very rarely. And even against those who make bizarre opening moves, the outcome of the game is indipendent from them, and you always have to fight hard to win.

What you're saying probably happens in bullet games, which I don't play because I see them as very far from my personal idea of chess.
So seeing it from the outside, as a non-involved player, if I had to express an opinion, I would say that in such fast-paced games, where time is the deciding factor and flagging isn't prohibited ( I guess ), it's quite normal that many rely on it, because it's allowed.
In other words, if I played bullet, I would expect a certain number of games to end in flagging contests. I wouldn't blame those who do so, because it seems to me to be inherent in the format itself : it's the format that allows this and induces it, in a sense. I don't think I would block them because they flag.

But as I was saying, I don't know much about bullet. Just an idea.

Second game today. Playing 30+20 so I wait forever for a pairing. Finally get matched. Knob end plays 1.h3 2. resigns.

Would anybody NOT block this douchebag?

Just like a chess book stands out with a compelling cover, a chess player’s profile should reflect their passion and commitment. An empty profile does the opposite, giving the impression of indifference. I find it easier to block a simple, empty profile than one that a player has put real effort into.

https://lichess.org/rel/blocks

My present block list is empty. I try to clear it our regularly. It makes me feel better.