23 consecutive rated pairings as the same color (lichess, are you there to help?!)

I initially posted when I made it to 13 in a row as black (lichess.org/forum/lichess-feedback/13-consecutive-rated-pairings-as-the-same-color) then 18. Now 23 consecutive rated pairings as black. My third post, but I have no way to get in touch with anyone from lichess other than to keep posting here.

Prior to switching to rated games, I was requesting casual games with the black pieces to test out new openings. I played probably 40+ casual games as black. Once I switched to rated games again, the streak began immediately and I haven't been paired as white since. I haven't played a rated game as white in over a month now.

THINGS TO KNOW (especially before you reply):
- There is 1 recent game where I played white; that was casual and I requested white in order to try to reset this issue.
- 5 games as black were aborted, so they will not appear in my history. The 18 consecutive black games that were played are there.
- I tried clearing cookies, cache, session, etc, but it didn't help.
- There's a 1 in over 8 million chance of this happening randomly. Add in the fact that I was requesting black games only prior to this and I don't even know how to compute those odds.
- For reference, I enter games by clicking "Create a Game" in the lobby, set my time control, the rating range, and select random color (the middle button).
- NO, this is not lichess balancing things because I have way more white games. For rated games, I have 31 more rated games as black than white.

HOW can I get someone from lichess to look in to this? I really don't want to leave this site for something awful like chess.com, but I can't keep dealing with this.

Well, if we accept the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics then there must be a universe in which you get 100 black games in a row if the color is selected randomly.

@inversed There's one world where I didn't waste £2.50 last week gambling on the Euromillions lottery using numbers he suggested! :)

I remember replying to your original post, but 23 consecutive games as black is quite the feat!

There shouldn't be any problems with the pairing system in terms of picking colors randomly but if you want to notify lichess of a possible technical issue, you can report the issue on the lichess github page:

github.com/ornicar/lila/issues

You've been handpicking white games for a while. Now you must make up for it and play the black pieces. Lichess eventually enforces color fairness for all players.

@thibault what do you mean, handpicking? As I stated, for rated games, I have 31 more rated games as black than white. I've never once, as far as I know, requested a specific side for a rated game before. If what you said is correct, shouldn't I be streaking with white pieces now and not black?! I don't understand what you're saying. Can you explain?

I also have about 400 more unrated games as black than white. So I really don't understand your point.

lol. I dont think you can pick black over and over in casual games and expect to get a bunch of games as white during rated games. I'm not sure if that is what you are expecting. I took the time to do an advanced search on your games. With rated games you are within 1% even.

total games
1103 games as white
1551 games as black

casual games
206 as white
623 as black

rated games
897 as white 49.1%
928 as black 50.9%
1825 total

@jperkins I'm not expecting that at all. Who said that? No one.... I said, if you read it again:

"Prior to switching to rated games, I was requesting casual games with the black pieces to test out new openings. I played probably 40+ casual games as black. Once I switched to rated games again, the streak began immediately and I haven't been paired as white since. I haven't played a rated game as white in over a month now."

I don't understand how you can misinterpret that.

And yes, I know I'm close to even between the games. I've had so many people on this forum, including the founder, say that lichess is adjusting because I've played more white games; whereas, if you look at the simple numbers, I've actually had more black games. So please, everyone, stop saying that. It clearly makes no sense at all.

rated games
897 as white 49.1%
928 as black 50.9%
1825 total

is all that is needed to be interpreted in my humble opinion. . It does look like you do have some games as white coming, but the matching system appears to be working as intended.

Sorry but this is all the help I can provide

@thibault do you have any response to my reply at lichess.org/forum/lichess-feedback/23-consecutive-rated-pairings-as-the-same-color-lichess-are-you-there-to-help#6? I know you're probably very busy, running this wonderful site, but I'm really taken back by your accusations that are not only completely false but also fail to make sense given the situation that I described. I can only assume that you made a (very) quick assumption after briefly skimming what I wrote.

I think it's very clear that there's some underlying issue with the pairing system; not only because of the odds of getting 23 straight black pairings, but also because it started immediately after requesting only black casual games for quite a while. Balance is clearly not the issue, because I have more rated games with black than white. And I never play rated games where I request a specific side. I originally created these posts to try to shed light on the potential bug, but now it's become so annoying I've had to start playing on another site. What else am I supposed to do?