Two extremely good reasons to leave the "add time" feature:
1. The first week I was here, I got into an extremely tense mid/endgame. I dropped a piece out of the opening but used my time to fight back. The ending was so complex and sharp that my opponent gave me a few extra minutes because the position really was extremely interesting.
The good sportsmanship that I was shown, produced an affinity for the Lichess community that has survived to this day, (despite all of the obtuse counter-balances that I've encountered since).
Greeting new people, allowing takebacks on obvious slips, and conducting oneself, on balance, with general good cheer and good grace, is fantastic for this site.
Again, experiencing that level of respect for the spirit of chess, and for me as a chess player, by a fellow chess fan, by them offering me a few extra minutes, is something that no amount of money, nor any set of rules, can buy or force.
It's the single most potent and positive example of the chess world, at it's best, that I've experienced.
-
2. There are ways to use that "add clock" feature to catch cheaters.
This is not theory. This is factual.
Don't ask, I won't be disclosing anymore on that.
-
That said, I suppose if it was made "optional" it wouldn't be the biggest deal...
But at the same time...if we searched these forums for all of the, "Could we please add this little feature?"...we can only imagine how cluttered the site would quickly become.
There would be 205 different options in the preferences section, and from there I can only imagine that the coding would become exponentially more complex.
1. The first week I was here, I got into an extremely tense mid/endgame. I dropped a piece out of the opening but used my time to fight back. The ending was so complex and sharp that my opponent gave me a few extra minutes because the position really was extremely interesting.
The good sportsmanship that I was shown, produced an affinity for the Lichess community that has survived to this day, (despite all of the obtuse counter-balances that I've encountered since).
Greeting new people, allowing takebacks on obvious slips, and conducting oneself, on balance, with general good cheer and good grace, is fantastic for this site.
Again, experiencing that level of respect for the spirit of chess, and for me as a chess player, by a fellow chess fan, by them offering me a few extra minutes, is something that no amount of money, nor any set of rules, can buy or force.
It's the single most potent and positive example of the chess world, at it's best, that I've experienced.
-
2. There are ways to use that "add clock" feature to catch cheaters.
This is not theory. This is factual.
Don't ask, I won't be disclosing anymore on that.
-
That said, I suppose if it was made "optional" it wouldn't be the biggest deal...
But at the same time...if we searched these forums for all of the, "Could we please add this little feature?"...we can only imagine how cluttered the site would quickly become.
There would be 205 different options in the preferences section, and from there I can only imagine that the coding would become exponentially more complex.