What is the criteria used to close an Off Topic Discussion?

@MoistChess
Why do you state the standards on this site are extremely low?Compared to what?
The admins here are not obliged to justify themselves to you,or anyone else,for that matter.This site is by far the most open I have encountered.
@Sarg0n is right about moderation(or rather lack of it) on chess.com....but be careful what you wish for.Zero moderation=open trolling and hate-posting.

Actually as a moderator in a German chess forum I can tell: There are guidelines but we usually have a good gut feeling. And if we want to do something we‘ll do. Without explanation i.e. only internal discussion. The admins are responsible for everything so they just „do“.

Love it or leave it.

@Sarg0n
That is exactly as it should be.All moderators on all kinds of sites operate within a set of guidelines decided by management. In my experience,(with the huge exception of one particular chess site),moderators are normal people ,usually with a degree of life-experience (I hate that term,but it describes the thought).

As a former moderator on chess other forums there were sometimes some complaints about that we hurt their right to free expression. But that's between the person and his country / gouverment, not between the person and another person or company which provides a internet forum.

So when it gets too rude i would close. And anyway i would like to see chess forums without politics, nationalism and rassism.

It might me sufficient if someone permanently casts a shadow over the forum. The admins won't tolerate this.

@Karpfenkopf
You would like to see chess forums which only allow chess?Start your own and ban everyone who says hello...hello is not chess-related.
You yourself just broke your own rule...suppression of free speech is always a political thing.But I guess you have decided you don't have to follow the rules...

@bunyip There is of cource a place to say hi, what music you are listening, and so on in the off topic corner of such a community. But the owner of a community could setup specific property rules, e. g. don't allow anything off topic or at least don't allow some specific categories which always get toxic. That all would be no suppression of free speech.

@Karpfenkopf
What you are actually saying is that you would shut down all discussions that presented a different view to your own.You changed to allow open discussion,but then you say it must be only according to what you personally think.That,of course would be your prerogative on your own site.You may struggle to hold members,though.

@bunyip I never changed something. I never wrote that i wouldn't allow a "Hallo"-post. That was your interpretion of my first post so i had to correct the missunderstanding.

I've seen a lots of stuff like that in different well running forums and communities:
"#4 - No religious or political debate or commentary in the regular forums. Religion and politics are important and deeply personal, but Chessdotcom is a friendly community where we come together around a common love for chess and debating these two topics tend to pull people apart. If you would like to discuss religion or politics, you may do so in many of the private clubs on Chessdotcom."

Of course the moderation should take care to avoid double standards. If not, people will leave.

As a moderator in yet another big forum (100k+ users) some 15 years ago, I agree with @Sarg0n and @bunyip .

There are (internal) guidelines, but there also is some margin of discretion, and the latter actually is very vital for good moderation.

Explaining every decision to your users may sound good on paper, but most of what it does is giving hints and tools for those who are willing to bend the rules and engage in endless rules-lawyering.

We have to trust them to do their job.