Creating a sense of community by allowing people flexibility in choosing opponents

Summary: It would be nice to have a button when making a game request which would result in a preference for players you have already played. Such a box would create nice micro communities of players you would play repeatedly.

History: I was playing and I have always been fascinated by the lifetime game tracking under the game. It's rare that I actually play someone I've played before and I realized it's something I would like to do more. I don't have a lot of friends here and the ones I have are separated by many timezones. It would be nice if, when searching for opponents, the site gave preferential pairing to people I've already played. This creates a bit of history and rivalry that's missing from ordinary match selection. I could even envision small communities forming around this kind of thing.

I wonder what other people think about this idea. Let me know.

One of the best things about lichess is that I can seek a rated game against someone within 100 rating points of me and expect to get the match. So I'm not a big fan of implementing your idea because it might reduce the odds of me getting the game I'm looking for. But I totally understand where you are coming from - playing against good company beats playing against total "randos."

It seems like there are basically two ways to play chess. Fair random pairings, like at a tournament. Or manual match requests, like at a chess club with open playing. Fair and random is good for practice, as you focus more on the game and not the person. And manual challenges have more of a social aspect.

I think your goals might be met by reaching out and making more chess friends, joining groups, regular tournaments, etc.
As a new chess player, plus I was young, I probably would have liked your idea a lot. Now I'm at a point where making friends is always a nice bonus, but I just want the chess.

I think it will be really interesting for you to revisit this post in a few years from now - you might actually cringe in embarrassment. I say this with all respect, because I'm sure you will have plenty of chess friends - more than you have time to deal with - you will basically be the belle of the ball in your chess groups.

Or you might just decide that you prefer playing the game and not thinking about who you are playing against.

But interesting post. Cheers and have a great day!

I think this isn't implemented because it would potentially mess up the rating system. Since ratings are only relevant in the group they're established in, having a significant percentage of people who only play in one "smaller?" rating pool might damage the validity of ratings. Good concept though.

@jeffreyashton said in #2:
> I think it will be really interesting for you to revisit this post in a few years from now - you might actually cringe in embarrassment.

I think I'm actually on the other end of my chess journey. I'm 53 and I started playing chess when I was 5. I'm not a genius at chess, I enjoy the game because it's played by humans. There was a time when my motivation was to get better and playing higher ranked people to increase my ELO was very important to me, but that time has passed. Now I like the game as a social past time. (And if I'm honest I think this will become the norm because computer will change the way we play the game.)

Thanks for taking the time to respond. :)

Sounds interesting.

@jeffreyashton said in #2:
> you might actually cringe in embarrassment.

The only one who would actually cringe in embarassment going back over their past comments a few years later is you, btw (just sayin')

OP's idea is just a proposal and a wholesome one at that. Your reply, coated in sugar ("with all due respect" etc), is arrogant and dismissive.

Who are you to decide that that idea is so cringe that they are the only ones who don't see it yet? Or does having a title give you the right to poop in other people's pudding?