I love the site Lichess, it's what first got me into chess when almost five years ago my friend sent me a lichess link to play online. Back then I was a beginner and didn't know anything, I had no idea about time controls, for the first six months or so I was playing I just assumed normal chess games were around five minutes a side and that 15 minutes per side was a really long game, because that's how lichess was. When I found out serious tournament games were several hours per side I was shocked, but also relieved, as before I was wondering how championship games could be played so well with only five minutes per side.
Anyway to get to the point - why exactly is it that Lichess calls for example, a 5 minuter per side game with a 5 second increment a "classical time control"? Why are people playing 5 + 5 games being rated in the same "classical" category as people playing 60 + 60 games? Over the years I've seen Lichess evolve, implement several great new features, and surge in popularity. I believe one key to it's success has been that they listen to feedback and are always trying to make the site better. Here's one thing that needs to change, calling a 5 + 5 game classical and putting it in the same category as a 60 + 60 game is incorrect, confusing, and makes the rating system inaccurate. Perhaps Lichess should expand what's considered blitz, add a new "rapid" category for games around 30 minutes a side, and save the "classical" label, for games that are an hour or more.
"Classical" on lichess is in fact blitz.
It is difficult to play "real" classical online: stare at a screen for hours plus the cheating issue.
FIDE calls "blitz": every time control of less than 15 min/player/game where a second of increment counts as a minute total.
FIDE calls "rapid": time controls between 15 and 60 min/player, where a second of increment counts as a minute total.
FIDE calls "classical": time controls of more than 60 min/player, where a second of increment counts as a minute total.
This means that 15+0, 10+5 are "rapid".
60+0, 30+30 are "classical".
lichess should stop using the term "classical" this way; it's silly.
People stare at screens for hours anyway, when they play videogames, or watch youtube, or whatever else it is they do online. I've also not found cheating in long games any more prevalent than other time controls. In fact I think it discourages it since a cheater would be waiting ten, twenty minutes perhaps between moves. There's chess bots that cheat at bullet now, you realize that? Here's a guy using a bot to beat stockfish 8 on Lichess in a one minute game
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXiYGmTUO30 Now back to the topic of the main post, which is as you wrote above is that"Classical on lichess is in fact blitz". I agree, and that's what the problem is. Why not just call things what they are? It's kind of like going to track and field event where they're calling a 100 meter dash a marathon. How language is supposed to work is that you use words for what they mean.
I also occasionally watch the youtube videos of Tony Rotella, he plays 15 minute per side games on lichess and gives commentary while he plays, but he calls them rapid games in his videos. Everyone else, every other chess site and organization, seems to understand that they shorter time controls aren't "classical" except for Lichess, which for a reason still unapparent to me calls 5+5 games "classical". I can only think this is something that the site did since the start and never bothered to fix it. Should people playing 5+5 games really be put in the classical rating pool with people playing 60 + 60 games? It's just a suggestion to make the site better.
You are quite right, but if lichess would use the FIDE nomenclature, then 96% of all games on lichess would fall into the category blitz. There has been a thread here of somebody who has analysed the time controls on lichess and even if you multiply the number of games by the time per game blitz makes up 85%.
lichess.org/forum/general-chess-discussion/lichess-time-control-statistics?page=1Why do people prefer shorter time controls? Cheating and screen staring may be reasons. It seems logical that cheating is more prevalent at longer time controls, as it is easier. Also the other way around, it is not as bad to lose a blitz game against a cheater, but spend hours and then realise it was a computer is worse. Also cheating for sure is more prevalent on line than over the board, hence longer time controls over the board and faster time controls online. Yes people spend long times behind screens, but chess requires concentrated focus and that is more straining to the eyes.
Now whatever the reasons, people play more blitz online.
If we were to categorize time controls according to FIDE, then 85% of all game time would fall under blitz, 15% under rapid and nearly none under classical. Then the blitz players would complain that 3+0 is completely different from 10+0, and that there are so much more blitz games that justify separate categories as compared to classical with a category for nearly no play.
Maybe there should then come sub-categories like blitz fast and blitz slow.
What about just adding a Rapid category between 10 and 30 minutes, and a Semi-Rapid category between 30 and 60?
FIDE: "rapid" = 15-60. As said "rapid" counts for 4% of games and 15% of played time on lichess, so surely does not justify 2 sub-categories.
I would not object if lichess would extend the present "blitz" up to 14 minutes and then rename the "classical" category of 15 and more to "rapid".
The "hourly classical" would then become "hourly blitz 10+0".
The fide is the fide and lichess is lichess , I believe that so is well
#1 +1 Completely d'accord with your words. But I would be highly surprised if the decision makers (!) would change it in our favour. That's the misunderstand anyhow: Lichess is not democratic just because it is open source and free.
The way forward is for lichess to invent its own terminology that makes sense (bullet, hyperbullet, blitz, hyperblitz whatever etc.), adopting FIDE terms when it needs them. If you can call 15 minutes games rapid, fine, let's add that. Something between rapid and blitz? Slow Blitz?
I don't have good suggestions for the names, but lichess has done a good job of naming things so far, it just needs to stop mis-using terms like "classical" and instead use new terms of its own, using existing terms only when they make sense with the established expectations. An 8 minute game is blitz. Even a 20 minute game is not classical.