what was your biggest rage quit over the site and why did you have it? what did you break/do?
Mouse slip with a queen that would have been mate instead got my queen captured by a pawn. I was in the school (university) library so I couldn't rage like I wanted to but I was mad.
A mouse slip when I was in serious time trouble. Punched my pillow.
In my defense I was playing while sick, but once in a 10+0 game I exchanged my Queen and two pawns for two Rooks and a Knight. As soon as my Queen left the board the red mist took over and I immediately resigned.
So why was this so bad? The exchange removed the defense around the King and I had mate in 4. First I rage quit, then I lost my shit when Stockfish showed that I had a won game.
I'd like to say being sick contributed to me misreading the board, but the sad truth is I simply suck at reading the board whenever a clock is involved.
At least after rage quitting things improved. I chugged some NyQuil, went to bed, slept for 10 hours, and had some super trippy lucid dreams.
So why was this so bad? The exchange removed the defense around the King and I had mate in 4. First I rage quit, then I lost my shit when Stockfish showed that I had a won game.
I'd like to say being sick contributed to me misreading the board, but the sad truth is I simply suck at reading the board whenever a clock is involved.
At least after rage quitting things improved. I chugged some NyQuil, went to bed, slept for 10 hours, and had some super trippy lucid dreams.
Idk why but I never rage in chess. I get more dissapointed, especially if I play in one of them classical tournaments where you play with 20+10 time controls and the game lasts for 45 minutes and your opponent don't want to resign and it's mate in 1 and he lets the time run out and he has ten minutes left. Or he turns out to be Stockfish after I lose a game.
Interesting question, I am not certain this question applies to every chess player, maybe many :) Approaching this question on a slightly philosophical note, I think it has more to do with the inherent nature of the person rather than the external circumstance or situation on the board they are faced with. From my understanding, it seems to have a lot to do with what the player is attached to or desires to achieve through the game. And the so called rage comes from not being able to achieve their desired outcome or being hindered along the process.
I know this isn't exactly going in direction you might've wanted, but this is great for my own personal reflection and might ring a bell for a few of you as well. I do recall playing my first lichess game, against a cheater in classical time control (they were rated under 1500 if I recall correctly). Good news is they were banned, but on the downside I wasn't 'refunded' my lost rating points, and you can imagine the hit it takes to one's rating on a new account. I wasn't concerned about the points I lost, but the fact that it was going to take quite a lot more time to climb the rating ladder and get a chance to play stronger opposition - something I desired because I wanted to improve my chess skill (underlying motive to have a deeper appreciation for the nuances of this game).
With that being said, I could say that my attachment to wanting to grow as a chess player did make me 'rage', maybe not to the degree or extent as you would expect, but I might define it as frustration to a limited extent. Regardless, I was able to overcome this, because I consciously made sure to forget the past, whatever happens happens is basically my mindset - just learn from it and move on.
I think this is a key takeaway for anyone that thinks they rage a lot playing this game is, ask yourself what do you desire from this game of chess? It might be increasing your rating, the desire to win, improving your chess skill or whatever else it may be. Then whenever you can feel that emotion brewing up, see if it is because it conflicts with a desire you have identified earlier. If that is the case, then you basically have verification of what makes you angry. The next step is the hard part, which is to work towards dropping the desire?!?!, which is a concept you can find in many spiritual teachings. My personal viewpoint is, if you can play the game just for the sake of the game itself, you will always be in a positive mood regardless of what happens.
Desires like learning of wanting to grow is beneficial, but not at the cost of losing your temper. For instance, lets say person A studies many chess books and gets coached as a means to better their chess. They play for a year and haven't seen any improvement in their rating or playing strength, which might've made them upset, angry or dejected. In this scenario, instead of feeling down, person A would carefully note what made them angry (not improving in this case). Then, they should just drop the desire to better their game and instead just enjoy the game for what it is. Many times there is an underlying motive being these desires. Try to see what yours are! You will learn a lot about yourself this way, I guarantee it. Final word, you don't need to sacrifice your happiness in the short term just to have it handed back to you in the long run. Happiness is within, don't need to go chasing after it :)
I know this isn't exactly going in direction you might've wanted, but this is great for my own personal reflection and might ring a bell for a few of you as well. I do recall playing my first lichess game, against a cheater in classical time control (they were rated under 1500 if I recall correctly). Good news is they were banned, but on the downside I wasn't 'refunded' my lost rating points, and you can imagine the hit it takes to one's rating on a new account. I wasn't concerned about the points I lost, but the fact that it was going to take quite a lot more time to climb the rating ladder and get a chance to play stronger opposition - something I desired because I wanted to improve my chess skill (underlying motive to have a deeper appreciation for the nuances of this game).
With that being said, I could say that my attachment to wanting to grow as a chess player did make me 'rage', maybe not to the degree or extent as you would expect, but I might define it as frustration to a limited extent. Regardless, I was able to overcome this, because I consciously made sure to forget the past, whatever happens happens is basically my mindset - just learn from it and move on.
I think this is a key takeaway for anyone that thinks they rage a lot playing this game is, ask yourself what do you desire from this game of chess? It might be increasing your rating, the desire to win, improving your chess skill or whatever else it may be. Then whenever you can feel that emotion brewing up, see if it is because it conflicts with a desire you have identified earlier. If that is the case, then you basically have verification of what makes you angry. The next step is the hard part, which is to work towards dropping the desire?!?!, which is a concept you can find in many spiritual teachings. My personal viewpoint is, if you can play the game just for the sake of the game itself, you will always be in a positive mood regardless of what happens.
Desires like learning of wanting to grow is beneficial, but not at the cost of losing your temper. For instance, lets say person A studies many chess books and gets coached as a means to better their chess. They play for a year and haven't seen any improvement in their rating or playing strength, which might've made them upset, angry or dejected. In this scenario, instead of feeling down, person A would carefully note what made them angry (not improving in this case). Then, they should just drop the desire to better their game and instead just enjoy the game for what it is. Many times there is an underlying motive being these desires. Try to see what yours are! You will learn a lot about yourself this way, I guarantee it. Final word, you don't need to sacrifice your happiness in the short term just to have it handed back to you in the long run. Happiness is within, don't need to go chasing after it :)
I don't think I've had a rage quit here on LiChess. It's been many years and I've gotten over getting upset at just a game. (I play for fun, it's not serious for me.)
Worst thing I've done here on LiChess is make a bad move and resign and hammer a beer (when I was already in a bad mood).
BUT, in my youth (when Yahoo Chess was a thing) ... I once threw a 15-inch CRT out of a second-story apartment window. It survived, thanks to the shrubs below the window. The computer it was attached to, however, got dragged into the wall pretty hard and died (and the power cable clipped me when it pulled itself from the power strip). Those were the days. Young and dumb and every little thing was an annoyance. I got myself a monster 23-inch Sun Micro CRT after that ... (a little more difficult to pick one of those up and throw, chuck or even heft it through a window.) I miss the good old days.
Worst thing I've done here on LiChess is make a bad move and resign and hammer a beer (when I was already in a bad mood).
BUT, in my youth (when Yahoo Chess was a thing) ... I once threw a 15-inch CRT out of a second-story apartment window. It survived, thanks to the shrubs below the window. The computer it was attached to, however, got dragged into the wall pretty hard and died (and the power cable clipped me when it pulled itself from the power strip). Those were the days. Young and dumb and every little thing was an annoyance. I got myself a monster 23-inch Sun Micro CRT after that ... (a little more difficult to pick one of those up and throw, chuck or even heft it through a window.) I miss the good old days.
Online I might get mad for a second (on here it's usually the site deciding it's going to update while I'm about to win a game causing me to flag, that's usually the way it happens) but real life losses are much harder to take especially if they are of the longer and more dramatic variety. Of course you can't be a sportsman if you show your rage at the board or in the room but when you are alone after the game is a different story.
I've never experienced a rage quit or even anger from playing chess, but I have experienced anxiety, fear, hubris, sloth, and other nameless emotions while playing chess..... and i've noticed that when my ego is relaxed I play much much better. An inflated sense of self seems to manufacture unsavory emotions which pollute the state of pure being and thought that is needed to play well. =Just saying.
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