A Mercy rule is impractical and unfair for 2 main reasons.
1) It destroys the meaning of the clock and ruins any opportunity to flag your opponent. If you have an extra queen, but only 5 seconds and are not threatening mate, but I have a whole 2 minutes on my clock then you should lose that game to me.
2) It destroys sacrifices. Suppose I sacrifice both knights and my queen against you for a mating attack. You should NOT be granted some sort of automatic victory because my material dropped to -15 when I have a mate in 2.
1) It destroys the meaning of the clock and ruins any opportunity to flag your opponent. If you have an extra queen, but only 5 seconds and are not threatening mate, but I have a whole 2 minutes on my clock then you should lose that game to me.
2) It destroys sacrifices. Suppose I sacrifice both knights and my queen against you for a mating attack. You should NOT be granted some sort of automatic victory because my material dropped to -15 when I have a mate in 2.
@lurarose Perhaps in the scenario of a sac into a forced mate, the mercy does not apply. I think that would be straight forward enough.
@bkzeal That sort of rule would be ANYTHING but straightforward. Often times a sacrifice is not a direct winning attack. Sometimes it is positional and deep, but no direct mate is found near after on the horizon yet there is clear compensation. Also, it doesn't address the clock factor at all. If you want to win, then win. If you worry about getting flagged then play with an increment on longer time controls. In fast time controls the clock is just as much of a factor as the position on the board.
Don't like blitz? Don't play blitz.
I enjoy the longer games of blitz because you can calculate AND play it intuitively, and flag people who are taking too much time calculating lines. It's mostly just casual fun.
Bullet is probably what you'd hate more. Super-speedy games where you have to try not to lose on time, get checked, get checkmated, and have to premove often. Fun for some, but not me.
Ultra-bullet now is what you'd really hate. There's barely calculation involved, just sometimes things like scholar's mate but it's all about premoving and flagging 100% of the time.
Rapid is a very fun time control that gives you enough time to calculate and also doesn't make you want to go to sleep waiting on the opponent.
Classical isn't played as much as anything else on lichess, it seems, even though it's classical. I myself used to play it very often but nowadays the waiting time is a bit too close to making me very impatient.
Then there's the final time control, Correspondence. The one where you make a move every day or few days and the game continues slowly. Created for mailing and stuff, not sure why anyone would want to play it on lichess but I used to. I mean, it gives you time to sleep over the game and think about what to do. But not very fun.
I enjoy the longer games of blitz because you can calculate AND play it intuitively, and flag people who are taking too much time calculating lines. It's mostly just casual fun.
Bullet is probably what you'd hate more. Super-speedy games where you have to try not to lose on time, get checked, get checkmated, and have to premove often. Fun for some, but not me.
Ultra-bullet now is what you'd really hate. There's barely calculation involved, just sometimes things like scholar's mate but it's all about premoving and flagging 100% of the time.
Rapid is a very fun time control that gives you enough time to calculate and also doesn't make you want to go to sleep waiting on the opponent.
Classical isn't played as much as anything else on lichess, it seems, even though it's classical. I myself used to play it very often but nowadays the waiting time is a bit too close to making me very impatient.
Then there's the final time control, Correspondence. The one where you make a move every day or few days and the game continues slowly. Created for mailing and stuff, not sure why anyone would want to play it on lichess but I used to. I mean, it gives you time to sleep over the game and think about what to do. But not very fun.
Also, do you ever wonder why it's called blitz? Yup, that's right. It's basically the slowest time control where you can play fast and try to flag people. Blitz is connected to speed. Play fast, play good is what I say.
And yes, mistakes are inevitable. That's part of blitz.
And yes, mistakes are inevitable. That's part of blitz.
@InnateAluminum fair enough, good points.
The rules of blitz chess are almost like the rules of chess. You lose when your opponent gets checkmated, resigns or runs out of time. The only other way to win is if they cheated. There is no rule in any chess variation that says you win when you get a certain material imbalance. Think about it a guy sacs all his material in an attack and then suddenly out of blue he gets tagged with a loss?? Now that would be screwed up.
I don't think a mercy rule is a good idea for reasons others have pointed out--it goes against the very spirit and point of what blitz/bullet/hyperbullet is all about. Clock management is part of the game.
I would be open to a more generous interpretation of the rule where flag is a draw rather than a win... e.g. in scenarios where there is a forced mate in X sequence, that could lead to a draw on flag rather than a straight loss, similar to how it's a draw if your opponent lacks material to win.
I would be open to a more generous interpretation of the rule where flag is a draw rather than a win... e.g. in scenarios where there is a forced mate in X sequence, that could lead to a draw on flag rather than a straight loss, similar to how it's a draw if your opponent lacks material to win.
@smagol #28
Exactly! And @bkzeal (or whoever OP was), there is actually a good chance of comeback, a bit lower than bullet or hyperbullet, but if the opponent blunders or pawns are promoted, the side originally down material can still win.
So... I don't want to debate over this anymore. Winning a game because of having more material in a game about moving quickly but still making good moves just seems silly.
IA out
Exactly! And @bkzeal (or whoever OP was), there is actually a good chance of comeback, a bit lower than bullet or hyperbullet, but if the opponent blunders or pawns are promoted, the side originally down material can still win.
So... I don't want to debate over this anymore. Winning a game because of having more material in a game about moving quickly but still making good moves just seems silly.
IA out
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