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There ought to be an "Unfinished" option of game resolution

If the idea is to keep a clean crosstable record with someone you play regularly, a draw doesn't affect that in the slightest, each person gets 1/2 a point and the record is the same. If the goal is to be "fair" or "civil" then there's really nothing wrong with just claiming the draw, even if you are a lost and the opponent vanishes, since draws have even less effect on ratings than does a single win, which already has a relatlively low impact on your rating once you're dealing with hundreds of games and your rating is relatively stable (as stated numerous times elsewhere in this thread). Furthermore, the claim draw option is something more than most chess servers offer, as most automatically give you a win if the player disconnects for a certain amount of time (or force you to just sit there and run the clock out and earn a win on time).

The system is in place to discourage players from disconnecting from the game and then returning near the end of the clock to make a quick move and gain a cheap win against an opponent who has moved onto something else, while gives the "civil" option of claiming a draw as well. I don't see anything wrong with this system nor why it would need more options. It functions just fine.
APPLAUSE for GRIMUS: Our forum threads & coders would have an easier time if everyone CLEARLY described their concern AND gave the situation enough thought to propose a *solution*. Besides that, anyone with the integrity to propose a "claim defeat" deserves to be acknowledged (& I too, wish I could better organize my data and screen).

___ However, I agree with STATIC_SHADOW. I have always advocated for gratitude and perspective. This is a FREE, USER-FRIENDLY, and well-run site that alows for, & LISTENS TO USERS' input.

____ How many things in our world work this well?? I don't know how many people are involved or what resources are required just for maintenance but one would simplicity encourages stability...
So the question becomes: is there someone to make the change; does it affect maintenance; AND, CRITICALLY, does the benefit to a small number of people with YOUR level of integrity outweigh the 'nuisance' factor of detracting from the CLEAN, 'BOARD ON A SCREEN' design that is so successful...

__I should add that STATIC is not some random user but someone that has contributed time and effort into making the site better for all of us....
As for me, I always wait my opponent, and sometimes i given him more time. Sh.. happens, disconnections and other. But if i see, that my opponent just started game with another man, it is not polite to me, and i think i must pressure "claim a victory"
@ static_shadow

What if I don't think I've earned a draw? what if the opponent was clearly winning.

Doesn't it seem unfair to "claim draw" when that isn't likely?

Also, what if you just can't tell how the game was likely to resolve? Shouldn't an "Unfinished" or a "Claim Defeat" feature be useful?

@ Isaiah: I, too, think that this is an amazing website with very thoughtful developers and fantastic features. I just think this feature would improve it.

I'm playing a game right now with someone who has a much higher rating than myself. I think I'm doing well, but he hasn't moved in many minutes.

Claiming a draw isn't exactly fair here.
I got on and looked and his time just when off and you won. But yes I agree that this system is right. What seems unfair is if someone' computer shuts off the webpage for two minutes gets back on and lost.
I don't disagree. Arguably there *is* a resign button if you want to claim defeat.
At Toadofsky. You are right about that.

We really don't need a "claim defeat" button. But we do need a "Claim Unfinished"

I can't believe I forgot that that was my original solution.

Thank you.
Let me be a bit clearer.

Rated games are analogous to club play. In a rated club game, if you are in a game, and you have to leave the area of play and are gone for a considerable amount of time without explanation, the liklihood is that your opponent will call for an arbiter to claim that you have abandoned the game and they should win by forfeit (or in a rare case they may ask to claim a draw if the position is clearly drawn).

In the rare case where players agree to adjourn a game, those players are required to resume the game in some amount of time. If the game is unable to be resumed, the arbiter will make a decision who to award the game to or whether to declare it a draw.

Never in club play will you find a record of an 'unfinished' game. It doesn't exist in rated play. Rated play is for competition, and adjourning games indefinitely not only compromises the integrity of the ratings, but also for lichess, it compromises the integrity of the database itself. Therefore, imho, the system as it stands is the closest to over-the-board rated play as can be accomplished online and therefore is fine as it stands. Adjournments would be rare, and it would be even rarer for them to be completed, and then it would have to result after some definite time period of non-resolution in an arbiter or chess engine stepping in to resolve the game, at which point the result is the same as if you would have simply chosen one of the 3 options available to you at the time the opponent disconnected.

Therefore, while I like the pretense underlying the idea, I think it's an unnecessary feature. I am fairly certain the developers of lichess will likely agree with that assessment. That shouldn't discourage you from coming up with more ideas, though. I've had plenty of ideas shot down for various reasons, but I keep bringing new ones to the table. Eventually something meshes with what they are trying to do here with this site.
Just a quick thought from me, keeping in mind that, per static_shadow's arguments above, the benefit may not be worth the development effort:

What if, in addition to the current options, we also had a "Your opponent may have left .. Let the computer arbitrate" button? This would trigger a computer analysis of the position and the software would decide a win or a draw, fulfilling grimus' quest for "fairness", since he would not be making the decision but would instead defer to an, arguably "omniscient", arbiter. This option also appears to be in line with club play, as described above, and there would be no "unfinished" games either.

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