rematch etiquette

Hi. I´m new here. Have just started playing some blitzgames in Live Chess and I enjoy it. But, I´m wondering about rematches and such. Some players offers me a rematch and I always accept, some don´t. What is good manners about this? What is the etiquette? Are you supposed to offer a rematch when you win? Or when you lose? Or just if you feel like it. The thing is that I don´t want to be unpolite if someone is expecting to be offered a rematch. Or is this nothing to worry about at all? Perhaps someone more experienced could tell me a little about this.

 If I am white and I win and my opponent asks for a remach giving him a chance to play white I will accept. I do this to be friendly but in my opinion you never need to accept or offer a rematch. The server randomly gives you an apponent and a color and you don't owe your opponent anything.

Do whatever you feel like. But no matter what you do, keep in mind that this is The Internet so there will always be psychologically stunted people out there who will fly into a rage no matter what you do. You owe them nothing.

If you don't want to be pared against the same people you should just click on one of the random challenges out there.  There are usually plenty of them.

Life is a bag of catty numnums.

Meow meow......Marum.(Die schachspielen Katze)

IMDeviate, you might want to check out the newest site updates. A rematch delay has been implemented.

http://blog.chess.com/webmaster/live-chess-enhancements---2012-01-25

You'll be happy to know that they've recently fixed this. I've gotten the same player several times in a row, maybe 5, when I hit new game.

http://blog.chess.com/webmaster/live-chess-enhancements---2012-01-25

Edit: I was beaten to it. That's what I get for not refreshing the page before posting.

Nothing wrong with posting it twice. I probably would have had it up faster but I couldn't paste the link on my tablet and had to get on my computer

I think this is an excellent question....one I was wondering about myself.  I admit to being one of those who is irritated by being refused a rematch.  I am an amateur chess player...I only play games with several days between moves.

In my opinion, I believe you are being a good sport by accepting a rematch.  I will always accept a rematch....at least one or two....I am not a one and done player. 

I disagree with the logic that someone who requests a rematch or someone who is irritated when their request is denied is a bad sport.  I think it is the polite thing to do accept a rematch and that it is impolite not to accept.

I wish there was a setting that would force a rematch if requested.  I really would rather only play against players who accept rematches.

I understand that sometimes a player will not accept a rematch because of a personal conflict such as lack of time etc...its hard to know why someone refuses a rematch.....I think that if a person has time they should grant one.

Just my opinion.

 I realize I may be a touch hypocritical here since i get very annoyed when people don't resign a queen down, but it's astonishing how upset people get when I refuse their rematches. One guy was obviously just playing for time in a blitz match and kept moving his pieces back and forth as early as the fourth move. He didn't even try and play reasonable moves. After the third game of this, I decided I'd had enough silliness and I declined his rematch offer. He then flew in to a rage and hurled all manner of profanities at me (getting around the filters by using underscores - that needs to be addressed somehow). I guess his rage finally got the best of him, though, because his account was closed a few minutes later. I pity his computer as well as the furniture in his room after that happened. 

Some people are so narcissistic (or just plain sociopathic) that it never crosses their mind that their own behavior may be the cause of a rematch refusal. It's always their opponent who is being a jerk. 

I hardly ever accept a rernatch except from my friends. No good reason. There sre thousandss of other people to play. So I'm off and away.

I know that this is an older thread, but I feel to need to comment, even now..

The point is - you DON'T owe a rematch to anybody. 
I almost never accept any rematches, and here's why:

- if I win the first game, player who just lost will ask for a rematch
- if I agree to a rematch, and he wins, then I ask for a rematch - and they refuse?! (?!?!?!?!?)

Point it - people love to "quit while ahead", and there are no rules.

So, instead of  feeding their anger and give them a slightest chance of being bad mannered, I simply ignore all rematch requests, and never send any, and I'm totally happy with that. 

The longest rematch-battle I had was 11 games, and it made no difference to either player, we could've just played 11 new games, so there's really no point.

There :)

TL;DR - you don't have to accept the rematch, and you don't have to ask for one.

It's poor character to not accept a rematch after a win on only one game.  Consider the reasoning of #10;  he is afraid if he offers sportsmanship, it won't be offered back.  Cowardice is the underlying reason people most often won't do it; they are afraid of losing their score on an oponent figuring out their game.  One can tell this by reflecting on the types of games most often not given a rematch (time wins, one move blunder wins, ect.).  Thinking people are sociopaths for getting disgusted with your weakness is comfort creme.

This problem has been around since the early days of aics. The best solution I have seen, by far, is the introduction of the so-called "1-minute", "3-minute", "5-minute", and "15-minute" game categories.

Pairing is automatic. Rematching is impossible. Ratings are less susceptible to gaming. Fewer feelings are hurt.

Obviously it doesn't work well for the case of Nakamura vs LittlePeasant giving us all a clinic.

You have to consider the time control, too.

Often when you play a fast game, it is because you do not have time to play too many games, so after one game, it is perfectly reasonable to decline. Also, I have often started a new game before the rematch request comes through. So please consider your opponent's possible situations before getting upset at a rematch refusal.

two fair points above...cheers

three

I've considered the possibility of delayed rematches from software or lag causing people to look like they ran but let's be honest about the liklihood of it happening so often that your in-box is lit up with people calling you out.  It's not just accepting a rematch---why are you not offering one before starting another game?  Concerning the idea of making it impossible to rematch so that " fewer feelings are hurt"?  I hope this would never happen...attempting to figure out your opponent is part of chess; no rematches and we may as well be playing a computer.  From reading this thread and similar, it seems some projection is getting put upon the people calling out the one and run folks.  I don't call people cowards because my feelings are hurt.  If your in box is lit up with people calling you a coward and you go to these threads to complain about their manners and feelings, it's pretty amusing.  It might not be politically correct to point out the bad sportsmanship and cowardice of another player but we owe it to them and the rest of the world to be honest.

If your play is worth its salt, then I suppose a rematch would be nothing more than the pleasure of getting to defeat your opponent in a different manner than the first round. 

A refusal to rematch without an explanation provided in our lovely, benevolent "chat bar" smacks of feelings of nervousness and doubt. 

If you're losing, you have something to learn.  If you're winning, you're looking for that glorious moment when your opponent finally finds the better of you.  Either way, it's supposed to be fun...

Right?