Thursday, May 15, 2008

Getting Screwed at ChessPark


ChessPark is the WORST chess site I have ever come across. Firstly, they start hounding you to pay right from the get go for the so called "upgraded account" as soon as you register. After declining to pull out my Visa for a server I know nothing about, I go to the game room and see only a few dozen players, most of which have paltry ratings in the 1100 to 1600 range. The highest rated player in the room is only 2100 and change, so I accept his waiting game challenge to a 5+2 blitz game. It turns out this patzer is nowhere near 2100 in strength, perhaps only a 1600 or so player as I easily obtain this position without even having to think for very long. Then instead of resigning, the idiot just stops moving. I have a rook and bishop against his lone king and he won't resign. He won't move either and lets his clock run down. After he runs out of time(I have over 2 minutes left on my clock), instead of being awarded the win the server says DRAW and I'm immediately bombarded with more encouragement to "upgrade" my account to that of a paid membership. Do the fair rules of chess only apply to those who pay???