I never ask for takebacks. My policy is to concede them only if I think it is a mouseslip. You might say that to your opponents, if you like, or just put them in a noplay list if they behave childishly (another thing I do)
I disabled takebacks. And now my win % shot way up. Nice. I value competition, and with fake rating points people become cut throat so I will too.
I accept takebacks if it's obvious that it's a mouse slip, and we're not in time trouble.
I asked for a takeback once when I mouse slipped. I should have been pissed that they didn't agree to it but because I have low testosterone I just accepted it like "this is my life now".
I disable takebacks. in my sight, even if the move is not intended, a played move is played. I have lost games anonymously for applying that rule to myself.
i usually don't accept takebacks but if i see that it's a obvious mouseslip i do.
Is it ok to proceed with one or two takebacks when playing with stockfish? After 2 takebacks there is no pleasure in your win. These mean Fishes never seem to make any mistake.
rather mean not to accept what your opponent plainly sees as a mistake. In tournaments its different - since mistakes count as an accepted aspect of where you're "at" as a player.
Here's my logic on the subject.
If someone requests a takeback, about 50% of the time it's because they saw a better move after they dropped their piece, or saw immediately after that it was a mistake. In a rated game otb, that would mean that they moved their piece and set it down and pressed their clock. No going back from that. If it was a casual otb friendly game, sure, you say "oh, wait, I can't do that. Can I have it back?" and if you do so in a timely fashion before the opponent has thought about the next move for 5 minutes, they'll probably be courteous and allow it in such a friendly game.
Another 40% comes from dragging pieces around the board to visualize moves rather than square clicking. Hover players will claim far more mouse slips, but I don't think they are really mouse slips. I think they are literally moving pieces around to see what the position looks like after a move, and then oops, I dropped the piece there when I wasn't ready. This is akin to in rated play someone touching a piece and then wanting to move another. Sorry, doesn't work. How many of these players will actually still move that same piece if you allow the takeback. I've seen most in these situations don't.
The last 10% of those takeback requests are from legitimate mouseslips.
These are not hard figures, they're just estimates from my experiences with playing online chess for 20 years. I've been on both sides of this many times and I'll admit to requesting a takeback when immediately seeing a mistake or blunder from committing to my move too soon. I've come to realize that's the point of clocked and rated games. They teach you to NOT move before you've looked. So I personally have come to feel that takebacks should just not be allowed in rated play.
Thus, I take full advantage of the wonderful lichess feature to disable takebacks in rated games. I haven't played a rated game now in 5 years where takebacks were allowed. If you have a mouseslip, nine times out of ten it's your own fault because of piece-dragging rather than square clicking.
On a side note, I had one instance where it happened in a correspondence match against a pretty high rated player, the slip was obvious and I complained immediately that I may as well resign since I had takebacks enabled. He politely went and found a way for us to temporarily enable them just to correct the position. How kind. So there's that as well, even if you disable them it isn't necessarily permanent and if both players agree to reset the position, it can be done. Obviously there's no time for such a thing in fast games, but it's something to consider. I honestly just don't see a point to takebacks if you aren't playing an instructional game (casual).
If someone requests a takeback, about 50% of the time it's because they saw a better move after they dropped their piece, or saw immediately after that it was a mistake. In a rated game otb, that would mean that they moved their piece and set it down and pressed their clock. No going back from that. If it was a casual otb friendly game, sure, you say "oh, wait, I can't do that. Can I have it back?" and if you do so in a timely fashion before the opponent has thought about the next move for 5 minutes, they'll probably be courteous and allow it in such a friendly game.
Another 40% comes from dragging pieces around the board to visualize moves rather than square clicking. Hover players will claim far more mouse slips, but I don't think they are really mouse slips. I think they are literally moving pieces around to see what the position looks like after a move, and then oops, I dropped the piece there when I wasn't ready. This is akin to in rated play someone touching a piece and then wanting to move another. Sorry, doesn't work. How many of these players will actually still move that same piece if you allow the takeback. I've seen most in these situations don't.
The last 10% of those takeback requests are from legitimate mouseslips.
These are not hard figures, they're just estimates from my experiences with playing online chess for 20 years. I've been on both sides of this many times and I'll admit to requesting a takeback when immediately seeing a mistake or blunder from committing to my move too soon. I've come to realize that's the point of clocked and rated games. They teach you to NOT move before you've looked. So I personally have come to feel that takebacks should just not be allowed in rated play.
Thus, I take full advantage of the wonderful lichess feature to disable takebacks in rated games. I haven't played a rated game now in 5 years where takebacks were allowed. If you have a mouseslip, nine times out of ten it's your own fault because of piece-dragging rather than square clicking.
On a side note, I had one instance where it happened in a correspondence match against a pretty high rated player, the slip was obvious and I complained immediately that I may as well resign since I had takebacks enabled. He politely went and found a way for us to temporarily enable them just to correct the position. How kind. So there's that as well, even if you disable them it isn't necessarily permanent and if both players agree to reset the position, it can be done. Obviously there's no time for such a thing in fast games, but it's something to consider. I honestly just don't see a point to takebacks if you aren't playing an instructional game (casual).
i very much enjoyed reading your perceptive and thorough analysis of the different reasons behind take back, Fenris.
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