Forced to leave game, opponent stalled

[Piomicron]

In my recent game (Checkers #30199483), I was very near the end, having a king an several additional pieces. My opponent only had the one king left. I realised I had to go very soon, and pointed this out. He (or she) proceeded to very slowly move around the board, even though I also pointed out that they could not win at this point.

In the end, I couldn't finish the game, I had to go, and I lost 20 karma and ELO.

Can I do anything about this?

[RobertBr]

You were timed out. In most competitive off-line games it is considered a perfectly valid strategy - after all you agreed to play a game in which running out of time means defeat. So if I was playing Chess tournament and my opponent had won but needed a lot of moves to achieve a mate and only had a few minutes left I would absolutely play for this.

It is more complex online when you have not set aside a dedicated piece of time to play out the game. Under those circumstances you might feel it is unsportmanslike.

[Espina]

You were timed out. In most competitive off-line games it is considered a perfectly valid strategy - after all you agreed to play a game in which running out of time means defeat. So if I was playing Chess tournament and my opponent had won but needed a lot of moves to achieve a mate and only had a few minutes left I would absolutely play for this.

It is more complex online when you have not set aside a dedicated piece of time to play out the game. Under those circumstances you might feel it is unsportmanslike.

But it is a little different here, since as far as I know, in Chess tournaments you do not get time added to your clock each time you make a move, as happens on bga games, unless specifically set up as fixed time limit. Is that not the case?

[Espina]

In my recent game (Checkers #30199483), I was very near the end, having a king an several additional pieces. My opponent only had the one king left. I realised I had to go very soon, and pointed this out. He (or she) proceeded to very slowly move around the board, even though I also pointed out that they could not win at this point.

In the end, I couldn't finish the game, I had to go, and I lost 20 karma and ELO.

Can I do anything about this?

I assume, based on your saying that you "had to go" that this was a real time game. I wholly sympathize. This is exactly why I never play real-time games. Even when I am actually prepared to play the game from start to finish, I always set it up as turn-based.

In any case, I just wanted to point out that in a two player game if you are unable to finish the game because you have to leave, it is better to concede than to exit. You still lose the game and the ELO, but at least you do not lose karma.

Finally, although it hurts to lose 20 karma, the system is set up so you can gain them back. You just have to play more games

[Jest Phulin]

I would agree that this is unsportsmanlike. However, it is wholly within the rules.

Some people believe that they must win at every game, and that includes the game of life. Where there are rules, there are people who will try to exploit them. BGA has rules, so there are people who will try to exploit them.

Sporting? No.
Fair? Well, since the same rules apply to everybody, it is fair. At the beginning of the game, you agreed to play the entire game or be assessed a penalty. You chose to leave the game in progress.