I had been playing on chess.com for quite a long time (more than six months) and had established a 1600 rating.
Then I went on the site a few days ago and get greeted with the message "account closed". No explanation, no advanced notice, just the sudden closure of my account, and by the look of the member list, its removal too.
Naturally I emailed them asking why on earth they removed my account, given that I had never broken any site rules, and was actually considering volunteering as an established helper.
2 days later, the reply:
"Your account was closed because of all the racial abusive remarks you've made in live chess regarding hitler, jews and the holocaust. Those comments and attitude have no place on this site."
Now you can understand that, had I made such comments, it would have been a clear case for banning, but the fact is I hadn't. Nor have I ever made 'racial abusive remarks' towards anyone in my entire life.
What is clear is that, when a person in power on chess.com wants to ban someone, they can do so unilaterally, without warning, and without a stated reason.
Now if my account gets reopened, I will go back there, because it's the only site I'm used to. It has a decent interface and quite a large membership, but if you're going to go there as well, be aware that any idea you might have of seing your rating increase as you improve can get screwed over in an instant.
Originally posted by doodinthemoodnot a big chess.com fan myself (they still keep spamming my email even after having not so pleasant words about it), I'd hazard a guess that someone logged in as you and deliberately got you banned. hitler+holocaust etc kind of material doesn't seem like the kind of thing that might pop up into even a skinhead's mind in the heat of a blitz game?
I had been playing on chess.com for quite a long time (more than six months) and had established a 1600 rating.
Then I went on the site a few days ago and get greeted with the message "account closed". No explanation, no advanced notice, just the sudden closure of my account, and by the look of the member list, its removal too.
Naturally I emailed t ...[text shortened]... have of seing your rating increase as you improve can get screwed over in an instant.
unless there's a simple typing error kind of problem on the administrative side, which should be easily cleared up on further contact.
Originally posted by wormwoodvery good site. But somehow RHP remains my chess home. I appreciate the fact that admins of RHP don't spam. In addition to that, I simply like it more here ! You can't find forum like this on any other chess site.
not a big chess.com fan myself (they still keep spamming my email even after having not so pleasant words about it), I'd hazard a guess that someone logged in as you and deliberately got you banned. hitler+holocaust etc kind of material doesn't seem like the kind of thing that might pop up into even a skinhead's mind in the heat of a blitz game?
unless t of problem on the administrative side, which should be easily cleared up on further contact.
I don't like it. The inflated ratings attract too many cheaters. "Hey! Look at Me! I have a higher rating than topalov!" I am also surprised you only made 1600? Maybe the ratings weren't so inflated when you achieved that because I was 1600 after my first game and never looked back.