A Step-by-Step Guide: How to Report Someone in Chess.com?
Do you play chess on Chess.com and have come across inappropriate behavior or cheating?
Knowing how to report someone on the platform is essential to ensure fair play and a positive gaming experience for all users.
We will discuss the different types of reports you can make on Chess.com, how to report someone effectively, what happens after you report a player, and tips for making accurate and necessary reports.
Stay tuned to learn more about the reporting process on Chess.com!
Contents
Key Takeaways:
What Can You Report on Chess.com?
You can report other chess.com users’ bad behavior that impacts your experience in the platform, such as abusive chat, bullying, harassment, or a scam. Reporting such incidents to Chess.com is very easy and protected in such a way as to avoid any potential retaliation upon the user who files the report.
Some other behaviors you may report include violations of Chess.com’s Terms of Service. These include sharing personal contact information, using/making multiple accounts, conducting surveys, holding raffles, or asking users for money outside the platform, hacking, using other people’s accounts, or distributing unofficial material claiming to be Chess.com’s official tool.
Inappropriate Behavior
The best way to report someone in Chess.com for inappropriate behavior is to acknowledge the behavior and then click on the three vertical dots on the user’s profile. Next, select the option Report Offensive Behavior. This screen will prompt you to enter details of the offending behavior and an optional screenshot. There is no reporting category for inappropriate behavior, so you would then select Other system changes, abuse, or cheating and provide an explanation there.
Cheating or Fair Play Violations
Players getting assistance from engines during the chess game is more dangerous to online environments than in other spheres. According to reports from Chess.com’s Fair Play team, the majority of cheaters at the amateur level rely on external assistance from stockfish or other computer moves. Cheating undermines ethical principles that are the foundation of the sport and must be reported and dealt with energetically. Cheating in chess is against the rules of the game and is illegal under FIDE and USCF regulations.
Spam or Scam
This option in chess.com’s Contact Support tool should be for people who get spam, scam, or other unsolicited and inappropriate content.
Webster’s dictionary defines spam as “e-mail sent to a large number of people without having any knowledge of them or any reason to contact them.” Spam is usually unwanted advertisement, which claims to be able to “increase libido “cancel debts without causing bankruptcy or damage to your credit,” “help you lose weight every day just by making a call,” and many other claims that can sometimes contain fraudulence.
Email spam may sometimes contain phishing elements, scamming people into entering private account information. These groups also usually contain scams on sites like Facebook, Instagram, and even the online chess club / social media network on websites like chess.com. Online predators will sometimes contact children or minors online to exploit and manipulate them.
Online scams and phishing may disguise themselves as a chess game or ask for log-in credentials and/or other sensitive information under any pretext. To Report Such Misconduct use this Webpage: https://support.chess.com/en/support/help-center/overview-reporting-members-account-handling/spam-or-scam
Inappropriate Content
On chess.com, a report should be filed for inappropriate content if you come across pictures, language, or threads in the forums that show sexual content, violence, or are promoting dangerous/damaging activities. Some examples which the support team suggests for the flagging inappropriate content category are trolls, and pornographic advertising. Content is not just on user profiles, but concerned users should look at the forums, clubs, or games for problematic content.
First, if the content is directly on a user profile or is a comment on their page, click the Report abuse button. Mark the piece of content as inappropriate and select the peril category you believe fits the content. If the report pertains to a forum, club, or game, navigate to the specific piece of inappropriate media or conversation. Like the Disruptive behavior category is reported, these can be reported by clicking the Flag button.
According to the site, inappropriate content reports are among the most common and are generally looked at within 48 hours. To report inappropriate content on chess.com, follow these steps:
- Directly on user profile abuses, click on Report abuse, select Inappropriate content, and describe the issue.
- On any page in the club, forum, or game pages, click on the Flag button to report the specific piece of content.
- Insert a context-appropriate category by choosing from the picklist. If flagged content is manually identified and reviewed by a staff member, users can expect the account to be cleaned or banned.
Technical Issues
If you believe that an intended recipient is not receiving or has not acknowledged a warning in the game chat or has a problem with their device, you can report an Intended Delay. This type of report is known as a Technical Issue. Chess.com defines Technical Issues as those times when ‘players are no longer sure they are playing because their Board and Game are stuck or frozen’.’
If a Technical Issue report is deemed valid by a steward, the game will be aborted, and the player will not be penalized. If a user reports a Technical Issue at the end of a live game or after a takeback request, those games will not be aborted for a Technical Issue. Similarly, timeouts and disconnections for not moving do not qualify for Technical Issue reports. It should be noted that the report does not excuse the violation that triggered the report.
If the other user declines your completed game or Takeback request, this will be noted when submitting your report and Technical Issue games will not be aborted. When a Timeout, Disconnection, and Technical Issue report has been submitted successfully, an error message will not appear and the report has been successfully submitted. A steward or moderator must then review the report before the Technical Issue can be officially logged.
How to Report Someone on Chess.com?
To report someone on Chess.com, send an email to [email protected]. Even though there is no public list of offenses for account restriction, if an account is found to have engaged in harmful behavior, it will have a restriction applied. These range in severity from chat suspension to temporary play lock restrictions which prevent a user from signing in.
Chess.com agents are available to assist and will evaluate the nature and severity of any violations of the site’s fair play policies or community standards. When you message Chess.com Support or email [email protected], agents will request more information from you, including the username of the player you wish to report and the room or area where the incident occurred.
Chess.com can escalate reports up to legal action, though they state in their User Agreement, that they have no obligation to investigate an individual’s claim or take any enforcement action at any time.
Go to the Player’s Profile
When someone is playing on Chess.com and you want to report them, the first step is to go to the player’s profile. You can access any player’s profile by tapping on their username during a game. A player’s username can be different from their real name, but you still have to access the profile through the username they have on the platform.
You will see three icons on the profile, the trophy for fair play, the flag for the country the player has associated with the account, and a speech bubble icon. This will open up a User Information page. If you are reporting someone based on inappropriate chat behavior, you can screenshot the chat in question from this page. The fair play icon allows you to report someone for inappropriate play. In the United States, the icon conveys the idea of a no-smoking sign. If you click on the Fair Play icon, it will send you to a Cheating & Fair Play Violation report. Fill it out and Chess.com staff will be notified.
In the case of chat abuse or bullying, to report, click on the speech bubble. It will open up a Send a Message page. write a message noting the issue such as profanity or harassment. Chess.com will take notice and moderate the user’s behavior.
Chess.com is a very large community, so do not expect resolution to happen quickly. However, they do their best to moderate the site and will act once the situation reaches them.
Click on the ‘Report’ Button
After selecting a Game or viewing a user’s profile, click on the green Circle-i-information icon near the top right or left corner of your screen to find additional information about the user or game, and to report a user or game. After clicking this icon, you will find the Report, Block, and Mute buttons (on a standalone box or mixed in with the user or game’s info). Click Report.
Select the Relevant Category
There are three categories you can report in Chess.com reporting: Cheating or Fair Play Violations, Chat Abuse, and Other User Violations. The categories help Chess.com quickly assess the urgency and type of report, ensuring that important reports do not get lost in the backlog of others.
- Cheating or Fair Play Violations – If you believe a player is using a computer program, engine-assisted analysis, or outside help, this would be an example of a Cheating or Fair Play Violation.
- Chat Abuse – If you believe a player or computer is abusing the text or chat forms of Che.ss.com, regardless of the platform or stage of the game, this would be an example of Chat Abuse.
- Other User Violations – This category is for everything else including verbal or racial harassment. This is the most general catch-all.
Provide Details and Evidence
- Details
- Date and time of the game
- Your username
- Opponent’s username
- Game format (Bullet, Blitz, Rapid, Daily, Live, etc.)
Providing evidence is important. Capturing evidence, like screenshots, serves as more definitive proof for your claim. Screenshots can be taken of the game number as well as interactions with the user when reporting them. For example, if the issue is show my trophies in chess com by a user, then a screenshot can act as simple and effective proof.
- Badge: Some form of verification that an account is labelled a ‘Verified Fair Play Member’ based on honesty.
- Country Flag Badge: Some form of badge signifying the account’s country of origin.
- An opponent’s profile details.
- Game chat history. If you have time to capture the chat history during the game in which an opponent is cheating, do so.
- Match scores and moves of a player when they are cheating.
When a user uploads evidence of cheating, there is no guarantee that the person will be banned, but it gives Chess.com’s report team better evidence when reviewing a user’s account. One of the report options reads, for example, “I found a profile with no games played and it should be archived.”
Submit the Report
After providing evidence in step 4, the final part of the report process is to properly submit the report. If the infraction affects multiple areas covered by the categories during the claim for harassment or a fair play violation, one should submit a report under multiple categories to make sure that all policy team members who may need to investigate are aware.
If you are reporting a potential fair play violation, remember that the Fair Play team evaluates entirely separately from the other teams at Chess.com. The person who is unlikely to be interested in harassment or abuse is likely to take the report seriously. The final report must be submitted riding details including the username and URL of the offender, the category impacted, what specifically was reported, the title and full text of the message, other users who witnessed the incident, date and time of the message, and URLs linking to games. You can review your report before submitting it. After submitting the report, you will receive an email on the next assessment of the submitted report. The email may take a while to arrive. Alternatively, you can access the report status in your web account via a History tab, showing pending review, already viewed, or closed.
What Happens After You Report Someone?
After you report someone in Chess.com, if the user has evidence of inappropriate behavior to present, they should be prepared to give the evidence or details of the incident to Support. If the behavior reported is related to account issues, it will be confined to the specific game and account in question. Support will investigate the reports and take appropriate action by suspending and banning the accounts of the reported users.
Investigation by Chess.com
When people have complaints about others’ behavior, such as cheating or harassment, they may wonder how to report someone on Chess.com. Once the report is submitted, the first stage of the procedure typically is an investigation by Chess.com staff.
According to their own Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section, “if the reported user is found to have violated our policies, appropriate action may include a warning, temporary suspension, or being permanently banned not only from chat and messaging but the website as a whole.” In some cases, Chess.com may ask for help from the reportee. People must be prepared to write down the date and time of the incident, review the alleged behavior to ensure it was inappropriate, record a screenshot, and prepare detailed notes to be provided to Chess.com when requested.
Possible Consequences for the Reported Player
When you report someone in Chess.com, the company opens an investigation to evaluate your report and see if there are any bans or penalties against the user. Disciplinary actions by Chess.com include user account warnings, short-term playing bans (such as a 3-day chess ban), and long-term account suspensions to various degrees. Short-term consequences to the reported player, including email warnings, chat warnings or chat bans, vacation-day disqualification, or 1-3 day chess & short-term chat bans may be handed out. These bans do not allow the reported user’s account to play any games on the website.
Tips for Reporting on Chess.com
- Don’t make repeated false reports..
- Wait for Chess.com to resolve your first report. Making repetitive reports for the exacerbated purpose of punishing users can put your account at moderation risk.If you lose the report number for your initial report, you can always submit another request via email. This method helps the online moderation team to distinguish between users who have made multiple simultaneous complaints, and those who made a different report.
Be Specific and Provide Evidence
The first step is to be specific. You have to provide clear evidence of inappropriate behavior when reporting another user. Avoid vague language like ‘This user was mean’. Instead, describe the actual offense. For instance, ‘The user used the armenian genocide to belittle my people in chat’ provides far more useful information to the Chess.com Moderation Team.
Remember to take screenshots of the dialogue to provide evidence if it is a chat incident, or save notes about actions and events which have occurred to convey consistent behavior. The second step to effectively report an individual is to keep a log of the inappropriate behavior. This will allow the chess.com support team to see a pattern of harassment as opposed to a single poor choice made by a user that may or may not reflect their long-term behavior.
This combination of specificity and evidence of repeated behavior provides the Chess.com Moderation Team with all the necessary information they require to investigate and take action on the matter.
Use the Correct Reporting Category
Chess.com has several reporting categories, so the correct one should be chosen. Based on an article from Chess.com, the following reporting categories can be selected. For people, the entire profile and all information, for someone’s profile, anything that appears in a user’s account history, for usernames, any profile identifier on Chess.com, and for new messages, immediate one-on-one private messages.
Avoid False Reports
Avoid false reports in Chess.com when reporting someone on Chess.com because the user may be reported or disciplined based on the report. If Wrongsports.com’s article on false diplomas and fraudulent resume claims is any indication, 2 million people claim they have a degree they do not have every year.
Therefore, ask for and give hard proof of violations such as cheating, do not use the report system for minor gripes, and do not double report an issue. Intentionally false reports are called false report trolls and they can cause a work overload on the support team and harm the game community as users leave the game and its social networks at the increase of trolls.
Report Only When Necessary
Do not use the built-in report function excessively. If you abuse the report function, then you yourself may be reported, and repeat false reporting makes it seem like the system is being abused. Only report when warranted. If someone is camping on an idle board in hopes of being reported anonymously themselves, then the user who makes an inappropriate report on this user will be the one whom staff will take action against in this case.
Conclusion
If there is a problem with another user on chess.com, it is important to know how to report them. The Toolbox menu of chess.com allows you to report one of the `Four Cs` – Cheater, Chat or Message behavior, and Chess-playing behavior. Reporting is then managed by chess.com. Click the link to the tool and log in to report. Staff assures that reports are taken seriously and is quick to resolve them. In the case that they are unable to resolve the case within a week, they will let the user know the results of their investigation up to that point.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How do I report someone on Chess.com?
To report someone on Chess.com, click on their username to open their profile and click the “Report” button located next to their avatar. Fill out the form with the necessary details and click “Submit Report”.
2. What information do I need to include in my report?
When reporting someone on Chess.com, it is important to include specific details such as the username, date and time of the incident, and a description of what happened. Screenshots or other evidence may also be helpful.
3. Can I report someone for multiple offenses?
Yes, you can report someone for multiple offenses in one report on Chess.com. Make sure to include all relevant information for each offense to ensure a thorough investigation.
4. Will the person I report be notified?
No, the person you report will not be notified on Chess.com. However, your report will be reviewed by the site’s moderators and appropriate action will be taken if necessary.
5. How long does it take for a report to be reviewed?
The amount of time it takes for a report to be reviewed on Chess.com can vary. It depends on the severity of the report and the current workload of the moderators. Rest assured that all reports are taken seriously and will be reviewed as soon as possible.
6. What can I do if I feel my report was not handled properly?
If you feel that your report was not handled properly on Chess.com, you can reach out to the site’s support team for further assistance. They will be able to provide more information and address any concerns you may have.
