@NaturalBornTraveller Thanks for taking the time writing this good reply.
I agree with most of what you said. It's not of crucial importance so I wouldn't make a crusade over it, but yes, it surely is an issue.
In order to avoid opponents with a provisional rating you can accept respective challenges in the lobby. And many tournaments (the official ones as well as team battles) have a minimum number of rated games as an entry condition. Therefore most of the participants have an established rating.
@esmiro said in #1:
> One possible solution is to have a pairing system which takes into account the number of games played.
A main aim of the rating system is, that new players are getting a reliable rating as soon as possible. Your "solution" would delay that, because effectively it would mean that players with provisional ratings are mainly playing among themselves.
Generally I think that unduly aversion to question mark players is quite widespread
@Cedur216 said in #13:
> Generally I think that unduly aversion to question mark players is quite widespread
Unduly!
You are a much higher rated player than I, so I am curious about, how often you encounter those unrated players, as compared to someone my level?
Also if it is widespread, perhaps it isn't so unduly to question this?
#12 I still need a response to my #10
@Cedur216 said in #13:
> Generally I think that unduly aversion to question mark players is quite widespread
I continue to recommend that Lichess remove the question mark
github.com/lichess-org/lila/issues/6864 if someone have the Question mark i too cancel the game . except if I'm playing 960, king of the hill...
Quite simply, I don't get why you don't like this. If they are weaker than their rating suggests, you don't have a problem with it. It's a bit of an easier game, but that can be a good morale booster. If they are stronger, that's a good thing! As every chess master in the world will tell you, seek out stronger opponents. You will lose many of these games, but you will learn a lot from them and become a better player.
Your rating will go back up eventually, it will end up where it should be and so there isn't an issue of rating loss. I would really enjoy playing against a much stronger opponent such as this. I'd get a lot out of the game and would certainly be able to use it as study material to help me improve.
Don't complain about something that has a positive effect on your chess development; instead, take these games, learn from them, and through hard work and analysis, improve your chess.
