share a GOOD EXPERIENCE for a change

____ Hey lichessers -- let's celebrate decency and class for a change! There are good people out there!!

_____ MY STORY: I've been playing blitz for @ an hour. I'm so out of sorts that I have my filter set for 900-1350 (I like to think I'm stronger but I've gone down 150 points in the last 10 days). I have bounced from 1320-1280 & back up...
_______Along comes a filter game with ALEDROJAN (959 -- just a # that means nothing about a person's QUALITY). I have a clear advantage and give him an extra minute because he is down to @ :30 while I am still @ 2:30. He turns the tables and outplays me! (no huge blunders from me.. he outplayed me). We reach the endgame: he has 3 advanced pawns and all i have is a rook -- it is a certainty that the rook will be gone and he will gain a queen! HE OFFERS ME A DRAW. There are people on this site with REAL INTEGRITY and a sense of sportsmanship/ fair play!!! We have a good community.

___ SIDE NOTE: I am from the USA (to say you are an American is an often overlooked insult to our neighbors in North/ South America). It would be nice if more of my countrymen would learn
some basic niceties in another language.

_____Because of my tortured Spanish, I was able to show my recognition and respect for ALEDROJAN's quality -- I feel like I now have a Columbian friend. You don't have to be fluent -- "Hello" and "Thank You" go a loooong way. Regardless of one's feelings concerning my government's migration/ immigration policy, in the one-on-one HUMAN arena courtesy/ friendliness counts (I happen to be libertarian/ conservative).

____ I should add that I probably alienated someone earlier in the day with a joke in English... I discovered he was a Spanish speaker. After a brief exchange, we went from potential mutual irritation to following each other.... Effort counts

The demonym of the inhabitants of Colombia is Colombian NOT 'Columbian', that's a misspelling.
BTW, nice story! ;-)

______THANK YOU for correcting me! That's the kind of courtesy we need to CELEBRATE.

Did you accept the draw offer or resign?

____Damn -- I knew someone would ask that! I ACCEPTED the draw offer. Why? -- because I felt it would be insulting to turn down the offer!
____ To me, my friend was saying "Thanks for your sportsmanship by giving me extra time without me even asking for it. I am also here to enjoy good competition --- NOT to win at all costs" He confirmed this by thanking me for the games in our rematch. I felt that resigning would have been an insult: as though I can play the generous role and he can't.

___ It Happened again!! "gaf1213" -- PURE CLASS. Conragtulated me on a well played game and then thanked me again (!!) after a loss in the rematch where he outplayed me -- he even wished me a "good night".
____ That is hard to do in tension-filled blitz games where aggression is up and you often feel as though you beat yourself and the 'opponent' just piled on....

I love the thread title.

Look at at the threads that complain about petty problems. When I see threads that call for a ban (or some administrative action) on people who abandon games, abort games, or repeatedly offer draws, I always think "and how many games have you played during which everything ran smoothly?"

Nobody makes a thread because their opponent was pleasant. They have one bad encounter, probably lose the game, and then make a frustrated post and herald a call to arms.

Exactly my point "D_god"! If I was "gaf1213" [#6], I don't know if I could have been so gracious... I don't like playing badly/ losing & 'he' reminded me there's something bigger than the game...

Where is the "accentuate the positive" attitude

Dear Isaiah,

we all know from your earlier messages in the FORUM that you are a very polite and humble man but when it comes to rated games trhe time factor is always part of the competition. Givong extra time and granting take backs belongs to unrated games in my opinion.

It´s always a nice experience to meet people with a friendly and polite behaviour. There are a lot of them in LICHESS. Thanks for a nice story.