Winning by disconnection : how to behave ?

Hi all,

I recently played this game : http://fr.lichess.org/uN12nHcB2Y6r

As you can obviously see, white is outrageously dominating the ending position with a promoted pawn, bishops and black (me) having absolutely no material.
But !
My opponent, for a technical reason I suppose, disconnected and the gamebox showed me I could either force a draw or claim the victory.

We all know victory isn't possible from someone with no material to mate on board. On the moment, I was so surprised and happy to see the game able to turn on my favor, I clicked the "claim the win" button, and ultimately got it.

Shortly after, once the delight was passed, I understood there were some things to fix.

1. Can you REALLY win a game with no material ?
2. Can you REALLY claim a win with less material on board, instead of a draw ? Why have we got the choice, as 99% of the time, the human being will lead us to the selfish choice, whereas a draw is still a satisfying result for the "lucky loser" and a not-so-frustrating result for the unlucky winner.

I don't know what can Lichess do to fix that kind of problem, but it may cause behaviour issues ("Did you REALLY click on that winning button with your position, knowing it would be a huge pain for you if you're on the other side ?") and I think it would be more fair for the disconnecter to minimize the damage, as most of the disconnections are not provoked. (and still, if you "rage-quit" in a losing position, you will lose)

What do you think ?

Thanks by advance.

The guy left the game. Forfeit. Tough.

Indeed, but it seems unfair to me. It's okay to punish the rage-quitters leaving in dead positions, but someone about to win should at least secure a draw if he leaves against his will.
(and don't forget there is still the clock ticking, so if the opponent does not claim the draw, he will still win on time if the quitter does not come back)

It's not just tough, it's horrible to lose like this !

Look, I've lost plenty of games where there's a short disconnection or whatever, especially when playing 1+0 or 0+1. There are three points:

1) Players will regain the points if they play consistently at their current level. That's the joy of Glicko2.

2) It can't surely be possible to tell the difference between a rage quit and a disconnection.

3) This was a 15 minute game. If the dude lost his connection he had plenty of time to find another, surely!

I wouldn't worry about it. It's a game.

yah he has a point. in this specific case black's only option should be to claim a draw, since it's literally impossible for black to achieve checkmate from that position (it's also what would happen if white's time ran out)

if you feel dirty exploiting the system and claiming anything, just resign.

You should claim a draw if the opponent disconnects and you're losing. It's very rude to claim the win if you are losing in a long game. Or you could just wait for him to come back.

If you're playing bullet or fast blitz though, then it might be reasonable to claim a win if your opponent would lose on time.

But if you're playing a longer time control (and your opponent is not in severe time trouble) you should be reasonable. Don't imagine that "99%" of players would always choose the selfish option - maybe believing that makes you feel better about taking the selfish option yourself, but it isn't true. Most players would do the right thing because they are good people. Do the right thing. Claim a win if you are winning and they disconnect, claim a draw if it's drawn or you're losing and they disconnect.

There was a time where people would resign when they had lost a game of chess, cause playing on was questioning the intellect of the opponent.

That of course changed after the old man died over the board while trying to find the checkmate sequence in time against this agile hopping young king, who was no threat of course, but hard to catch like a white bunny.

From that day on (known as the invention of internet), people would try to outrun their destiny for as long as possible. More and more old man died over the board, but somewhere inside of the agile hopping white bunnies there was this gleam of the old ways. They felt that they missed something long forgotten, and they tried to solve it with technology.

Thanks for your returns, I'll try to be more fair and act more depending of the board and clock instead of my own expectations.

(but I still think when there is no material to mate for one player and the other disconnects, claiming a draw should be the only choice offered)

I have started playing on safari and had the computer tell the opponent I disconnected when I am watching the clock tick waiting for their move. People claimed victory with over 10 min on my timer. When I refreshed the browser is showed the game and my position but told me opponent claimed win. The system is bugged or being manipulated somehow to fool the game into thinking I am not connected. This never happens with other applications.

There is very simple answer to question "How to behave?" I think black should have resigned in move 63 or earlier.