An anecdote

I am addicted to playing chess games online. I usually have an account at chess servers whose services have free options. Yahoogames, Chesshere, Chesspark, Chessmaniac, Gamescolony - these are my favorite servers.

One day, I played in one of the servers that I mentioned. I met an opponent who is something like 200 points stronger than I am. I usually start the game with pleasantries so, in the chat window, I said, "Hi."

No response.

OK. Perhaps my opponent was not interested with chatting while playing. So I made my first move, 1.e4.

He made his first response, 1. . . d5.

Again, I tried to start a conversation. "Where from?"

Silence.

So the game just went on. Move after move. Attack. Defence. But the moment came when I made a weak move which gave him a winning advantage. I was a piece down.

I said, "Nice sacrifice. I didn't see that. You're really good."

I was about to resign but opted to continue playing, hoping he'd make one fatal mistake, or luckily, win on time. In the first place, we're just playing a 5-minute blitz.

To my surprise, the server suddenly slowed down, which ate up much of his time. He was so much ahead in the value and placement of materials, but I was winning on time. I certainly knew the irritation and frustation of my opponent about the server's technical problem. Until the moment came when he finally lost the game - on time.

I said "Sorry. Server's glitch."

At last, before leaving the playing room, my opponent took his first and last turn in our conversation.

He said, "FUCK YOU!"