Question about good sportsmanship when playing games?
Suppose I am playing a game with others (e.g. chess). I know that generally good sportmanship includes shaking hands, saying good game after a game, following game rules, and being polite (e.g. no cursing, no putdowns, etc.)
Just want to clarify: What is considered good sportsmanship in these circumstances?
1. You win by a big margin.
2. You win by a narrow margin.
3. You lose by a narrow margin.
4. You lose by a big margin.
Generally, win or lose, I just say good game after a game. Then, I don’t talk about the game unless the other side wants to talk about it. If the other side is just talking about how badly they lost to me or how strongly they beat me, I tend not to say anything. Main point is that the game is over, and I don’t want to say anything that may be misunderstood, especially at a time when some people are emotional.
Occasionally, my opponent would like to go over certain parts of the game, such as moves that my opponent or I could have made instead that would have been better. Such conversations tend to occur more in scenarios 2 and 3. These conversations are usually rather interesting and educational.
Want to hear your thoughts on what you consider to be good sportsmanship.
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5 Answers
I don’t think you asked a question. I believe you answered several. Good tips all. I agree that a lively conversation about coulda wouldas is fun.
Sometimes those remarks ARE helpful, but you just don’t want to HEAR it.
I felt pretty much the same way many years ago when I regularly played chess with a certain co-worker. Played that sucker 3 times a day for a year and lost 99% of those games. He taunted me WHILE we played and “favored” me with post game analysis afterwards.
It was horrible…
…until I started winning.
In those days there was no online chess. Few people played chess so it was a special occasion whenever I could get a game. So I sucked up the indignity of losing repeatedly until some of the things my tormentor repeatedly showed me sunk in! The sad thing is, once I started winning my tormentor no longer wanted to play.
Fast forward 30 years. I play a different co-worker online. The sucker endlessly torments me about how great a player he is…the second coming of Bobby Fischer.
HUGE ego.
Wins one game out of every 50 we play.
Some people just love to talk smack.
You know everything you need to know about sportsmanship. The real question is whether or not you can tolerate people talking smack. You can’t dictate how someone else comports himself during a game. If a person insists in playing in a manner you find objectionable you have a choice…
…either develop a thicker skin and ignore it, talk smack right along with ‘em or…
…don’t play.
Be humble if you win and graceful if you lose, it’s as simple as that… talking about tactics and strategy after a competition – so that learning can take place – is fine, as long as humility and grace still dominate the interaction. Good question.
My kids stopped playing Monopoly with me.
Not because I would always win, but because I always did my victory dance.
As a Scot, saying “good game” to someone after handing their arse to them would be pretty bad form.
If the positions were reversed, I’d find it pretty patronising, and would either reply with the clear observation “no, it really wasn’t” or potentially “go f**k yourself!”, depending on how the player had behaved during the match.
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