Community Standards & Code of Conduct

GamesGrid is a competitive backgammon platform. The community standards exist to make sure it stays one. These rules are based directly on the original CyberArts-era GamesGrid Community Standards (1997–2008), which were among the clearest codes of conduct in early online gaming, updated for 2026 conditions and current best practice.

The standards are enforced. The enforcement framework is published — there are no hidden moderation rules, no opaque algorithmic bans, no decisions that the affected player cannot appeal. The whole point of a community-rules page is that it is public, specific, and applied consistently.

For the formal definitions of any term, see the glossary.

Core Principles

Competitive integrity is non-negotiable. Every match on GamesGrid is rated, recorded, and auditable. Manipulating outcomes — by collusion, by computer assistance, by deliberate dumping, or by any other means — is incompatible with using the platform.
Respect other players. GamesGrid is a global platform. Conduct is held to the same standard as a serious tournament playing hall.
Privacy matters. Other players' personal information is not yours to share.
Sportsmanship matters. Winning and losing both have a way of being done well.

Prohibited Conduct

The following are explicitly prohibited. Severity of response scales with severity and repetition of violation, up to and including permanent account termination.

Cheating

A cheater is a player who deliberately loses matches in order to inflate another player's rating, or who otherwise manipulates the rated match outcome by means other than playing to win. Cheating is grounds for immediate account suspension and rating reset for the beneficiary as well as the perpetrator.

Boosting

A booster is the corresponding role — a player who knowingly accepts manipulated points from a cheater to elevate their own rating. Boosting is treated as equally serious as cheating. Both accounts are subject to suspension.

Dropping

A dropper is a player who deliberately exits a match in progress when in a disadvantageous position, in order to avoid the loss being recorded. The original CyberArts-era policy was unambiguous and the 2026 platform inherits it: droppers are discouraged from playing on GamesGrid. Players who refuse to resume a clearly-resumable interrupted match after a reasonable request are flagged for the moderation team and are subject to Automated Match Resolution (AMR) — see the AMR section below.

Collusion

Coordination between multiple accounts (whether two players sharing a single account, two players running parallel accounts to dump points, or live-aided play with a hidden third party feeding moves) is prohibited. Collusion is among the most serious violations and typically results in permanent account termination for all involved accounts.

Computer Assistance

Using a backgammon engine (XG, GNUbg, BGBlitz, Wildbg, or any other) to inform moves during a rated match is prohibited. Post-match analysis with these tools is encouraged — that is what they are for. Real-time use is cheating.

Harassment

Targeting another player to cause distress, embarrassment, or harm is harassment. This includes:

Repeated unwanted contact after the recipient has indicated they want it to stop.
Creating accounts with names designed to defame or harass another player.
Coordinated targeting by multiple accounts.
Threats of violence, doxxing, or off-platform retaliation.

Harassment results in account suspension. Severe or repeated harassment results in permanent termination.

Offensive Conduct

Obscene, vulgar, racist, hateful, or sexually explicit language in chat or in account names is not permitted. GamesGrid is a global platform with players from every culture; the standard of acceptable conduct reflects that.

Spam & Unauthorised Advertising

The platform is not to be used to send unsolicited advertising, promotional content, or commercial solicitations. Posts or chat messages that violate this are removed; repeat offenders are suspended.

Privacy Violations

Players' real-world personal information — phone numbers, addresses, employers, family members, photos taken without consent — is not to be posted or shared on the platform. Sharing another player's private information without consent is a serious violation.

Illegal Activity

GamesGrid is not to be used to participate in, assist, suggest, or encourage illegal activity. The platform cooperates with law-enforcement investigations as required by applicable law.

Enforcement: Sysops, Moderation, and Appeals

Sysops

The original GamesGrid had Sysops — system operators selected by the platform to help maintain community standards. The role returns in the 2026 platform. Sysops have authority to remove offending posts, mute disruptive players, and issue suspensions for clear violations. Sysop decisions can be appealed to the community operations team.

Moderation Process

For violations that are not immediately clear (borderline harassment cases, ambiguous draughts of cheating, score disputes), the community operations team reviews the relevant match record, chat log, and account history before taking action. Match records on GamesGrid are immutable — every match is recorded on the server in standard format and can be re-examined by an independent reviewer.

Appeals

Every enforcement action against an account can be appealed. Appeals are reviewed by a member of the community operations team who was not involved in the original decision. The appeals process is documented in the platform's terms of service and is not an opaque "internal review."

Automated Match Resolution (AMR)

Matches that are interrupted without resolution are handled by the Automated Match Resolution (AMR) system. The convention, inherited from the original CyberArts-era GamesGrid:

Time since last play	Action
7 days	Match is flagged for AMR; both players are notified.
10 days	AMR triggers; the match is resolved based on the position at the time of interruption (using engine evaluation of the final position to determine win probability), and the result is recorded.

AMR ensures that ratings stay current and that droppers cannot indefinitely delay a recorded loss. Players in a disadvantageous position who simply abandon a match will see the loss recorded after 10 days; players in advantageous positions are protected from losing the match by their opponent's inactivity.

Disclaimer

Use of GamesGrid is at your own discretion. We commit to enforcing the standards above to the best of our operational capacity. We do not warrant any specific outcome. We are not responsible for the conduct of any individual player nor for the content of any individual chat message, but we will act on reports of violations.

If you witness conduct that violates these standards, report it through the channels on the contact page. Your reports are confidential.