While playing in a recent ultrabullet arena, I noticed that a few players (all new accounts made on the same day) were probably lag-switching. This is when they switch VPN lag on/off mid-game to gain a competitive advantage, as this slows down/speeds up gameplay for their opponents at random times due to the nature of the lag compensation feature. For example, one of these players would lag a lot in the opening/middlegame, making the game very slow, and suddenly play super fast after a certain point to the surprise of their unsuspecting opponents.
For the record, I have no problem with playing against the 'regular' laggers who lag compensation was intended to help and I think that lag comp is certainly a necessary feature to make ultrabullet fair. However, I can see lag-switching becoming a major problem in the future. Also, as it clearly gives lag-switchers an advantage, I was wondering if it should be banned and, if so, whether it would actually be possible for lichess to monitor it. Please share any thoughts or counter-arguments on this topic if you have any!
Yes, I agree. Should I pink thibault?
One thing I would like to add to this as well: if somebody is truly lagging in an unaltered way and has 2 or less bars they will suffer because of it. It will not give them any advantage in ultrabullet. in natural lag you only benefit if its very slight.. (this is my experience) with VPN usage and lag switching players seem to be able to play with as little as 1 bar!!! its not possible to have 1 bar and play ultrabullet.. because with natural lag 1 bar usually translates to inconsistent and poor connection that will result in the player with the lag suffering the consequences. However somehow players that are using VPN have figured out how to only take the benefits from lag and not the hindrances. People often forget lag can be just as harmful to a player as it can help them. Me for example, I have timed out countless times from big lag spikes in my connections and lost houndreds of games I otherwise may have won. But thats lag, thats how it works... It's being manipulated so that these players have infinite time.. Lets make ultrabullet as fair as possible!!
if anyone’s wondering what this is like to play against:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=F1GPaug_f6g just look at my opponents clock
Has to be tampermonkey for sure i heard about these scripts.
@LankBank said in #6:
> Has to be tampermonkey for sure i heard about these scripts. Yes he is right.
There is a cap to lag compensation:
Lichess compensates network lag. This includes sustained lag and occasional lag spikes. There are limits and heuristics based on time control and the compensated lag so far, so that the result should feel reasonable for both players. As a result, having a higher network lag than your opponent is not a handicap!
lichess.org/lag@Toadofsky said in #8:
> There is a cap to lag compensation:
>
> Lichess compensates network lag. This includes sustained lag and occasional lag spikes. There are limits and heuristics based on time control and the compensated lag so far, so that the result should feel reasonable for both players. As a result, having a higher network lag than your opponent is not a handicap!
>
lichess.org/lagYou are 1500 in ultra, right?
@saurabhsangeeth said in #9:
> You are 1500 in ultra, right?
I have all ratings hidden, so on my screen I simply see "GM Toadofsky"
userstyles.org/styles/142056/get-a-gm-title 
