There are several different ways you can shield yourself from abuse:

Ignore player
If you're being bothered by another player, you can choose to block their chat. To ignore a player:

1. Double-click their name in the list of players. A new window will open showing information about this player.
2. Click the checkbox labeled Ignore at the bottom of this window and you'll no longer receive chat messages from that player -- instant messages or general chat.

Profanity filter
You now have the ability to control what language you do and do not see in the game rooms. If you choose to use the filter, profane words will be replaced with an "@" symbol in the chat area. To enable this feature:

1. Go into a game lobby and click Options.
2. Under the heading Profanity Filter, choose the strength of the filter. "None" means no profanity filter. "Weak" catches common profane words. "Strong" also catches clever use of dashes and underscores between letters that would normally be missed by a filter.

Ignore invitations
If you're getting too many invitations to join a room, you can choose to turn off this option:

1. In a game lobby, click Options.
2. Check the box next to Decline All Invitations.

Sign up for Yahoo! Games All-Star and petition the league administrator
If you're being bothered by a player in a Yahoo! Games All-Star game league (as opposed to a public game room), you can petition the league administrator. The league administrator has the ability to permanently remove abusive players from their league.