This is Morphy's world very interesting!!! Hey theres a drawing of Blackburne!

(: ♗ Bishop Berkeley ♗ :)

But I certainly didn't mean to interrupt their game (though I was having trouble analysing it with Shredder (Computer) ).

(: ♗ Bishop Berkeley ♗ :)

purpose of...

Having said that, I do find his humorous messages quite funny at times, and his serious messages generally worthwhile.

I think <DrKurt> shares a challenge with myself, which is 1) keeping messages of reasonable length, 2) not getting over-enthusiastic on certain humorous themes (which sometimes takes the form of over-laboring a humorous motif - which I have done more often than I like to admit!), and 3) taking care to introduce off-topic themes only when a given message board is a bit "sleepy": not stepping on an "on topic" discussion.

Indeed, I suspect that in each of these three respects, I fall afoul of these principles as often as anyone (and let me go on about that for a few more yards :P ) I suppose too much enthusiasm is certainly better than not enough!

As for the "ignore" feature, I don't use it myself, but I can certainly understand why one might (especially in the case of consistently hostile posters). I guess I want to stay in touch with the "organicity" of any site in which I participate and can pretty much self-edit as I go. But this is just my disposition.

If <DrKurt> did choose to create an alternate personality for his particular style of entertainment, I have no problem with that, so long as it is in keeping with the rules of the site (which I don't believe proscribe that sort of thing).

Incidentally, <DrKurt>'s style of humor has often reminded me of the cartoonist B. Kilban (whom many associate with certain cat cartoons, though his repertoire is much bigger than that). B. Kilban takes lots of risks with his humor, and many of them don't quite work out. But when he's on target, he can be very funny indeed.

Just a few thoughts...

(: ♗ Bishop Berkeley ♗ :)

There certainly is much "optional" chatter that goes on at this fine site! I guess the biggest division for me is between the hostile and the non-hostile. But of course, it's the internet: the ideal anonymous medium for people with pent-up frustrations to "go off"! So that aspect just goes with the territory.

I think we all come to a site like this with different ideals of what we would like it to be. There are clearly those who would like to see nothing but message after message of chains of Chess moves. That's a perfectly legitimate conception of a Chess site.

Then there are those that would like to have a bit more than Chess moves: a bit of Chess history, some stories about ones own Chess experiences, notes about favorite clubs and current Chess events, etc.

Then there are those who have found that Chessplayers (especially amateurs, but not exclusively so) are often intellectually and socially interesting people, and they like to discuss many things, not only Chess. So, using Chess as an "anchor", many other subjects can be explored.

Of course, this last category is the one I find myself in. Needless to say, people in the first category will tend to find people in the third category a bit annoying and irrelevant, while people in the third category will probably find those in the first a bit dry and less interesting.

A significant portion of the controversy at a site like this is the tug-o-war between these different conceptions, each of which is perfectly reasonable.

Of course, as <PawnAmbush> has pointed out, the "ignore" feature can be used to exclude those who have a conception of the site that is different than ones own. In this respect, it is an efficiency tool. I would not feel the slightest sadness at being on the "ignore" list of someone in the first category above. It would just be a matter of efficiency and altogether appropriate.

Ideally, a site like this can accomodate a broad range of conceptions of what it might be.

At least, that's my preference!

(: ♗ Bishop Berkeley ♗ :)

It's O.K. to be funny at times but all the time can be annoying seeking attention by having a conversation with yourself: Red heel takes Black pump or whatever it was is really silly when you see how long it continued. When you sit down and try to understand why some kibitzers do this it borders on insanity.

For instance I posted the Morphy's world post to show how the era in which he spent his last years was like and no one said anything but dammit Red heels x black pump! gets defending. I like to learn something from these pages and I try to repay by posting something of value.

As for Morphy whether he liked ladies shoes or not who the hell cares. Who are we to dictate what someone is allowed to collect! If the man liked women shoes great whats wrong with that...Red heel takes black pump or whatever...stupid! not in itself but the length.

I did, by the way, visit the link you had posted, and spent some time looking at the images there. Thank you for it, it is quite worthwhile! At this very moment, the link is loading only partially, but (like many links), I suppose it will be back to normal soon. (Probably the ubiquitous "system maintenance" is the reason.)

I encourage others to view the link when they have a chance, though if quite a number of images do not appear, it is not working as it was earlier:

http://www.costumes.org/history/100...

(: ♗ Bishop Berkeley ♗ :)

(: ♗ Bishop Berkeley ♗ :)

<offramp> Thank you for your kind words! I'm also glad to have you on board!

(: ♗ Bishop Berkeley ♗ :)

I do believe that Chessgames.com has about the highest ratio of worthwhile posts to not-so-worthwhile of just about any site I've participated in. More evidence (if any was needed) that Chessplayers as a group are a pretty first-rate lot!

(: ♗ Bishop Berkeley ♗ :)

P.S. <Anatooly> I didn't know that Warren G. Harding was a Chessplayer (albeit perhaps not one of the first rank)! I have a friend who is an amateur historian who believes passionately (and I do mean *passionately*) that history has done a great injustice to Warren G. Harding, that he was a much better president that he is given credit for. (Indeed, I've had to warn other friends about this, "Whatever you do when talking to C----, be careful in bringing up Warren G. Harding, tempting though it may be.")

Of course, some might believe that this passionate belief is just further evidence of my friend's amateur status as an historian!! :)

(: ♗ Bishop Berkeley ♗ :)

(: ♗ Bishop Berkeley ♗ :)

http://www.ishipress.com/whithard.htm

"Warren G. Harding died on August 2, 1923 at age 58 inside the Palace Hotel on Market Street in San Francisco, which is now known as the Sheraton Palace Hotel. At the moment that Harding died, the Western Chess Championship, now known as the US Open Chess Championship, was being played across the street at the Mechanics Institute.

I discovered this fact when I was in the San Francisco Public Library looking through 1923 editions of the San Francisco Call, the leading newspaper in San Francisco at the time, looking for games and results in the Western Chess Championship being played, when the newspapers blared out that Harding had died.

(I'll have to pass this along to my crusading friend!)

The Mechanics Institute Chess Room is a wonderful place, by the way!! Anyone who happens to be in San Francisco and has a bit of spare time really should stop by. It is right near the Montgomery Street BART station (BART is the rapid transit system):

http://www.chessclub.org/

America's oldest continuously functioning Chess club! GM Alex Yermolinsky is the resident Grandmaster.

(: ♗ Bishop Berkeley ♗ :)

Incidentally, George Lucas's first film, "THX-1138", was shot (in part) in the BART underground tunnels just before the transit system was activated:

http://imdb.com/title/tt0066434/