After reading some recent posts here and on <Annie K.>, <OhioChessFan> and <Daniel Freeman> pages I am feeling very uneasy about using this site. It feels as though it has been taken over by bandits.

I can't speak for everybody on this, but I do think most kibitzers would agree. I'm not in any way offended that your son has been hiding a few things from us. This site is full of private people; many of the friends I have here I don't know the offline identities of, or only found out after having already liked and respected them for a long time without knowing. I do know the part that matters - what kind of people they are. And on a site like this, where some users have found their online trouble escalating offline because they were too open about their offline identity...

Despite <JFQ> and I trying to bring the point up, it's really clear that Daniel made no, or at least insufficent, provisions for the site to carry on after he left this mortal coil. I mean, the chessgames.com user account can't be accessed, for crying out loud? Whew.

I'll go ahead and share my last thoughts, as I am sincerely concerned the site might be inaccessible in the very near future.

It's been a good run. This site has allowed me to discover some talents I never knew I had. I have found great joy in the song parodies, and that's been a source of creative outlet I have never been close to achieving at any time in my life. I have a few puns that ended up on GOTD, and about 25 in the pipeline now that also were fun sources of creative expression. I always knew I had a bit of talent in editing, but it's not like there's much of a call for that in every day life. Writing Christmas Klus was another fun expression of creativity.

I've had a lot of fun with chess, playing it, talking about it, arguing about it. The prediction games have been a source of entertainment, especially during the dreary days of winter. This site has allowed me constant interaction with a lot of people well above the dreary intellectual level I am around every day. Rogoff is Rogoff.

Internet friendship is kind of strange. You interact across a screen, and sometimes it doesn't seem all that real. I won't mention many names as I'll surely regret not mentioning just one more person, but people know. Going back to the first World game, <twinlark> and <Dom> have been nothing but fun. By the way, has there been a <Dom> sighting lately? I just started thinking ahead about who I "had" to mention, and I got to about 20 people in 5 seconds. I'll leave the list at that.

Thanks to <cubsfan> <YouRang> <GE> <lostemperor> and <chessmoron> for the prediction games. Great fun. Bistro, you guys rock.

Insufficient words, and maybe I'm worrying about nothing. Just felt compelled this morning to go ahead and say it.

There is no other website that has captured and held my interest for as long as, or as deeply as, cg.com

For me, the best memories are the ridiculous ones.

For example, <zanzibar> likely has me on ignore, but my argument with him about Godzilla's breath ray was a highlight for me. But the Fischer page stands out. I hardly ever visit that page anymore, but for a long time it was my go-to location for unimportant speculation and argument.

I will miss cg.com if it goes away. I will miss your song parodies, believe it or not!

If I don't see you again:

“SOS SOS CQD CQD Titanic. We are sinking fast. Passengers are being put into boats. Titanic.”>

Tell Elvis to turn out the lights before he leaves the building.

"CQD is one of the first distress signals adopted for radio use."

Chessgames.com has been the pivot around which my internet activities has revolved for over a decade. Daniel's passing and the threat of this site disappearing are difficult to deal with.

Hopefully this will not be a valediction, but in case it is, it's been a pleasure being here and getting to know you, and others. Experiencing the ups and downs this site has had to offer, always with the benevolent wisdom of Daniel guiding the ship, has been my daily staple for many a year.

The site should survive. Too many people have invested too much of their time here for it to be let go easily. And there are some cluey and determined people working on it.

<Ohio> Well I have seen more than a few strange things at this website.

I am operating from a "zero knowledge base," but I read those posts and I would be surprised if that turned out to be <Daniel's> mother. I would be happy, however, to be proven wrong.

<Annie> isn't known for posting idle speculation. I will defer to her judgment on this, since I think she has access to more than zero knowledge.

I was unable to get on to cg.com for two hours early this morning in Pacific Standard Time. Some kind of hiccup, and I think they will be appearing more regularly as time goes on, until time stops.

Anyways, in a panic I spent all day archiving work on the <Wayback Machine> and carefully organizing the bookmarks. I don't want to have to trust the <Wayback> search box to recall these pages- I want to have the direct links.

Search boxes are confusing, because I never know exactly what to type in them.

Periodically over the last few weeks, I have been getting some very strange search results from the search box on the cg.com front page.

Anyways I hope you are saving things that are precious to you.

QUESTION: How do you know you are writing a post in <Ohio> forum?

ANSWER: Without even thinking about it, you find yourself re-reading your kibbutz and editing it so that it has enough commas, in, it.

I've had some serious sleep issues and noticed the site hiccups at 2AM, 4AM, strange times. I always wonder, like Redd Foxx, if this is the big one.

I guess there's nothing precious enough to me to save. Maybe I should round up my song parodies.

Jinx I was actually thinking about your song parodies earlier even before I read your post here in your forum- OhioChessFan chessforum (kibitz #18116)

I hadn't read that kibbutz until after I posted.

I was also thinking of the Cg.com vs The World series, your many, many contributions to the <Odd Lie> page, and some of your epic posts about religion and politics in <Lee's> forum.

This is the method I am using, with Chrome browser because I am familiar with it, and I know how to make bookmark folders and subfolders.

So first I decide what I want to save. Bios, the Tournament/WCC Index, my historical games collections, and such.

Then I use the Wayback machine.

First go to the machine https://archive.org/web/

Then open the cg.com page you want to archive.

Copy and paste the URL into the Save Page Now box on the machine.

It will save your page.

Then bookmark that page to the folder you want it to be in and name the folder.

So just a few minutes ago I saved this here: Bled-Zagreb-Belgrade Candidates (1959)

I want to save the game list as well, so I saved the first page and also here the second page: Bled-Zagreb-Belgrade Candidates (1959)

These kinds of pages are easy to bookmark because they already have titles. So when I bookmark the first page, this automatically becomes the title of the bookmark:

<Bled-Zagreb-Belgrade Candidates (1959)>

Then I save page two, and the same bookmark title will come up. So I simply edit the first title like this;

<Bled-Zagreb-Belgrade Candidates (1959) p.2>

That's all there is to it.

There are much better people than me to ask though. One of our members appears to have downloaded almost the whole website- this gentlemen will have skills to do that.

I suspect <Switching Owls For Thugs> knows how to do this kind of top secret internetting activity. Or even just ask the gentleman in question. I was just reading his post and I already forgot his handle.

I want to say "Finian's Rainbow" but I'm pretty sure that's wrong. I know you read his post because you offered him some moral and legal advice.

Anyways I really hope there is a better ending to this tale than imminent Armageddon.

Yes a timely reminder, thank you. I am writing a first draft of a <Petrovs> script and I want it burned into my memory how many thousand times the word "however" appeared in the <Nezhmetdinov> script. I think I already took them all out of the <Petrovs> bio, but sometimes they hide.

I passed on your advice to many Korean English students, all of whom are fond of saying "however," for some reason. I told them that "best style practice" was never to use it (which is what you told me).

Then they giggle. They are sure it is some kind of practical joke.

They didn't giggle when I told them my Mom did the post-production sound editing on "Dark Side of the Moon."

They just nodded sagely, with blank stares.

Did you know that nobody has ever heard The Dark Side of the Moon? It has to do with the rotation of the album being the same speed as the rotation of the earth or something similar.

That's a good point. And if you rotate it in synch with "The Wizard of Oz" nothing at all happens.

CHC is pretty awful. He claims to avoid all the prohibitions. Instead of "no personal attacks" on individual members he disparages CG members in groups. Then he gets upset if individuals of the group push back.

Wow, I simply can't stand what a punk <CHC> is being.>