I'm not sure I know exactly why either. The main aggravation I had was the demise of the forum system. That system seemed to be working so why scrap it?

The main reason for the end of the forums seemed to be that kwid and his friends refused to use it. <zanshin> remember when we and some others scanned the main page to copy lines to the appropriate forae? We could never get those players to stop cluttering the main page with their huge lines. One must ask why did they insist on using the main page. Was it the allure of a larger audience?

Another problem I had was the influx of stronger CC players. This seemed to me to be in violation of the spirit of the game. This was supposed to be a team of amateurs which I interpret as players below 2400 in strength. Perhaps this definition is wrong but I would like the word "amateur" defined in this context.

In the forums I felt the camaraderie you mention. Discussion could be easily followed. On the main page one has to go back many pages to find the start of a discussion and it's hard to follow. Perhaps this is one reason only computer lines are posted. Why bother leaving a comment when it's going to be almost impossible to find the responses?

Yes, <Boomie>, I remember that. I complained it was a tedious and thankless job - so you thanked me for doing it! The camaraderie factor that <benjinathan> mentioned, I had also included in my initial reply to <JFQ> on the benefits of Centaur chess (which was lost when my laptop blue screened). I wrote something like: "I enjoy the interaction with diverse and intelligent people (who else plays chess? ;-)) from all parts of the world."

I think <Boomie> has captured it well. I made lots of friends in the World games--you three among them. I don't think that would/could happen in the current version. It is hard to contribute and <kwid> and his buddies make it harder to do so. They undermined the forum system--intentionally if <kingscrusher> and others are right. It is easy to believe.

I think the cg folks need to find other formats to replace the World games so as to preserve the site's attractiveness to a wider variety of chess players.

I don't accept <kingcrushers> allegations, however. They make no sense.

It appears there is much consensus here.

<Ben>- actually, the <Kingscrusher-Kwid> feud has a long, long pedigree-

One of us actually knows something accurate about this feud.

Guilty a bit. Kingcrusher posted a link to his site where kb2ct (under a different handle) had insulted a GM opponent. I think most of Kingcrusher's complaints concern this kind of interaction with the kwidz kidz on his site. Perhaps he should have posted on their forae instead of the game page.

They changed the Indian swastika symbol- which is Buddhist, by the way- by reversing the direction of the little thingies on the end of the spokes.>

Well, not exactly true. Swastikas have been found that date back to 5000 BC. It is a design that occurs naturally in square basket weaving.

A little closer to India, swastikas have been found in the remains of the Indus Valley civilization which was ground into dust by the invasion of the Vedic culture. So the symbol was used on the subcontinent before 1500 BC when the invasion took place.

Which is more than I can say for this defective Dalmatian I once bought.

This is what I get for not GOOGLING for fact checking.

Boomie's comments on ceasing participation in the World teams is pretty much spot on. I spent hours in the GMT game copying analyses into forums, exhorting people (especially the strong CC players) to take a few seconds to post their analyses into the forums and participate in the discussions, hosing down fights, extricating myself from fights, and generally trying to support kutztown46 and zanshin in keeping the forum system alive. Not to mention engaging in analysis myself.

The factors that produced those early victories: the forum system, the camaraderie, the willingness to think outside the box, to use engines as a tool rather than a crutch (or substitute brain), the lively debates, and most of all the sense of a coherent Team, seem to have disappeared.

"On August 25 through August 31, 2008, Daegu hosted the first ever Asian Bodypainting Festival"

I tried this with IE8 but it didn't work. I'm stuck with goofy icons. Still it's a good idea to clean house every now and again.

Re-install IE7 is my advice.

I see the great Drawski debate rages on. There have been only 5 decisive games out of 21 at Dortmund. If I am Krammy, I'm not going to press against a player like Leko.

Also, it's always fun when I can show up on <acirce's> radar since he has me on perma-ignore.

I have to say his post today showed remarkable restraint, compared to some of the medecine he's adminstered to <Vladimir "Anand's not *really* the world champion yet" Kramnik> bashers.

I don't care for him at all- but I have to say I respect him more than some people I could mention.

When he puts someone on ignore he doesn't take them off to "peek". He only goes by "reposted comments."

I admire such conviction.

Also, he was cracking jokes when 99.99999 percent of the time he's a dour, jaundiced, supercilious, and frequently malevolent sourpuss.

<Thorsson: I was shocked to see that the forum system had disappeared. It was one of the team's great strengths, even if it wasn't always smooth sailing. I'd be a little worried, from the admittedly little I've read, that the team had largely descended into being a postman for RV's Rybka 3.>

<Thorsson:

<<mcguigan97: Hmm...you do know a draw is when both sides are equal? GMMU, who you praise for his non-Rybka moves, only got a draw.

The team - with Rybka support - got a draw.

Therefore, GMMU did not play better than our team. His "non-Rybka" moves did not help him. And please note, he had white. As you know, if anything, a draw with white is a worse performance than a draw with black.

The game provides no support for the notion that we played badly or that GMMU played well. We are equal - that is what a draw is.>>

"All Animals are Equal. But some are more equal than others."

The erudite and intelligent will understand what I mean by this, but education being what it is these days, let me elucidate.

Umansky, possibly assisted by a computer, but if so certainly a less powerful one than RV's, has held a team of many hundreds, assisted by many computers, including RV's beast, to a draw. That's a moral victory to Umansky for my money. He is more equal than the team.

But without insulting anyone.

I chatted with your twin sister today. She mentioned how hard it is to find an English teacher in Korea. Being a mensch, and not that bright a one at that, I blurted out that I knew this dingbat in Daegu who would love to chat about anything. I gave her the link to your forum. So if you get a strange message in broken English from a guest, you know who to blame.

Prolly not going to happen but I kinda hope it does although I'm not sure why. She plays a different game but would be rated somewhere around 2650 if they used ELO. Plus she's totally charming. Oh, her name is Cho Hye Yeon.

I went into the Temp folder and deleted the goofy icons by hand, rebooted, and viola da gamba, game over. Figures the go ddamned fu cking bastard of a browser tool didn't touch them.

GOOD TIMES!>

Since the first moment I went on line I've become convinced that everyone, including people who make the "free browsers", wants to make it as difficult as possible to delete the "temporary cache".

It can become bloated quickly and slow down your speed.

But more sinister- nobody wants you to have the ability to block third party cookies.

Ok cookies are plenty useful- but I could live without them.

I know all my passwords etc. and it takes a minute at most to re-sign in to all the sites I use that have passwords.

These "cookies" can be "gateway foods" to more sinister fare-

Like Trojans, Ghost Trackers, and all manner of unwanted attention gusting up to having your PC hijacked.

It is estimated that as many as 30 per cent of all personal computers are currently in some form of "drone state".

You might never know, until you are investigated by the police.