<Hozza> yes the VART was bound to have problems mainly because the VART ref isn't actually a robot.

Only when a robot actually runs the robot will we get proper refereeing.

<Hozza> I always think <England> will win and I'll never think otherwise until the ref has to explain to <Hazza> that "No, you don't get another game if Iceland wins this one..."

Best teams in order: Spain, Belgium, ... long gap..., Portugal, Brazil, Mexico, France, England, Argentina ...

<Teem> The Japanese national team subsists solely on bonsai leaves and bamboo shoots, putting them one up on the <Pandas>.

<Tigga> Seems a reasonable enough prediction all round.

<Russia> certainly looked good dismantling <Egypt>. I just finished watching that match. The surprise player so far of the tournament may be <Chernobylchev> who scored another fine goal in this one to add to his total. He is on the front foot for the <GORDIAN BOOT> prize.

Wow.

When a team can put Messi, Aguero, Higuain, and Dybala on the field, you expect to see a goal.

This is too massive to blame any one of these, though Messi is sure to get the most stick.

I blame the gaffer, who obviously will be sacked but should probably be deported.

<Tigga> I can always count on you for the deeper analysis. Quite So, quite so.

<Argentina> "faint hope clause"

Well, though <Argentina's> destiny is no longer in their hands with regard to the round of 16, it is still mathematically possible for them to actually win the tournament.

Consequently, I believe they should fire the gaffer now, and hire a mathematician to manage the team throughout the rest of their matches.

<Tim> I may have asked you before, but did you ever get a USCF rating?

1800 at ChessTempo is pretty good by my standard. I just joined there and played a 30 minute game to see what the starting rating was- 1500. So you are 300 points above starting rating which is nothing to sneeze at, among the great unwashed such as myself.

It's so hard to compare across sites. Chess.com is where I play the most and my rating there is atrocious. I think the starting rating is <YEAR ZERO> like the Khmer Rouge. You get a rating of zero or some such or it starts at 500 or something. I can't remember.

Anyways my Chess.com rating is a full 300 points lower than 11 years ago. It's been a long, slow slide.

More than 11 years ago, I used to play two USCF members OTB who had ratings 1800-1900 and I won one game only against the higher guy and I scored a bit over 50% against the lower guy.

On Yahoo Chess I got to 1700 something on 10 minute a move and that was 11 years ago. Now I don't even remember how to sign in to Yahoo- that's how low my rating is. I can't even find it!

I know you were a very strong player, but this kind of gradual slide is probably inevitable, and I'm skeptical that herb would be a "cause" or even exacerbating effect. I think in some cases, depending on the person, it could actually enhance playing strength, and certainly enjoyment.

Wow. I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition. Give me the comfy chair.

<Tim> those are more than respectable OTB ratings brah- nice!

I didn't understand you meant your Chess Tempo tactics rating. That's how I discovered that they also have live chess as well.

It just never occurred to me that anyone would worry about a tactics rating. That number is close to meaningless, no? That number will not help you play better in actual chess games. If I were you I would never think about that again- the only way to know if your playing strength is falling is to play actual chess games- at long time controls.

I don't regard any control under an hour each to be actual chess. I call games under that time control to be "whiffle ball."

Shockingly, the Swedish team has a "Finn in the woodpile" since there is a guy named TOIVENENN which is Finlander. Maybe they "bought him" from Finland.

<Tigga> Yes I watched the BBC post game analysis and they explained the tie rules. Apparently, if the "fair play" score is also tied they draw lots to crown the group wiener.

I think they should each have to pick a champion and let them duke it out for 3 rounds. <Romulan Lukaku> would probably win.

<Belgium> is monstrouser than ever they have multiple world class players at every position.

I think they will win the tournament but I hope England pounds them instead.

<Bill>?

How are you man welcome back! You may be pleased, or horrified to learn that I saw two Bigfoot prints in the Chilliwack mountains, but I didn't have a camera and I figured no one would believe me.

They may have been something else, but I was sufficiently frightened to retreat in the dusk, looking over my shoulder.

<Boomie> has become a full time bigfoot researcher in the sasquatch hotspot of Puyallup, Washington. Or at least that's what I've been telling everyone on the internet.

Here is an audio aid to help understand= the notorious "Puyallup Screamer" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sd...

Thanks for clearing up the mystery for me, but my question was indeed answered almost instantly in the <Biographer's Bistro>

You are correct on all counts. I missed the photo challenge by one (1).

Did you get drawn back into the site because you got a free preemy out of the blue?

If so, this is part of an inspired promotion by our webmaster. I think everyone who ever had a preemy got a new free one, for three months or some such.

Actually--and I am somewhat ashamed to admit this--I look into Chessgames rather frequently (especially when there is a tournament), but never comment, as I don't have the time anymore to keep up with everything! I always peruse my friends's forums (such as yours) and happened, this time, to be struck by your question.

Wow, you saw two bigfoot tracks. I am jealous, though I can understand your response (I am sure such an experience would be bowel loosening for me). This summer I actually intend to cruise into some of the more remote mountain areas of New Mexico (and maybe Colorado as well) in hopes of seeing/finding something. (I saw a huge black bear right outside my bedroom window last September--I could have touched it if I'd wanted to, it was that close--but that's small potatoes.)

Glad to hear that Boomie's on board, too! And yeah, Washington's ground zero for bf sightings. (And you're back in BC now, yes?)

What have I been up to? I am very recently divorced. Very amicable. Twenty-four and a half years married, twenty-eight together. (More time for me to find bf!) Right now I am shopping around a big--657 pages--satiric /comic novel that's an overview of the twentieth century as told through three generations of a German-British-American family. It's not really a post-modern meta-novel (although it may share a thing or two with some of them); more a tip of the hat to Swift and Rabelais (with a nod Celine and a few others, perhaps). Also trying to get some of my short fiction published (including a short story satire on academia called "Brown Daze"--did I not once send that to you?). My students got me on Facebook, and that's where I do most of my kibitzing nowadays. Reading (recently finished both volumes of The Decline of the West--fascinating!), writing, weight-lifting, etc. (Usual suspects.)

And yeah, that "Puyallup Screamer" is a sure-fire cure for constipation! Wow!

<Bill> That's big news a divorce- you sound in good spirits though, and of that I'm glad.

I don't remember if I read your piece- it's been several years since we've been in touch but I'd be happy to read (or re-read) any of your material.

Good luck on your mammoth publishing plans! I predict success.

I also enjoyed <The Decline of the West> which I read twice. The first time I was forced to in university, though I wasn't forced to take the course that forced me to read it. I read it again years later for fun, though it's not really a fun subject.

It always reminds me of <Céline's> "Journey to the End of the Night." That took a big bite out of me. It rang true but so pessimistic, almost beyond comprehension. It shouldn't be uncritically labeled an "autobiography" because it isn't one in the sense people normally think of an "autobiography." It's an electrifying and soul-destroying rant against humanity, one of my favorite genres.

Concerning the bastardization of culture encouraged by robot-operated search crawlers, just try to google <Céline> and try to find him through the first 3000 listings of the <brand name> and <Celine Dionne>.

It's moments like this that make me agree again with <Ignatius J. Reilly> from "A Confederacy of Dunces." I was forced to read it by a literature professor, and he asked me in his office why I liked Ignatius so much.

"Because he says the truth- such as 'Canned food is an abomination.'"

My professor carefully raised an eyebrow. "You do realize that's an insane pronouncement, right?"

I hadn't.

"Yes, of course" I answered.