This site could close down on March 31 2018

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  • #16
    Re: This site could close down on March 31 2018

    Originally posted by Ian Findlay View Post
    Larry no need to refund me. I am grateful for all the pain and hard work you put into this site. I will continue to support you either on line or when in Toronto. Somehow, I do not think this site will be the same without you. I have enjoyed this site over the years and I have to admit it is a guilty pleasure. Even when I was not playing chess much prior to 2016, I still logged on here most days.

    Thanks Ian...you are a long time supporter! I really appreciate your comments!! Should the site close down, we will draw a $20 gift certificate in your name at the Canadian Chess Challenge Finals in St. John's Newfoundland May 2018.

    Thanks,

    Larry

    Comment


    • #17
      Re: This site could close down on March 31 2018

      I will start the bidding at $10. Who is prepared to top me?

      Comment


      • #18
        Re: This site could close down on March 31 2018

        This site could close down on March 31 2018

        March 22, 2018

        If this site were to close down forever in just over a week's time, I would be sad.

        I calculate that for a number of years that I have spent at least two hours each day preparing material for ChessTalk or reading what others have written.

        As far as international chess goes, the best postings have been The World Championship, The Candidates, The World Cup and The Olympiad. I regret that we will not be able to discuss these anymore.

        ChessTalk holds within its archives a history of Canadian chess and outlook for the past two decades. Copies of the archives should be held in several secure places so that they can be available if ChessTalk is ever resurrected or simply for reference.

        I don't buy the statement that no copies should be made because of possible legal action or that the copyright belongs to the posters. The site has continued robustly for many years even though it has sometimes been under attack.

        I have WORD documents of all my contributions over the years but will copy some of the more interesting threads for my files. I had always imagined that everything CTalkers wrote would be preserved forever in one way or another. It is a shock to realize that it might sink very soon without a bubble.

        I doubt that Larry will be able to keep the site alive. Nobody has come forth to buy it. Charging an annual fee might seem to be one solution but ChessCafe.com tried that - $25 per year and virtually no one goes there now.

        No reader has reminisced about past threads or the enjoyment they have gotten from the site. I can only suppose that reality has not sunk in yet. Myself, I see that the termination is just one day before April Fool's Day and wonder if this is all just a cruel joke!

        Sadly, on the first day of April, when you try to access the site there will be a "404 error, web page cannot be found".

        I can truly say that ChessTalk has given me daily pleasure and I shall miss the comments of McKillop, MacDonald, Sullivan, Maguire, Jung, Shaw, Malmsten, Brodie, Armstrong, Dobrich, Bevand and the rest of the guys.

        Comment


        • #19
          Re: This site could close down on March 31 2018

          Just put that discussion board out of its misery. Selling it, closing it, whatever.

          This place has been dead for years.

          And... just for the sake of discussion... what happened to that guy who was willing to offer 10k?

          Comment


          • #20
            Re: This site could close down on March 31 2018

            Originally posted by Wayne Komer View Post
            This site could close down on March 31 2018

            March 22, 2018

            If this site were to close down forever in just over a week's time, I would be sad.

            I calculate that for a number of years that I have spent at least two hours each day preparing material for ChessTalk or reading what others have written.

            As far as international chess goes, the best postings have been The World Championship, The Candidates, The World Cup and The Olympiad. I regret that we will not be able to discuss these anymore.

            ChessTalk holds within its archives a history of Canadian chess and outlook for the past two decades. Copies of the archives should be held in several secure places so that they can be available if ChessTalk is ever resurrected or simply for reference.

            I don't buy the statement that no copies should be made because of possible legal action or that the copyright belongs to the posters. The site has continued robustly for many years even though it has sometimes been under attack.

            I have WORD documents of all my contributions over the years but will copy some of the more interesting threads for my files. I had always imagined that everything CTalkers wrote would be preserved forever in one way or another. It is a shock to realize that it might sink very soon without a bubble.

            I doubt that Larry will be able to keep the site alive. Nobody has come forth to buy it. Charging an annual fee might seem to be one solution but ChessCafe.com tried that - $25 per year and virtually no one goes there now.

            No reader has reminisced about past threads or the enjoyment they have gotten from the site. I can only suppose that reality has not sunk in yet. Myself, I see that the termination is just one day before April Fool's Day and wonder if this is all just a cruel joke!

            Sadly, on the first day of April, when you try to access the site there will be a "404 error, web page cannot be found".

            I can truly say that ChessTalk has given me daily pleasure and I shall miss the comments of McKillop, MacDonald, Sullivan, Maguire, Jung, Shaw, Malmsten, Brodie, Armstrong, Dobrich, Bevand and the rest of the guys.
            Thank you Mr. Komer for your many years of reporting on the major chess events in the world. I will miss your posts the most. Thank you Larry for running this site all these years, it has provided me with entertainment almost every day. And thank god (if there is one, which i doubt) that I never have to read another idiotic post praising Trump and bashing the CFC from.........well, you know.

            Comment


            • #21
              Re: This site could close down on March 31 2018

              The CFC hosts a discussion forum.

              Comment


              • #22
                Re: This site could close down on March 31 2018

                Originally posted by Ken Craft View Post
                The CFC hosts a discussion forum.
                The CFC hosts a chess discussion forum. No Trump or global warming discussions allowed. No trolls allowed.

                Comment


                • #23
                  Re: This site could close down on March 31 2018

                  Originally posted by Larry Castle View Post
                  Thank you Mr. Komer for your many years of reporting on the major chess events in the world. I will miss your posts the most.
                  Thank you Larry for running this site all these years, it has provided me with entertainment almost every day.
                  And thank god (if there is one, which i doubt) that I never have to read another idiotic post praising Trump and bashing the CFC from.........well, you know.
                  +1 ;)

                  Agree 100% - there are posts from people who will be missed - Wayne Komer, Hans Jung etc.
                  Last edited by Kerry Liles; Thursday, 22nd March, 2018, 11:45 AM. Reason: removed smilie that didn't work :)
                  ...Mike Pence: the Lord of the fly.

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Re : Re: This site could close down on March 31 2018

                    Originally posted by Wayne Komer View Post
                    [u]

                    I have WORD documents of all my contributions over the years but will copy some of the more interesting threads for my files. I had always imagined that everything CTalkers wrote would be preserved forever in one way or another. It is a shock to realize that it might sink very soon without a bubble.
                    Yes I thought about that too. Even though there is a lot of scrap on this site, there are also several valuable contributions that should be preserved. Could the website remain open for perusal of ancient posts, without accepting new posts?

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      clap clap

                      Originally posted by Mathieu Cloutier View Post
                      Just put that discussion board out of its misery. Selling it, closing it, whatever.

                      This place has been dead for years.
                      Not true. After the reform of ChessTalk - some years ago now - in which posters were required to use their own names, the amount of obscene, racist, misogynist, etc., posts dropped precipitously. This was real progress. This Discussion Board hosted some very nasty "debates" after that, true, but this was more political and almost to be expected.

                      In particular, I think the way our current CFC President conducted himself, facing libel, personal attacks, etc., etc., in his efforts to defend his decision-making, especially around trying to get money from FIDE for the CFC, picking sides in FIDE elections, etc., won him many friends and admirers.

                      Well, this one anyway.

                      The poor moderation simply meant that the loudest and most obnoxious voices were given a generous platform to disseminate their views and try to silence others. They failed, Vlad won, and they can, frankly, take a flying you-know-what at the wall. So I can't agree that CT didn't serve a useful purpose.

                      Mind you, Larry's failure to treat moderation in a serious enough way created new problems, however, that have remained unsolved. One has to create a culture of debate in which a wide diversity of views are tolerated. A few volunteer mods, overworked and unpaid, doomed the process of creating such a culture. To make a single observation - without good moderation Chess Talk failed many times to make women posters welcome here and that cut us off from half of the population. A light censorship prevails that, for most, matters not.

                      Elsewhere on this thread, Larry remarked that "the executive board of the CMA has made it very clear that the CMA MUST not be involved with this site anymore". One would like to have been a fly on the wall regarding that discussion but I suspect we will hear no more of it.

                      There are decisions that Larry made that I didn't agree with here but that CT has existed for as long as it has is to his credit.

                      clap clap. Well done, Larry Bevand.
                      Dogs will bark, but the caravan of chess moves on.

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Re: This site could close down on March 31 2018

                        We just sent Larry our offer of a purchase price along with a list of expenditures to carry on with ChessTalk.

                        Having spoken with Larry several times over the phone we both know that SoCA can't offer a purchase price which would do justice for his time, energy and passion for creating and hosting ChessTalk through these many years.

                        But we can offer to continue and grow and improve ChessTalk.

                        Firstly we would purchase a new vBulletin 5 Connect license. Secondly we will reskin the forum with a skin called Metro ... https://themeforest.net/item/metro-a...-and-5/3555714 , And thirdly, we would discontinue the tournament advertising fee (yes I know there's a meager profit there to be had) instead we wil have a PayPal donation implemented.

                        We will focus on building content.

                        Don't mind at all if our offer is rejected.

                        And I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Larry for providing us with ChessTalk through these many years!!!

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Re: This site could close down on March 31 2018

                          Originally posted by Neil Frarey View Post
                          We will focus on building content.
                          When you write "we", what you mean?

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Re: This site could close down on March 31 2018

                            Originally posted by Egidijus Zeromskis View Post
                            When you write "we", what you mean?
                            He obviously means SOCA.

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Re: This site could close down on March 31 2018

                              Originally posted by Fred McKim View Post
                              He obviously means SOCA.
                              One man show. Whatever.

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Re: This site could close down on March 31 2018

                                Originally posted by Egidijus Zeromskis View Post
                                One man show. Whatever.
                                The royal we.

                                Comment

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