I still believe it is an unfortunate, chimeric process: on the front end everyone is free to vote for 2-3 cycles, but at the end the winner is decided by past winners, MOST OF THEM ELECTED BY AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT PROCESS. So it is part general election, part selection of a Supreme Court. I would not call this democratic. One should not be deterred from true democracy due to the presence of lobbying. A vote is a vote.

It's now like a papal conclave

as it should be.  most of you aren't smart enough to know.

this has got to be one of the most ridiculous threads I've ever been witness to ... I can't think of a close second.

Then you haven't looked at very many.

look pal, a few of us already had you sussed out, but now you're really doing yourself in.  

What planet do you hail from?  CPOTM is the premier training ground for posting in all the other "general discussion" threads.  As a hot topic, it is only overshadowed (temporarily) by the thread "gg battle: a must read."

It's the closest thing to a perpetual motion machine so far developed on Chess.com, so post derogatory comments at your own risk.  You have been warned.  

(off to go check out gg battle and contemplate the meaning of life :)

Unbelievable. I think that comment is insubordination, or sedition, or something like that.

trysts, just a simple question ... what exactly is the degree of seriousness here?

come on dude

It's like a Master's degree in seriousness. 

seriously

I just checked -- I'm only three degrees of serious away from Kevin Bacon!

Okay, I'm stepping back from the ledge ... not sure if that's good or bad news :)

welcome back

My friend does that at uChicago.  Why is it always Asian chicks who offer something as stupid as free hugs?

We've had some of the best chess players in the world win this award. After winning the award some recipients have quit chess altogether, having fulfilled all goals. Some winners have nervous breakdowns, embarrassing meltdowns, month-long crying episodes, and shocking alcoholism(sorry). This award has seen cheating, usurpation, and suspiciously good manners. Maybe it's the price of purity...