If you are a new member or a beginner - particularly a beginner - just new to posting a Topic in the Forum be aware that you risk your Topic being hijacked --- meaning the subject of your topic changes direction into other topics.

To prevent your topic from being hijacked, you need a list of names to block from your topic in BLOCKED LIST

BLOCKED LIST is in "Manage your privacy settings" under "Privacy" in ACCOUNT.

Any username entered into the BLOCKED LIST is given a status of READ MY TOPIC BUT DO NOT TOUCH. 

So that when you post a new Topic in the Forum all usernames in your BLOCKED LIST can only read but cannot post in your Topic.

Here are samples of what can intrude into your post if you don't create a BLOCKED LIST:

Bribery works too" - "You could also try changing your handle to "QueenedThePawn"! - What's a better cure for losing than public ridicule?" - "You don't seem very friendly. I do not want to help people who are unfriendly."--- "Word"---- "Wordwordword"--- "I have a word I want to use" "I know, everybody's heard about it.----"Do you need more jokes?"

There's a better way to avoid "your" topics being hijacked...

STOP POSTING NONSENSE!!...........!

+1

Good threads don't get hijacked.

The wonderful thing about the internet is it's interactive. This stupid BLOCKED LIST de-interactivates it. Might as well go buy a newspaper.

No problem.  You are now blocked.

A good post can still be hijacked

Such as when someone finds the username remind him of a place. Then the theme now has changed to "place". How it reminds him of the beauty of a city. Then comes along replies on other cities. Soon the word "cold" is mentioned in a comment about a city. Now the subject has flown off into two unrelated themes.

Indeed that is the beauty of the internet - it's being interactive.  But ugly when counteractive.

A pro or con discussion on the merits of a variation of the Ruy Lopez would be interactive. But not when it comes to having someone intrude with an out of topic or non-chess related post in the discussion. That is counteractive.

 I will track this thread...

You are not a chess player as you have not played a single game since you became a member May 4, 2009 or almost two years ago. So why exactly are you here?

Just because he doesn't play chess on here doesn't mean he's not a chess player. There's plenty of other stuff to do on chess.com, and maybe he just wants to play somewhere else. 

Using a tiny sized font in his reply makes his entry into this thread questionable. I forgot that it is already 2012 so that he's been a member for nearly three years.

Well you'll find fault with just about everything, humour, font size etc. And you didn't address what I said.

And no doubt you'll also find some reason to block me...

My fault.  Indeed you have a point about "he doesn't play chess on here doesn't mean he's not a chess player. There's plenty of other stuff to do on chess.com, and maybe he just wants to play somewhere else."  Replying in tiny sized font is a pun on the subject.

In a serious discussion on a subject, why would one enter with "humour" or 'pun"? For example, somebody enters into the discussion on the pros and cons of a Ruy Lopez variation and finds something funny in the username of the last to post.  So injects "humour" into his reply based on the "humour" he finds in the username changing the subject from the pros and cons of a Ruy Lopez variation to a new theme.  Replies now come pouring in on the new theme. Then one reply happens to mention "cold" and posts humour on the basis of "cold".  The topic has flown off now to a new theme - cold.

Thanks for unblocking. I used small font as a note to myself, not as a means of initiating an argument.  In retrospect, I should have just clicked on the "Tracking comments" box.

Commenting on the issue that "You are not a chess player...", may I point out that my Tactics Trainer rating is higher than yours? You are at 1950, I am at 2074. One of the reasons for being on the site is the Endless Quiz. I found some of your questions there, too. For example, you claim to have either drawn or defeated known GMs in the past. I believe they were ranked in the top 100 in the world at the time. So there is a lot to learn on the site; it is not meant only for playing live/correspondence chess.

 seems that you yourself have stopped talking about your own forum subject (blocking of members. . . for having a sense of humour?) well, i think that is what it is about? you can block me as well if you like, i have never been blocked before so it will make me feel "dirty" , is the hunt for Haywood over at last ???

Injecting humor is not the reason for blocking.

It is how that humor or sense of humor can border as heckling,  posting a prank, or a distraction in a serious discussion causing a topic to fly off into other themes or the topic become hijacked.

Nice live video. A huge improvment over the photo of a snarling dog. But still inane.

Why is the list blocked? I don't see the point of posting that you have a list that is blocked from me. May I see the list? I could show you a few of my secret lists in exchange. I collect lists and your list sounds rare and elusive.