a year later and the party continues.... hope you all enjoyed it!!!

Thanks for this tournament! Great fun; made some good friends and surprised myself in a couple of situations. Congratulations to "guanabona," yu da man!

Looks like we're all waiting for one individual to either make some moves or resign en masse. Eighteen days to completion?

Recommendation - In subsequent Hand Shaker rounds put the time for moves at 10 days rather than 14.

Wazzup with Aztec77?

I think it was cool to play something different for a change.

Was it one of the pre-packaged starts? If so, which one. I've enjoyed the games so far...

Ox:

You rock!!!  Thank you honey!!!  I'm feeling the love...

BluebOx,

Your comments to Bex were compleatly uncalled for and feel you owe her an apology.  Please be man enough to use appropriate language.  The starting position is what it is, just deal with it.

BEXTERDOGG - You're welcome and thanks for building on my observations. More frequently than not, life is more like the set-up of this tournament - we step into situations that are already in progress and we must do the best we can with what skills we have. There is no such thing as a sterile ethical field. Some people want equal outcomes; I prefer equal opportunity, which is what this tournament provides.

I thought we would get to start the game not have it "set up" for us :(

Naedling:

Thank you honey!!  The reason I chose this position is due to the complexity of each piece from the start.  I feel it will improve any one's game.

I apreciate your support.

Blue:

Answer on your "prick" question:

I was born female...considered a sex change then I realized how much I would be missing....L.O.L

Question 1:

Were you burped as a baby?

Question 2:

How can we expect world peace, when a little unfamiliar chess board caused such an upset in a poor little souls existence?

Ahem - Time for me to weigh in on this, I guess. This tournament is like the Daily Puzzle, it stretches my thoughtfulness. More to the point, especially for those who are newer than myself to this board (I joined in the summer), I will periodically offer a three-game open challenge to anyone, sometimes called Grindel's Lair and other times called Latvian Intersection. In these three-game rounds, I select a random starting position that I'm unfamiliar with simply for the enjoyment and challenge of exploring the position. To anyone who accepts, my offer is the same: win or lose, I'll play three games - my opponent gets to select the second game's starting position whether I win or lose; the winner of the second game gets to select the starting position for the third game.

I don't mind the challenge of these opening positions and we all have the same amount of time to make our moves - as my Mum used to say, "sin in haste, repent at your leisure."

Question bexter:

Were you born a prick or did you just become one?

No I don't always order ranch dressing, but when I order it I damn well expect it. You could have taken the time to write one damn sentence explaining to people that it's not a normal starting position, esp. for those of us that are new to the site. And i'm not the only one who didn't know what was going on, feel free to refrence the people who instantly dropped out of the tournament. Next time be considerate of others and steer clear of being a total dickhead.

It appears that mcclean has withdrawn?

I sometimes get Blue Cheese or Italian dressing, but sometimes I get really, really daring and go for the thousand island.  Nice point Bexterdogg, This starting position is very interesting and somewhat complicated when you first look at it.  It's a nice challenge though. 

Have to say, it's a wierd position, but I like the way the games are devoloping

Is there some significance to the starting position?  Is it from a historical game or something?

I am enjoying the complex position so far.

Hey, I think it's a great idea, I'm fully pumped to get this going :)