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Happy Halloween Everybody!! The 2nd Season of the Fortnight Speed Vote League is nearly upon us. Here are the teams that will be competing in the Dracula vs Frankenstein Season: North A: Chess Nuts! - (Chess_Kebabs), (NabeelDaSorcerer) B: Chess Empire - (Kacparov), (DaPharaoh) C: The Dark Knights - (Billium248), (Ray_D) D: The Winning Team - (h777), (Maurissius) E: Checkmate! - (OpeningGambit), (brfc) South A: Fast Players Group - (mthinker), (CheekyChops0) B: Rapid Chess - (johanpalmaer), (chessman_calum) C: The Scotch Fans Team - (Chessy4000), (tournamentguy) D: We Chat Global - (blackfirestorm666), (monroe721) E: Burning Pawns - (wilt18), (Billium248), (elcomandante66) (MikeDoyle) East A: The Power of Chess - (jchurch5566) B: Team Antarctica - (Rooperi), (Billium248) C: Super Troopers - (DannyDawson), (blackfirestorm666), (timmygadget) D: Light Force - (Zhane), (Mithras), (Billium248) E: Chess Maniacs - (jrcolonial98), (kid_of_chess) West A: Animal Lovers - (Billium248), (blackfirestorm666), (wpostma) B: The Premiere of All - (Val08), (Komoliddin07) C: Chess Unlimited - (Jaller435718), (wilt18) D: Wizards of Oz - (Rab63), (Wallyjack), (Billium248) E: The Red Army - (Manchero), (EternalHope), (VuduChile), (Turn) And here is the official schedule: Fortnight 1: 11/9-11/22The Power of Chess vs Light Force - (October 31st, 20:00 GMT) (21:00)The Dark Knights vs Chess Empire - (November 14th, 13:00 GMT) (14:00)Rapid Chess vs The Scotch Fans Team - (November 14th, 11:00 GMT) (12:00)Team Antarctica vs Super Troopers - (November 14th, 12:00 GMT) (14:00)The Premier of All vs Chess Unlimited - (November 14th, 14:00 GMT) (14:00)Chess Nuts vs The Winning Team - (November 21st, 18:00 GMT) (forfeit)Fast Players Group vs We Chat Global - (November 23rd, 14:00 GMT)Animal Lovers vs Wizards of Oz - (November 28th, 14:00 GMT)Week Off: Checkmate, Burning Pawns, Chess Maniacs, The Red Army Fortnight 2: 11/23-12/6Burning Pawns vs The Scotch Fans Team - (November 21st, 14:00 GMT) (15:00)Super Troopers vs Chess Maniacs - (November 28th, 12:00 GMT)Chess Unlimited vs The Red Army - (November 28th, 14:00 GMT)Chess Empire vs Chess Nuts - (December 5th)Checkmate vs The Dark Knights - (December 5th)Animal Lovers vs The Premier of All - ForfeitTeam Antarctica vs The Power of ChessFast Players Group vs Rapid ChessWeek Off: The Winning Team, We Chat Global, Light Force, Wizards of Oz Fortnight 3: 12/7-12/20Light Force vs Team Antarctica - (December 12th, 14:00 GMT)Red Army vs Animal Lovers - (December 12th, 14:00 GMT)Chess Nuts vs Checkmate - (December 19th, 13:00 GMT)The Premier of All vs Wizards of Oz - ForfeitWe Chat Global vs Rapid Chess - (January 2nd, 12:00 GMT)Chess Empire vs The Winning Team - (January 9, 15:00 GMT) 19:00 GMTBurning Pawns vs Fast Players Group - (January 9th, 14:00 GMT) 14:00 GMTChess Maniacs vs The Power of ChessWeek Off: The Dark Knights, The Scotch Fans Team, Super Troopers, Chess Unlimited Holiday Break: 12/21-1/3Happy New Year!! Fortnight 4: 1/4-1/17We Chat Global vs Burning Pawns - (October 24th, 14:00 GMT)Animal Lovers vs Chess Unlimited - (December 5th, 14:00 GMT)Light Force vs Chess Maniacs - (January 2nd, 17:00 GMT)Chess Nuts vs The Dark Knights - (January 16th, 13:00 GMT)Red Army vs Wizards of Oz - (January 17th, 14:00 GMT)The Power of Chess vs Super Troopers - (January 30th, 13:00 GMT)The Scotch Fans Team vs Fast Players GroupThe Winning Team vs CheckmateWeek Off: Chess Empire, Rapid Chess, Team Antarctica, The Premier of All Fortnight 5: 1/18-1/31Wizards of Oz vs Chess Unlimited - (December 19th, 15:00 GMT)The Premier of All vs The Red Army - ForfeitSuper Troopers vs Light Force - (January 16th, 13:00 GMT)Rapid Chess vs Burning Pawns - (January 23rd, 12:00 GMT)Chess Empire vs CheckmateThe Dark Knights vs The Winning TeamWe Chat Global vs The Scotch Fans TeamTeam Antarctica vs Chess ManiacsWeek Off: Chess Nuts, Fast Players Group, The Power of Chess, Animal Lovers Quarter-Finals: 2/1-2/14Teams to be determined Semi-Finals: 2/15-2/28Teams to be determined Finals: 3/1-3/14Teams to be determined Off-Season: 3/15-4/4Everybody take a break!! Good Luck Everybody!! Have Fun and Don't Time Out!!

There is a discussion in the main forums regarding Vote Chess Games and timing out. It would help greatly if everyone could go there and offer your comments, suggestions, and/or support for these proposed changes. Thank you. http://www.chess.com/forum/view/suggestions/vote-chess3

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!! HAVE A GREAT 2010!!! Don't forget that there's a BLUE MOON this New Year's Eve!!!

Well, we are half way thru Season 2, and I'm just now finding the time to post all the final results from Season 1. Sorry about that!! The Fortnight Speed Vote League Champions for Season 1 (The Freddy vs Jason Season) are: Fast Players Group Congratulations!!! I think it's pretty appropriate that FPG win the first Speed Vote Tournament since without their help, we probably wouldn't even have the option of 10-min vote chess to begin with!! Way back in the day, there used to be 5, 10, and 15 min options in Vote Chess. They all disappeared (too many quick timeouts), and the fastest option we were left with was 30-minutes/turn. By this time tho, I had gotten a taste of how fun these Blitz Games could be. So I campaigned to get the Speed Vote Games brought back. I don't believe the 10-minute games would have been reinstated without the support of the Fast Players Group and all their members who took the time to post their comments. My group (The Dark Knights) used to get together every Saturday to send out Speed Vote Open Seeks. Sometimes it would be several hours before another group would be willing to play. More often than not, it was the Fast Players Group who accepted. Most of the other groups would time out within the first dozen moves or so, but the Fast Players Group always played to the end. This was the reason I formed The Fortnight Speed Vote League in the first place. I couldn't believe that The Dark Knights and the Fast Players Group were the only ones willing to play Speed Vote games all the way thru. I am very glad to see that so many other groups have now been bitten by the Speed Vote bug!! We had a lot of very exciting games in Season 1, and it's been a joy to watch so many of them!! It is very fitting that the Fast Players Group are the League's First Champions!! The Fast Players Group went undefeated in Season 1 with a perfect 7-0 record, winning 3 games by submission, 2 games by timeout, and 2 games by forfeit. They averaged 30 moves (10 hours) per game (150 total moves). They averaged 5 votes per move (799 total votes). 56 moves had unanimous voting (37%). 33 moves were decided by 1 vote or less (22%). There were only 4 moves with double-digit votes (13,12,12,10 - all in The Grand Finale Game). There was only 1 move in which only 1 vote was cast (also in The Grand Finale Game - mthinker saved the day). Every other move had between 2-9 votes. They were white in 4 of their 5 games. The only time they played black was in The Grand Finale Game vs Chess Nuts!! Mthinker deserves extra recognition because he was in every single game from start to finish!! He commented on almost every single move, and I don't believe he missed a single vote!! That's some serious dedication!! Now, let me introduce you to the players of the Season 1 Champion Fast Players Group: cheekychops (C) - Creator and Super-Administrator, commented in games 2,3,5 mthinker (A) Administrator and Team Captain, the only player to comment in every single game (and on almost every single move) shamback (B) - commented in games 2,3,5jjengla (B) - commented in games 3,4,5 DracoAter (A) - commented in games 4,5Mithras (B) - commented in games 1,4grey_pieces (B) - commented in games 2,3OLYMPIAKARAS (B) - commented in games 2,5Chief523 (B) - commented in games 4,5JDudar (B) - commented in games 4,5kanoutis (C) - commented in games 3,5xphileprof (C) - commented in games 4,5 phils_gambit (A) - commented in game 1gimmewuchagot (B) - commented in game 1bostonbaked (C) - commented in game 1MICK952 (C) - commented in game 1NOLAUPT (C) - commented in game 1 Il-Gran-Rifiuto (A) - commented in game 2jmhet42 (A) - commented in game 2yetkin_ozturk (A) - commented in game 2HiggsBoson (B) - commented in game 2sebastian11 (B) - commented in game 2mwaltenburg (C) - commented in game 2 Petescorner (A) - commented in game 3 DW_Batty (B) - commented in game 4P_U_N (B) - commented in game 4 howlzamimaru (B) - commented in game 5langkisau (B) - commented in game 5Lunien (B) - commented in game 5rocketman8 (B) - commented in game 5tomerg (B) - commented in game 5yesmynameisjack (B) - commented in game 5 Ratings Guide: (A) = 2000+, (B) = 1500-2000, (C) = 1000-1500, (D) = 500-1000, (E) = 0-500 Here are the Final Standings from Season 1: Teams in red are the leaders in their division (automatically seeded #1-4). Teams in bold have gone the distance. Teams in italics have timed out. As of November 7: #1: 21 points - Fast Players Group (7-0) (North) (Champion) #2: 19 points - Chess Nuts(6-1-1) (West) (Finalist) #3: 12 points - Kairav's Chess Masters (4-1) (South) (Semi-Finalist) #4: 11 points - Animal Lovers (3-2-2) (East) (Semi-Finalist) #5: 12 points - Team Antarctica (4-1) (South) (Quarter-Finalist) #6: 10 points - The Blakenators (3-1-1) (East) (Quarter-Finalist) #7: 9 points - The Power of Chess (3-2) (West) (Quarter-Finalist) #8: 9 points - The Premiere of All (3-2) (North) (Quarter-Finalist) #9: 6 points - Narz's People (2-2) (West) #10: 6 points - The Dark Knights (2-2) (South) #11: 6 points - Supreme Pawns (2-2) (North) #12: 6 points - Chess & Cola Club (2-2) (East) #13: 3 points - Chess Unlimited (1-3) (South) #14: 3 points - Rapid Chess (1-3) (East) #15: 3 points - Wizards of Oz (1-3) (West) #16: 3 points - Chess Empire (1-3) (East) #17: withdrawn - The Best (1-3) (North) #18: withdrawn - Chess Team Holland (0-4) (West) #19: withdrawn - Team Benelux "de Leeuwen" (0-4) (South) #20: withdrawn - Chess Friends for Friends (0-4) (North) Season 1 Games: 01: Team Antarctica vs Team Benelux "de Leeuwen" - Timeout (move 1)02: Rapid Chess vs Chess & Cola Club - Submission (move 33)03: The Power of Chess vs Wizards of Oz - Submission (move 37)04: Chess Nuts vs Narz's People - Submission (move 37)05: Chess Unlimited vs The Dark Knights - Knockout (move 32)06: Chess Friends for Friends vs The Best - Timeout (move 1)07: The Blakenators vs Chess Empire - Timeout (move 14)08: Fast Players Group vs Supreme Pawns - Timeout (move 9)09: Narz's People vs Wizards of Oz - Submission (move 18)10: Chess Unlimited vs Team Antartica - Timeout (move 1)11: Animal Lovers vs Chess Empire - Timeout (move 13)12: The Power of Chess vs Chess Nuts - Knockout (move 48)13: Chess Team Holland vs Narz's People - Timeout (move 17)14: Team Benelux "de Leeuwen" vs Kairav's Chess Masters - Forfeit (move 0)15: Team Benelux "de Leeuwen" vs Chess Unlimited - Forfeit (move 0)16: Team Benelux "de Leeuwen" vs The Dark Knights - Forfeit (move 0)17: Chess Friends for Friends vs Fast Players Group - Forfeit (move 0)18: Chess Friends for Friends vs The Premiere of All - Forfeit (move 0)19: Chess Friends for Friends vs Supreme Pawns - Forfeit (move 0)20: Supreme Pawns vs The Premiere of All - Timeout (move 3)21: Rapid Chess vs The Blakenators - Timeout (move 24)22: Kairav's Chess Masters vs Chess Unlimited - Timeout (move 15)23: Kairav's Chess Masters vs The Dark Knights - Timeout (move 39)24: Wizards of Oz vs Chess Nuts - Submission (move 30)25: The Dark Knights vs Team Antartica - Submission (move 19)26: The Blakenators vs Chess & Cola Club - Submission (move 18)27: Chess Team Holland vs The Power of Chess - Timeout (move 1)28: Animal Lovers vs Rapid Chess - Timeout (move 1)29: The Best vs Fast Players Group - Forfeit (move 0)30: The Power of Chess vs Narz's People - Timeout (move 2)31: The Best vs The Premiere of All - Forfeit (move 0)32: The Best vs Supreme Pawns - Forfeit (move 0)33: Chess Empire vs Rapid Chess - Knockout (move 30)34: Team Antartica vs Kairav's Chess Masters - Submission (move 58)35: Chess & Cola Club vs Animal Lovers - Submission (move 41)36: Chess Team Holland vs Wizards of Oz - Forfeit (move 0)37: Chess Team Holland vs Chess Nuts - Forfeit (move 0)38: The Blakenators vs Animal Lovers - Draw (move 43)39: Chess Empire vs Chess & Cola Club - Timeout (move 13)40: Fast Players Group vs The Premiere of All - Submission (move 19)41: Kairav's Chess Masters vs The Blakenators - Timeout (move 25)42: Fast Players Group vs The Power of Chess - Submission (move 33)43: Animal Lovers vs Team Antarctica - Submission (move 20)44: Chess Nuts vs The Premier of All - Submission (move 26)45: Animal Lovers vs Chess Nuts - Game One - Draw (move 81)46: Chess Nuts vs Animal Lovers - Game Two - Submission (move 55)47: Fast Players Group vs Kairav's Chess Masters - Timeout (move 43)48: Chess Nuts vs Fast Players Group - Submission (move 46) Final Stats for Season 1: 22 games were won by white (46%) 13 games were won by black (27%) 2 games were a draw (4%) 11 games were forfeit (23%) 17 games were won by timeout (35%) 15 games were won by submission (32%) 3 games were won by knockout (6%) Average length of games: 20 moves (6-7 hours) (946 total moves - 48 total games) Average length of games that timed out (including forfeits): 8 moves (2-3 hours) (222 total moves - 28 total games) Average length of games that went the distance: 36 moves (12-13 hours) (724 total moves - 20 total games) Shortest game: 0 moves (10 mins) (3-way tie) Longest game: 81 moves (27 hours 36 mins) Overall Opening Statistics: White Wins: A49: Indian Game: Pseudo-King's Indian Variation B01: Scandinavian Defense: Gubinsky-Melts Defense B21: Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit B33: Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian, Normal B50: Sicilian Defense: Modern Variations B81: Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation, Keres Attack B90: Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, English Attack C00: French Defense: Normal Variation C02: French Defense: Advance Variation, Nimzowitsch System C62: Ruy Lopez: Steinitz Defense E12: Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov Variation Black Wins: A04: Zukertort Opening: Symmetrical Variation B28: Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation, Normal System, Taimanov Line B32: Sicilian Defense: Kalashnikov Variation B33: Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian, Normal B50: Sicilian Defense: Modern Variations, Anti-Qxd4 Move Order B90: Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, English Attack C57: Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Fried Liver Attack Draws: B05: Alekhine Defense: Modern Variation, Main Line E42: Nimzo-Indian Defense: Huebner Variation, Rubinstein Variation Timeouts: A21: English Opening: King's English Variation, Reversed Sicilian A45: Indian Game: Pawn Push Variation A80: Dutch Defense B00: King's Pawn B00: King's Pawn B28: Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation, Maroczy Bind, Paulsen Line B56: Sicilian Defense: Classical Variation B90: Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, English Attack C29: Vienna Game: Vienna Gambit, Breyer Variation C40: King's Knight Opening C42: Russian Game C55: Italian Game: Two Knights Defense D10: Queen's Gambit: Slav Defense E21: Nimzo-Indian Defense: Three Knights Variation, Duchamp Variation no moves no moves no moves

Now I know that a lot of the members in this group are using this particular database thinking it is OK to use but last night I was accused of cheating for using it. http://chessok.com/?page_id=352 I have been chatting with members of chess.com staff over the course of the day and it has now been established that to use this particular database IS cheating. Opening databases are fine and are perfectly alright to use but this particular database also uses computer analysis so must therefore not be used. Thank you for your time.

Most of you have now gotten a taste of just how much fun these games can be if they're played right, and played till the end. Most of you have also gotten a taste of how disappointing these games can be when they time out prematurely. That's actually why I formed this league in the first place. The Dark Knights were playing Speed Vote Games almost every Saturday, but every game ended in a timeout (except for the games against the Fast Players Group who were good enuf to play us MANY times). I couldn't believe that we were the only 2 groups who were willing to finish these games. I am happy to report that since we started this league, we have had 13 games that were played to completion!! If the last 2 games in the regular season don't timeout, then the timeout ratio for our league games will actually drop below 50%!! Thank you to all the groups who have made this season and this league so very enjoyable!! Outside of the league, I have been watching as MANY MANY 10-min/turn Vote Games are started, but not finished. Since this league was formed over 2 months ago, only THREE Non-League Speed Vote Games have NOT ended in timeouts!! I can't even tell you what the percentage is, because I can't count all the games that DID timeout (there's WAY TOO MANY). Here are the 3 Non-League Non-Timeout games: Chess Empire defeats Kairav's Chess Masters by submission (move 43) Chess Maniacs defeat Chess Unlimited by submission (move 17) The Power of Chess draws against Burning Pawns (move 15) As you can see, 4 of the 6 teams are already in the league, and the other 2 will be joining us for the next season. I am just very excited that those of us who enjoy these games now have a wide range of teams to play against who are willing to put in just as much effort to keep their games alive as we are. Keep up the good work everybody!! And thanks for making all of this SO MUCH FUN!!!

This post will be updated as games are played. Fortnight 1: 11/9-11/22 We Chat Global vs Burning Pawns - Burning Pawns win by submission (move 40) The Power of Chess vs Light Force - The Power of Chess wins by timeout (move 21) The Dark Knights vs Chess Empire - game drawn by agreement (move 27) Rapid Chess vs The Scotch Fans Team - The Scotch Fans win by submission (move 34) Team Antarctica vs Super Troopers - Super Troopers win by submission (move 30) The Premier of All vs Chess Unlimited - Chess Unlimited wins by timeout (move 35) The Scotch Fans Team vs Burning Pawns - Burning Pawns win by timeout (move 1) Burning Pawns vs The Scotch Fans Team (Take 2) - Burning Pawns win by knockout (move 23) Chess Nuts vs The Winning Team - Chess Nuts win by forfeit Fast Players Group vs We Chat Global - Fast Players Group wins by submission (move 43) Week Off: Checkmate, Burning Pawns, Chess Maniacs, The Red Army So far in Season 2: 4 games have been won by Black (44%) 3 games have been won by White (33%) 1 game has been drawn (11%) 1 game was forfeit (11%) 4 games have been won by Submission (44%) 1 game has been won by Knockout (11%) 2 games have been won by Timeout (22%) Average length of games: 31.625 moves (10.54 hours) (253 total moves - 8 total games) Average length of games that timed out: 28 moves (9.33 hours) (56 total moves - 2 total games) Average length of games that went the distance: 32.83 moves (10.94 hours) (197 total moves - 6 total games) Shortest game: 21 moves (7 hours ?? mins) Longest game: 40 moves (13 hours 45 mins) Overall Breakdown on Openings: White Wins: Black Wins: A45: Indian Game: Tartakower Attack B33: Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian, Normal E19: Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Traditional Variation Main Line Draws: C67: Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Rio de Janeiro Variation Timeouts: B30: Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian B70: Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation Standings (as of Nov 21st): 6 points - Burning Pawns (2-0) (South) 3 points - The Power of Chess (1-0) (East) 3 points - The Scotch Fans Team (1-1) (South) 3 points - Super Troopers (1-0) (East) 3 points - Chess Unlimited (1-0) (West) 3 points - Chess Nuts (1-0) (North) 1 point - The Dark Knights (0-0-1) (North) 1 point - Chess Empire (0-0-1) (North) 0 points - We Chat Global (0-1) (South) 0 points - Light Force (0-1) (East) 0 points - Rapid Chess (0-1) (South) 0 points - Team Antarctica (0-1) (East) 0 points - The Premiere of All (0-1) (West) 0 points - The Winning Team (0-1) (North)

The regular season is over. It's time for the Playoffs!! (this post will be updated as games are played) The schedule: Quarter-Finals (8/31-9/13): #5 Kairav's Chess Masters vs #4 The Blakenators - Kairav's Chess Masters win by timeout (move 25) #3 Fast Players Group vs #6 The Power of Chess - Fast Players Group win by submission (move 33) #8 Animal Lovers vs #1 Team Antarctica - Animal Lovers win by submission (move 20) #2 Chess Nuts vs #7 The Premier of All - Chess Nuts win by submission (move 26) Semi-FInals (9/14-9/27): #8 Animal Lovers vs #2 Chess Nuts - Game One - Draw (move 81) #2 Chess Nuts vs #8 Animal Lovers - Game Two - Chess Nuts win by submission (move 55) #3 Fast Players Group vs #5 Kairav's Chess Masters - Fast Players Group win by timeout (move 43) Finals (9/28-10/11): #2 Chess Nuts vs #3 Fast Players Group - Fast Players Group win by submission (move 46) Off Season: (10/12-10/18): No games scheduled Remember that we are in the Playoffs now, so a draw is NOT an option!!! Good Luck Everybody!! Have Fun!!

There have been a number of games now with some very original titles. I thank all of the teams who have thought about naming their game something other than "Let's Play." Here are some of those games for your enjoyment: The People Go Nuts! Knight's Unlimited

Season 1 was the Freddy vs Jason Season. Season 2 is the Dracula vs Frankenstein Season (Happy Halloween). Season 3 will be the Aliens vs Predator Season.

Read from bottom to up. I sent a reply but dont have that since I didnt get a replay back. My reply was asking if 10AM worked 1pm my time is too late, what about 9pm Eastern? (I'm looking for a middle ground). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Original Message by GeniusKJ on 10/9/2009 @ 2:31pm: That is 4AM Pacific time. That is way too early. I'll be sleeping till 10AM Pacific time for sure. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Original Message by mthinker on 10/9/2009 @ 2:30pm: That's way late, I was thinking 7am Eastern time ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Original Message by GeniusKJ on 10/9/2009 @ 2:28pm: I'd like to start at 1:00 PM pacific time but that's probably late for you. How about 12:00 PM Pacific time? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Original Message by mthinker on 10/9/2009 @ 2:20pm: I'm traveling so EST or Central time would work. Again, what's the earliest you can start? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Original Message by GeniusKJ on 10/9/2009 @ 2:07pm: I had to stay up till my 2AM last night studying for a test so I'd like to get some sleep tonight and sleep in a little. First of all, what time zone are you in in the US? Pacific? Eastern? other? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Original Message by mthinker on 10/9/2009 @ 2:00pm: What's the earliest you can start? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Original Message by GeniusKJ on 10/9/2009 @ 1:59pm: Yes. Lets have it tomorrow. We need to decide our start time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Original Message by mthinker on 10/9/2009 @ 8:06am: FPG needs confirmation about tomorrows semi-final game.

This is one of those threads that I'm primarily making for myself, to keep track of things as I research them. This will help me in making up the schedule for Season 2. If you have any information to add, I'd greatly appreciate it. (Longest Game) Team (Record) - Notes (Longest Win) (81) The Chess Nuts (5-0-1) - NEVER timed out (55)(81) Animal Lovers (3-2-2) - NEVER timed out (20)(58) Team Antarctica (4-1) - NEVER timed out (58)(43) Chess Empire (3-5) - Qualified for Season 2 (43)(43) The Dark Knights (8-3-1) - Qualified for Season 2 (32)(39) The Red Army (16-1) - Qualified for Season 2 (39)(33) Rapid Chess (1-4) - Qualified for Season 2 (30)(26) The Premier of All (1-2) - NEVER timed out (3)(24) We Chat Global (1-0) - Qualified for Season 2 (24)(24) Light Force (3-2) - Qualified for Season 2 (6)(17) Chess Maniacs (1-1) - Qualified for Season 2 (17)(11) The Winning Team (2-18) - ALL games timed out (3)(10) Super Troopers (2-0) - NEVER timed out, ALL opponents timed out (10) (10) Supreme Pawns (3-4) - ALL games timed out (0)(05) The Learning Group (2-3) - ALL games timed out (5)(04) The Cool Boys & Girls Chess Group (3-6) - ALL games timed out (0)(00) Cheers! (0-0) - has not played a single Speed Vote Game yet(00) The Ultimate Alliance (0-0) - has not played a single Speed Vote Game yet(00) The Three Kingdoms (0-0) - has not played a single Speed Vote Game yet Teams that I don't have the stats for: Fast Players Group

Holy Anarchy Batman!!! 34 pages of notes in 1 day!!! This is going to take a lot longer than I thought. (Not to mention the 413 new messages in my inbox!!!) I don't think I'm going to be able to get to everything tonight. First of all, I must apologize for being AWOL for so long. The stupid dog broke my laptop. So I dug out my old laptop (which obviously only has the OLD virus protection on it (2006 as I found out the hard way)) which got hit by a virus which froze everything up and hasn’t allowed me to access the internet. I cannot tell you how difficult this week has been with NO computer!! I can’t work on ANY of my files, programs, projects, etc.. It’s been a technological nightmare!! We’ve gotten SO spoiled in the 21st Century. I tried logging on from the library computer at school, but they’ve got Chess.com blocked as a “game” site. They’ve also got AOL and Yahoo blocked so I couldn’t even access my E-Mail!! Yesterday was especially difficult as I KNEW that there were TWO Semi-Final Speed Vote Games going on, and I was stuck baby-sitting my 106-year-old grandmother, unable to be a part of it, or even find out what was going on. I feel like one of those people on Star Trek who’s trapped on a planet without their com badge – completely cut off from the world. On top of that, my cell phone is turned off for lack of payment (which isolates me even further), the transmission went out on my car, but not before I got an expensive traffic ticket, which leaves my current bank account at ZERO (literally: $0.00). So, I’m not actually sure when I’m going to be able to get my computer back and get back online. However, I was so desperate to find out what happened yesterday, that I’ve found someone who is letting me sign on from their computer, just to “check the scores”. Yes, I check Chess.com before I even check my REAL e-mail (that’s how addicted I am to this site (so you can imagine the withdrawal I’m going thru right now)). And it seems like I have a lot of things that I need to address. First of all, thank you all very much for your concern!! Fortunately, I am happy to report that I am not seriously ill or hurt (only my computers are). “If something did happen to him, wouldn't it be findable online since he is a semi-celeb?” LOL – I don’t think I’m quite that newsworthy yet, but I like your thinking. Maybe one day. In the meantime, I keep my Chess.com profile more up-to-date than my Facebook, MySpace, or YouTube pages (I’m Billium248 everywhere if any of you want to friend me anywhere else). Regarding my daughter, she lives 100 miles away with my ex-wife and only signs on here when she’s with me (and most of the time not even then). Even tho the Animal Lovers group is technically hers, she rarely does ANYTHING with it (kinda like all of “her” pets that “I” take care of). Regarding the Checkmate vs. Burning Pawns Speed Vote Game, yes both teams are qualified and will be in Season 2. Congratulations and Welcome Aboard!! Regarding the question “does the winner of Fortnight Season 1 get a trophy or just the title?” If I knew how to award a trophy to a group, I would gladly do so. The only thing I can think of at this point is for the group admin to give me a complete list of all the members who played in each of the games (probably easiest to just copy and paste the “Team Members” tabs) and I will personally send each of them the “Vote Chess Team Work” trophy. If anyone else has any other ideas, I’m all ears. Regarding the resignation issue, Chess.com requires a 60% vote to resign a Vote Chess Game (not just a simple majority), so the 57% vote I read about was just one vote shy (even tho it WAS the overwhelming majority). I haven’t been online since last week when Chess.com shut down for 8 hours (or however long they were actually down), but apparently there are some new “bugs” they still need to deal with (for example the links to the old games no longer work (they say that the game was “aborted” even tho they were actually completed)), but I don’t believe the resignation issue is one of them (you DON’T need 100% (I don’t think)). It also seems that someone went thru a daylight savings time switch in the last 2 weeks, and some of us didn’t which caused a little confusion on the start time for the Animal Lovers vs. Chess Nuts Semi-Final Game (for the record, the agreed upon start time for both the last game and this one was 11am GMT (7am Eastern US, Noon UK)), but it all seems to have worked out in the end. Although I still think my title suggestions of “The Chess Nuts Are Animals” or “Animal Lovers Are Nuts Too” would have been better than the simple, “Nuts – Love.” Anyway, congratulations to the Chess Nuts for maintaining their unbeaten record and being the first team to enter the Finals!! Regarding Babs’ authority here, she is definitely the #2 in charge, and in my absence has full authority to render judgments. Based on everything I’ve just read, it should be pretty obvious why I’ve chosen her as my “Vice-President.” She is as fair as you could possibly ask a mediator to be. I have full confidence in her abilities, and will support whatever decisions she makes. Now then, to the main issue at hand: the Semi-Final game between Fast Players Group and Kairav’s Chess Masters that never happened. Just for the moment, let’s ignore the fact that EVERY SINGLE start time dispute has been between GeniusKJ and someone else. Let’s ignore for the moment that from the VERY BEGINNING of the season, I even designed the schedule to accommodate when he said he would not be available to play. Let’s ignore for the moment that of their FIVE scheduled games, only ONE did NOT have a start time conflict (if there was a conflict between Kairav’s Chess Masters and Chess Unlimited, I was not made aware of it – EVERY other game had an issue). Let us try to focus on this one game, and what was said in reference to this one game. For starters, let’s state for the record, that the Semi-Final Games were supposed to have been played between 9/14-9/27. As of today (10/11) the Final Game was supposed to have been completed and this message should be congratulating the winner of Season 1. So let’s rewind a month and see what happened. All 4 teams in the Semi-Finals knew who they were playing against on 9/5 (a full FIVE weeks ago). This actually gave everyone THREE weeks to schedule a game, and still be within the 9/27 deadline. The first thing I heard (35 days ago) was, “Hey William, I'd like to have the game for the finals be on Saturday September 12th if possible. I'll ask the super-admin of Fast Players group.” This would have been great if it had happened (even tho it was technically earlier than the scheduled fortnight, we’ve had many other games played early so this wouldn’t have been a problem). But the day before, I have this dialog with GeniusKJ: GeniusKJ: Hey William, well I wanted to have KCM's fortnight on this Saturday however the admin of Fast Players Group isn't replying. I want it on Saturday preferably and if not, then Sunday. He wants it on Monday I think but weekdays are not an option for me since I have school. Plus, fortnights are supposed to be on weekends anyway. Please do something. Billium248: How can you say he wants it on Monday if you say he's not responding? When did you originally send the message? GeniusKJ: I sent the message once a while back... I think it’s been two weeks. Then he replied and said he wants it on Monday. Then I said weekdays don't work and got no reply... My last message to him was sent 5 days ago I think. Billium248: It definitely has not been 2 weeks, cuz the schedule has only been available for SIX DAYS!! In the spirit of compromise, the request that the game be on a weekEND rather than a weekDAY is the MOST reasonable of all requests. There should be NO reason that they would refuse that. You may need to concede a little on the start time, but if we need to step in like we did last time, we can make sure that it's on a weekend. [You can see already how GeniusKJ’s perception of reality is a little off, and his accuracy cannot be trusted. It was also stated from this very early point that he would need to “concede a little on the start time,” which he NEVER ended up doing.] Then, on Thursday 9/17 (24 days ago) we have the following exchange in the League Notes (this is just the highlights – the actual discussion kept me awake for HOURS past my bedtime (I had to teach in the morning) and dragged on for 15 pages): GeniusKJ: I'd like to have my fortnight on Saturday the 19th Mthinker: I'm open to play in 10 out of 14 days, no Saturdays or Sundays though Billium248: Why not weekends? Weekdays are very difficult for most people. Surely the FPG has players who can play on a weekend. Mthinker: Kairav's has played ALL their games on weekdays, so they are used to it. GeniusKJ: yes, KCM has played fortnights on weekdays even though most people from my group couldn't play. You know why?? Because I was able to be online for about 10 hours since I was on summer vacation. It is impossible for this fortnight to start on weekdays. No way unless you want to wait a month when I will have a monday off. Val08: As a fellow FSVL member, I just wanted to say that asking to play on a weekend is a very reasonable request. Unless your group is full of people who don't work, I don't see how anyone could find several hours to dedicate to chess on a weekday. GeniusKJ: I think Saturday is the best day for the average person since it would work for most people around the globe. My group consists of many high school students so they wouldn't be able to play on weekdays. Your choice, Sat or Sun Mthinker: It's all about finding a middle point in the negotiation, Kairav's picked Saturday, I picked Monday, neither one agreed, well, let's pick other options. Is this not reasonable? [There was a LOT of discussion supporting GeniusKJ’s request to play on a weekend rather than a weekday. At this point, things seemed to be in Kairav’s favor.] Mthinker: If the admins of the league agree, we could play on the 1st weekend of October. Billium248: If the 1st weekend in October is the only one that will work for you, I suppose we can let that game be played a week late. Any objections? GeniusKJ: NO, first week of October is a no no. I'm going to an OTB tournament. I have a tournament on October 3rd and 4th. Mthinker: I'm trying to be as flexible as possible, I even compromise enough to accept on playing on a Saturday (as requested) but on the 1st week of October. Are you planning on compromising any? Or is it YOUR WAY or the highway? If we are going to be FORCED to play on a Saturday I request to play in October (we have serious conflicts for September). If we are not being forced, give me the other options. GeniusKJ: For me, 10AM is best. [This is the FIRST time he requests this start time. 23 days later he will be saying the same thing] Chess_Kebabs: Genius, can you play 2nd week in October? Billium248: 2nd Saturday would be October 10th. I've got no problem in delaying Season 2 to accommodate this (I was wishing I had scheduled a longer break anyway). If both agree on October 10th, that works fine for me. GeniusKJ: As for 2nd week of Oct, I might be able to play/I might be not. My high school is going to have an OTB tournament on either the 2nd week or 3rd week of Oct most likely... they haven't decided yet so I can't give you an answer for that question. For sure either October 10th or 17th will work... I just have to find out what the chess admins in my school decide as the date for the high school tourney. Mthinker: I think I did my best to accommodate here, even more, I am willing to play as soon as tomorrow (my only conflict is Sept.19, 20, 26 & 27 due to personal reasons), any other day of this month or the next will be fine with me. Just let me know with a few days in advance. Billium248: The schedule has undergone a bunch of changes already, so what's a couple more? We'll work it out. Let's hope for the 10th, and fall back on the 17th if needed. I think that delays this long are only acceptable cuz it's the semi-finals. When the new season starts up, you'll have 2 Saturdays to choose from, and that's all. Chess_Kebabs: And thanks Mthinker for being very compromising. You should also thank him Genius. GeniusKJ: I don't see the compromise... We're playing on the day he likes now... If he agreed on Sept 19th or 26th, that would be a compromise... [This is where Genius clearly demonstrates that he does not understand the meaning of the word “compromise.” Mthinker has listed only 4 days out of 2 months that he is unavailable. Genius has said “No” to every single weekday, AND 2 out of 3 weekends in October. He ONLY wants to play on the days that Mthinker has clearly stated that he is unavailable. Mthinker wanted to play on a weekday, Genius wanted to play on a Saturday. The ruling was made in Kairav’s favor that the game be scheduled for a Saturday. Genius even gets to pick which Saturday, and yet he says, “We're playing on the day he likes now.” This statement could not be farther from the truth.] A week later, on Wed 9/23 (18 days ago): GeniusKJ: I for sure know that the 3rd and 17th don't work for me for the fortnight. I guess we'll have it on the 10th... Billium248: Here's the schedule for the last 3 games in Season 1: 9/26 - Chess Nuts vs Animal Lovers; 10/10 - FPG vs KCM; 10/24 - Final Championship Game. [This means that GeniusKJ and Mthinker had 17 days to coordinate a start time, and yet I don’t believe there was ANY communication between the two until the last minute. I find them BOTH equally to blame in this regard.] 4 days ago, GeniusKJ writes to me: “the Fortnight between KCM and FPG has no time set yet... Can you ask him what his preferred time is? He probably won’t reply to me.” I was still not online at this point, so I did not see it. Regardless, it seems ridiculous to me that he not even TRY to accomplish this on his own. The League Admins are only supposed to step in if there is a conflict. We are not responsible for coordinating EVERY game. On 10/9 (the day before the game) this exchange takes place (note that Mthinker initiated the contact): Mthinker: FPG needs confirmation about tomorrow’s semi-final game. GeniusKJ: Yes. Let’s have it tomorrow. We need to decide our start time. Mthinker: What's the earliest you can start? GeniusKJ: I'd like to start at 1:00 PM pacific time but that's probably late for you. How about 12:00 PM Pacific time? Mthinker: That's way late, I was thinking 7am Eastern time. [Just for reference purposes 12pm Pacific = 3pm Eastern and 7am Eastern = 4am Pacific. This is an 8 hour difference between their desired start times. The most obvious and immediate compromise would be 4 hours in between (8am Pacific/11am Eastern) but this time was never mentioned. And since 10am Pacific Time was already stated by Genius 23 days earlier, it appears as if he is requesting a much later time than he wants just so that he can “compromise” back to the time he originally wanted anyway. ] GeniusKJ: That is 4AM Pacific time. That is way too early. I'll be sleeping till 10AM Pacific time for sure. Mthinker: 1pm my time is too late, what about 9am Eastern? (I'm looking for a middle ground). [Essentially they both just dickered 2 hours from their original proposal.] GeniusKJ: Hmm. how about 11AM Pacific time then? I really need sleep tonight. I have the flu along with its symptoms :( Mthinker: I'm losing all my morning time, I need to set-up the game and get it started before noon my time. [So Genius has backpedaled to only a 1-hour compromise while Mthinker has increased his willingness to compromise to 5-hours] GeniusKJ: ah... Fine, I understand and can do my 10AM but there is no way I can manage earlier than that. That is the earliest I can do. Mthinker: I thought you said you wanted to play on Saturday, not half day Saturday. Do we need to move the day again? GeniusKJ: 10 is the earliest I can do on this Saturday. I have the PSAT next Saturday. [So Genius has now stated 3 times that he is unwilling to do anything earlier than 10am Pacific Time. And reiterated the fact that he is unavailable on the following Saturday. Since 10am Pacific Time was his goal all along (as evidenced by his statements 3 weeks prior) Genius has basically shown himself unwilling to compromise AT ALL!!] So now we come to the day of the game and 34 pages of notes (condensed version here): GeniusKJ: Why isn't William online? My fortnight is supposed to start today too but he isn't here to clarify what time... to start at. The earliest I could start it today was my 10AM which was 22 minutes ago but Mthinker, the admin from Fast Players group wasn’t even online... Does KCM win by forfeit since the admin of FPG didn't show up? This is really bad because next Saturday I'm taking the PSAT... and the Saturday after, there is a tourney. [Let’s assume that GeniusKJ was actually online BEFORE 10am his time (rather than 22 minutes after) so that the game could have started at that time even tho Mthinker had clearly stated that this was too late for him. Genius reiterates the fact that he is not only not available the following Saturday, but won’t be available the Saturday after that either – essentially saying, “I can’t play any weekday or any Saturday.” And since the following Saturday (10/24) is when the Finals are supposed to be played, Genius is essentially saying he won’t even be available to play in the Finals anyway!!] GeniusKJ: The time didn't officially get set since we were negotiating last night and then he left... A good fit between our times was 10AM Pacific time but he wasn't even online then... [“A good fit”?? Only for him!! Again, Genius demonstrates that he cannot compromise and cannot read. At this point Babs steps in and proves that she was the perfect person to help me run this league. Thanks Babs!!!] Chess_Kebabs: Ok Mthinker and Genius... I have left my semi-final game to come and help sort this out.... you are both online now... Let me first scroll back through the notes and see what was confirmed back then... I was sure we had stamped a set time on the game... that was what the whole argument was about, and we stepped in to make you two compromise on a time... brb GeniusKJ: but here is the problem: I have to take the PSAT test next Saturday and then I have a chess tournament on the Saturday after. Mthinker: I told him my pick, but he wanted to pick his hour, instead of forcing my hour I compromised and started going UP with my hour all the way to Noon (5 hours later than my pick) but he kept on saying he needed to sleep, after several messages it was obvious that once again he wanted it HIS way and I gave up on trying to get to an agreement. GeniusKJ: I’ve compromised MORE than the opponent team's admin on most of my previous fortnights [Again, not even close to true, but we’re not dealing with those games anymore.] Chess_Kebabs: He gave you 5 hours of compromising leeway Genius...you are unreasonable to the max! Personally I think his group should win by forfeit and your team should not be allowed to play in Season 2... You will NEVER compromise with anyone here... and it’s causing teams and admins too much grief... Enough is enough. I meant FCP should win by forfeit... for your unwillingness to compromise. We've all had it with your attitude. [Not playing in Season 2 is a little harsh, but I’ll address that issue later.] GeniusKJ: No, I have my reason for not being able to start it at 9:00 like I said in the message I sent you. I want it in the 2PM ish time but could and was willing to compromise 4 hours = 10AM. [You see here how he changes his “original” time to 2pm (which was NEVER mentioned) just so that it could APPEAR that he was compromising when his goal was obviously 10am all along? This was the trick he used to get his way in the game against The Blakenators when Danny wasn’t online to refute his claims. We’re not falling for that same trick twice. He also states clearly that he was not able to start it at 9am – a claim he later denies.] Mthinker: Noon EST was 9am your time, is that not a reasonable time? Even more after considering it was my call to pick the time and I didn't want to enforce it. [Mthinker is referring here (and in his earlier comments about “forcing his time” to a comment I made during the original dispute that since Genius got to pick whatever day he wanted (and he did), that Mthinker would get to pick the time. I DID make this statement, but it was never ratified (it was pointed out that this much power could be used to essentially force a forfeit). Regardless, even with the belief that he could pick and choose whatever time he wanted, Mthinker was willing to offer a 5-hour window for Genius to choose from, and Genius continued to offer only ONE start time (10am Pacific).] Mthinker: I will follow the rules/decisions of the league admins. Personally I'd rather lose on the board than win by forfeit, but I won't compromise again to let them pick the date. GeniusKJ: First of all, I have the flu and wasnt able to wake up before 9AM. Second, the official time wasn't set... there is no reason for forfeit. You absolutely have no justification Babs. I compromised till 10AM but things didn't work out. [Again, Genius agrees that he was unable to do 9am (which he later changes his story about) and continues to believe that 10am is some kind of compromise.] Chess_Kebabs: FINISHED Genius.... no more negotiating with you... you had your chance... we decided before that 9am was reasonable… pushing it past that is unreasonable and I don't blame mthinker for leaving the discussion with you... your idea of compromise is choosing a perfect time for you... you aren't mature enough to understand what the word compromise really means yet... but you are young and you will learn... 10am is not reasonable... 5 hours give by mthinker was more than reasonable.... I hope you learn from this valuable lesson.... not everyone will tolerate such selfishness Blackfirestorm666: this may seem a strange thing but i actually agree with babs here ... i remember back wen this kicked off last time and u was just wanting it all ur own way then [Any time that these 2 can agree on anything is proof enuf that they must be right.] GeniusKJ: 9AM is a decent time, I agree. But since I didn't know that it is starting at 9AM today (it wasn’t confirmed) disqualification is unjustified period. There is no point in negotiating with you as don't have the authority. Billium does and I will respect his decision. I'm sure Billium wouldn't disqualify me or even think that I'm being unreasonable as I'm not. He sides with what he feels is fair. [Thank you for your kind words Genius. I do try to side with what’s fair, but unfortunately I DO believe you’re being unreasonable. I’m glad to hear that you’re willing to respect my decision. We’ll get to that in a minute. In the meantime, as I discussed earlier, in my absence, Babs DOES have the authority (I can of course overrule her, but I doubt that will ever be necessary).] Mthinker: I think there are enough arguments to let the admins make a decision. But let's make clear a few things, I never asked for winning by forfeit (genius did, in his favor). I selected to play at 7amEST (being my pick as billium recommended 23 days ago) and was willing to wait up to 5 hours to start the game (noon my time, 9am Pacific) as shown in the notes. GeniusKJ: you never told me that you'll do it at my 9AM you said your 9 AM... Mthinker: I said NOON my time, that's 9am your time, what's not clear there? I thought you posted the notes in the forum to clarify things, go read them, I said NOON my time. GeniusKJ: Yes, the earliest I wanted to do it was my 10AM. Though I could have compromised to my 9AM but there is no way I could have compromised to his 9AM. He didn't say my 9AM is ok... From what I read, I thought he wants it to start at his 9 so he can play 3 hours before he has to leave... I didn’t think he meant that he can start before he goes... My 9AM was doable. Had you asked 12:00 EST start time, I would have said yes. Though you said you have to leave by 12 and want to start at your 9 (so you can play before you leave...) [This is when Genius starts changing his story about being willing to accept a 9am start time. He also keeps mentioning Mthinker “leaving” at noon which was never stated anywhere. I don’t know if Genius genuinely has a problem reading or he’s just playing dumb to get what he wants, but either way he can’t keep his stories straight. Mthinker DID ask for a 12:00 EST start time. Genius DIDN’T say yes. Mthinker NEVER mentioned “leaving at 12” or “playing 3 hours before he left.”] Mthinker: He clearly said: "there is no way I can manage earlier", and "that is the earliest I can do". When I say something final like that, I mean it, should I assume that your word means nothing and keep wasting my time to convince you otherwise??? [This is a much more accurate summary of what happened, and clearly shows why Mthinker gave up trying to talk to him.] The ONLY thing Genius actually has in his favor right now is that Mthinker said, “Personally I'd rather lose on the board than win by forfeit,” and “I never asked for winning by forfeit.” However, since Genius is unable to play virtually ANY day, that leaves very little room for rescheduling. We are NOT going to postpone this ANOTHER month!!! The Finals are scheduled for 10/24 (no one will want to play on Halloween) and we are NOT going to change it again!! Therefore, if these two teams still want to play their Semi-Final game, they have until this Sunday to do so. If they are able to agree on a start time on their own, so be it. If not, the only time/date that will be set by the League will be Sunday 10/18 at 9am Pacific/Noon Eastern. Genius has said that he is unable to play any weekday or this coming Saturday, so Sunday is the only remaining possibility. After pages and pages of discussion a start time of 9am/12pm is the only time that everyone can agree on being reasonable. This is the LAST time/date that the league will set for this game, and this is going way beyond fair. As of Sunday, these 2 teams will have had a full SIX WEEKS to schedule and play a SINGLE game!!! If this game is not played by Monday 10/19, then the Fast Players Group will be declared the winners by forfeit. It is in Kairav’s best interest to work something out, and he should be thankful that the FPG is still willing to arrange something. If for some reason the FPG cannot play on Sunday, October 18 at 9am PST/12pm EST it will become even more important for G

In order to avoid the scheduling conflicts that have arisen in Season 1, we will have default dates and start times set for all games in Season 2. These dates and times CAN be changed to any other date and time, provided that BOTH team leaders agree. If an agreement can NOT be reached, the default settings will remain. It will still be a while before I make up the schedule since some teams are still qualifying for Season 2, and the Season 1 playoffs are dragging out longer than anyone expected. However, I would like to start hearing other people's thoughts on a couple key issues. It has been agreed by the overwhelming majority that the best day to play these games is Saturday. Therefore all default start times will be on a Saturday. As I said above, everything is subject to change based on the agreement of the two team leaders, so games MAY be played on other days, but most will probably still be played on Saturdays. Each team will still only need to play a game every other week. However, since there are many players in multiple groups, and some Team Leaders are running 2 teams, I will schedule games for each Saturday so that the 2 teams led by the same person will be scheduled on alternating weekends (keeping in mind that everything is subject to change). The first weekend of Season 2 will be pushed back to November 14th (sorry to those who were hoping to play sooner). If we still have 4 conferences, 2 of them will start their games on November 14th, and the other 2 will start on November 21st (the following weekend). Whichever two teams compete in the Season 1 Final Game on October 24th will automatically be placed in the conferences starting on the 21st. Here's my first question: Season 2 is going to stretch over the Christmas and New Year's holidays. Both holidays are on a Friday this year. So should games be scheduled on December 26th and January 2nd? Or should there be a "break"? Since there will be many who are on vacation during that time (at least anyone in school (students and teachers)) the games could easily be rescheduled for another day during that time if it is more convenient. But some may be going away during that time and have limited internet access as well as family commitments that could make playing more difficult. Now there were actually a number of games in Season 1 that were played several weeks ahead of schedule, and so there's no reason that the games scheduled for those weekends could not be played at some other time if both team leaders agree. I just need to know what everyone else thinks about "Christmas Break" before I make up the Season 2 schedule. My first inclination is to schedule games for each Saturday thruout the Regular Season, and allow the teams themselves to reschedule if they need to, but I want your opinions first. My second question is regarding the start times: Should the default start time shift slightly each week to give everyone at least one week with their preferred time, or should it remain the same for all games all season? Keep in mind that ANY start time MAY be changed IF both teams agree. This is just for the default time IF the two teams cannot agree on a time. And of course the big question: What time should be the default time? Given the time difference between California and Australia, it is nearly impossible to schedule something that isn't really early for one and/or really late for the other. Players closer to the Atlantic (on either side) are much more likely to be playing a majority of the game during daylight hours. Here's the Time Zone breakdown (with the daylight savings time adjusted for the months Season 2 will be played): GMT +10:30 = Chess_Kebabs (Chess Nuts) GMT +9 = Manchero (The Red Army) GMT +5 = Komoliddin07 (The Power of Chess) GMT +2 = Rooperi (Team Antarctica) GMT +1 = Johanpalmaer (Rapid Chess); Kacparov (Chess Empire) GMT = Rab63 (Wizards of Oz); Chessy4000 (The Scotch Fans Team); Opening Gambit (Checkmate!); DannyDawson (Super Troopers); Ironworks (The Blakenators); Blackfirestorm666 (We Chat Global) GMT -5 = Billium248 (The Dark Knights and Animal Lovers); Jchurch5566 (The Power of Chess); Jrcolonial98 (Chess Maniacs); RedSoxPawn (Chess & Cola Club); Val08 (The Premier of All); GMT -6 = Jaller435718 (Chess Unlimited); Mthinker (Fast Players Group); Legodood (Supreme Pawns); Klhn444 (The Learning Group); Wilt18 (Burning Pawns) ShiViChess (The Ultimate Alliance, The Three Kingdoms) GMT -8 = GeniusKJ (Kairav's Chess Masters and International Chess Masters); Leth (Cheers!); h777 (The Winning Team) There are a few more Team Leaders that I'm not sure about yet, and some of these teams may not be in the final roster (and of course all teams have players in other time zones as well), but it gives us an idea of where everybody is. Here's a rough idea of how things would break down: Universal Start Time 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 California 2am 4am 6am 8am Chicago 4am 6am 8am 10am New York 5am 7am 9am 11am London 10am Noon 2pm 4pm Central Europe 11am 1pm 3pm 5pm South Africa Noon 2pm 4pm 6pm Uzbekistan 3pm 5pm 7pm 9pm Japan 7pm 9pm 11pm 1am Australia 8:30pm 10:30pm 12:30am 2:30am So keeping in mind that ALL DATES AND TIMES ARE FLEXIBLE, what do you think is the most fair system for determining a default start time? I'm starting to think of dividing the conferences up by time zones so that the teams in California are all together and not in the same conference as the Australians and Asians. There would still need to be a little fudging here and there, but perhaps this is a better plan - to have separate default start times for each conference. ALL OF THIS IS TENATIVE!! I'm VERY interested in all of your opinions. What do you think?

Here is an idea I just had. This is just an idea, and I'd like to know what you all think. This would certainly NOT be implemented into the current season as we're already too far in to change it now, but if everyone likes it, we can use it next season. We have had a lot of games end by timeout. Unfortunately, at only 10-minutes per turn, more games end by timeout than do not. However, I think it is safe to say that most of us would rather play the game out, than win by an early timeout (it just doesn't feel as satisfying as a "real" win). The flip side to this is games that drag on too long. Of course this is a perpetual debate on Chess.com when one side believes that they have the game won, and the other side seems to be prolonging the inevitable in the hopes of a blunder, draw, or timeout. So in order to discourage timeouts, and encourage "good sportsmanship," I propose (for future seasons, NOT the one that has already started) that losing teams also lose points based on HOW they lost. Resignation -1 point Checkmate -2 points Timeout -3 points Winning teams would still get +3 points for a win regardless of how they won, and draws would still be +1 point for both teams, but by subtracting points for a loss, we can hopefully cut down on the high number of timeouts. What do you think?

This post will be updated after each game is played. In cases of ties, the teams are listed in the chronological order that they achieved their points (i.e. the early bird gets the worm). Teams in red are the leaders in their division (automatically seeded #1-4). Teams in bold have gone the distance. Teams in italics have timed out. As of November 7: #1: 21 points - Fast Players Group (7-0) (North) (Champion) #2: 19 points - Chess Nuts (6-1-1) (West) (Finalist) #3: 12 points - Kairav's Chess Masters (4-1) (South) (Semi-Finalist) #4: 11 points - Animal Lovers (3-2-2) (East) (Semi-Finalist) #5: 12 points - Team Antarctica (4-1) (South) (Quarter-Finalist) #6: 10 points - The Blakenators (3-1-1) (East) (Quarter-Finalist) #7: 9 points - The Power of Chess (3-2) (West) (Quarter-Finalist) #8: 9 points - The Premiere of All (3-2) (North) (Quarter-Finalist) #9: 6 points - Narz's People (2-2) (West) #10: 6 points - The Dark Knights (2-2) (South) #11: 6 points - Supreme Pawns (2-2) (North) #12: 6 points - Chess & Cola Club (2-2) (East) #13: 3 points - Chess Unlimited (1-3) (South) #14: 3 points - Rapid Chess (1-3) (East) #15: 3 points - Wizards of Oz (1-3) (West) #16: 3 points - Chess Empire (1-3) (East) #17: withdrawn - The Best (1-3) (North) #18: withdrawn - Chess Team Holland (0-4) (West) #19: withdrawn - Team Benelux "de Leeuwen" (0-4) (South) #20: withdrawn - Chess Friends for Friends (0-4) (North)

The pairings/results for Week 5 (8/17-8/30) are: B vs E and C vs D The Blakenators vs Animal Lovers - Game Drawn by Agreement (move 43) Chess Empire vs Chess & Cola Club - Chess Empire wins by timeout (move 13) Fast Players Group vs The Premiere of All - Fast Players Group wins by submission (move 19) week off: Rapid Chess, Chess Unlimited, The Power of Chess, The Dark Knights, Wizards of Oz, Narz's People, Team Antartica, Kairav's Chess Masters, Supreme Pawns, Chess Nuts

The pairings/results for Week 4 (8/3-8/16) are: A vs E and B vs D The Power of Chess vs Narz's People - The Power of Chess wins by timeout (move 2) The Best officially withdraws - The Premiere of All and Supreme Pawns win by forfeit Chess Empire vs Rapid Chess - Rapid Chess wins by knockout (move 30) Team Antartica vs Kairav's Chess Masters - Team Antartica wins by submission (move 58) Chess & Cola Club vs Animal Lovers - Chess & Cola Club wins by submission (move 41) Chess Team Holland withdraws - Wizards of Oz and Chess Nuts win by forfeit week off: The Blakenators, Fast Players Group, Chess Nuts, Chess Unlimited, Supreme Pawns, The Dark Knights

Does anyone have any suggestions or preferences as to what the 2 conferences should be called? Knight and Bishop (I'm kinda leaning towards this one) Black and White North and South, or East and West Red and Blue, or Green and Yellow, or Orange and Purple, or any combination thereof Fisher and Spasky, Erik and Cheater1, etc. Cat and Dog Right and Left Freddy and Jason Marvel and DC Snoopy and Woodstock The possibilities are endless. What do you all think?

Ok everybody, with the new fortnight format, we have a few options for the playoffs. Let me know which you like better. With 4 conferences of 5 teams each, it will take 10 weeks to complete all the games in the regular season. This will leave 3 weeks for the playoffs. Option A: We keep the teams in their original 2 conferences, and double the length of the season from 13 weeks to 26 weeks (2 seasons per year instead of 4). The original playoff system would remain the same, except that everything takes twice as long (so the playoffs would be 6 weeks long - and most teams will not be playing any games for at least this long). Option B: Despite regular season games having 2 weeks each to be played, the games in the playoffs will still have only 1 week each (it's the playoffs, it's supposed to be more intense - and most teams will be taking this time off anyway). This would allow for 8 teams to make the playoffs (week 11), which would be reduced to 4 teams in week 12, and the final week will be between the final 2 teams. Option C: Only the top team from each of the 4 conferences makes the playoffs. These 4 teams play a semi-final round to be played in weeks 11 and/or 12. And the final 2 teams either play one final game in week 13 (only 1 week instead of 2), or Option D: Same as option C (only 4 teams in the playoffs instead of 8) except that the final game can take 2 weeks to coordinate as well (meaning that the final week of the playoffs will overlap the first week of the next season). Option E: Insert your idea here Personally, I like Option B the best and Option D the least. My votes (in order of preference) would be: 1-B, 2-A, 3-C, 4-D. What does everyone else think?