Wow, I guess we know the character limit for posts now don’t we. I’ve never had the bottom of my post cut off like that before. I told you this would be long.
So, picking up from where I left off:
If for some reason the FPG cannot play on Sunday, October 18 at 9am PST/12pm EST it will become even more important for Genius to learn the meaning of the word compromise and arrange something that WILL work for both teams, because if he can’t, he loses. Mthinker has proven that he is willing to be reasonable. It’s time for Kairav to do the same.
Regarding Season 2, I will NOT prevent either of GeniusKJ’s teams from playing in the league. However, I WILL require that he find another admin in a different time zone that can accept these challenges at a reasonable time. If he wants to sleep in every Saturday and miss the first half dozen moves or so, that’s fine, but he can’t keep the whole rest of the world waiting on him. Only Alaska and Hawaii are behind Pacific Time. EVERY OTHER TIME ZONE IN THE WORLD is ahead of him!!! Which means he has two very simple options: wake up very early, or find another admin he can trust to get things started.
I’m sorry this post was so long, and I’m sorry I’ve been gone for so long. I REALLY hope that I can get at least ONE of my computers back soon!! I’ll try much harder to check in more often to see how things are progressing.
Good Luck Everyone!! See you soon!! 
.
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