Create a Promotional Chess.com Video and Win $1,000!!

probably true :(

@ vonStroheim

I have just finished watching your video and I must say that it's quite good. I didn't find it pornographic in the least, just very clever. Well done.

I would like to congratulate the winner well thought out, enjoy your winnings you will get a very nice chess board with that. You have to give him credit the thought was put in just like a chess player

well, who is the winner!?

Yeah, where to look for that?

http://blog.chess.com/webmaster/1st-master-death-match--video-contest-winner

Given the winning video, I am puzzled as to why my one-word reference to the same act that was more graphically hinted at in the winning video, and that was a more innocuous medical word, was moderated out of a thread. (The New Year Resolutions thread.) 

I'm not expecting an answer unless someone wanted to respond, and I'm not intending to complain, but I am genuinely puzzled.

Just so, my friend? Nothing about sex?

 Don't bother. No one can get an answer as to how this person was picked. It's becoming apparent he was the selected choice all along. Most likes is still in the rules. Staff picked isn't. I'm curious if any other contestant think that it was otherwise? Because while I don't define showing a guy sticking it into a girl as family friendly, (I don't care what lady gaga does either), if they didn't care about the number of Likes at all, then why pick that video. Why not Chess Family, or BiffReagles one, or even gdiddy27's cold war one? Those were far better in quality.

BTW my favorite was YaZoOFF's one. Had better looking girls in it.

As it was asked:

admins, please FINALLY explain the system of counting votes!!!!

THANK YOU!!!!!

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DeepGreene  Writes: 26th October 2011, 02:10pm

Hi guys!

As has rightly been pointed out by several members above... IF we discount/ignore dislikes, then the equation we started with always simply results in the number of Likes itself; basically, whoever has the video with the highest number of Likes wins.

It's become clear that counting dislikes would encourage inter-competitor sniping, etc., and we never explicitly included those in the formula anyway, so let's keep it friendly and keep it simple!

The video with the most Likes wins!

(I've updated the original post as well.)  Cheers!

----

I didn't put that part in bold either.

Whenever anyone would ask for rule clarification, there was none. That's dodgy at best. After they accepted the pixar video and said that if youtube allows it it's okay, I assumed my video was fine. Quality was not ever said to be the deciding factor. It was made very clear that Likes alone would decide the winner, no mention of staff.

If they want staff to be involved, it should have been made VERY clear that staff would be judging the video, not this number of likes nonsense. The only other explanation is that all other videos somehow were non-promotional.

VonStroHeim,

You sure make it hard to be critical ... good for you in taking criticism so well !

As an artist, you must remember: people won't say what you would like them to say, in the way you would like ... also, for being an artist ... likes and dislikes come with the territory ... the difference between a struggling artist and a professionally paid artist ... is the perseverance to pursue one's art DISPITE and INSPITE of opposition. Best of luck and congratulations ... per the rules of the contest you did win fair and square.

I was just disappointed that images had to be blocked, or censored since they DID in FACT contain pornography ... I mean ... it wasn't even HOT PORNOGRAPHY it was like a weird, fetish pornography. But ... porn can be art as well so ... you win one way and you lose the other ... as it is with most things.

In retrospect, Chess.com IS a very young and constantly improving chess site (game site) and I can only hope that this was just the first, of many .. perhaps .. annually held, video contest. I think the following adage would do well to be considered: "Power is given ... Control is taken ... Take control !" Maybe too much power was given to the participants that not enough control was taken by chess.com staff ... just a theory now and not a criticism ... but maybe next time the top 10 most viewed videos could be selected to THEN be chosen by chess.com staff. That way, other videos with high viewer ship ... like ... oh I don't know .... Pajser_resjaP !! (boo ! just kidding !) ... maybe his video could have been chosen over VonStroHeim's ... I mean ... even Pajser's video came up during Thanksgiving conversation as beings shocking, then funny, then interesting and cool ... but the sex that was tackled in that video had more of a comfortable, and understandable conclusion. Sorry but, in VonStroheim, all I could get is that: chess.com is better than internet sex and twice as better as live sex ??

I don't know, but this year's controversial victory is definitely ... "one for the books."

Still, mad props for VonStroHeim for standing tall in a battlefield of critiques !!

Well done.

"in the way ou would like them to say it" sorry about not completing that sentence .. I type over 75 wpm and sometimes type faster than I talk (in my head).

Yes correct, me too. If the video is an originality or really him/her. I don't mind winning or losing. I just want you to watch my video and visit me in the Internet. My video is really me dancing.

Ray

Ray Duque III (GMBD), New York City

 I agree with you lisaV on this one,

well since the staff doesn't respond to emails and won't give a full explaination then I'll just state my case here. If this contest was about the most over the top, best looking video then I would of spent a whole lot of more time on my video. But silly me, I spent most of my time promoting. They changed the rules towards the end and didn't even tell anybody about it. It was never about the number of the 'likes'

We have all been swindled. They got us to promote the chess.com brand for free and they didn't have to pay a single penny. The $1000 prize they gave to the alleged winner, was just a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of traffic and revenue they brought in during this contest period.

I saw the ads they put on odesk,and elance, and freelancer, and everywhere else. They got a whole bunch of people to do free promotion for them. And they did it under the guise of a bogus contest with bogus rules and they just chose a video they liked the best.

I'm not sure I follow that logic. Even if it is as you claim, which would make sense, given that this is after all a for profit business that has salaries to pay, a tactic that was successfully calculated to have a payout that far exceeded the $1000 price money, why would this have to be linked to a bogus contest?

The same results would follow if the contest was (as I believe) a valid and honest contest. 

Of course the intent was to make a profit that exceeds the $1000.

There is nothing wrong with that.

No one's arms were twisted and forced to act to promote. 

That was everyone's choice that participated.

The rules were tweaked and I share the puzzlement of those who don't understand why all the rules were tweaked as they were.

But that doesn't mean the site, the owners, the judgers, or anyone else acted contrary to honesty or integrity.

lol that's a contradictary statement. how is it honesty and integrity by lying and changing the rules?

the rules were the winner will be the person with the highest number of likes.

that's it. then all of a sudden towards the end they decide to give it to the video they liked the most without any explaination whatsover to the people who promoted for over 2 months.

do you call that honesty and integrity? or is it scamming and lying?

and anthonycg, if you say the rules were changed because of cheaters then what difference does that make because somebody posted proof of the alleged winner cheating

I definitely agree with chessplayer11 and techblology

I post my link not to join the contest but just to show my dancing to you. Please click the link.

RayDuqueIII - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BHfbTBRnoQ

Thank you all.

Ray

Ray Duque III (GMBD), New York City

thank you justforfriendship. as i said this is not for the contest. i just want you to watch my dancing and visit my web sites in the Internet.