here's the quick of it:
after boasting to no end about being "unmateable" and unbeatable yada yada i gave cheater_1 a chance to prove it - to play a game against all of chess.com. he was giddy like a little girl and thanked me over and over for this opportunity (he loves attention). i thought it was amusing and would be an interesting game for chess.com.
for those of you who followed the game it was a very interesting game. it was dynamic, unbalanced, and enjoyable. then suddenly cheater_1 made a mistake. it was a subtle mistake, but a deadly one that quickly gave him a losing position in what was likely a draw.
after the game he admitted the loss and blamed it on his chess computer that he calls cannibal37 (though i still doubt he had a custom chess engine). in several places he admitted to losing the game and had plenty of excuses, but owned up to it like a man.
then, a few days ago he comes back and tries to rewrite history by again claiming he has never lost. he also deleted his forum post where he publicly admitted to his loss. this really, really irritated me since i went out of my way to give him the attention he craved and setup a match which he lost fair and square. i considered this a serious insult. so i sent him a message and told him to recant or i would do what many many people have asked me to do - close his account.
frankly, i didn't expect him to close his account. i was sad to see him do that. i was pretty sure he would just own up to it, or maybe start up a controversial post about how i was bullying him and then the evidence would come out and he would (once again) look like a liar and an idiot. but nope - he went stubborn and did the unexpected - closing his own account. i hadn't even considered this as a option since he is so amazingly self-interested and attention-seeking.
he cut off his nose to spite his own face. a weird decision and not what i would have chosen. but i was tired of having him insult me and all of the players of the first vote chess game with him.
i'll miss cheater_1 a little. he certainly had his followers and did do a good job stirring up some people with brash and wild posts. but i also had to put up with a lot of upset people who demanded i close his account, etc. it was weird to be sticking up for the guy to people who would ask about it. but i did... until he crossed the line.
i wouldn't close someone's account on chess.com just for fun or kicks. i'm not a mean censorship-hungry jerk. the only time i (or chess.com) close accounts is when people break the site rules (cheating, offending, mutliple accounts, etc). cheater_1 broke a special rule that we agreed to when we started the vote chess game - that he would accept the outcome.
tonight when i logged in and saw his account closed i re-opened it but made it inaccessible so that his posts and commentary would live on as an interesting part of chess.com history.
anyway, that's the full story. i'm happy to answer any other questions :)
I forgive you. You did not do anything wrong.
I wasn't doubting you Erik. lol
Just posting that for all to see. Despite this conflict, it was an interesting game. :)