When termites attack

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John Upham
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Re: When termites attack

Post by John Upham » Wed Oct 05, 2011 2:02 pm

Roger de Coverly wrote:This was not long after he'd taken over at the BCM in November 2010.
Apologies for introducing facts into this statement but SG edited BCM starting with the September 2010 issue and concluded with the April 2011 issue.

I would like to thank SG for his work on those issues which was of high quality and integrity.

I would also like to thank John Saunders for his superb editorial work from 1999 until August 2010.

A listing of BCM editors past and present may be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Chess_Magazine

I will make no comment on SGs blog postings concerning this place.
Last edited by John Upham on Wed Oct 05, 2011 2:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: When termites attack

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Wed Oct 05, 2011 2:13 pm

I agree with John about the quality of the BCM issues Steve Giddins produced. I do hope that forumites don't feel the need to respond every time SG says something. Sometimes it is better to say nothing.

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Carl Hibbard
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Re: When termites attack

Post by Carl Hibbard » Wed Oct 05, 2011 2:30 pm

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:I agree with John about the quality of the BCM issues Steve Giddins produced. I do hope that forumites don't feel the need to respond every time SG says something. Sometimes it is better to say nothing.
Perhaps best although I did like the prize turnip comment :)
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Paul Cooksey

Re: When termites attack

Post by Paul Cooksey » Wed Oct 05, 2011 5:56 pm

Eric Schiller in 2008 wrote:... “termites”. These are obnoxious creatures, who almost without exception have never accomplished anything in life, have never mastered the game, and who think that editing a small-circulation chess magazine or have a website entitles them to demand that the event be organized according to their own priorities and desire.
I hadn't seen this before. I do hope it was not criticism aimed at Mr Giddins :)

I still read the Steve Giddins blog, the chess content is very good. Or at least to my taste. I have found his non-chess views offensive. But then I like Wagner, so I came to terms with separating the art from the artist long ago.

Honestly, I feel this is all about RDK. A lot of people would criticise anything he is involved in, perhaps with good reason. So it polarises the debate.

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Re: When termites attack

Post by David Sedgwick » Wed Oct 05, 2011 6:46 pm

Paul Cooksey wrote:
Eric Schiller in 2008 wrote:... “termites”. These are obnoxious creatures, who almost without exception have never accomplished anything in life, have never mastered the game, and who think that editing a small-circulation chess magazine or have a website entitles them to demand that the event be organized according to their own priorities and desire.
I hadn't seen this before. I do hope it was not criticism aimed at Mr Giddins :)
I'm not sure whether your comment was ironic. However, for the record, the remarks were aimed at those who had criticised Steve Giddins, who was working with Eric Schiller at the Staunton Memorial Tourrnament.

Paul Cooksey

Re: When termites attack

Post by Paul Cooksey » Wed Oct 05, 2011 6:50 pm

David Sedgwick wrote:
Paul Cooksey wrote:
Eric Schiller in 2008 wrote:... “termites”. These are obnoxious creatures, who almost without exception have never accomplished anything in life, have never mastered the game, and who think that editing a small-circulation chess magazine or have a website entitles them to demand that the event be organized according to their own priorities and desire.
I hadn't seen this before. I do hope it was not criticism aimed at Mr Giddins :)
I'm not sure whether your comment was ironic. However, for the record, the remarks were aimed at those who had criticised Steve Giddins, who was working with Eric Schiller at the Staunton Memorial Tourrnament.
It was attempted irony. I was failing to make clear that "termite" seems to me in the eye of the beholder, given it could be applied to Steve Giddins himself.

Paul Cooksey

Re: When termites attack

Post by Paul Cooksey » Thu Oct 06, 2011 1:17 pm

I am shocked and amazed to be identified as a termite in the latest update to Mr Giddins' blog. "Termites" has previously been used for an unidentifed group, but I have been specifically identified. So I think I may have been libelled.

Looking at the criteria given by Eric Schiller a termite is someone who:
1. Has never achieved anything in life
* Which is patently untrue. I helped my mum complete the TV Quick crossword only this week.
2. Has never mastered the game
* I do hold a Master title, conferred on me by FIDE. Admittedly one that is not particularly impressive. But still, another inaccuracy, unless Mr Giddins were to confirm his own FM title is worthless
3. Either edits a small-circulation magazine or a website
* Unlike Mr Giddins , I have never had these distinctions.

Furthermore Mr Giddins has wilfully misconstrued my criticism. Unless he is saying he considers association with Wagner’s political views a compliment, I think I may be the victim of tortuous misrepresentation.

Given the readership of Mr Giddins website, excluding people I already know and other termites, could be well into single figures, my reputation could suffer considerable harm.

I think Mr Giddins has only 3 options:
1. To apologise forthwith
2. To confirm he does not consider Termite a term of abuse, and apply it to himself
3. To risk me placing the matter in the hands of my lawyer.

(Admittedly my lawyer is likely to be surprised, given she is a conveyancing specialist. But if you want to contribute to my defence fund, I’ll pass on the details of the Nigerian IM who is handling my banking)

Jon D'Souza-Eva

Re: When termites attack

Post by Jon D'Souza-Eva » Thu Oct 06, 2011 1:30 pm

I like the way the Dissident Veg portrays us forumites as a homogenous group, holding exactly the same views and massing together like the squirming insects we are to attack him. Perhaps he should read the "Summary of Funding Proposals for AGM" thread and maybe, just maybe, it might occur to him that there is another reason why everyone seems to have such a low opinion of him.

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Re: When termites attack

Post by Paul McKeown » Thu Oct 06, 2011 1:30 pm

An ironic masterpiece Herr Termite Cooksey. Hats off!

:lol:

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John Upham
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Re: When termites attack

Post by John Upham » Thu Oct 06, 2011 1:48 pm

Do the S&B and KrakenWakes blogs have anything to say about Termite Gate?

Maybe we can get ChessBase and ChessVibes into the act?
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Phil Makepeace
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Re: When termites attack

Post by Phil Makepeace » Sat Oct 08, 2011 2:03 am

John Upham wrote:Do the S&B and KrakenWakes blogs have anything to say about Termite Gate?
Who?

RTK have said all they have to say on this matter. There may be a brief summation of our position soon, but nothing particularly new.

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Re: When termites attack

Post by Ian Kingston » Mon Nov 28, 2011 9:38 am

Nothing attracts the attention of the Anteater-in-Chief quite as effectively as a hint that there might be a touch of homophobia in one of his ramblings:

http://stevegiddinschessblog.wordpress. ... tewatch-2/

I'm just surprised that he didn't accuse Ernie Lazenby of wanting to arrest him for 'possession of a very long tongue'.

But the funniest part for me is the photo credit for the Officer Crabtree picture. Termites might remember that the AiC got quite irate when someone used a photograph of him on this forum without permission, but here we have a picture credited to a website called 'Gringoes'. The picture is certainly there – http://www.gringoes.com/articles.asp?ID_Noticia=1940 – but I can’t help but feel that a website that describes itself as 'Brazil's first portal for the foreign community' is probably not the copyright holder for a British TV sitcom. A version of the same image appears here:

http://sharetv.org/shows/allo_allo_uk/c ... r_crabtree

and here:

http://doneapoo.blogspot.com/ (scroll down)

and here:

http://crazy-frankenstein.com/allo-allo ... apers.html

but I'd be willing to bet that none of them actually owns the copyright either. My guess – just a stab in the dark – is that a little-known broadcaster called the BBC might have first dibs.

Internet Copyright for Dummies: just because a bunch of other websites have nicked a picture, renamed it, cropped it and used it for years, that doesn’t make it OK to for anyone else to do it. Except maybe anteaters, who perhaps haven't signed the Berne Convention on copyright.

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John Upham
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Re: When termites attack

Post by John Upham » Mon Nov 28, 2011 12:41 pm

I have to admit to being a little disappointed. I thought it was I that who had earlier highlighted the reference to "fairy cakes" which then Ernie re-mentioned. I will confess to playing Devils Advocate at that point...

Having not being mentioned (especially in an hilarious SG termitic blog post using an image of Officer Crabtree) I feel I must enter a period of sulking.

What should I do to correct this omission?

What do I have to do to be lampooned by SG?
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Re: When termites attack

Post by Ian Kingston » Mon Nov 28, 2011 1:43 pm

John Upham wrote:I have to admit to being a little disappointed. I thought it was I that who had earlier highlighted the reference to "fairy cakes" which then Ernie re-mentioned. I will confess to playing Devils Advocate at that point...
A quick search reveals that you do indeed have priority. I suspect that your big mistake was neglecting to misspell either 'retierd' or 'plodd'. But then, strangely, Ernie's never used either of those spellings either, despite the AiC's use of 'sic' to indicate otherwise. Perhaps he was trying to be ironic, but the termite brain just can't cope with that level of wit.
John Upham wrote:Having not being mentioned (especially in an hilarious SG termitic blog post using an image of Officer Crabtree) I feel I must enter a period of sulking.
It's the only thing a reasonable person can do. I think we all feel your pain.
John Upham wrote:What should I do to correct this omission?

What do I have to do to be lampooned by SG?
Find a new way to be especially egregious. Or 'Odious'. But Adam's already nabbed that one.

Jonathan Bryant
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Re: When termites attack

Post by Jonathan Bryant » Tue Nov 29, 2011 12:10 pm

John Upham wrote:What should I do to correct this omission?

What do I have to do to be lampooned by SG?

Write about it in the BCM?

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