A post was made regarding the personal standards of Chrismo and
Russ. It upset and angered me. I apologise for the length of this
post. But I am upset. Either indulge me or don't read.
I think we're all missing the point here. RHP came about when two
good friends set themselves the challenge of seeing if they could
create a website whereby people could play chess. The creation was
the goal. I hope I don't speak for Chrismo and Russ mistakenly but
what came after has been an incredible, stupefying, surprising, bonus
for them.
Just in the very broad terms of pursuing one's interests, setting goals,
achieving them, setting new goals, Chrismo and Russ should feel
proud. I love people who are passionate. Passion, about anything, is
the most wonderful thing I see in other people. Not all great people
are passionate, but all passionate people are great. The drive and
desire that they must have had in creating RHP and constantly trying
to improve it speaks volumes for their characters and for them as
people.
RHP is not perfect. It doesn't claim to be. It's not trying to be the
single most excellent place to play online chess in the entire world.
My point is that it seems incredibly churlish to speak about the one or
two less good points about the site when there is sooooo much that is
wonderful about it. The positives of RHP, to my mind, far, far outweigh
the negatives.
In recent weeks I've had a bit of misfortune with things happening,
and got very hurt emotionally just over two months ago. The tears still
come today, the sadness still hurts, the thoughts still arrive even
though I am trying to drive them away. So many people here use RHP
as an escape from their pain. After the exam that might well mean I
don't graduate, coupled with a particularly bad, bad, bad day for
memories I logged on to RHP and had an 11 hour binge, finishing at
5am, alone in a freezing university computer room, not having eaten
anything more than 2 pieces of bread and some digestive biscuits in
around 40 hours. RHP is not perfect. It is an awful lot cheaper and
more pleasurable than drinking for 11 hours seeing one's tears falling
into a pint glass.
I love RHP. I really do. I care such a lot about it. It provides so much
in so many different ways to so many different people.
The people. There are great people at every website. Here at RHP I
am completely humbled by the thought of all the superb people I
have played, chatted, and got on with over the course of 730 games. I
have made friends, I have learnt, I have laughed.
How fantastic and honoured I am to know Kirk and to be privy to his
wisdom (as well as his wonderful sense of humour). In our games I
ask him all kinds of annoying questions. He diligently, cleverly and
carefully replies and I learn. He tells me stories about Jehovah's
Witnesses and Playboy magazines, about children from Africa who
come to Kentucky for a fresh start and yet didn't know how to use a
key and a lock. He said they had such boundless enthusiasm and
passion.
He broke down a stereotype I had that all men of the cloth were self-
righteous and out to convert people. Priests are often thinkers, they
have depth. I can talk to Kirk and religion doesn't have to come into
it. Sounds obvious I know but it took someone like him to break the
stereotypical view I had. If I left the site tomorrow, I would take this
realisation with me for the rest of my life.
Look at John. Everyone here loves chess, we wouldn't be here
otherwise. But John, 50,000 moves. I have nothing but admiration for
what he has and will achieve. He truly, truly loves the game and RHP.
Every thousand of his that ticks by I smile. More so since I know there
is more to the man than just an ability to make lots of moves.
Has there ever been a more kind, fun to talk with, insightful lady than
Julia? She gives so much to so many people. She is truly a most
remarkable, wonderful, wonderful lady.
Lyn said something to me in one of our games the other day that
helped me such a lot. She probably isn't aware that she even did it,
such is her kindness.
What an addition to the site Tim has been. The things he has been
through and what he does now in his job should be an inspiration to
us all. Even his prose in his posts is excellent; think how good his
books are. I love chatting with Simon (Pawnking) about his round the
world trip, about the England football team, about all the millions of
small, pointless things that people talk about when they get on so
well. Everytime Tony goes "Whoooo!" I can't help but grin. I can't get
enough of Dave's stories about spoilt brats at tournaments and so on.
They are told by someone who is utterly passionate about chess, and
by a great story teller. I really love reading them. Andrew (Rhymester)
is just great. He has a kind of reserved manner about him (albeit
coupled with a terrific ability in one-liners) and then goes and
expresses himself in those great poems of his. I hope he'll do more
one day. When a mature, clever, sharp guy like Gilbert is prepared to
respond to squirrel related posts with squirrel poems, and at the same
time talk with such joy about Einstein, well, you just know there's
something marvellous about the man from Belgium. Is Fernando the
most perfect example of a gentleman there is?! What a guy. He's my
Portuguese football buddy. Ah and Mr. Ross Green. Top bloke who
makes crazy pawn moves. For a different kind of game he's your
man. Maggoteer. If I see a post by Maggoteer I get ready to laugh
myself silly. He never disappoints. His humour is wonderful. His
websites superb.
People come, and, sadly, people go. As in life, so here at RHP.
Does anyone remember IMNOHERO? A terrific player and an
unbelievably nice guy. Around about a year ago to the day he took off
and went to New York to help in the aftermath of the tragedy. He
hasn't played since. I miss him. And Howard too. Like me he lives in
Wales. We could have talked all day about the rivalry between
Swansea and Cardiff. An incredibly funny bloke, especially after he'd
had too much to drink (anyone who remembers him will know that that
was nearly always!).
The world is a pretty big place. I was taken aback when I came across
someone who lives probably no more than 40 minutes from me. I feel
glad that I share a city with someone as kind, as generous in her
praise, and as nice as Janey.
It's quite possible that at this very second there is someone logging
into RHP for the very first time. Who knows what they are like, where
they are from, or what they will bring to the site. Maybe they'll start a
few games, maybe they'll have to go out and when they come back
just forget all about RHP. Whatever they do, I for one don't like the
idea that a potential Kirk, or a Julia, or a Tim, or a John, or a
Maggoteer, or someone I can talk to about squirrels, or anyone, could
visit the forums for the first time, see some of the posts that have
been made and decide that RHP is not the place for them.
People can carry on making aggressive posts, or unkind posts, or
posts where the site is unfairly criticised. If that is what some want to
do then fine. It is their right. There will always be figs and rjbm's. Big
deal. Most people have no interest in them.
I want to talk about the interesting people, the kind people, the
people that make me smile when I need it most. I want to talk about
the good things. I suggest others who love the site as much as I do,
and are as passionate about the site as I am, do the same. Let that
person logging in to RHP for the first time right now see what this site
is really like.
Mark
The Squirrel Lover
- Joined
- 04 Jan 02
- Moves
- 11961
Thank you SO much for your post. Yup, it's long-- and every word
counts. I hope everyone else reads it. And I want to say right now
that I would have responded to this even if you hadn't said such
wonderful things about me. Well, you better be able to take a
compliment, as well, because here it comes-- your post is a perfect
indicator of what a caring, compassionate soul you have. And brave,
too-- it takes courage to reveal personal information in an arena like
this.
Dude, as you know, I came to this site to run away from emotional
pain. And, unexpectedly, I fell in love with this place, and I will NOT
be leaving anytime soon. I had been thinking about work today
about what I wanted to post in response to those who are starting to
talk about going elsewhere to play chess-- but you did it better than I
ever could have. Let me add one observation-- I currently have
somewhere around 10 games going (one of them against the
illustrious T1000 himself, one against Julia), and I have played many
of the people Mark mentions. And you know what? As much as I am
upset about the recent happenings and current turmoil, I also realized
that, if I was one of those people who never checks the forums, none
of this would be having the slightest impact on me! My games are all
still going well, I'm enjoying them, and I do not suspect any of the
people I am playing right now of cheating. And I DO know what it's
like to lose games, and ratings points, to cheaters. It sucks. But it is
NOT enough to drive me out of here and off to a site that may have
found a way to eliminate that particular problem.
I respect and admire Russ and Chris more than I can even put into
words, and anyone here with half a brain and half a heart should feel
the same way I do. We all owe them a little loyalty.
Mark, all i can say is thanks again for your post-- and I say that on
behalf of the RHP community, not myself, although I am extremely
flattered by what you wrote!
Tim
An excellent post that needed to be said. Alas, there will always be some who have
unrealistic expectations of such a site, and others who just want to cause trouble. If the
ratings system were abolished today, it would have no effect on how often I visited this site.
My only worry is that other players could be leaving as we speak, without any fanfare or
explanation, triggered by the recent strife on the forums; that would be a shame, because we
will never know what they might have contributed.