Answer:Awkwardly. The present method of pro-rating CCCR memberships to expire at a fixed calendar date is overly complex. Example: If annual dues are $25.00 and all memberships expire on Jan. 1, 2011, paying dues today should cost: (154/365) * 25.00 = $10.548, according to my calendar and TI-36X calculator.

It's easier to calculate the expiration date from the date of payment. Memberships extend for six months or one year. Paying annual or "yearly" CCCR club dues today results in a membership expiring Jul. 30, 2011. Semi-annual or "six-month" memberships paid today end on Jan. 29, 2011, give or take a few days. They cost half of the annual membership fee, in this case $12.50. Write the membership expiration date on their individual membership card and sign it. There are no partial payments, quarterly memberships or special rates. This method involves only basic arithmetic and some record keeping.

We're a hobby club. Keeping membership dues current is important to funding chess promotion and paying our expenses. Club officers should use this method or be prepared to show the accounting for memberships collected.

Answer: Much of the CCCR member dues are used to pay rent directly to the RCC. Streamlining would eliminate the organizational baggage, including the burden of the rent transaction, the postage, bank accounts, checkbooks, figurehead club officers, club by-laws, annual USCF affiliation fees, legal risks, the whole kit 'n kaboodle. Everything else would be the same. We'd still have a great place to play USCF rated chess, free parking, good location, and we could still conveniently buy chess equipment locally. Also, the RCC sponsors many more, and bigger, tournaments than the CCCR.

If the Rochester Chess Center didn't exist, or its facilities didn't meet our needs, then we'd survive as an independent, autonomous legal entity. But assimilation by a business like RCC wouldn't impose any constraints on CCCR's members. It would just save us money and effort. The RCC owners work hard and run a successful and legitimate business. That same dedication would ensure that chess promotion and events in Rochester would continue unabated.

Answer: You're using Microsoft Internet Explorer is a proprietary and generally non-W3C compliant. Web developers prefer to write code to a standard specification, not for specific browsers. Modern major browsers display valid (X)HTML pages flawlessly and uniformly. But not IE.

IE users can install google chrome frame, though they probably won't. I think losing 30% of my incoming traffic from die-hard IE users is acceptable. This is an unofficial, non-commercial, amateur, hobby, vanity web site, designed for relatively modern computers not running IE. It's for techs, not for toadies. There is nothing of interest here that is not posted at the CCCR website. Mobile users will appreciate the lack of bloat there.

Answer: Inspired by the Cranston-Warwick Chess Club site, I wanted a similar website for the CCCR, publishing a membership list, bylaws, news, tournament announcements, and member's games. I sought CCCR accreditation for this site and appointment as CCCR webmaster and Director of Media. They felt that my motivations were somehow malevolent and that my calls for open, honest club government were "too negative." At that time the CCCR's website was not actively maintained and still isn't.

My original purpose was to inform people about local chess activities such as tournaments, other chess events, officer's names, cancelations, etc. The local chess community needed a more reliable, timely source of information than it had. However, this idea involved the participation and cooperation of the local organizers, and collecting data would prove to be problematic. In fairness they postponed judgement, and advised me that an official CCCR web site could not include public disclosure of complaints. I assumed that they would welcome my offer of webmastering communitychessclub.com, but they didn't. They resist any attempt to imbricate the heirarchy. But they do link to me today.

However, the Rochester Chess Center refuses to collaborate. Since I was promoting them I requested that they link to me. They refused outright, as is their privilege. I cheerfully followed suit by removing all mention of their activities from this site. They are very happy with this arrangement. Ron Lohrman is an asset to youth chess, regularly sponsoring scholastic chess leagues, weekly youth tournaments and chess camp. He also puts on several tournaments each month for adults, though kids may play.

At any rate, on September 30, 2008, about one year, nine months and twenty-eight days ago, I took the plunge and registered the domain "communitychessclub.com" at a cost of $10.00 per year. Web hosting cost $25.00 a month for a semi-dedicated server, not unrealistically expensive. And I was stuck with the domain name.

Answer: It's difficult, because I don't own a real computer. I have MSN TV. It has a wireless keyboard and a remote, and uses my TV as a display. I plan to buy a nice computer in late 2010, finances permitting. For now, this means a three-mile slog, twice a week, through snow and cold in winter, the rains of April, and the searing heat of summer, to the Henrietta Public Library, to use a free computer. I don't drive. Bus service is sporatic.

The programmers at my web hosting service wrote the code, and charged me one dollar for each feature. For the random chess quotes displayed on each page, I supplied the list of chess quotes. That, and the code for the photo slideshow, each cost a dollar. I'm glad I didn't have to do the heavy lifting. I know the HTML basics, but the new fancy stuff baffles me.

Pretty soon the combined cost of these extra features ran to $16.00, but it's only a one-time fee. Thank goodness the use of the public library's computers is free of charge.

Answer: In the mid-1990's, I procrastinated for months in learning HTML, a mark-up language originally designed for non-technical acedemics to create web pages. While playing chess on FICS, I met JohnnyRio, who said he had worked in an illegal auto chop shop, stripping down stolen cars for parts. While serving thirty-seven months in an Oregon State Prison for Grand Theft Auto (GTA), or soon thereafter, he created a Bobby Fischer fan web site. It was a simple web page and had a little table with an "x" marked for months that he had Chess Life magazine issues. Essentially, I got shamed into learning to code HTML. I have no formal training.

Maintaining this web site has necessitated updating my rusty HTML coding skills to the stricter, more modern XHTML standard, a reformulation of HTML into a hybrid of XML and HTML. Valid XHTML documents are rendered by compliant browsers (pretty much anything that isn't Internet Explorer) much faster.

Answer: At the bottom of this page is a link to a W3C validation test for W3C compliance. The higher the level of conformity, the more uniformly the pages will render among the many browsers. It also helps by catching errors, which I correct. There are other reasons to validate html, including the fact that search engine spiders often can't effectively parse or categorize sites with bad html. Most webmasters write sloppy code and hope that the browser will automatically correct the errors. This is only partially true. This page looks the same in chrome, safari, firefox and seamonkey because it adheres to standard code and validates.

Speaking of writing, did you know that I fancy myself a bit of a poet? Suitably inspired, I may soon take pen in hand and compose some chess poetry. It appears to be relatively simple.

Answer: Lack of quality. I can't compete in writing the quality of html code found at the CCCR website. It was honed to its present level of competence by an RIT graduate and accomplished computer professional over a period of twenty years. I simply haven't had enough time to catch up. Also, the dog ate my homework.

Answer:Mike and I have different styles of webmastering. He prefers to do everything himself. That way he knows everything will get done. Being less focused, I rely on a coterie of helpers, including Mike himself. I get assistance in a wide range of areas: layout, color selection, dhtml, gamescores and analysis. But, yes, we do compete. Check out this googlefight to see who wins.

The neighboring Buffalo Niagara Chess Corner is representative of a vibrant, open and friendly chess community working in harmony for a common goal. Those who can contribute seem to be welcome to. That web site is not the work of one person. I wish we had such unity and cooperation in Rochester, but instead we have fear and loathing.

To the casual observer the CCCR appears to be a disfunctional clique run by self-appointed officers administrating the club in a faint-hearted and degenerate manner. The club is a low-key hobby group with a core membership of a few old men with no interest in club bylaws or elections. So not much really gets done. I have no desire to interfere with CCCR in any way.

Answer: As the "People's Champion", I'm not as comfortable with the sham competitive attitudes I displayed in attaining the USCF National Master's title. I wish I'd developed other interests. As a result, I'm somehow less than authentic, viewed as having mastered an elaborate party trick. This, despite having five service awards from USCF, and serving as TD and CCCR Club Secretary for ten years. Go figure. So, yes, I've lost interest in chess. My life is better without serious chess. I play a bit on ICC, but OTB play is no longer my cup of tea.

Answer: One method that I use to amuse myself is to have a "Who is less competitive" competition. Trying to win at this will make you lose. Trying to lose makes you win which makes you lose. Not trying at all makes you lose which makes me win which makes me lose.

Or if you have a college roommate, instead of turning off the light switch, smash the light bulb with a hammer. Put a new bulb in the next day. Complain often about the cost of light bulbs.