*** TALKCHESS SERVER TO BE SHUT DOWN ***

[op12no2]

I'm a bit confused. I thought from other threads there was a new founder group who had raised money to buy the domain and forum and sort out the transfer to another host. Obviously I'm wrong, but what is the overall situation in a paragraph. I didn't donate the first time but happy to now if it helps.

[Rebel]

The good news is that we are probably going to make it before the end of the month with the help of Srdja. I talked to Quentin to give us some slack in case we need a couple of days or week more.

So be ready for the new outlook...

[towforce]

From the reactions I understand that no one has prepared any move, now that we control the domain name and are in possession of the ftp password of the ChessUSA site? I handn't really expected that I would have to be involved in this, other than helping to install the scripts for diagrams and game viewers. And perhaps assist some in making the site DoS-proof.

I can of course easily upload all the files at ChessUSA to my own PC at home, to prevent them from getting lost, but that PC is not rigged as a server, and switched off while I am not working on it. So it wouldn't really help in continuing the forum. And since upload speeds are typically much slower than download speeds, and the download of a backup of the current forum already took me more than an hour, having all the files on my PC is not really a convenient step to setting up a server elsewhere.

So we need a server, and I have in fact no idea what the requirements are (in terms of network bandwidth, disk space, CPU demand...). Are there any ideas here? Or is it the plann that we should just lament the demise of the forum here as long as we still can?

If there is no Plan A, count me as Plan B, give me the database dump and web-files, I am willing to do the TC webmaster and host it on my own web-space, there is not much going on in here anyways, people moved on to Discord Channels meanwhile....

--
Srdja

This is a generous and public-spirited offer!

If the forum is about to die in less than a week, then we should be accepting this offer with open arms!

I'm not an expert on Discord, and have barely used it: if people say that it has big weaknesses in comparison with a forum, then, while it would be surprising to me, I am not in a position to argue. However, an even bigger issue would be that many people wouldn't make the move, and a big chunk of the community would be lost.

[towforce]

The good news is that we are probably going to make it before the end of the month with the help of Srdja. I talked to Quentin to give us some slack in case we need a couple of days or week more.

So be ready for the new outlook...

Excellent - thank you Ed and Srdja!

Also, thank you to HGM for raising the alarm.

[smatovic]

The good news is that we are probably going to make it before the end of the month with the help of Srdja. I talked to Quentin to give us some slack in case we need a couple of days or week more.

So be ready for the new outlook...

Excellent - thank you Ed and Srdja!

Also, thank you to HGM for raising the alarm.

I am in contact with HGM, to migrate together the forum to a new server, as mentioned to HGM, I am willing to engage 1 to max 2 month in this operation, tech hands on, then I will drop out again. In future I might be available to help fix occurring issues, or alike. Idk if we will make it until the end of the month, maybe there will be a certain downtime, we will see.

--
Srdja

[syzygy]

If I understood the latest e-mail of Quentin Turner correctly, the ChessUSA server on which TalkChess is hosted will go off line at the end of the month, as he is not renewing the subscription with the provider.

That would be exactly on the 3rd anniversary of my joining Talkchess!

[Henk]

What will become of Skippers amazing records when this website will be shutdown?

[Pali]

I still reading post made years ago here. There is so much knowledge.
How can you do that with discord ?
Its just a chat with online people. I insist : >online<. Try to answer a post made a week ago ...

Yeah, I really don't see how TalkChess is not "just a chat with online people".
You can answer a post made a week ago by hovering over a message and hitting the reply button. It will notify the original poster.

[lucametehau]

What will become of Skippers amazing records when this website will be shutdown?

No.

[lithander]

Without the community aspects of chess programming I would probably not bother developing Leorik any further. This forum plays an important role and I don't think that Discord alone could compensate. Discord is great for short term communication (chatting) but no place for something like a devlog or preserving the results of hundreds of tournaments. If this forum goes away I'd probably move on to some other hobby, too.