I'm gonna watch the replay video asap! 
Pardon our Blunders recap for 11/3!
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Welcome everyone to another quick-recap of the weekly Chess.com/TV show, Pardon our Blunders.
Every week, the guys tackle a number of current news and event subjects from all over the chess world and today should be another outstanding show. This week's episode was open to Platinum/Diamond members.
We will also find out the winner of this past week's contest that will earn that member a ONE-YEAR Diamond Membership absolutely free. With Diamond, you have virtually unlimited access to this great site and all of its features. Guaranteed your rating, whether on here or OTB, will go up if you use the tools this great site offers regularly.
Here is the topic list for today's show:
Topic #1: USCL Voting - Terrible System: Pretty controversial, the USCL has tried several different systems which have failed to please everyone. This week's G.O.T.W. blog, which is here, Irina Krush is not in favor of the current way the voting is being used, and she self-deleted her own comment. It's better off, as Danny said, to have a panel of strong and removed players judge on what games should be picked every week.
Topic #2: Naka not in the USCL: It's not good for the USCL and his hometown team of St. Louis, but should he play 4 or 5 games just to show support or is it good for him to stay away and focus on bigger fish like Anand, Magnus and Aronian? There are strong players in the USCL, and even Kaspy should push him into doing so. It would still be good for Naka, St. Louis, and the league if he did so.
Topic #3 and #4: Israel in the ETCC and what team would win?: Israel should play because they want to play, according to Danny. Most of the top countries in the world are present, but David said, where is China? Can "Chuky" and us Ukrainian team lay the smack-down or will Armenia, according to David, headed by Levon Aronian, take it all? It's going to be a strong tournament where anything can happen at anytime.
Topic #5: What to do to improve your game?: Use Chess.com's study guides.
Topic #6: Who would win?:
Topic #7: Corsica Controversies: With a refusal to play an Israeli player, Iranian GM Ehsan Gahem Maghami was banned from the competition. Now should the organizers have forseen this and re-paired the brackets and match-ups?
Here's what was said from the chief organizer:
The chief organiser Léonard Battesti issued the following statement:
The Iranian Grand Master Ehsan Maghami Ghaem informed me of his refusal to play against his opponent of the fourth round, the Israeli Fide Master Ehud Shachar. I told Mr. Ghaem Maghami that as an organizer of a sporting International competition, I could not accede to his request to change the pairings, for him to play against another player. The presence of five Israeli players in this tournament is known by all participants since Saturday, October 22. It honors our competition as well as the presence of Iranian players and about thirty other nationalities. The motto of our Federation is Gens una sumus, we develop in Corsica awareness of the positive aspects of chess sport on our youth, being complicity of any form of segregation would be unworthy, and in total contradiction with the foundations of our sport action. So regretfully I have to exclude the player who unfortunately has persisted in his choice, inspite of my imprecations. I regret it. But I could not escape from our responsibilities.
So who is to blame here? The GM? The arbiters and organizers?
and the second controversy was in the 5th round of the Swiss competition as two players agreed to a 22-move draw in direct opposition of the event's ant-draw rules. Here's the game:
I guess the arbiter has a power-hungry mentality because of these two controversies. Both players above received a forfeit.
Topic #8: Seirawan's Comeback: Does Seirawan, since coming out of retirement, have a chance to win the 2012 U.S. Chess Championship? He placed t-1st in the recent Barcelona tournament with 5.5/8 and even at 50 years old he seems to be stronger than ever.
Topic #9: Nikola Mitkov cheating again!: Why is he still around? He is a known cheater and he should not be playing and why are organizers even inviting him to events? It's all about the money.
Topic #10: Member question about playing goals in an OTB tournament:
Danny: Just play the best chess you can and try to win as many games as you can. Perhaps try to fix the problems you've been having like playing quickly through the opening or not taking your opponent seriously.
David: 2 goals is the best to have during a tournament to focus on and try to deal with the biggest issues you have and need to improve on.
Blitz Joke Contest Winner:
Number 137!!! jjeffrey has won the ONE-YEAR Diamond Membership!!! Congratulations!
Below is the winning joke:
"You know you're playing too much blitz when your wife asks you to mow the lawn, and you say "right after this next game," to which she angrily yells back "BEFORE!!" You quickly respond equally loudly "e5!!"
I'm sorry for the lengthy recaps but there was a lot to discuss today so I hope everyone enjoyed the show.
Have a great night!
-Mark