Before playing here I hadn't played chess much since 1969, when I would drop in at the Chess House on W. 72nd St (NYC) at 4 a.m. after my taxicab shift (there were always plenty of players). The Chess House is gone now. And where have all the players gone? Either dead or online, I guess!

My playing style can be described as clever moves plus blunders. Quite often I won't choose what I think is the best move, but what I think is the most ~interesting~ move. So if you see me make what seems to be a bad move... well, it's probably just a blunder. But it could be something else!

I'll take skulls in ladder games if I'm the challenger, because delays can cause position loss in ladder games, but I won't click on skulls in a tournament game if you time-out; the system will automatically award me the game 2-4 days after your skull appears. In regular games I won't claim a game because you time-out unless you seem uninterested in moving.

If you make a blunder, send a message and if I get it before my move I'll let you take the move back if it's reversible (not a pawn move, no piece taken, no one in check, etc.) I'll make a reversable "dummy" move, you'll reverse your blunder move, I'll reverse my dummy move, then you make a better move. Send me a message if you want to do this; I used to ask people first if they wanted to take back the move, but that takes too much time.