You can tell exactly how many pawns are on this site, and thus the percentage of them, by going to the "Player List," then sorting by "Level." At this very moment, the pawns start near the bottom of the 4th page, meaning there are about 200 non-pawns out of the 5000 or so on this site (that's about 95-96% pawns).

I learned quickly that if I set long time-limits for my games, the number of moves I even get a chance to make each day goes way down. Even with 3-7 day limits, I really can't move very much in any day unless I happen to be online with someone with whom I'm playing.

I am seriously considering joining the site and will recommend that the 3-4 family members with whom I play try BrainKing as well. I'm a member at GoldToken, but not at IYT. My brother is a member over there.

I would encourage anyone who loves playing games on these sites to send a payment, not for the features or for the number of moves, but for the guys who run the sites. I know Chad over at GT is in the same boat as Fencer over here. He has a full-time job and a family. Somehow he manages to spend what seems to be 30 hours per day developing the site and keeping everybody happy. If nothing else, think of it as a donation to chip in for a new server. This site is so good that it will continue to grow indefinitely.

I'm amazed that BK has no advertising and I'm very impressed with the detailed features available here. Supporting something like this site is akin to supporting public radio. People will pay from the heart. The trade-off of limiting nonmembers is that you'll lose a few more potential "site-lovers" right off the bat.

Best of luck to you, Fencer! Thanks for creating a great place to play.