Dmitri,

You're ridiculous. I find it laughable that most of the time someone disagress with you, you become VERY sarcastic.

Also, I did not realize that the chess variants had been addressed earlier. It seems there are posts that I missed. Sorry about re-hashing a point that was already made. I'm not saying that you oppose variants of any sort. But I do find it interesting that it's ok for you to pick and choose what variants of what games should be played, and why, but other people shouldn't.

And your dumb-ass tic tac toe remark is ludicrous. Regular pente offers a hell of a lot more complexity than tic tac toe.

If you remember correctly, you and I played 2 games of regular pente at IYT. I beat you with the greatest of ease as player one. Yet, conversely, you had a hell of a time winning as player one. And had I given that game a bit more thought, I may have came out victorious. If you rememeber correctly, Gary's analysis was that you only had a "slight" edge towards the end. But how can that be? Shouldn't you have had a TOTAL edge the whole game (you didnt!)? Why do you think that was? I'll tell you why. I'm a crafty regular pente player. And I'm not the only one. And for people like me, there IS exitement in trying to win a game you should lose. So please, dispense with the sarcasm (i.e. fake pente, etc).

One last thing. You didn't address my point either. In my ORIGINAL pente rule book, regular pente is listed, as well as tourney. Tom Braunlich wrote a book on REGULAR pente strategy that is still relevant today for beginners and intermediates. Therefor, there are / were official rules for this game. And it was addressed and played by one of the greatest players ever. AND, I bet back then, Tom Braunlich enjoyed playing regular pente. Why shouldn't I or anyone else?

Here's an idea. If you want a Pro pente only site, make one. Then you can make all the rules and stipulations you like / want and live in your own little world where everything comes up Dmitri King's way...Which seems to be the way that all of us MUST conform to as far as you're concerned.

-Satan