Thanks for that long and considered reply. My view is that in a community as small as BrainKing ratings are not very important or accurately representative, just a vague guide to the strength of an opponent before deciding to play or not, then you can also look in their profile to see with which colour they won/lost. Especially with the games supported by BrainKing there is no great bias in favour of those familiar with the literature, most of the games here I've never heard of, so I dont think ratings are a very big issue. If you know which colour is more likely to win then it's up to you if you choose that colour or it's opposite, after all despite the fact that these game are played by winning or losing their main function is as a social interaction between the players, we want our opponent to enjoy it as much as we do. Sorry if this is confused, I'm very drunk.