tedbarber: All games should NOT be rated. I am currently playing Pente against two other players trying to hlep them improve their skills. In many of our games, I lose intentionally while showing them a particluar sequence. Clearly these games should not be rated. I have also replayed a game against a few opponent to try and understand where one of us went wrong. Again, we should be able to make these game unrated if we so choose, since these games amount to practice. And also, I have a few friends who are rated way above or way below me in certain games. The hihger rated player does not like to play these games, because, if they win, their score does not go up, but if they lose, it goes down a lot! Playing unrated allows us to play and have fun despite our BKR differences.