I'm 47yo, saw some early success with Junior State Championships, and being invited to play in the finals of the 1980 U.S. Correspondence Championship (which I never completed because I became busy as a professional game designer).I reached about 2300 strength, though now I'm likely about 2100 since I haven't played serious chess for 20 years. I did however win the 1983 Pente World Championship (which some of you may remember as a popular fad during the early 80's).
Some of you may also be familiar with some of the games I've created -- such as the Star Wars: Collectible Card Game (LucasFilm), same for Star Trek (Paramount), Lord of the Rings (NewLine), Austin Powers, etc.
After making a chunk of change with those games, I've pretty much done nothing but travel the past ten years. Name a major city, I've been there. I love experiencing diverse cultures, especially northern Europe, Canada, and Costa Rica. Recently I lived in Prague for two years (easily the most beautiful city in the world). I also parked for awhile in Amsterdam and Montreal. I speak only a little bit of the languages -- mostly "taxi-talk" and cusswords :-) Ti Vola!
Chessgames.com is the best chess site I've ever seen, if not one of the best constructed sites of any kind. I expect they will continue to grow rapidly.
Kibitzing
