vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
My chess career: I started playing chess with my best friend at the age of 10. At the age of 19, I entered my first chess club. I have played about 500 offline tournament chess games since, mostly in and around Munich. In my offline chess club, I am part of our first team, playing in the second of five municipal Leagues in Munich. My current German rating (similar to Elo) is appr. 1800. vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
My online periods: During weekdays, I would make moves during the day, time allowing; at night or at week-ends, I would go online every now and then. vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
My Gameknot preferences: I see Gameknot "correspondence chess" as a great opportunity to enhance one's chess skills, from openings to endings. Since I often get in time trouble in tournament (and even more so in blitz) games, the turn-based chess is ideal for me, as errors are considerably reduced. And this is why I have the ambition to play my best chess possible on Gameknot: I rarely make any moves spontaneously without having analysed the position, so I am not a quick player ... vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
My challenge preferences: As a consequence of the above, I normally would not play more than 5 to 7 games at the same time. And the opponents' ratings should be in a bandwidth of my rating minus 300 to my rating plus 200. However, this year I dared to take a plunge into the magnificent opportunities of Gameknot - Mini-Tournaments, Gameknot Tournaments, now I even joined the League - so the number of games is bound to rise to 15 or more (especially, when new GK tournament rounds start out of the blue ...). The only thing I have still resisted is accepting any of the numerous invitations to join a Team ... not because I would not appreciate it, but because I still have the "dream" to set up a "Bavarian Chess Team" one day! vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
What I like in chess: Of course, winning is not a bad thing ... ;-) But even when a game was drawn after it had really been fought out, or when I lose after I had learnt a real lesson from an opponent who outplayed me, this gives me satisfaction. vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
What I dislike in chess: Making stupid blunders, even more, when the position is actually in my favour ... And then those games, where the opponent has a clear disadvantage, but instead of resigning, he would "sit out" his lost game until the bitter end ... :-( Please, if there is no realistic chance, why not take our time for a new game instead? vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
My other chess preferences: If I really feel like blitzing away a few games, then I tend to log on to http://www.chessanytime.com - play me there under my same nickname, if you want!
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
My philosophy: Should anyone ever be in doubt of the meaning of life, the first glance at your own new-born baby will reveal it.
