AH! LL is addicted to Everquest! We should be glad that he visits us! I hear that people lock themselves ina room with the computer and play that for months unend!
BTW: I said yes because I know how to play chess (I know the mechanics of it atleast, don't always have the best strategies) and i enjoy playing. I do not play very often though.
I used to play a lot when I was younger. It's been several years now, though. The last time I tried to get back into it, the guy I was playing against turned out to be a very poor winner. I don't usually mind losing, but spiking the queen and doing the happy dance just seemed like a bit much to me...
When I was younger my attitude was that it was better to play someone who could beat you, because you could learn a lot more from them than from someone you could easily defeat. I'm not sure when that changed and why. The last two people that I played, though, were people who have (or at least had) a deep psychological need to win at games. They're both still good friends of mine, but when I play any sort of game with them, I have to breathe deep and chant, "it just doesn't matter. It just doesn't matter."
Getting beat by a better player isn't a problem. Getting beat by someone who isn't interested in a good game can be. That's whay I find to be the case when playing someone whose game is so far beyond ones own.
I was #1 board in high school, but our team stunk (it wasn't really my fault, I could never consistenly beat anyone higher than #4 board, and only one other person on the team even knew an opening). I only learned 3 openings, one for white and two for black, and I ad-libbed often after the openings. BTW, way back on JJR's there was a chess match between Wetling and montezuma. If anyone is interested, I wouldn't mind playing against anyone here, just for the hell of it.