Getting to Know you
Submitted by
Dozy on Wed, 03/26/2008 at 9:11pm.
Desmond Bagley was one of England's all-time top thriller writers. He could put together an intriguing plot in which he was also capable of indulging a little philosophy, a little whimsy, and a touch of humour. He once described a nebbish as a person who has so little personality that when they leave a room you get the feeling that somebody has just walked in.
I'm usually good at remembering names (lousy with faces, but names are a cinch) but once worked with a man whose name constantly eluded me. I said as much to a workmate and she said, “Nobody remembers him. He's got no personality at all.” And, of course, she was right. He was a bona fide nebbish.
The same thing can happen across the chess board.
I realised the other day that I had no recollection of one of my games. I couldn't bring it to memory at all. I recalled nothing about either the position or my opponent. After checking it out, I clicked on my opponent's profile and, surprise! it was blank. Not even a birth date.
Player profiles are a great idea. They add flesh and bone to the anonymity of playing on the Net. Of course, not everybody wants to reveal details about themselves. Maybe they're shy, maybe they're private, maybe they're just a little bit paranoid. Maybe they have very good reason.
I know women who have complained that some of their opponents become too friendly. (One woman told me she'd had her phone number requested by a guy on the other side of the world who probably had the best of intentions and just wanted to be a pal—but she was only interested in playing chess. She's since removed a lot of information from her profile.)
Personally I'm fairly gregarious and don't mind sharing—and it follows naturally that when I get a challenge or start a new game I have a look to see who I'll be playing. Of course, there's very little in a profile that would stop me playing somebody—I just like to get a mental image of them.
Challenges? Unless I have too many games going at a given time I'll play anybody—UNLESS he has a bad record for time outs. That's an automatic NO!
Now, I realise that most blogs don't get read very much, and I assume this one will be the same—but if there's somebody out there who actually gets this far, what about sharing your opinion?
What sort of opponents to you most enjoy playing?
What do you like to see in their profiles?