Thanks for your comments, teacher_1. I really enjoy your topics. I find the run-of-the-mill topics here extremely boring and am glad that you have decided to return to chess.com. I also find the flamers extremely annoying.

Please don't feel too discouraged by all the ridiculous responses to your posts - knee-jerk reactions seem to be the order of the day on this site these days. I certainly don't agree with everything you say, but really enjoy reading your opinions. Keep it up!

no it is not u liar

THIS BLOG IS CONCLUDED!

I'm in the EXPERIMENTAL phase of what I'm going to talk about, so it may or may not even happen. Or, it may happen to a teeny tiny degree. I'll see how IT goes.

On SUNDAYS (I'm not sure what time yet) I shall make a BRIEF appearance in LIVE CHESS. I WILL NOT, I repeat, WILL NOT, be playing any chess games. I only seek to test this live chat. It will be sometime around NOON CST.

Pop in if you want to talk chess. It's my favorite subject and one I have CONSIDERABLE knowledge of.

I'm championing the cause of allowing the person who STARTS a topic to be able to DELETE that topic. It is a FLAW of this site to not allow the one who starts it, to end it.

THEREFORE, until that functionality becomes available, I will end a topic that I started, thusly:

THIS TOPIC IS CONCLUDED!

When I feel that my topic has run its course, or has been hijacked, or has just gotten too far out of control, I WILL STEP IN and end it as above. I will make no more posts in that topic other than what you see above in big, bold red letters.

I've made so many new friends here. Whenever I start a topic, they come in droves. I just love everyone on chess.com!!!

Dang it's a tough crowd here. I come back after a YEAR and the trolls/flamers/cheaters have all but taken over.

DANG IT anyway.

Just as one must put to sleep a dog that has rabies, there may be NO rehabilitation for the people on this site.

I am posing LEGITIMATE questions, quoting LEGITIMATE sources, and what crap do I get? Well, you know it. You read it and YOU spout it time after time.

I just wish the admin would step up and start policing the FORUMS like it did in the old days. Now, it seems that rather than address the flaming issues, the admin just LOCKS the thread. It's kinda like banning guns in the hopes that armed robbery or murder will stop.

Ask the U.K. how that's working for them, mate.

These lessons don't make much sense and don't seem particularly deep.

I'll be away from the computer until SUNDAY afternoon. My girlfriend's husband is out of town for the weekend and I'll be a bit tied up.

Homework assignment: READ OPENING THEORY.

Hello chess.com members!!! Thanks for taking the time to participate in LESSON #1: STARTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT.

Ok, I’m going to EASE you all into my format, my STYLE, and start out slowly with this first lesson. So, seeing this IS a chess site, let’s start out by talking chess. Lesson #1 is intended for the chess novice--from just starting out to 1 year of playing time. Most intermediates and masters already know what I‘m about to say.

Now, before we begin, be wary of ANYONE who disputes what I’m about to say. TO dispute this lesson in ANY form will show you a person who wishes to take ADVANTAGE of the younger chess novices. The DISPUTER will be a person who ACTUALLY agrees with what I’m about to say but encourages you to NOT follow this lesson so he or she CAN follow this lesson and become a better player, AT YOUR EXPENSE.

Now…………(drum roll)……..LESSON #1

Life is all about ODDS or PERCENTAGES. Follow the odds, and more often than NOT, you will succeed. For example, If there is a 90% chance of rain, you wouldn’t plan an outdoor picnic. To take the chance-- 90% get wet, 10% no rain--and go ahead and plan an outdoor event, you will probably get WET. Next, If there is 51% chance of something happening (odds in favor of the HOUSE in Vegas), then over the LONG HAUL, the house wins. That simple 1% edge translates into BILLIONS of dollars per year. No gambling establishment has ever LOST money.

So it is with chess. STEP #1, Always fight to play as WHITE. Getting white puts the odds in your favor as you stand a 56% chance of winning the game vs. a player of equal strength who is playing black. The odds are in your favor before you EVEN MAKE ONE MOVE!!!! He who VOLUNTARILY accepts to play as black is a FOOL!

“In 1946, W.F. Streeter examined the results of 5,598 games played in 45 international chess tournaments between 1851 and 1932. Streeter found that overall White scored 53.4%. Statistician Arthur M. Stevens concluded in The Blue Book of Charts to Winning Chess, based on a survey of 56,972 master games that he completed in 1967, that White scores 59.1%. In 2005, GM Jonathan Rowson wrote that "the conventional wisdom is that White begins the game with a small advantage and, holding all other factors constant, scores approximately 56% to Black's 44%".” As you can see, students, over the course of time (1851-2005), the SAME results are found. We can only conclude this to be 100% FACTUAL that white wins more often than black. I could go ON AND ON with other studies, but I won‘t. The irrefutable proof is there. ACCEPT this fact and PROGRESS ONWARD.

Next, when you begin a game that you really want to WIN--not some friendly weekend game with your friends--you’ll want to further UP THE ODDS in your favor by playing your first move as D4 (Queen’s Gambit). Never ever play ANYTHING other than D4 as your first move. EVER!!!! Did I say EVER? EVER. NEVER ever. Ever never.

D4 ADDS to your winning percentage by giving you 58 points for every 100 games you play (40 wins and 36 draws). There is no other first move that can claim that score. FACT.

In conclusion, pupils, THE STATS don’t lie. White gets you an AUTOMATIC advantage, and D4 adds to that advantage. So, if you were to distill all these numbers down, you have an approximate 57% chance of WINNING a chess game if your first move as white is D4 (Queen’s Gambit) facing an opponent of equal skill.

Play the odds. White + D4 = WIN THE GAME more often than lose. History has shown this to be inarguably true.

Thank you. Class is dismissed.

ATTENTION, ACHTUNG!!!

I've decided to HOLD OFF on my first LESSON.

Apparently, you all are NOT ready. Apparently, a little "summer school" is in order before we can HIT THE BOOKS.

COMMON SENSE and LOGIC seem to be in short supply 'round here.

You have until THIS Thursday.

Whew, what a first DAY. Well, I'm sure a fair percentage of you all know me from my "checkered" past. I'm sure the ones that don't know me are finding out from the ones that did know me and are making ASSUMPTIONS based on that.

First off, think of me as BORN AGAIN. Please. I beg of everyone here. Give me the benefit of the doubt. Judge me by my actions from 11.27.09 forward. PLEASE!!!

Next, you should all know that I like to DEBATE. I like intellectually stimulating conversation. I do have an edge about me that is pretty sharp. I rub most people I meet in life, the WRONG way. Only child,  Mid 40's, never married, no kids, only 1 close friend.....'nuff said.

You know, I just don't have the time to respond to ALL the messages I get, so I'll select the most popular and talk about them.

1) NO, I am not here to just troll and stir up trouble. I do like to push the envelope and walk the edge. I do LIKE to say things that others wish they could but are too shy. I AM a thrill seeker. I'm one of those nut-jobs that would base jump off the Golden Gate Bridge, NOT for the fun of it, BUT to see if I could get away without being caught. That's who I am. Please accept it. DEAL with it. I ain't changing.

2) I finally figured out how to disable friend requests. I don't want to be anyone's friend. Nothing personal. I'm a rogue. I walk this road ALONE.

3) Amidst all of the personal attacks and sarcasm directed at me, I am not an abusive person. Oh, I'm sure someone could dredge up a quote where I WAS abusive, but it takes alot for me to get truly mad. I have to deal with that alot in life, people TESTING me to see my breaking point. Well, they never find it. I am one cool, calm, and collected individual, thanks to daily Meditation.

4) Please don't ask to challenge me in a game of chess. First off, I'm all chessed out. I rarely play anymore. I LOVE the game, but like the IMMORTAL Bobby Fischer, have grown bored with it after nearly 4 decades of playing it. Secondly, you would LOSE.

Well chess.comers, I hope you all give me the benefit of the doubt. Life is too short to HATE.

Hello, chess.com, I am known as teacher_1. Two years ago to THIS very day, I came to this chess site as cheater_1. That person is now DEAD. At my hands. That will be the LAST time I will ever utter that name, as it no longer has any meaning to me. From this point on, please address me as teacher_1. I have been REBORN into a kindler, gentler personality.

I hope MY time here, however long it may be, will be beneficial to everyone. I am a student of the GAME of chess AS WELL as how it relates to life‘s experiences. Think of me as a sort of CHESS PSYCHOLOGIST-- a CHESSOLOGIST-- as I sometimes refer to myself as. I have acquired a wealth of information about the GAME over my 35+ years of playing it and have LIVED my life as one would play a game of chess. I have had success in nearly all of my PURSUITS in life, and attribute this success to chess-like thinking. In my 42+ years of LIFE, I have accomplished more than 99% of people who live to be 100 ever dream of doing. You name the activity, and I have either DONE it or done something closely related to it. Sky dive? Been there. Beaten a chess GM, DONE THAT. Sailed solo for weeks on end in the Pacific? Yep. Made a MILLION dollars? INDEED. Lost a million dollars? Sad to say, YES. Ran with the bulls? Ho hum, sure. Gone into space? If you call being 13 miles up in a Russian MiG-31, space, which it nearly is--then CLOSE ENOUGH TO YES. I am as well-rounded and qualified of a person as you will ever come across. I have what it takes to EDUCATE you all on the lessons that I have learned about chess, namely, how to improve your game and improve your life.

NO, I am not peddling anything (I‘m not here to direct traffic to ANY site). NO, I am not here for ANY gain. NO, I don’t have an “agenda” of any sort. YES, I am here to make this site and its members BETTER and more EDUCATED people.

My purpose here is to pass on my knowledge to everyone. Approximately Once a week, I will post a LESSON in the General Discussion Forum. This LESSON does not necessarily mean I will try to teach the masses how to play better chess. Oh, it may contain information on how to better your game, but it may also contain other information that I have learned over the decades as it relates to chess, or it may contain a simple lesson about bettering your life and the others around you. WARNING…I am a VERY long winded person. When one sentence will do, I will write FIVE. Don’t even bother to click on my topics if you are looking for a quick read.

Now, as a formidable chess player myself, I can see into the future and anticipate your responses as you are forming them. So, NO, my lessons will NOT be posted exclusively in my blog. Who reads blogs anyway? This is about getting information out there to be seen. This is ABOUT education dissemination. Forums, not blogs, are the vehicle of choice. But, due to the THREAT of censorship, I will post in both blog and forum. (I have already received several threats of FREEZING my account, so my time may be short. I haven’t even posted ONE lesson yet, and already the TRUTH and COMMON SENSE are under attack. Second, there will invariably be dozens of TROLLS lining up trying to knock me down and get noticed. Accusations will fly from DAY ONE. Jealousy will rear its ugly head. Censorship will become an issue. Truth and common sense will come under attack by those who stand to gain by lies and propaganda. And all these negative things will NOT just come from the users of this site, but also by the ones who CONTROL the users of this site. Mark my words, people, for long ago I have traveled this very road…and it is FULL of potholes and not well maintained.

Finally, nothing would thrill me more than if NO ONE even replied to my weekly lessons. ZERO responses are preferred. It is intended to be more of a commentary--a LECTURE--than an open dialog. Read it and LEARN from it. Absorb it like a sponge. Reply if you feel strongly about what I said, but keep it civil. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s fighting off trolls and flamers. I’m too OLD for that. Been there, done that. I have many battle SCARS over the 15+ years I’ve been on the internet and don’t desire to slay anymore trolls. Don’t waste your time baiting me, I’m far too WISE for that. QUALIFY your responses to my lesson with FACTS supported by CREDIBLE sources, lest I brand you a troll/flamer. Don’t just insult my hard WORK that I present to you, lest I brand you a troll/flamer. Don’t censor my LESSONS just because you don’t like what I said, lest I brand the ADMIN of this site Anti-American (there’s a little thing called the first amendment that I like to refer to from time to time).

Now I must go put the finishing touches on teacher_1’s LESSON #1. I will post one weekly lesson on RANDOM days each week starting next week. HOWEVER, if one of the weekly lessons generates a large volume of questions from you all, I will address them all before proceeding with the next Lesson. Most people here seem pretty smart and quick learners, so I bet one week per lesson is enough.

Open up your minds, prepare to be educated, and you WILL improve the quality of your LIFE!!!.