Mr. Sloan:

I never played anyone with a 2300 elo rating in my life who wasn't
a tough player, and I've played dozens of them. It doesn't really
matter how you get the rating, you have to play at a certain level to
get it. An argument could be made that Mr. Bauer was probably
underrated, because there are not so many rating points floating around
in the midwest as on the two coasts.

I would bet on the slightly rusty Mr. Bauer to win a match with
you, even if any draws were scored 1-0 in your favor. In fact, I would
bet a lot of money on such a match, if I could find any takers. I
don't think this match would be nearly as close as you seem to believe.

On the other hand, I think you could probably play Bill Brock,
Taylor Kingston, Randy Bauer, and the top 5 players in the USCF in a
shogi or chinese chess simulataneous and win all of your games.
Probably even in a clock simul. Your ability to master a number of
games at a relatively high level is far more impressive than your
skill level in any particular game, at least in my opinion.


- Geof Strayer