Ed Collins

Hex, Twixt, Quoridor, Y, Havannah, Amazons, Othello, Pente, DVONN, Connect Four, etc., are just a few of the many abstract strategy games I’ve enjoyed playing over the past several years. <P> <P>I own almost 150 commercial board games and most all of them are two-player abstract. <P>Although not considered abstract strategy games (because of the luck factor) backgammon and Scrabble are two other perennial favorites of mine. <P>I’ve competed in more than 70 over-the-board chess tournaments. My current USCF rating is 1786, down from a high of 1930. I’m a former administrator on both FICS and USChessLive. Note: I don’t enjoy playing turn-based chess online, since the temptation is often just too great for your opponent to use software to help him. <P>Many years ago, just for the heck of it, I put together a website devoted to the board game Stratego. (I’m not even a big Stratego fan!) Without realizing it, I created a monster! For years and years my Stratego site was recognized as the #1 Stratego site on the Internet! Alas, Hasbro asked me to remove some of the links I was linking to and I didn't want to. If I couldn't link to who I wanted to , I didn't want to maintain the site at all. So I took the entire site down. <P>I’ve resided in Michigan, Nevada, and Arizona. I currently live in sunny, Southern California. <P>Visit my website at www.edcollins.com. <P>When I attained a rating of 2407, that set a record as the highest rating ever achieved at Golem’s Word Game. However, I correctly predicted FatPhil would eventually break that record. He sees further ahead than I do. <P>With a rating of 1853, I’m currently the 4th highest ranked USA player on this site, at Four In A Row! (For awhile I was 3rd in the USA.) <P>With a rating of 1739, I’ve dropped to the 6th highest ranked USA player at Amazons. <P>And with a Havannah rating of 1900, I became the first player in any country to achieve that rating. Whoo hoo! However, that figure soon came back down, as it should have. I’m not really that good. (For a long while I was still the #1 ranked player in the United States, but after taking a break for a long time, and losing a bunch of points because I timed out, my rating has dropped considerably. As I type this, I'm currently the second highest rated human, in the USA, at Havannah.) <P>For awhile I was the top rated player in my country at Golem’s Word Game, Havannah, AND WYPS! <P>Here’s my Little Golem Resume: <P>(1) Player ID #1316. I first signed up in April of 2002, forgot that I did so, and then signed up again two months later, in June. (I asked Richard to delete the first account. I should have asked him to delete the second account. If so, my member ID number would be even smaller!) <P>(2) I suggested a rule change which improved the scoring of Golem’s Word Game. (The suggestion was implemented.) <P>(3) I rewrote and I’m currently maintaining the sites (now unofficial) FAQ. <P>(4) I initiated the first every turn-based Acrophobia Game, right here on Little Golem! <P>(5) I helped suggest changing Four-In-A-Row on the 6x7 board, as it was initially offered here, to the current 8x8 size board. (6x7 has been solved – it’s a win for the first player.) <P>(6) I currently hold the record for the longest word ever found in Golem’s Word Game (14 tiles, set in 2004). <P>(7) I was the first player to recommend Havannah. (I recommended it on November 20, 2003.) <P>(8) I'm the author of Havannah Helper, a utility to help you analyze Havannah games. <P>(9) I suggested an improvement to the graphic for the Amazons board. <P>(10) I suggested a way to improve the way the last move is displayed on the WYPS board. (The suggestion was implemented.)