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. I own almost 150 commercial board games and most all of them are two-player abstract.

Although not considered abstract strategy games (because of the luck factor) backgammon and Scrabble are two other perennial favorites of mine.

I’ve competed in more than 48 over-the-board chess tournaments. My current USCF rating is 1857, giving me a title of ‘A’ player. 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.

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! My Stratego site is now recognized as the #1 rated Stratego site on the Internet!

I’ve resided in Michigan, Nevada, and Arizona. I currently live in sunny, Southern California.

Visit my website at www.edcollins.com.

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.

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.)

With a rating of 1739, I’ve dropped to the 6th highest ranked USA player at Amazons.

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.)

Speaking of Havannah, here’s a neat little Havannah story by Christian Freeling.

For awhile I was the top rated player in my country at Golem’s Word Game, Havannah, and WYPS!

Here’s my Little Golem Resume:

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!)

Suggested a rule change which improved the scoring of Golem’s Word Game. (The suggestion was implemented.)

I rewrote and I’m currently maintaining the sites
FAQ.

Initiated the first every turn-based Acrophobia
Game, right here on Little Golem!

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.)

Currently holding the record for the longest word ever found in Golem’s Word Game (14 tiles, set in 2004).

First player to recommend
Havannah? (I recommended it on November 20, 2003.)

Author of Havannah
Helper, a utility to help you analyze Havannah games, played here and at
ItsYourTurn.

Suggested an improvement to the graphic for the Amazons board.

Suggested a way to improve the way the last move is displayed on the WYPS board. (The suggestion was implemented.)