See my notes on dots and boxes at wccanard.wetpaint.com. Some stuff there is “good for people who understand the chain battle but want to know more”, and some stuff is a bit more esoteric.

Note: I am not wc, the guy who used to play at yahoo dots. As far as I know he doesn’t play here.

24/9/09: I have left this site now, because trying to play at a high level is costing me too much time. I don’t check email that often, but you can try me at jam981 at googlemail dot com if you want to get in touch for any reason. Thanks for everything Richard!

Brief return 12/11/09 to say that I am absolutely appalled that a cheater has done so well in dots and boxes ch18. I had assumed that Richard would do something about cheating on this site, but he hasn’t. Proliferation of cheaters was actually one of the reasons I left the site in September, but I didn’t mention it at the time. But now that it is affecting dots and boxes, a game I care deeply about, I couldn’t hold my tongue any longer. Message to Richard: this is no longer a joke. People are leaving this site because it is being spoilt by a few idiots. You can easily stop this. Ban IP addresses of known cheaters. This will stop 90 percent of them.

One ill-fated last return 9th Sept 2011 where I learnt that I no longer have the time or the inclination to play dots and boxes at a high level. I play too fast, but, crucially, I find that I don’t care if I think I’m losing, and I certainly never used to feel like that; I would fight like a tiger a few years ago. I think it’s time to retire! wccanard