Why is it so important to start with the diagonal opening?

Apparently, there are two drop-down menus for members. One of them allows you to pick which game you'll go to next.

Well, who woulda thunk it? I had no idea.

Something like that probably won't mean much to nonmembers until they try it. Maybe nonmembers should get one day of member privileges per month, just to try it out and see what the differences are. That might create enough incentive for more to join.

Fencer: The new pull-down box for "move and go to" options is terrific. What a great idea. I love being able to pick which game I want to view next, while still having all those other options. Thanks!

Removing unused names upon request wouldn't reduce bandwidth at all, but would help solve the other, unrelated problem of people wanting to use names that may be already taken by inactive pawns.

Good point. Thanks.

Maybe unused names could be removed upon request? Deleting all names that haven't been used for a few months might be a good idea too, but it would be nice to send them a courtesy email first.

I don't think deleting inactive pawn accounts would help much at all. It's bandwidth (information transfer capacity) that's the problem, not a few kilobytes of information stored on Fencer's server. If an inactive player is inactive, that's not affecting the site's daily traffic at all.

Also, if we send email reminders in an attempt to bring inactive pawns back, then we're just adding to the traffic, not alleviating it.

The solution needs to generate money for more powerful servers and more bandwidth, without deleting accounts or limiting moves. I'd rather have emails go out to the most active pawns, rather than to the least active. With appropriate incentives, they (at least some of them) might be encouraged to join the site.