Hi everyone. Been a while.

[cmulligan]

As the topic heading suggested, I wanted to pop in & say hello. Was pretty active here briefly a number of years ago. Then life happened as it sometimes does. Been away from chess entirely for the last few years but I'm starting to get the itch again...no, not THAT itch... lol Things have turned around a good bit & I now find myself in much more relaxed, stable circumstances. Even better, my current job allows me plenty of free time that is perfect for studying chess & going over games. I'm badly out of practice, but I've dusted off my chess library & am working on fixing that. Additionally, I'm hoping my much-improved state of mind & generally less stressful life now will help offset my lack of practice.

To those who perhaps recall me, I hope you have been doing well. To those who don't, nice to meet you & I hope you have been doing well also. Hope to start playing here again shortly & will hopefully see many of you across the electronic chessboard soon.

[redketchuplover]

I don't remember remembering you. Welcome back

[cmulligan]

That's ok redketchuplover. I remember remembering you. Glad to be back! Just set up a small match & thinking about joining the 2024 tournament. Hopefully, I won't be too much of a punching bag until I get my game sorted out. Then again, every butt kicking is just another opportunity to learn & improve. I'm sure I have a lot of those opportunities coming soon...lol

[cmulligan]

Well, my first games in years are off to a good start... Of course, you can only mess up so much in the first move or so. Lol Been working on switching up my openings; learning some new ones, relearning some old ones. For now though, I decided to stick with my old b4 & ...b6 shenanigans, except for 1 return to the Dutch. Used to play it as a kid with mixed success. Decided to add it back to my first string. Always had fun with it & after all, that's why I play!