He just won another one. In the past few months his rating has jumped over 300 points. Good for him. He confided in me last year that he doesn’t even own any chess software. Amazing.
just curious, how old is eric? congrats on the recent superlative performances, eric. money floor?
cheers, …scot…
Around 21.
That’s nice. About ten years ago there were almost no players active in the 20-50 age range. It is good to see more coming back/sticking with it/starting. With luck chess will stop being like soccer in this country.
BTW, Ian Dudley is in this age range as well. I fear he has less chance of reaching his full potential living in NE Vermont. Mr. Hoffner doesn’t seem to have that problem.
Alex Relyea
thanks. was wondering if my holding out hope of ever reaching master was a pipe dream!
…scot…
I made it at age 41 - and wasn’t even trying. Just keep plugging away, and you might surprise yourself. 
Living in an area such as the St. Louis area is a huge advantage. I probably could have made at least Master before I was 25 if I had that advantage. There are at least one or more tournaments here every month. As it is, I’m trying to make Expert before my 65th birthday.