June 2005

Introduction

Hello everyone and welcome to our June issue of Goldtoken's Newsletter! I have had the honor of being asked to write this month's introduction while prophy tactics is away in search of his new life in Holland. Everyone here wishes him a wonderful journey and many happy days ahead, he will be missed! Thank you for all your hard work John, it is greatly appreciated by everyone here in Goldtoken. Smiling

Joining us in this month's edition, we have the honor of Robyn Hode sharing his vast checkers knowledge in our Games Corner section! Also, be sure to check out some of our new features; Tessa's Twisters, Jesters ~n~ Jokers and make sure to watch the discussion boards on how you can be the first to win a Goldtoken Duffle Bag!

Furthermore, the eagerly anticipated feature of having the newsletter emailed to you is now here, so we hope you all enjoy this new perk and find it easier to catch a glimpse of all our monthly news!

Thanks everyone, I hope you enjoy this month's Edition! Smiling

- Matt -

In this month's newsletter, we have:

  • Site News
  • Badger's Monthly Message
  • Kran's Tournament News
  • Tessa Twisters
  • Games Corner
  • Jesters ~n~ Jokers
  • Newsletter Picture Hunt
  • Testamonial Of The Month



Site News

-- Happy belated birthday to Nan54 June 1
-- Happy belated birthday dingbat June 1
-- Happy belated birthday gladriel June 5
-- Happy 1 yr Anniversary June 12th to toadisgimpy with Love Always from Pamper Me and all of GoldToken!
-- Happy Anniversary to Tessa and her hubby, 14 years on June 13th!
-- Happy birthday wishes to Honeybear from her Goodtime politics June 14
-- A special birthday wish to Mististar in Heaven June 26 from all the members of { Club }
-- Happy 4th GoldToken Anniversary to FujiTape on June 28th!
-- congrats to Oartkickel of the Wolf Pack for reaching 6000 Gold Tokens!!!
-- congrats to { Player: youngsparrow } for reaching 500 Gold tokens!!

any birthdays, anniversaries, etc. coming up for next month, feel free to send Red Arrow a message and let her know so that we can give them a shout in next month's newsletter! Smiling

Monthly Message from Badger

It seems each month we have more than a few new upgrades for GoldToken. This month was no exception. Thanks to the hard work and vision of three programmers, McStack, JK and Mark007, GoldToken has 15 exciting new game variations. Be sure to check them out!! Congrats to the following winners who sent the first invites to each games creator (be sure to send Badger your mailing address to claim your GoldToken prize):


We are estatic at the classy new logos firefly created for your profiles and some special new GoldToken products you can find in the GoldToken Store pictures at http://groups.msn.com/Goldtoken-com/.

Our GoldToken Monthly Newsletter also has the new addition of Jesters ~n~ Jokers that includes a prize contest!! Read below for more information!!

The game boards have been hugely popular so we saw fit to add another new game board for everyones enjoyment called { Board: The Locker-n-Rocker Room } for those who like to test their knowledge on sports and music. This will be run by the Locker Room Crew. Don't forget Guests, the game boards are open to all players for one week on the first Monday of each month. Its your opportunity to share in the fun too!!! So be sure to check them out in the discussion boards at the top of your game sheet.

Whether you're a guest or a member, you will be interested in our Adopt a Guest program. Send jingham a message for more information on guests wishing to be adopted or adding your name to the list.

I wish to remind all players that even though this is a family oriented game site (and we work hard to keep it that way), we need to be careful of sending money or personal information to other players. This is the internet, not everyone is who they say they are. And we are not able to verify the identity or intent of all players. If you're a parent, please check in on your childrens games and supervise your childs membership in any clubs.

--Badger


Tournament News by Kran

  • Look for the new games to be added to tournament signup sheets all during the month of June!

  • This month we have a very unique sponsorship tournament, reddragon's 'Beats Me' Platinum Guest Tourney. Only guests who have never been a member in the past may play, and in the first round, you will play reddragon himself. Only if you beat him do you make it to the next round to be able to start playing eachother. The only way to join this tourney is to send a private message to me, Kran so I can add your name to the wiki. Signups conclude on June 20, 2005, and games will begin on June 21st. This is a dual game tourney, Backgammon and Salvo. If you are interested in sponsoring a guest tourney send a message to Kran to work out the details!

  • May has been a sad month with the loss of two dear members. Goldtoken would like to honor their memories: Mististar and cantilever. Join us in honoring their lives and love for the games with the Mististars Memorial Backgammon Tournament, and Cantilevers Memorial Back Tournament.

  • Goldtoken would also like to take the time to send a big congratulations out to all May Tournament winners!!! If your name is on this list, send Badger your mailing address and a link to the tournament for your prize!

2nd Mid August 4iar- Jadawin
April Giveaway Reversi- SarahMills
August Hot Checkers- GOPACKGO
Chess Madness Giveaway Chess- aaronnimzo
Club vs Club Tourney 4iar- McStack
Club vs Club Trax- dgb
December Blackhole 4iar- grade1teacher
December Giveaway Reversi- Kran
December Hotspot 4iar- Kreator
December Small Outbreak- Gnahaha
February Loop Trax- dgb
Gammoned Mug!!- Cachel
GoldtokenOlympicBlkHole Reversi- klaashaas
GoldtokenOlympic Giveaway Chess- Straycat
January Giveaway Chess- AndrewB
January Giveaway Reversi- Smaughster
January Zero B 4iar- tjancira
March Blackhole 4iar- Kreator
March Loop Trax- dgb
March Los Alamos Chess- Man of Steel
Mid August 2nd level Back- MORRIS
Mid August All Levels Chess- Doffen
Mid August 2nd all level Back- MORRIS
Mid August All Levels Chess- Doffen
Mid August Chess- Sir Gilmour of the GoldTable
Mid August Giveaway Chess- Sir Gilmour of the GoldTable
Mid August Reversi- klaashaas
Mid August all level Back- Jim Nemesis
Mid July Four In A Row- keops
November Hotspot 4iar- Punisher Pele
Novemember Outbreak Ataxx- Brute
October Backgammon- redave
October Decoy Salvo- Sweetcheeks
October Double Trouble 4iar- N_a_z
October Outbreak Ataxx- Mystic River
October Reversi- Switzerland
Outbreak Madness SmallOutbreak- Birds of Prey
ReversiMadness GiveawayReversi- klaashaas
Salvo Tournament- Retired_uk
Septembe 4iar- Lone Outlaw
Septembers Decoy Salvo- Nukkle Dragger
Septembers DoubleTrouble 4iar- Buz
Septembers SM Outbreak- firefly
Septembers Thematic Chess- Gordon
Small Outbreak June 2004- Birds of Prey
Small Reversi Tournament Starts 3-8-04- eli
Stealth Salvo Starts 2-20-04- Phil The Hat





Tessa's Twisters

Hi everyone,
Badger is eager to give away prizes and she has given me the honor of writing riddle poems for you to answer. First one to post the correct answer on the poetry board will win a GT pen! So put your thinking caps on and come join in on the fun.
See you there!
Tessa,

There is a lovely lady
who plays here Just_4_Fun,
she is warm and friendly
and loved by everyone!

She belongs to several clubs
That keeps her out of trouble,
And here is one more clue for you
And her name is said in double!

She is an instigator
but we love her just the same,
If you know who she is
Please tell me her new name

Please post your answers on the DB.

Games Corner by Robyn Hode
This month's feature: Checkers

Checkers Openings

Generally, the best way to open a checkers game is to move your piece towards the center. This gives you more options as a piece on the side of the board has fewer squares to move to. The most popular opening move is 11-15 and is known as "Old Faithful". 11-15 is considered the strongest or best opening move. Other common moves are 9-14 (my personal favorite), named the "Double Corner" which is considered the second best opening move, 11-16, "Bristol" the third best, 10-15, "Kelso" the fourth best and 10-14 "Denny" the fifth best.

Old Faithful can lead to many other openings, for example, the "Single Corner" (11-15 22-18), the "Cross" (11-15 23-18) and the "Glasgow" (11-15 23-19 8-11 22-17 11-16). So, if you want to start out your game well and don't want to get into trouble early, I suggest these moves. Try to avoid 9-13 and 12-16 as these moves are not highly recommended and very difficult to play. Unless you know what you are doing you will find yourself quickly in trouble.

Some of the opening moves you want to avoid because they lead to a high percentage of losses are the following:


9-13 21-17 10-14
9-13 23-18 10-14
9-13 24-19 10-15
9-14 24-19 10-15
10-15 22-17 9-14
11-16 22-18 10-15
12-16 23-19 16-23



When you open toward the center you are also trying to control the center and this gives your other pieces a greater opportunity for mobility. When you are limited in mobility you allow you opponent to control the play and consequently may fall victim to a "shot" that will leave you down a piece and fighting to hold a draw. Unlike chess, however, it is not always best to control the center, there are positions where you will become vulnerable if you over-control the center. You will have to learn when it is best to control the center. This comes with experience. Keep a record of your games. Remember the successful and unsuccessful patterns of your games. Sometimes you can control the center and run out of safe moves. If you do, then you will end up losing a piece. Keep pieces in reserve, or on the back row, to allow you to have safe moves. Time is important in checkers and if you run out of time (safe moves) you will reach positions where you have no move left but to lose a piece.


Jesters ~n~ Jokers by Red Arrow

Another new addition
To our monthly news,
It's called "Jesters ~n~ Jokers"
Cause a good laugh we could all use!


Do you have a joke thats funny?
Well let's put it to the test!
You'll get a GoldToken Motivational Pen,
If your jokes voted the best!

And if you are a runner up
You'll win something too!
A Black GoldToken Bic style pen
Will be on it's way to you!

And Before I say goodbye
I have one more thing to rhyme,
Your joke can't be on the joke db
We must be seeing if for the first time!


Entries to be sent to Red Arrow, by the 7th of the month
Look for the winners & runners up at the GoldToken Group site - http://groups.msn.com/Goldtoken-com/messages.msnw



Newsletter Picture Hunt

This months treasure hunt is June Brides. Be among the first ten to find all 12 GoldToken Wedding Logos containing the Goldtoken Horse and win! The first treasure hunt player to find all 12 wins a Black GoldToken Coffee Mug!! Starting this month we have new rules in effect. If you or your immediate family haven't won the coffee cup for coming in first place before, you are still eligible to go for that prize. However, if you have won a pen in previous months, your submission will not be eligible for another pen prize. Everyone can play! Guests included! Once you have found all 12, message Badger and the first 10 correct will win a prize! Good luck!!

Congrats to May's Treasure Hunt prize winners:
  1. Sara
  2. DragonHeart MIA
  3. dawn1968
  4. tobalea
  5. Silkwood
  6. Pamper Me
  7. Nargada
  8. violet unicorns
  9. Irishrose
  10. * Sassy_Angel *
  11. monkeytyper
  12. Mystic River



Trivia- 6x5 Newsletter Feature

For those of you who like trivia or would like to see just how smart you think you are, then you need to visit the { Board: 6x5 Trivia Addicts } Board! Five rounds consisting of 6 questions each in every round except round 3. Round 3 is a logic puzzle. The sixth question in rounds 1,2,4 and 5 is a link that will lead you to a picture on the Gold Token MSN board, found here: http://groups.msn.com/Goldtoken-com/6x5trivia.msnw. These pictures range from world monuments, landmarks, famous people from around the world and throughout history to Gold Token player profile pictures. All of which you will have to correctly identify and PM 6x5 who or what is in the picture. Participants in the tournament need to do nothing but PM their answers to join in the fun and everyone who plays receives points. +3 points for a correct answer, - 2 points for an incorrect answer, and if you wish not to answer any particular question in any round, you won't receive any points, but won't have any taken away either. On average we can fit in two tournaments per month. If you have the high score or tie for the round high score you will receive a Gold Token Pen. If you win the 6x5 tournament you will receive a Gold Token T-Shirt! In our last tournament, after a very close game M & M became our new champion by a margin of just 3 points! Also as a little 6x5 sidebar, every once in awhile you might find a madlib or a Crossword puzzle that is not worth any points but thrown in for a bit of fun. Before I forget to mention this, Goggling answers is acceptable, but I must warn you, some of the 6x5 questions have been found to be misleading and a bit vague and leaving you scratching your head when trying to use Goggle. You may find yourself having to choose between 2 seemingly right answers. In this case this is the only hint I can give you: Read the questions carefully. I will close with an example of a 6X5 tournament round. The first person to message me with all the correct answers will be the very first person on the site to receive a Goldtoken Duffle Bag!!

Question 1: What Romanian city was the capital of Wallachia from the 14th to the 17th centuries.*
(Hint: It starts with a “T”)

Question 2: How long was the wand that Mr. Ollivander sold to Hagrid when he starting at Hogwarts?

Question 3: What four characters are depicted in statues surrounding that of Shakespeare himself in his hometown of Stratford?

Question 4: What was the first virus ever discovered?
A )Tobacco mosaic virus
B) Rhinovirus
C) AIDS vius
D) Epstein-Barr virus

Question 5: There are two ways to move a checker piece, what are they?

Question 6: During Andrew Jackson's U.S. Presidency his opponents established the Whig Party. Who were the original leaders of the Whig Party?



Testamonial Of The Month

I have to say, things are looking might good! Not that it wasn't before, but I really like it even more so now. There just seems to be so much more action here. Something new all the time and I love it!

The Pampered Cricket

Would you like to make your affection for GoldToken known? Please send your testamonials (or any other material submissions) to Red Arrow for possible inclusion in future editions -- thank you!
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This page was last edited by GoldToken Support at 10:43AM on 1 February 2010

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