Just to clarify the last post, I don't mean "amateur" as a slight. Quite the contrary. In contrast to conaisseur or cogniscenti, the word amateur derives not from knowledge of a discipline but from love of it. In some sense it's a false dichotomy, as the incredible fund of knowledge on the Amateur Telescope Makers list I frequented almost a decade ago makes clear. Given a choice (not that I'm in a position to be doing much auditioning at this point in my life) I'd choose a candidate whose knowledge is driven by passion over one who is simply knowledgeable any day. Dr. Lopez, for one, espouses similar views.

Why bring this up now? I just ran across a great post about amateurism in chess.

--Ari