That's true.

I play at playchess.de, another corresopndence site, and they don't mention playout of moves, either.

I will do w/o moving pieces ahead of time, because, like you say, it's a crutch, and my goal is not necessarily to win, but to play better.

P.S. The games we're playing is a prime example of an unfair advantage to moving pieces ahead of time. I find that knights are the most difficult to calculate moves.

Thanks,

--Took