Home
Information
Login
Register
Waiting lists
Membership
Hall of fame
Tournaments
Best game
Wikichess
Rating list
Problems
Forum
Links
Help
About
| Install FICGS apps | |
| play chess online |  |
|
Game result (chess) J. Swiatek, 2235 M. Andreoni, 1829 1/2-1/2 See game 147307 |
Hot news Discussions Files search Social network
Back to forum
()
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-04 03:54:36)
FICGS forum is open !
The forum is open to all discussions. Feel free to suggest and debate all kinds of improvements for the website. Please speak english only.
Have good games... :-)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-08 13:10:47)
Things to be implemented...
Hello to all... and thank you for your confidence in this very new server (when no game started yet ! maybe today...)
I expected a high average rating, but not so much :)
The last update provoked the first bug -> in this forum. Sorry to all who tried to post here. It should work now.
Here are things to be implemented in the future :
- Vacations (until, time limit by move is 2 months)
- Conditional moves
- A better interface for the forum...
Don't hesitate if you have ideas to improve the website !
Best wishes.
Hannes Rada (2006-04-08 13:20:52)
Thank you !
Thank you Thibault for this great job of creating a chessfriend clone. Chessfriend had definitely the best and most convenient user-interface for server play. I Hope many chessfriend-players will migrate to this server. Once again thank you for your work and support of the correspondence chess community ! Furthermore -There is an overlap in the class tournaments concerning the minimun elo requirement. Can you clarify this ? - No holiday entitlement is mentioned in the terms and conditions hannes
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-08 13:45:15)
Inaugural match : Big chess
Hello to all.
The inaugural Big chess game (on the 16x16 board) restarts. As it was a bit hard to organize such a game between 2 GM, the two players finally are myself and... you :)
This is is 'priority game', just for fun. If you want to play a move just connect with the guest/guest account, if it is 'guest' turn, you can play...
http://www.ficgs.com/game_1.html
Have a good big chess game :)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-08 14:49:23)
FICGS titles
As you may have read on TCCMB forum, ICCF officials reacted when they learnt about FICGS titles. My idea was it first to be informative (titles from ICCF/IECG/FIDE), because I think players like to know who they play against, particularly if their opponents are titled. It seems obvious to me that FICGS titles are FICGS ones, not "official", not ICCF or FIDE.. even if words are quite the same (titles are FICGS IM, not IM).
I would like to know what you think about that. Do you think FICGS titles should be renamed (ie. FEM, FIM, FSM, FGM), or do you think there's no possible confusion between FIDE/ICCF/IECG/FICGS titles ? This is an interesting debate I invite you to follow :
http://pub11.bravenet.com/forum/924995304/fetch/552912/
Thank you for your advices.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-08 17:02:06)
First tournament started !
A small bug delayed (1 hour) the start of the first FICGS tournament (class A) ! Sorry to the players. It's fixed now.
Have good games :)
Marc Lacrosse (2006-04-09 09:01:47)
delay before moves publishing?
Hi Thibault If I do understand all moves of all games are visible as soon as they have been played. Isn't it better to delay public publishing a little bit (by 3 moves or so). Most other servers have such a policy so as to avoid game duplication tricks. congrats for the already very good work ! Marc
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-09 11:12:49)
FICGS council / staff
Hello to all.
As I just said on TCCMB about the server, I clearly don't want to reproduce the Chessfriend waste... For obvious reasons, I won't administer alone the whole server forever. That's why I want to create a council-staff and to turn FICGS at least partly towards a IECG-like structure...
Feel free to tell me if you're interested to take part of the adventure !
Best wishes.
Hannes Rada (2006-04-09 23:27:03)
Success
This server is now 4 days old and there are already 115 members :-) Many of them well known players from chessfriend. So this is really satisfying :-)
Sebastien Marez (2006-04-10 07:52:51)
BUG
On two of my games in progress, one posts illegaux moves. Whereas they are valid. Best Regards Sebastien MAREZ
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-10 12:53:29)
FICGS and internet
Hello to all & thanks again for support.
I announced FICGS starting into main chess forums (FIDE, TCCMB, Talkchess, France-Echecs...), now working on search engines.
Feel free to talk about it in other forums (in your country or chessclub) and to your chessfriends... Website success is here, and the more players, the more players :)
Thank you in advance. Have good games !
Patrice Verdier (2006-04-10 13:43:36)
Status of the games
It will be interesting to indicate the status of the game in the list of current games. It's important to know who must played. Example : "You turn", "Not your turn"
Karlheinz Weber (2006-04-11 06:12:34)
Download of games
Is it possible to load down my own games, and if yes, how does it work?
Marc Lacrosse (2006-04-11 10:36:45)
Computer accounts ?
Just an idea : as computer use is explicitly allowed on FICGS, it could be nice to offer chess program authors the possibility to have a "semi-official" account for their latest beta babies on FICGS.
Some of them would surely like the idea of having quite a tough test against good correspondence players ...
Patrice Verdier (2006-04-11 14:06:50)
French Interface in preferences
In Preferences when I choice the French langage, only list in left of the page (Mes messages, mes parties,...) are writed in French Why not all the site ?
Jose Carrillo (2006-04-11 23:26:39)
Fischer Random Chess / Chess960
Hello all! I'm the moderator of the Fischer Random Chess email Club (FRCEC) and I'm always looking for sites in the net that support Chess960, to promote them in my club, and to use to coordinate Chess960 events. To visit FRCEC got to: http://frcec.chess960.info/ Jose Carrillo
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-12 09:14:24)
Tournament formulas
Hello to all.
What do you think about the idea to create a SLOW tournament category ? Clocks could be 60 days + 10 days / move or 100 days + 100 days / 10 moves (very slow) ?
Any idea or opinion ?
Michal Holes (2006-04-13 10:26:04)
ein Turnier
Hallo! Kann ich bitte fragen, wann beginnt das Turnier ´´FICGS__CHESS__CLASS_C__000001 ´´ Danke fúr die Antwort! Michal
Paul-Iosif Guralivu (2006-04-13 15:19:03)
New Titles!
To make FICGS more atractive and original I propose to make new titles for every category of players: Candidate for Master(FCM) - 2000-2200 First category (FI) - 1800-2000 Secound category (FII) - 1200-1800 Third category (FIII) - 800-1200 Every of this category could be obtain if a player plays more than 12 games in tournaments with tha same ELO. What do you think about it ? P.S.:Don't be mad on me...It's just a proposition.
Michal Holes (2006-04-13 20:56:38)
ich kann nicht spielen
Warum ich kann nicht spielen..? Ich spiele Turnier ´´C´´ , aber ich kann nicht dem Zug machen.... Warum? Ich bin schwarz. Er hat e4 gespielt, und ich e5- und es geht nicht. Ich bin schon trostlos. Danke für die Antwort
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-14 13:19:38)
Registrations, best of :)
Among players who tried to register with a false name, some of them have a great imagination. I'll post their most funny "contributions" here. If they finally succeed to skirt the filter (me), I'll just say "ok, you won... great. now, what about a game ? :)"
Fischer, Bobby (2900)
Holycron, Kieron
Hakon Anda (2006-04-14 16:52:42)
Some wishes
I think this server works great after so short time online. However I think there are som possible improvements that could be done: 1. Option that can disable e-mail notification of one own moves. 2. It should be possible to take leave. 3. A better list of our own games, like when last move was done, reflection time left and so on. 4. A flag for every player that shows the nationality and other information that could be found in the rating list. Best regards, Hakon Anda
Walter Rattay (2006-04-14 22:01:49)
Last moves and coordinates on board
When opening our games, the game boards do not show the last moves. We have to scroll down to learn our opponent's move, then scroll back to view the board. Also, because there are no coordinates on the board, we are more likely to make a mistake, especially when playing black.
Dinesh De Silva (2006-04-15 06:19:08)
Money Tournaments
How much is 1 EURO compared to a US $ ?!
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-16 11:58:58)
IECG & ICCF webserver
Hello to all.
Congratulations to Ortwin Paetzold who just started with success (src. IECG forum) the new IECG webserver.
Feel free to compare IECG, ICCF & FICGS servers (if you already played on) in this thread, it may help me to feel future improvements, as I have no more time to play on the other ones :(
Thank you for feedback.
Patrice Verdier (2006-04-17 23:09:08)
Holidays
I inform all my opponents in my tournament CLASS - M - 00002 that I am in holidays from 17/04 to 22/04 Thanks
Paul-Iosif Guralivu (2006-04-18 12:43:47)
Deadline ?
When is the deadline for a player which didn't moved ? In IECG is 10 days... Is in FICGS some limite ?
Daniel Cinca (2006-04-18 16:12:59)
Help (email ficgs)
Dear chessfriends, Can you help me somebody with e-mail address of Mr de Vassal, Thibault?Thank you !Daniel Cinca
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-18 23:26:06)
Live games
Hello to all.
I don't know (I hope) if the "live" concept is somewhat a reason for this, but I'm quite surprised to see already Alekhine defence played 6 times (and King's gambit the same). I wait for more accurate statistics, but no : everyone don't play Sicilian and that's great :) Spectacular & original games are welcome, I'm to install a "best game" poll script.
Graham Cridland (2006-04-19 21:04:34)
Crosstable?
Any chance of adding a crosstable in place of the current results page under a tournament?
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-20 11:59:21)
Cheating / Forfeiting
Hello to all.
The website detected 2 'probable' cheaters registered (one playing), with a 1400 rating.
Of course, FICGS will face problems encountered by all correspondence chess sites but I think it will be minimal here, as I'm enforcing detection rules so that aliases couldn't register anymore.
Important : Games forfeited without a valid explanation won't be rated, and the account for the player closed. A player who may forfeit should send an email with explanation to : ficgs (at) ficgs.com
Thanks.
Elmer Valderrama (2006-04-20 14:52:47)
search by ECO code
Wonderful feature to have all on-going games available just one click away (an old request to Reimund @chessfriend). Even more interesting to be able to search games by player name. Now would it be too much to ask for a search by ECO? --similar games would be identified in a second, a good thing; and information for choosing different variations would be available..
Marc Lacrosse (2006-04-20 21:57:33)
unknown openings
There were already a few 1.Nc3 games but they were classified as 1.f4 (through transposition I suppose)...
... But now that I have begun to play you _must_ add 1.Nc3 to the list of played opening moves in the statistics page.
... nothing but normal : 1.Nc3 rules!
:-)))
Marc
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-20 23:18:32)
Vote for the best game
A funny feature has been implemented : You can vote for the best game played on FICGS. I hope it will reveal great games... :)
The votes have a lifetime.
Graham Cridland (2006-04-21 16:55:55)
Waiting lists
An option to remove oneself from the waiting list for a tournament might be useful. No immediate need on my part at present, but people's schedules change, etc.
Marc Lacrosse (2006-04-22 15:39:05)
Conditional moves ?
I cannot figure how to propose conditional moves. Is this feature implemented yet?
Maybe I did not read the rules accurately...
Marc
Elmer Valderrama (2006-04-22 15:44:16)
bug?
Dear Thibault On-going game 49 has "6.Nb5" although both knights (from c3 and d4) could move to b5 (correct is either 6.Ncb5 or 6.Ndb5)
Anyway, the interface (or the player Ghisi) moved the knight from c3 (more obvious was to move the knight from d4, according to theory at least) and, as a result, the move 7...e5 won a piece..(can't see a post from the concerned players so it could have been played as intended, but the "Nb5" needs correction for sure)
Karlheinz Weber (2006-04-23 11:13:11)
Download of games
I still think the possibility to download my own tournament, or at least my own games in pgn files would be very, very helpfull. For example many chessplayers handle their games with ChessBase. Ciao! Karlheinz
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-23 12:33:40)
Checkmate / Stalemate
Note : Checkmate and stalemate are not automatically converted as a win or draw, your opponent has to resign or accept draw before.. I thought it was a more friendy way, and you have the possibility to send a last message with your move.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-23 13:43:17)
Websites / Links
A thread where I'll post many various links.
Everyone can post URLs here, of course. Please don't forget to use the html < br > tag to jump a line. < a href=" " ..> is not recognized (yet) :/
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-23 17:03:16)
Spanish / Deutsch (help...)
Hello to all.
As you can see, the home page is now "translated" (thanks babelfish :)) in 4 languages... It would be helpful if players speaking well spanish and deutsch can tell me about the faults... Please email me : info (at) ficgs.com
Thanks in advance :)
Stefano Ghisi (2006-04-24 16:05:41)
Time pro move
Is it possible to have the "time pro move" or the time used by each player to make his move?
Graham Wyborn (2006-04-25 17:42:52)
Please join:-
I joined this site recently and still have not started a game! Forgive the advert 4 the following games. We need one more player! FICGS__CHESS__CLASS_C__000002 (type : rated round-robin, time : 40 days, increment : 40 days / 10 moves) 7 players, 6 game (1 game against each opponent) elo : 1600-2000 Cridland, Graham (USA) 1700 Grady, Richard (USA) 1654 Höppenstein, Michael (DEU) 1700 Fillion, Nicolas (CAN) 1640 Wyborn, Graham (GBR) 1700 Muller, Henri-Louis (BEL) 1923
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-26 19:42:16)
Russian, Italian, Chinese, Dutch....
The Babelfish versions of the FICGS home page in other languages are at the bottom of the home page... Quite funny :)
If players from these countries have time to help to translate, feel free to send me an email to info (at) ficgs.com ! Thanks.
Glen D. Shields (2006-04-28 01:35:12)
Congratulations FICGS!
Congratulations FICG! The rating list now has over 200 members. 200 members in about 1 month of operation. Outstanding :) The more players we can attract, the quicker tournaments will fill.
Stefano Ghisi (2006-05-01 11:41:45)
Possible bug?
In the game 58 my last move was Rad1. I typed only Rd1 (with no specification of what Rook was to move) and the program has accepted my move as Rfd1. Be aware! Every move typed and no moved on the board must me verifyed...
David Angeli (2006-05-01 18:42:19)
Tournament class
Hi thibault About the "tounaments" topic (je sais pas comment on dit rubrique en anglois ! ;o) ) One thing not very clear for a newcomer like me is the difference between the different classes of tournaments : A, M, etc...it is certainly explained somewhere but i'm a bit lazy and it would be easier if it was explained on the same page . Thanks to your site i'm back to correspondence chess :)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-02 17:43:05)
Who beats Garry Kasparov ?
Funny :)
http://www.ibeatgarry.com/
A "Kasparov number" of 3 for Patrice Verdier, great ;)
Other winners : Janos Helmer, Christian Koch, Farit Balabaev, Marc Lacrosse, David Angeli... Finally everyone beats Garry :))
Nicolas Fillion (2006-05-02 20:06:09)
Printable game list
Hi, I'd like to know if there's an option to have a printable list of the moves of the games we're playing. I don't see any option... If not, I'd like to suggest to add such an option to the webmaster! The site is undoubtly great, but this kind of option would surely make it even greater! Thanks
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-04 17:25:27)
FICGS statistics
2006 may 4
Dear chessfriends, the first FICGS statistics (1 month after server start) are displayed on the informations page : http://www.ficgs.com/informations.html
Google just reacted (today), so I hope for new players coming from search engines soon...
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-05 15:19:03)
FICGS world championship
Hello to all.
Please post here all your questions / suggestions about the FICGS world championship rules.
There are many answers to bring yet : about the building of groups, who exactly will play which stage, etc...
It seems that many players like this scheme : knockout / round-robin tournament, that is more fair and much more interesting than a pure round-robin cycle. The final match rules are particularly hard (24 games, 30 days + 1 day / move), but I think it's a good way to make it different and give value to the title. Rules are not far from the old classical world championship, the champion will only play the next final match against the challenger...
FICGS WCH Rules :
http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#tournament
Graham Wyborn (2006-05-06 10:37:16)
Computer Aided Sites
Do you know of any other sites that allow computer aided chess?
I am aware of www.playchess.de and www.cowplay.com. Any others?
Graham Wyborn (2006-05-06 13:13:35)
Move the 'Send' button!
Is it possible to move the send button, so that it appears next to the board. I'm just too lazy to scrol down!!
Sebastien Marez (2006-05-06 15:47:35)
Cup
Cher ami, Avez vous prevu un tournoi du style COUPE FICGS? Bien amicalement Sebastien Marez
Trent Parker (2006-05-06 17:15:28)
Best games
I personally think that only finished games should be considered for best games. Or a panel of high rated players should vote for best games. Also i think players should not be able to vote for their own games.
Henrik Dinesen (2006-05-07 16:35:13)
I'm lost here...
I log in, but I can't find a way to start a game, or enter a tournament. Should I leave imidiatly becaurse stupity or "blindness"? "Anything" I see seem to indicate the first, but ??
Konstantin Konuhov (2006-05-07 21:25:15)
Mate
Game 255. Help. Game is check and mate, but it is no end. What to do with it?
Stefano Ghisi (2006-05-09 15:24:48)
wrong move
I made a wrong move in game 49. Now I can't make the right move (to me) that is c2-c3 How can I make?
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-11 09:34:03)
Wikichess !
Hello to all.
You may have noticed this novelty on FICGS :) .. no need to say more.
Thanks in advance for feedback and suggestions. Please note that transpositions are not supported yet.
Sebastien Marez (2006-05-14 19:12:09)
Team Championship
Thibault, Je sais, je vais encore lancer un sujet de discorde, Pensez pouvoir réaliser un championnat par equipes? Sebastien Marez
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-16 19:28:57)
New feature : Comments
Hello to all.
I was thinking about a new feature, that could be quite interesting but maybe controversial. It would allow members to write public comments on any game played, appearing on the viewer page... So it could be used also to share analysis... There are several alternatives : Comments could be displayed or authorized only after the game finished, and / or written only by players who actually played the game, etc...
What do you think ?
Wayne Lowrance (2006-05-17 08:41:06)
overall evaluation of this new site
This mate problem on this site is a big problem. Only chess site I play on where you have won and it is not won until the player resigns. Secondly I am in a game where mate is in 2. but my opponent has stopped playing. Many others are reporting the same thing. The idea is nice, it assumes that all players are good sports. Over all I would say many players here are not considerate of their opponents, and it is a reflection of their charachter. I dont think to much of the moderaters or those who are responsible and have taken a no action stance despite many complaints. Moderator or responsible authority take care of this ridiculous policy Regards Wayne
Per Lea (2006-05-17 13:39:50)
Criteria for Best game
Can someone please tell me why 11 votes have been cast for game 156 as Best game? The way I see it, Black blunders on move 9 to lose the exchange, and finishes off with a howler on move 17. Or have I missed something here?
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-19 19:04:26)
Future rating !
Hello to all.
I've added a feature to know the future rating, based on games finished since the last rating calculation.
Click on the magnifying glass near the player's name, then click on ELO, it will appear on the elo history page.
http://www.ficgs.com/directory_players.html
Karlheinz Weber (2006-05-21 08:27:52)
tables
Please change tournament-tables, so we can see, who finished against whom! Ciao! Karlheinz
Mircea Hrubaru (2006-05-21 18:16:00)
Adjudication?
Why wasn't game 201 ended in mate?
Amir Bagheri (2006-05-23 12:06:27)
how do we get started here?
hello there I ld like to start a game but how do I go about it?
Phil Cook (2006-05-25 12:04:06)
Players online
I see players login, is there a chat room somewhere? or message sending, how to do it?
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-26 11:04:11)
Go (weiqi) world championship
Hello to all.
I've updated the rules for go world championship and go tournaments. Now the results in go tournaments qualify for the wch first stage round-robin tournament. See the rules.
It's more logical, as there's no rating system here for Go, and I think more people will play soon...
Have good games !
Ryaad Aabid (2006-05-26 22:46:10)
Go Tournament (forfeit)
I have applied to this tournament without reading its rule,that I unfortunately have no idea.I am an old player :-) Therefor I should say SORRY to all players in this tournament - not my interest ! I thought it is some chess tournament with different system ! Please remove my name if it is possible , otherwise I should resign all my games in this tournament. Kind regards Ryaad Aabid
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-28 14:06:07)
Go games - SGF format / Java viewer
Hello to all.
Go games can be replayed with the Java viewer. Click on the magnifying glass near Game #
SGF format is available for your games (see help), ie. :
http://www.ficgs.com/format_viewer_sgf.php?game=805
Trent Parker (2006-05-29 03:03:51)
Sorting your own games
Hello Thibault!
I know that you are working hard on this site already. But could i suggest that a sort function be implemented so that a player could sort their games according to how much time they have on the clock?
Most of my games are long standard games, however i am playing in one rapid play game which, when sorted by game number are quite a long way down the page. On days where i dont have much time to make moves i would prefer to make moves on my rapid games rather than my long games. This is where that sort function would become handy
Once again thanking you for this great chess server.
Trent Parker
Steven DuCharme (2006-05-29 22:20:18)
Bobby & Boris
Casting is underway in Los Angeles for a movie based on the 1972 World Championship.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-30 13:23:44)
1st SM chess tournament, elo 2443
The first FICGS CHESS SM tournament just started !
http://www.ficgs.com/tournament_FICGS__CHESS__CLASS_SM__000001.html
3 ICCF titled players, 1 FIDE GM, 1 IECG titled player, and 2 'newbies'.. :)
FEM norm : 3 points, FIM norm : 3.5 points, FSM norm : 4 points, FGM norm : 4.5 points...
Have good games !
Wayne Lowrance (2006-05-31 02:11:25)
tournament winner
any "attaboy" awards for winning a tournament....has anyone one a tourney yet...i see no place to announce tourney winners etc.....wayne
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-31 15:34:58)
Including games into webpages
Hello to all.
I've added a small feature : it's an adaptable viewer that enables to include a game into a webpage (ie. with frame).
You can easily change text, board & background color, display pgn or not...
See the Help section (bottom) - http://www.ficgs.com/help.html
Lionel Vidal (2006-05-31 19:33:20)
Go komi / Rules
Hello to all,
As a brand user FICGS user, I first read the rules (of course!), and I am wondering about the komi value of half a point. AFAIK it is not very common, unlike, say, 5.5. Is there a specific reason for such a komi value?
Best wishes, Lionel
Wayne Lowrance (2006-06-01 02:52:44)
Other chess websites
Url u asked 4, http://pacific-mall.com/chess/ sign in as guest or create a user name. very simple. I am globalpac. my e-mail address is yagi90250@yahoo.com future responses concerning that site should be addressed via e-mail. I dont wish to sound promoting here, that is not the case..thanks Wayne
Lionel Vidal (2006-06-01 15:08:53)
A missing link to the rules
Hello,
Would it be possible to have a direct link to the rules on the menu list of your home page in FICGS?
I would find useful to be able to access the rules at the same level of waiting lists, tournaments, forum and so on.
Or maybe there is an easy way I did not see?
(This is nitpicking, the site is already great :-))
Best wishes.
Ryaad Aabid (2006-06-01 15:30:25)
Go Tournament # 1
Hello all players - GO tournaments I have applied to this new started tournament by mistake , I will be thankful if any player can replace me to reply here or e-mail to FICGS. *I never done moves yet. Kind regards Ryaad/Norway
Michael Aigner (2006-06-01 20:48:46)
FICGS reminder
I have a lot of time left in all off my games and got the following reminser mail.
Did anyone get the same strange mail?
This is a reminder.
You did not connect to FICGS for 13275 days. You may have running games that will be lost on time. If you don't want to receive any reminder, you can turn off the notification options in preferences. There will be no more than 3 consecutive reminders. This email was generated automatically by http://www.ficgs.com/
Thibault de Vassal (2006-06-02 16:52:40)
Famous quotes about FICGS :-)
"Who needs drugs and alcohol if he can play big chess on FICGS ?" (HG. L.)
Sorry to the author, I couldn't resist ;)
Kuzma Pecotic (2006-06-03 07:28:29)
Incorrect move
This is my game:
[Event "FICGS__CHESS__CLASS_A__000003"]
[Site "FICGS"]
[Date "2006.04.22"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Pecotic,Kuzma"]
[Black "Sobrecases,Guy"]
[Result "*"]
[WhiteElo "2179"]
[BlackElo "2105"]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.e5 Nd5 8.Ne4 Qc7 9.f4 Qa5+ 10.Bd2 Qb6 11.Bd3 Qxb2 12.O-O Qd4+ 13.Kh1 Ba6 14.Bxa6 Qxe4 15.Rb1 Qa4 16.Bd3 f5 17.*
For what reason: Incorrect move : 17.exf6
Thibault de Vassal (2006-06-05 14:11:42)
Rules : Forfeiting / Replacement
Hello to all.
As a few players stopped to play (forfeit) in their games, I answer here to questions from their opponents.
- Rated games lost on time / forfeited are not calculated for the winner's (only) rating if less than 10 moves have been played and position is equal.
- If a player forfeits in a rated tournament without having played a single move, his games will be lost and he will be replaced, ie. FICGS CHESS CLASS B 000003 ... furthermore, his account will be closed. (obvious cheating)
Best wishes.
Alexander Dinerchtein (2006-06-06 07:52:52)
Go Game Newsletter
"Goama" International Weekly Go Newsletter. http://gogame.info/ Go news, stories, interviews, commented games and new patterns, go books, etc. You can subcribe our newsletter free of charge.
Tommie Derz (2006-06-07 00:05:48)
Go applet, ranking list
I am interested how this chess site could develop into a valid site for playing Go. It obviously started by as a server for Chess enthousiasts, which is ok. I suggest a better separation between Go and Chess on this server, resp. a rating list for Go to. It does not make sense to me to have my 'non'-chess-rating of ELO 1400 entered into a list and being silent of the Go rating of e.g. Florescu, Ion (2600?). The chess applet works well, the Go game replayer not.
Julien Baudement (2006-06-09 10:03:24)
Nouvelles fonctionnalités
Avant tout, Bravo pour le site sur lequel je prend beaucoup de plaisir. J'aimerais soumettre des modifications à apporter qui pourraient encore améliorer: 1) possibilité de contacter directement le webmestre... 2) possibilité de proposer une partie à un joueur quelconque sans passer par le mode tournoi. En effet, on est tenu de jouer toutes les parties dans ce système, mais peut etre que certains préfèreraient pouvoir n'en jouer qu'une à la fois ! En tout cas, encore bravo pour tout ce travail ! Ikki
Amir Bagheri (2006-06-13 11:22:45)
FICGS
this site looks like a great site just cant wait to get started...Nice to see that Suat Atalik is there as i am of to turkey next month and hope to meet him in his club in taksim (istanbul)
Amir Bagheri (2006-06-13 11:35:10)
help (2 players matches)
i would like to know if it is possible to challenge an individual for a game. ie. I would like to play vs Nigel Davis but dont know how to challenge him.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-06-13 18:28:54)
FICGS chess world championship 1 & 2
Hello to all.
FICGS chess world championship deadline (2006 june 15) is 2 days far from now ! Here is the scheme, allowing all players who registered to start playing at the same time, without loosing the opportunity for new players to register at a later date :
As 2300+ players will enter the cycle at stage 2, the idea is to start 1st (from stage 2) and 2nd (from stage 1) world championship at the same time. Thus, all tournaments will begin at the fixed date for all players who already registered, then a new deadline will be fixed (probably in august/september), and all players registering late for chess wch would begin a tournament each time there's enough new players in the waiting list, with the condition that the ELO average of these new tournaments be equal or superior (as few as possible) to the tournaments that began on June 15.
And good luck to all... :)
Heinz-Georg Lehnhoff (2006-06-14 15:32:51)
Rating formula
Hello Thibault!
Where can I found the exact rating rules of FICGS? I have found only these lines in the Memberships - Terms and Conditions:
"11. 7. Rating rules
The FICGS rating scheme is a numerical scheme, in which percentage results can be exchanged into rating differences, and rating differences into percentage performance probabilities. It is mainly based on the principles of rating calculations of prof. Arpad Elo.
The rating formula : New Elo = ((16 x Elo) + (Games x Perf)) / (16 + Games) ..."
What means "mainly based"?
You write in another topic
"1. The rating system do not take account of wins when the ELO difference is superior to 350 points "
Is this valid only for wins or for all games with a rating difference of more than 350 points?
Amir Bagheri (2006-06-16 13:19:00)
the GM class tournament...
I was interested to see that a tourney dedicated to the GMs of this site was available. So I tried to enrol, but my rating is too low :-) but yet I am a GM :-) I think it would be a great thing if we could enrol in it. Merci d'avance thibault
Thibault de Vassal (2006-06-17 19:56:11)
FICGS encyclopedia
Hello to all.
The FICGS Chess and Go encyclopedia just started ! (version beta)
This is a wikipedia-like encyclopedia, where you can write about everything related to Chess and Go in 184 languages...
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=encyclopedia
It will be improved soon with new features. Feel free to tell me what you think...
Tim Bredernitz (2006-06-18 16:52:34)
Chess Openings
Hi, I'm wondering what openings other players have experienced success with. I've primarily used the Ruy Lopez, but I've grown tired of it. I haven't really explored any queen's pawn openings, and I'm wondering which ones are effective. Thanks.
Amir Bagheri (2006-06-19 15:25:15)
Wikichess
I am trying to get in the groove of wikichess. but I have to admit I am a bit lost as the way of going about it...
Thibault de Vassal (2006-06-19 16:34:56)
GM special match
Hello to all.
From time to time, special events will take place on FICGS.
A 4-games match just started between GM Nigel Davies (GBR) and GM Amir Bagheri (FRA).
http://www.ficgs.com/tournament_FICGS__CHESS__MATCH_EVENT__000001.html
I think we'll watch these games with interest :)
Dinesh De Silva (2006-06-21 15:06:12)
Yahoo Mail problems today!?!
Has anyone else been experiencing Yahoo mail login problems today?! I can't access my Yahoo mail today for many hours now.
Amir Bagheri (2006-06-22 15:47:42)
Interesting question for the Gambit's a
Gambits are the schizophrenics of the chess openings. Most players love to play through a finished game that starts as a gambit, but few players dare to play gambits themselves. Gambits lead to attacking games that avoid the calculated buildup preceding a classic attack. Can the gambiteer justify the material disadvantage? Can the opponent overcome the positional disadvantage that comes with grabbing the gambit sacrifice?
Amir Bagheri (2006-06-23 12:25:36)
Blindfolded Chess
THE chess-world (for there is a "world" in chess as in other matters) has lately been startled by a very extraordinary performance at one of the "divans" of the metropolis. A young American has played ten games at once, against an equal number of players, without, on his part, obtaining a single glimpse at any one of the chess-boards. The feat is not new; but never before was it performed so triumphantly as in the present day. The writers who have ferreted out the early history of this beautiful game have found the name of one Tchelebi, who, nearly nine centuries ago, was able to play at chess without seeing the board. Many persons in the East acquired the art of playing by feeling instead of seeing pieces; but that is a very different affair, since in such a case the sense of touch comes in aid of the memory. In 1266, a Saragen, named Buzecca, came to Florence and at the Palazzo del Popolo played three games at once, looking at one board, but not at the other two. He won two of the games, and made a drawn or abandoned game of the other. As all his competitors were skilful players, his achievement caused irrepressible astonishment. At various times, in later centuries, this mode of play was exhibited by different persons--Ruy Lopez, the author of one of the earliest treatises on chess; Mangiolini of Florence, Zerone, Medrano, Leonardo da Cutri, Paolo Boi, Salvio, and others, many of whom were Spaniards. Boi is reputed to have played three games at once without seeing the board. Damiano, an Italian, who wrote a treatise on chess more than three centuries and a half ago, gave what he called the "Rules" for learning to play without seeing the board; but his rules are worth very little, amounting chiefly to a recommendation to cultivate the memory. Keysler, in his Account of Turin (1749), says: "The late Father Sacchieri, Lecturer on Mathematics at Pavia, was a remarkable instance of the strength of the human understanding, particularly that faculty of the soul we term memory. He could play at chess with three different persons at the same time, even without seeing any one of the three chess-boards. He required no more than that his substitute should tell him what piece his antagonist had moved, and Sacchieri could direct what step was to be taken on his side, holding, at the same time, conversation with the company present. If any dispute arose about the place where any piece should be, he could tell every move that had been made, not only by himself, but by his antagonist, from the beginning of the game, and in this manner incontestably decided the proper place of the piece. This uncommon dexterity at the game of chess appears to me almost the greatest instance that can be produced of a surprising memory." The most celebrated player of the last century, however, in this peculiar achievement, was the Frenchman Andre Danican, who then, and afterwards, was generally known by the name of Philidor. In 1743, when Philidor was about eighteen years old, M. de Legalle asked him whether he had ever tried to play from memory, without seeing the board. The youth replied, that as had calculated moves, and even whole games, at night in bed, he thought he could do it. He immediately played a game with the Abbe Chenard, which he won without seeing the board. After that, a little practice enabled him to play nearly as well in this as in the ordinary fashion--sometimes two games at once. The French Cyclopedie told of a particular game in which a false move was purposely made by his antagonist; Philidor discovered it after many moves, and replaced the pieces in their proper position. Forty years afterwards, he was residing in England, where he astonished English players by his blindfold achievements at a chess-club in St. James' Street. He played three games at once, with Count Bruhl, Mr. Bowdler, and Mr. Maseres, the first two of whom were reputed the best players at that time in England. Philidor won two of the games, and drew the third, all within two hours. On another occasion, in the same year (1788), he played three games at once, blindfold as before, and giving the odds of pawn and move to one of his antagonists; again did he win two of the games, and draw the third. His demeanor during these labors surprised his visitors as much as his skill, for he kept up a lively conversation during his games. Many eminent chess-players, including M'Donnell, La Bourdonnaye, Staunton, etc., have achieved these blindfold wonders, in greater or less degree, since the days of Philidor. M'Donnell, a famous player about thirty years ago, played his moves even more rapidly without than with the board; he did not object to any amount of conversation in the room during his play, but disliked whispers. La Bourdonnaye could play within a shade of his full strength without seeing the board; he won against good players, on some occasions two at a time; but when trying the threefold labor, his brain nearly gave way, and he wisely abandoned all such modes of playing his favorite game. Mr. Staunton, the leading English player at present (but who has almost ceased to play since he undertook the editing of an edition of Shakespeare), some years ago played many blindfold games with Harrwitz and Kieseritzky, foreign players of note.
Paul-Iosif Guralivu (2006-06-30 10:50:31)
Forfeit problem
Game 934 (chess)
White clock - 30 days 23:29:09
Black clock - Out of time.
[Event "FICGS__CHESS__RAPID_C__000002"]
[Site "FICGS"]
[Date "2006.05.31"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Guralivu,Paul-Iosif"]
[Black "Alessandrini,Alfredo"]
[Result "*"]
[WhiteElo "1293"]
[BlackElo "1400"]
1.e4 *
Should this game be forfeit ? Should all the games of Mr. Alessandrini be forfeit ?
John Knudsen (2006-07-01 17:17:01)
Format For Championship?!
8 games with 1 player at one time?! That is rather unusual, to say the least. I have never heard of such a thing... What is the reasoning behind that? John
Thibault de Vassal (2006-07-01 17:20:35)
1st FICGS chess championship started !
Hello to all.
As you may have noticed, 23 new tournaments just started :
http://www.ficgs.com/category__ficgs__chess__wch.html
4 matchs (quarter final) started in the knockout tournament
QF 1 : John Anderson (SM) - Farit Balabaev (GM)
QF 2 : Daniel Cinca - Peter Schuster (SM)
QF 3 : Gilles Hervet (SM) - Gino Figlio (IM)
QF 4 : Petr Makovsky (SM) - John Knudsen (SM)
19 tournaments (groups) started in the round-robin cycle, 17 tournaments with an elo average between 1672 and 1732 (16 tournaments of 17 are in a 32 points range), and 2 "group M" with an elo average about 2390.
All round-robin tournaments are groups of 7 players as it was the best way to make it fair.
I wish you all good games and have fun :)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-07-02 13:45:21)
Football world cup :-)
No, not another chess forum spammed with this chancy game (but it has to be said : France 1 - Brazil 0 ..)
Just wanted to share this french treasure :)
http://www.football365.fr/cdm2006/story_123272_Girls.shtml
Pablo Schmid (2006-07-03 18:37:00)
Problème du temps restant.
Bonjour De Vassal, dans ma partie 583 contre Hanly, je peux lire ça: Clock - 35 days 23:12:38 (9 days 20:48:55) S'agit-il d'un bug? Ai-je 35 jours ou 9 jours restants?
John Knudsen (2006-07-05 16:45:00)
Question About Leave/Reflection Time
Hi Thibault: Why would a person on leave accumulate 1 extra day reflection time per day, while on leave? Is this correct? If it is correct, what is the rationale behind such a weird thing, please? It doesn't make any sense, as no moves are played during a leave... John
Glen D. Shields (2006-07-06 03:54:49)
Congratulations - 500 members now !
Not sure how many noticed that FICGS reached 500 members this past week. That's a fantastic milestone considering FICGS is only three months old.
Congratulations Thibault and thank you for making this site available for all of us to enjoy!
Marc Lacrosse (2006-07-06 11:51:20)
Out-of-time
In game 298 my opponent is said to be out-of-time.
Do I have to do something for claiming the win?
The game does not appear so far in the list of my finished games.
Marc
Marc Lacrosse (2006-07-08 11:08:51)
Modifying "rapid" tournament rules ?
Hello all,
Hello Thibault
As I already said in an earlyer thread, one of the reasons why I joined FICGS was the possibility to play fewer games simultaneously at a faster pace than in other corr. chess associations.
So I enrolled in a first rapid tournament where I find two things unpleasant for a so-called "rapid" category:
1. some of my opponents (and myself also) accumulated reflection time "reserves" of 40 or even 50 days in some cases, which is not appropriate for a "rapid" tournament IMHO.
2. my last unfinished game is completely won for more than ten moves now (it's K+pawns against K+pawns with an unstoppable passed pawn for me where computers announce forced mate in ... max 40 moves). My 2200+ opponent continues to play at a very slow pace. It's pretty annoying : I bet I could win my game at blitz tempo against Kasparov analysing for three days per move but I suppose I will have to play for weeks until his king is mated!
So I propose :
1. To have an absolute limitation of the time reserve a player can accumulate in rapid tournaments (30 ?)
2. To have a procedure allowing to call for external adjudication when a player refuses to resign a forcefully lost game.
Your opinion ?
Marc
Stefano Ghisi (2006-07-08 16:19:14)
Vacation (change)
I took 7 days from 10 up to 17 july but i've to change my period how can i do? (i have to take from 17 up to 31 july)
Josh Knapp (2006-07-09 06:54:48)
Private notes
I'm new to the site, so far I like it. But I am curious, are there any plans to make a private notes feature? I have played on several other sites and make notes all the time. I know I could make them on my computer, but the problem with that is that I often switch back and forth between two different machines.
Wayne Lowrance (2006-07-12 18:05:21)
Email webmaster
How do I e-mail you ? Wayne
Thibault de Vassal (2006-07-15 18:33:11)
Google pagerank
First round vs. Google just ended these days :
Pagerank 5 for URL http://www.ficgs.com
The number of visitors from Google increases week after week, even if it's really hard to be well placed for most asked words. In examples :
Google request : Go server -> 17
Google request : Chess server -> 38
Google request : Correspondence chess -> 41
Google request : Correspondence chess forum -> 1
Google request : Chess -> (far away)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-07-19 18:05:41)
FICGS championship : new groups
A new group just started in the 1st FICGS wch :
FICGS__CHESS__WCH_STAGE_1_GROUP_18__000001
Waiting for another player with a ~1700 rating and a new one will start.
As the rating average of new players significantly decreases, I can't guarantee all players (most with a 1200 rating and below) who entered the waiting list after the start of the tournaments will play this first WCH (late groups rating average should be equal or superior to other groups).
Pablo Schmid (2006-07-19 22:11:56)
Bug inscription ?
Je vois un certain David ******, 1200 ELO inscrit (ou du moins dans la liste des inscrits) dans de nombreux tounois supérieurs à sa classe ELO, s'agit-il d'un bug? Il serait bien de le désinscrire des tournois hors de sa classe ELO par équité pour les autres joueurs, merci.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-07-22 18:31:31)
What future for correspondence chess ?
You may have noticed this "grave" question on the home page... :)
---------
Are draws and chess engines killing chess game, are the level and play simply standardized by Deep Fritz and Rybka... Is the extraordinary performance by Christophe Léotard at XIX th. ICCF correspondence chess world championship 'chancy', a statistical happening, or is there a place yet for human play in modern correspondence chess ?
"I really believe that Go is destined to take the place of Chess as the leading intellectual game of the Occident, just as it has reigned supreme in the Orient for some four thousand years." (Edward Lasker, international chess master)
"... {it is} something unearthly... if there are sentient beings on other planets, then they play go." (Emanuel Lasker, chess world champion)
It had been said that Chess 960 would replace Chess too. I don't think so...
Any predictions ?
Thibault de Vassal (2006-07-23 19:54:58)
Chess thematic tournaments
Hello to all.
The 7th chess thematic tournament (waiting list is open) may be a very interesting challenge...
The opening : 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 Ng8 3.e4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Ng8
Is it a lost position or not, you can try to respond ! (it is at least very hypermodern style, but is there a name for such a manoeuvre ? :))
There are many other ideas of openings, but you can make suggestions for future thematic tournaments.
Previous ones :
FICGS__CHESS__THEMATIC_TOURNAMENT__000001
King's gambit (winner : Josef riha)
FICGS__CHESS__THEMATIC_TOURNAMENT__000002
Wing's gambit
FICGS__CHESS__THEMATIC_TOURNAMENT__000003
Benko gambit
FICGS__CHESS__THEMATIC_TOURNAMENT__000004
Orang-utan
FICGS__CHESS__THEMATIC_TOURNAMENT__000005
Danish gambit
FICGS__CHESS__THEMATIC_TOURNAMENT__000006
Scotch gambit
Thibault de Vassal (2006-07-24 15:52:50)
TCCMB exhibition match
Hello to all.
I couldn't resist.. chess and hormones, an explosive cocktail :)
The whole story - http://www.ficgs.com/game_2222.html
... and of course on The Correspondence Chess Message Board :
http://pub11.bravenet.com/forum/924995304
Have fun ! :)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-07-26 20:46:02)
New profile feature : Photos :)
Just added this new feature in 'Preferences'. You can now upload a photo... (JPG format, 100 ko max)
Thanks to Dinesh for the idea (indirectly). By the way, for live video chat you can use other services... :) (we are still there to play chess ;))
Pablo Schmid (2006-07-27 03:04:03)
2 parties rated non comptées?
Salut De Vassal, j'ai un petit problème: j'ai 6 victoires en rated, mais que 4 sont calculées, et ce, depuis un moment. Qu'en est-il des 2 autres parties classées que j'ai gagnées?
Thibault de Vassal (2006-07-28 02:31:50)
Blogs !
Everyday a new feature, I keep in the rhythm ;)
You may have noticed this link ('see the players blog') at the top of the forum page. A new interface that simply looks like the forum, but built like a blogs website.
You may want to relate your Chess life or Go philosophy, your games or whatever.. you can do it there.
Like in the forum, links are automatically parsed. The html < br > tag to begin a new line. Comments by everyone are also available.
Graham Wyborn (2006-07-29 00:14:17)
Country Flag
I notice that a few players now use the "England" flag. I seem to remember that when I joined, that I did not have this option. I would like to change from the Union Jack Flag to the English Flag. How can I do this?
Thibault de Vassal (2006-08-01 12:43:00)
Vacation : Time frozen !
Hello to all.
A major update : Clocks are now frozen during vacation. It's no more possible to play during this time. Please note you cannot cancel your vacation ! (but you can add days of leave)
This change should make harder vacation time (30 days per year) to use, and reduce the effect on the time controls.
Thomas Tamayo (2006-08-01 23:36:10)
Pass in Go games
How can I play "Pass" on my move?
Dinesh De Silva (2006-08-02 16:10:49)
Inactive Rating List
Thibault, I see that some players don't seem to be playing in any of the tournaments! though they are listed in the Rating List. Any future plans to list them under an Inactive Rating List perhaps?! Just a suggestion.
Jose Antonio Marin Millan (2006-08-02 20:18:18)
New groups of the 1st WCH
Of whichever players they will be the new groups of the WCH? The inscriptions were made according to playing not more than 12 games.
Marc Lacrosse (2006-08-02 22:14:10)
Request for adjudication & rules
In game *** my opponent has a completely lost position for more than 2 months by now and refuses to resign.
How long will he require that I play child-level uninteresting moves?
I announce mate in 8 moves and request adjudication against this completely disgraceful way of playing.
I am evidently able to prove the win.
I already said how I felt this kind of proceeding to be completely disgusting.
If my requirement is not fulfilled I will leave this site being the first master-class tournament winner.
Nice...
Marc
Marc Lacrosse (2006-08-04 17:05:33)
WCH tournaments
In the 7-players qualification tournaments for the Wch there are usually two 2100+ players together with five players with a much lower rating.
As there is only one player qualified for the next step, isn't there an enormous advantage for the one of the two better rated players who happens to be white in the game with the other higher rated player (assuming that both can hope for very good results against lower-rated players)?
This is probably unavoidable ...
Marc
PS what does happen if two players finish 1st ex aequo with a draw in their mutual encounter and similar results against all others?
Dinesh De Silva (2006-08-07 22:23:56)
Suggestion (sponsors)
Thibault, Are you looking at the possibility of getting some sponsors for this FICGS website in the near future?! If it materialises, it'll be a win-win situation for all.
Brian Rucker (2006-08-08 08:24:04)
Playing go
does anyone know where i can go to play a go game here
Graham Wyborn (2006-08-08 22:14:12)
(download)
I have to press the game number twice before I see the (download) button? Is this correct?
Jaimie Wilson (2006-08-11 16:10:55)
Unrated miniatures
I read that games are not rated for the winner if less than 10 moves have been played by his opponent (most probably forfeit or obvious cheating). So if my opponent plays brilliantly, lures me into a catastrophic error and mates me on move 9, then he or she would not get any rating benefit.
Marc Lacrosse (2006-08-13 20:30:15)
List unfinished games
A suggestion :
When you are browsing the games of a tournament, it could be nice to have a button with "list only unfinished games" action.
So you could have a quick glance on how are going all unfinished games of the tournament.
In the present state of the interface this is a bit difficult to do "manually"
Marc
Charlie Neil (2006-08-14 12:16:58)
Drag and drop
Hi Thibault, I'm too lazy to look anything up as you always respond quickly to any enquiry. I'd like to be able to "drag and drop" my moves, it is nothing more than laziness. Will such a feature be possible? Keep up the good work!
Wayne Lowrance (2006-08-16 02:08:03)
Resign rule
I am informed via email that F. Diego resigned for a loss, in a game he was gonna loose in my opinion. less than 10 moves). That rule is very bad. T hat win has not showed up as a win for me or a loss for him in the tournament standings. Not fair, I sure think this stinks. whats happening here Wayne
Benjamin Aldag (2006-08-17 19:42:02)
Ratings ???!!!
Hello, i have a question about the Rating-System here. There are many players here, with an offical FIDE or NATIONAL ratingnumber under 1800. Some of these players have here at FICGS a ratingnumber over 2000 !!! Of course, this is correspondence-chess, but it would be a nice ratingfeature, to include the official FIDE/NATIONAL ratingnumber at the FICS-Ratingformula. Benny
Benjamin Aldag (2006-08-18 07:28:04)
Tournaments with "normal" starting-fee
Just a question:
Tournaments with money-prices sounds good, but a starting-fee of min. 100$ is in my opinion a little bit to high.
What about tournaments with a starting-fee between 10 - 20 bucks ?
Benny
Benjamin Aldag (2006-08-20 22:37:05)
How can i send a message to another.....
Hi,
how can i send a messages to another member of FICGS ? Is it only possible by playing with a member move by move, or is there another way ? It would be nice to send a message to anyone anytime.
Benny
Wayne Lowrance (2006-08-22 03:34:48)
Future Rating
I did not want to post this. I tried to find your e-mail address but could not. How ofton is Future Rating updated. Immediate ? My game 2179 was agreed draw. The result has not appeared in future Rating. It should as I understand it. Future rating for game 2163 was accounted for in future rating. It is the only game (1 game) that is credited. Again wish I could have kept this private via email Thank you Wayne
Benjamin Aldag (2006-08-22 04:06:33)
All finished games downloadable !
Hi friends,
I think it would be nice, to have a PGN-File with all finished FICGS-Chessgames as a download.
And here it is:
http://laperacologne.la.funpic.de/ficgs-all-finished-games.pgn
1138 games inside
I will update this PGN-File every week.
Benny
Benjamin Aldag (2006-08-22 04:29:57)
TWIC Loader
Hi friends,
you know the Chesspaper TWIC ? A really great Chesspaper with many new Chessgames every week. From now on, its really easy to get it. Just use my TWIC Loader. It's for free and easy to use.
You can download it at:
http://www.twic-loader.de.vu/
Next week i will present you the FICGS-Loader. With this loader, you can download every week all new finished FICGS-chessgames.
Benny
Marc Lacrosse (2006-08-22 12:04:09)
Thematic Blackmar
Hi Thibault
I think you should go one move further for the Blackmar thematic tourney (2..dxe4).
In the present definition you will get loads of French and Caro-Kann defences through 2..e6 or 2..c6 !
:-)))
Marc
Benjamin Aldag (2006-08-22 19:18:37)
New Thematic - Tourney Trompowsky !
Hi,
since 3 days i have the Chessbase DVD "The Trompowsky - The easy way" (http://www.chessbase.com/shop/product.asp?pid=249&user=&coin=). Thank you for starting a thematic tornament with the Trompowsky-Opening. The right time, to test my knowledge about the DVD.
Benny
Jay Melquiades (2006-08-23 18:35:23)
rapid tourneys
if the time control in rapid tourney is a move/day,do you have until 23:59:59 server time to make a move or its a forfeit win??? this expiring mind wants to know :)
Benjamin Aldag (2006-08-24 13:00:07)
Premove ?
Hi,
a premove-feature would be very nice, were i can klick on my opponents figures and tell the interface > If my opponent play THIS, then i play THIS. Good idea or bad idea ?
Benny
Benjamin Aldag (2006-08-24 20:19:09)
Why do you play corr-chess ?
Hi again,
i play corr-games, because i want to learn more about my repertoire-openings. If you look at my games, you will see every time the same gamestyle and often the same opening. I love the Grand Prix Attack and the closed Sicilian with the white colors. With black i prefer to play Dzindzi-Indian, also known as The Beefeater. Corr-Chess is for me one of the best ways, to try some learned lines and look for better a better continue.
Now my question: Why do you play corr-chess ?
Benny
Elmer Valderrama (2006-08-25 13:08:31)
bug: en-passant captures
In the ongoing games of players Herr, Jeff v Sarihan, Sefa FICGS_CHESS_RAPID_C_000004 and FIGCS_CHESS_CLASS_G_000003 there is an "en-passant" capture (move 10.dxc6) which is not allowed by the chess rules (as I know them, maybe FIDE Congress has already changed them ;) The pawn c was first moved to c6 (3...c6) and then to c5 (9...c5) Somehow, the player Herr managed to capture the pawn by playing 10.dxc6 after 9...c5, which was accepted by both the player Sarihan and the interface ..(!?!) And the same happened in the game Ducreux, Regis v Sarihan, Sefa FIGCS_CHESS_CLASS_F_000007, this time pawn c was moved twice again (2...c6 and 10...c5) and captured ("of course") by 11. dxc6.. 8()
Benjamin Aldag (2006-08-26 01:37:37)
"NEW" Opening Idea !
Hello,
i would be very happy, to see the following line in a thematic opening tourney:
1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6
3.Bc4 Bc5
4.c3 Nf6
5.d4 exd4
6.cxd4 Bb4+
7.Nc3 Nxe4
8.0-0 0-0!
ok folks, i am searching for this line in my database and found just a handfull games, played by low rated players. I am searching in many books for this line, but i found nothing ! I've analysed this line and i believe, this line is good for BLACK ! What do you think about this line ??? Do you see more than me ? Do you have any GM-Commentary about this line ? Maybe in an ebook or something else ? Please help me to find the answer, why this line is never played by some very good players. It would be helpful, to start a thematic-tourney'bout this nice line.
Benny
Ryaad Aabid (2006-08-27 14:33:55)
CheckMate = Not lost yet
FICGS__CHESS__CLASS_C__000006 (type : rated round-robin , increment : 40 days / 10 moves) Game 972 Hi! The mentioned game is still at my games list ! Thanks for your attention. Ryaad
Julien Baudement (2006-08-28 17:21:40)
Go rules : no pass option
A little problem with the go games : It's possible to move, to resign, but not to pass. I remember that it was extisting before because one of my opponents did it! Thibaut: je t'aurai... dans quelques années mr Kobayashi m'a suggéré un site pour se perfectionner !
Thibault de Vassal (2006-08-31 03:16:24)
New best game...
Finally, we have a new "best game", after about 2 months of clear domination by chess game 342...
Game 2198, from the scotch gambit chess thematic tournament, is a funny King's hunt :)
Marius Zubac (2006-09-01 16:19:35)
Title norms page update
Hi, My question is how and when is the title norms information page (from player's statistics) get updated. Thanks
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-01 17:11:46)
Go / Weiqi tournaments : New categories
Hello to all.
New Go tournament categories have been created.
PRO category, for players ranked 1 dan and above (Go elo > 2099)
DAN category, for players ranked 10 kyu and above (Go elo > 1099).
KYU category, for all Go players, whatever their rating...
Rules have been updated for the rating calculation and Go championship (a win in a KYU tournament = 1 point, a win in a DAN tournament = 2 points, a win in a PRO tournament = 3 points).
Feel free to post here any suggestion to improve this site for Go game...
(& don't forget this is not a chess variant ;))
Kind regards.
David Da Silva (2006-09-04 16:30:13)
Clock running while on holliday
Hello, I may have missed something but in one of my games, maybe more but this one I'm sure because I had few days left, my clock runned enventhought the hollidays I declared. When I came back, I had 6 hours to play 9 moves wich I couldn't do(damn sleep ;))... Is this a bug or a rule subtility ? Thanks for the answer and congrats for this great site ! David
Ulrich Imbeck (2006-09-05 01:04:27)
How many moves within 40 days?
Hello, im playing my first tournament. I can't see anywhere in this domain how many moves I have to make within 40 days.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-05 12:58:56)
Major update : your feelings ?
Hello to all.
There has been several changes these last days to optimize the access to the database... as it grows quicky :)
A major update just occured to speed up the display of all games. (Google and other search engines may slow down the whole server sometimes) The effects should appear gradually.
Feel free to post here if you observe any problem or change, or on the speed of the server in general (please specify the speed of your computer & internet connection)
Thanks in advance ! :)
Thibault
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-05 16:21:34)
Tournament winners & leaders displayed !
Hello to all.
Tournament winners & leaders (2 at most) are now displayed in all tournament categories. Just click 'Tournaments' and see...
These informations are not displayed in real time, but will be updated at least every 2 months (while chess rating calculation)
All comments welcome.
Karlheinz Weber (2006-09-05 16:53:17)
Translation
What means "Ihr Konkurrent bot Ihnen einen abgehobenen Betrag an". This is German and I am German but it makes no sense for me. Ciao Karlheinz
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-06 15:43:12)
FIDE WCH : Kramnik vs. Topalov
Do you believe it ? .. now it's most probably almost sure :-)
We'll have a new FIDE-Classical world champion in a few weeks !
A reminder : This will be a 12-games match, taking place from September 21 to October 13 in the capital of Kalmykia (whose president is FIDE president : Kirsan Ilyumzhinov himself), Elista. In case of equality, four rapid games will be played, if equality again two blitz games will be played and finally a sudden death blitz game. The prize fund of one million US dollars will be equally divided between Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov, whatever the result. The looser won't play the next world championship tournament (quite strange).
Anyway, that's a great thing for chess, even if I'm not very optimistic for the next FIDE world championship cycles, particularly if the world champion has to play a knockout tournament, instead of a classical 12 or 24 games match...
My favourite in this match is still Kramnik because of his style, but Topalov is really getting stronger IMO... It will be a hard match !
Any predictions about the result & games ? .. Will Vladimir Kramnik play his Berlin defense in the Ruy Lopez again...
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-06 16:52:06)
100.000 moves played !
Already 100.000 moves have been played since the start of the server, exactly 5 months ago !
Now waiting for the million moves... ;)
Thanks to all for support !
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-06 17:08:56)
Other games on FICGS ?
Hello to all.
Just wondering... after Chess, Chess 960, Go and Big Chess (soon available, as the graphical interface works better now) what other games you'd like to see here in the future ?
FICGS is firstly a correspondence chess server, without any doubt, but that's great to see chess players discovering Go game this way.
I have been told about Chinese Chess (Xiangqi), Shogi, Blokus.. Maybe not Draughts, as it is a solved game now.
Any ideas ?
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-07 14:31:00)
C. Léotard, new ICCF world champion !
GM Christope Léotard (France) just won the ICCF final 19.
He obtained 8.5 points (+5 =7) in a category XV event, which started on April 20, 2004.
He is the XIXth ICCF World Champion !
Many congratulations to him !
http://www.iccf.com
Ron Keyston (2006-09-07 18:30:32)
More options for Wikichess moves
Hi Thibault, I have a suggestion for Wikichess. It would be nice to have the ability to mark a move with ?! (dubious) and !? (interesting) in addition to the existing ! and ?. What do you think? Ron Keyston
Ron Keyston (2006-09-07 18:41:14)
Wikichess Bug
Hi Thibault, I just put the Lasker Trap of the Albin Countergambit into Wikichess and every move after fxg1=N+ now starts with fxg1=...not sure what the problem is. Thanks, Ron Keyston
Graham Wyborn (2006-09-07 20:28:48)
Site Design
Would it be possible to have a bigger selection of "Site Design" colours. I would prefer a simple all one colour pastel shade, or even a plain white. I am not too keen on diferent shades of colour on opposite sides of the screen. I am currently using the "grey" and some of the text almost fades into the darker colour.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-08 18:10:52)
Chess tournament : Zero-sum or not ?
While discussing about Sun Tzu's "The Art of War", and the question "Is the best player always the champion ?" (of course not IMO) , I was argued that any chess tournament "was" (actually could be "reduced to") a zero-sum game :
"In 1944 John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern proved that any zero-sum game involving n players is in fact a generalised form of a zero-sum game for two persons, and that any non-zero-sum game for n players can be reduced to a zero-sum game for n + 1 players; the (n + 1) player representing the global profit or loss. This suggests that the zero-sum game for two players forms the essential core of mathematical game theory."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_sum_game
It seems to me that it's out of topic, but I couldn't say exactly why... In my opinion, a tournament is nearer life than game, at least quite far from it. Much more rules, often complex ones, and results that depend on many parameters you couldn't influence...
The word "champion" depends on accurate rules (the best player could finish 2nd, even if he wins all games ie. in an open tournament..), the "best player" depends on general opinion (most commonly through ratings), ie. Topalov vs. Kasparov ...
What do you think ? :-)
Where the discussion started from :
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060907/sirlin_01.shtml
I agree with many points about how to win, but the use of some words seems to be dubious...
I like much this quote :
"I was surprised to see that Capablanca did not initiate any active maneuvers and instead adopted a waiting game. In the end, his opponent made an imprecise move; the Cuban won a second pawn and soon the game. “Why didn’t you try to convert your material advantage straight away?” I ventured to ask the great chess virtuoso. He smiled indulgently. “It was more practical to wait.” "
—Mikhail Botvinnik, 6th World Chess Champion
Dinesh De Silva (2006-09-10 13:02:14)
Suggestion: A best game prize in future
I suggest there should be a BEST GAME PRIZE in the future (if Money Tournaments are a success in the future, which I'm sure it will be. That itself might generate some extra cash needed for this). A prize of.... say....US $ 100+ would be nice! Contenders for best game should be judged by a competent panel appointed by FICGS. Best Game could be selected once every month or once every two months. I think only one game should be submitted per each player, so that there's time enough for the panel to make a proper evaluation of the submitted games.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-10 14:31:47)
Sudden death games !
Hello to all.
Does someone have any idea about chess openings that would give White 50% chances to win & Black 50% chances to win OR draw, or reverse ? (in absolute, not ie. blitz statistics)
Thinking about 1.e4 Nf6 2.d4 Ng8 or 1.Nf3 d5 2.Ng1, in examples... but it's hard to know. Databases can't help much as very few games with obvious errors have been played. So mad gambits could be real challenges to play & analyze, with no draws at the outcome...
Your feelings ?
Mladen Jankovic (2006-09-11 17:18:34)
Big chess name
The name of Big chess seems to be taken by an older variant, see: http://www.chessvariants.org/large.dir/big-chess.html
Ron Keyston (2006-09-12 00:01:50)
Thematic Suggestion: Traxler
I think a Thematic Tournament based on the Traxler Counterattack would be interesting: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-12 03:42:57)
Match FICGS vs. GameKnot
Dear chessfriends, a match FICGS vs. GameKnot may start in a few weeks ! The idea is to oppose players in different rating categories (1200 to 2400+ elo), playing one game with Black on FICGS, one game with White on GameKnot.com ... Please send an email to info (at) ficgs.com (specifying your name) if you're interested. More info in a few days & weeks...
It seems that many players from GameKnot want to play this match, we need a large team ! :)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-12 12:55:06)
Scoring function for Go
Hello to all.
I'll add in a few days a scoring function for Go games. Players could retire dead groups, then the program just covers the board (line after line & column after column to compare) and adds empty spaces points to the stones that surround it. The aim is to give an evaluation of the position only, not to decide the result automatically.
Just tell me if you have an idea about a better algorithm, as I realize the difficulty of programming Go.
Thanks in advance ! ;)
Alarich Lenz (2006-09-13 11:07:04)
Elo calculation
why did my provisional rating (fide 2196) change, despite the fact that i didnt loose a singl game until now? best regards al
Don Groves (2006-09-16 05:05:55)
Go rules
Thibault, I have searched for "go rules" but cannot find anywhere on FICGS where all the rules are spelled out, komi, passing, etc. What is the standard komi for our games?
Nigel Colter (2006-09-16 21:48:12)
Comments at resignation
How can you reply with a comment eg 'Well played' after your opponent has just resigned and sent a comment?
Claude Brisson (2006-09-18 06:40:34)
Problem with Go scorer
Hello.
Nice effort to have a go scorer, but it still needs some improvements.
Look at this game:
http://www.ficgs.com/game_2093.html
After move 138, there isn't any ambiguity on the goban.
After removing dead groups,
q1 t3 k3 s5 t9 s10 q11 h11 t12 p12 h15 t16 f16
all the intersections are either black or white.
The scoring methods says:
* Scoring method : Horizontally
Black points : 103
White points : 244
Unknown points : 14
* Scoring method : Vertically
Black points : 103
White points : 268
Unknown points : -10
Rather strange. Scores should be the same. Where do those unknown points come from?
Thanks,
Claude
Claude Brisson (2006-09-18 06:49:19)
"pass" move not shown
Hello.
I just passed in a Go game and the "pass" move doesn't appear in the list of moves.
Oh, by the way, couldn't we have a small sgf link for go games?
http://senseis.xmp.net/?SmartGameFormat
It would really be usefull!
Thanks,
Claude.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-18 18:06:50)
FICGS correspondence chess database
Hello to all.
FICGS chess database (games rated + unrated, finished + unfinished) is now a unique static PGN file, that will be updated at least every 2 months. You can find it by clicking 'Search games' or at this link :
http://www.ficgs.com/databases/chess.pgn
Other free chess databases (ie. games played by famous players) will be added at :
http://www.ficgs.com/directory_databases.html
Best wishes.
Peter Schuster (2006-09-19 09:35:03)
Draw accept not possible
Hello Thibault in game 1803 I get an offer of draw, but I'm not able to accept this offer. The server didn't accept this selection. Regards, Peter
Ilmars Cirulis (2006-09-19 10:16:32)
2 players match...
Is it possible to challenge a player to match? Or not yet? Thanks, Cirulis
Marc Lacrosse (2006-09-19 11:45:18)
A tool for knowing each others' chess
In the "classement" page (the one that lists all current members), it could be nice to have two additional columns :
Finished games
Running games
giving the number of games the player is involved with
And (ideally?) clicking on one of the numbers could lead to a listing of the corresponding games in PGN? :-)
It could be a nice tool for knowing who is who, who plays what, who is active or not.
Your opinion ?
Marc
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-20 07:39:09)
Wikichess - Famous chess games !
An interesting update in Wikichess : It's now possible to enter, locate, watch (with the javascript viewer) and comment famous chess games move by move !
You can now analyze the Immortal game, entered as an example.
The program simply locates the last articles (that should be entered at the very last move of the games) which start with "End of game : "
ie - "End of fame : G. Kasparov - A. Karpov (Moscow)"
All feedbacks welcome.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-26 15:29:42)
Thematic : Beefeater defense
The new waiting list for next - 16th - thematic tournament is open...
Beefeater defense : 1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 f5
Lines with 6.e4 are particularly interesting...
Halil Kiren (2006-09-27 19:24:38)
My vacation (BUG)
I am currently using my vacation time..so I can't make any move..But the thing is my clock is still working and I'm losing my games ..I want the administrators to find a solution to this.I have lost a game because of this so far and I'm about to lose one more...i lost game 2036 ..and.. game 2006.. my clock = 1 day 02:12:02..what will i do??
Ismail Baskin (2006-09-28 17:20:01)
Offering duel (go)
i want to play go with player who is under 1 dan(kyu) . see you.
sigma71 [at] gmail.com
Daniel Brunsteins (2006-09-29 01:09:31)
Request to play a SMTournament
Hello, I m very interesting in playing a SM tournament but my Elo is 20 point under.Is it possible to join conditional. Thank you !!! Daniel Brunsteins
Don Groves (2006-09-29 03:16:53)
A small Go help
Thibault, How about leaving the last move highlighted (or maybe the last two moves) to serve as a memory jogger for where you were in that game without having to scroll down and read the moves. It would be a big help to us non-experts who are playing lots of games.
Wayne Lowrance (2006-09-29 04:56:57)
Tournaments winners list updated
Where is this, how u find it Wayne
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-29 13:19:45)
FIDE world championship (suspicions)
A "toiletgate" : Kramnik visiting the bathroom unreasonably often (according to Bulgarian delegation), video surveillance in rest rooms, Topalov threatening to stop the match, FIDE decisions (common toilets, players accompanied...), now Kramnik threatening to stop the match !
Tension is high, reminds us old memories :) ..
Can this world chess championship be finished yet ??
http://www.chessbase.com
Graham Wyborn (2006-09-29 14:06:02)
Clock - Out of time
Does my opponent still have to resign. This is my first win with "Out of Time"
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-30 01:26:09)
Server / Email - Time control
Hello to all.
Two players, formerly playing email chess at ICCF, recently lost a game on time with the 40 days + 40 days / 10 moves time control and mentioned the difference between FICGS and email chess ways to count time.
FICGS time controls are a bit harder because there's no classical email chess 'bonus day' added for each move due to time difference between countries. It seems to me that the difference is not so important with 40 days... On the contrary, the 30 days + 1 day / move scheme is quite hard ! ...
Now the question : Do you think a slower time control should be offered in future ?
Thanks for feedback. Thibault
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-02 18:01:18)
Rybka vs. Chessbase engines
Are there correspondence chess players who use Rybka here ? .. is it a better analysis tool than his well-known rivals (Deep Fritz, Shredder, Junior, Hiarcs...) ?
A thread about chess engines could be interesting : How to use chess engines in correspondence chess, which ones (when & why), their weaknesses.....
For sure many players don't want to tell their opponents their way of 'think' :) .. but it could be interesting to make this kind of comparison...
Smith Dhumbumroong (2006-10-03 14:10:29)
How many people actually use chessengine
Just curious, how many people here uses chessengine when playing on FICGS? And what engine do you usally use?
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-03 14:32:52)
SmartGo, Many faces of Go...
Computer Go seems to be very far from computer chess yet... (more than I thought)
Do you think a playing Go program could beat the best player in future ?
(following discussions I had with several players here :))
I've read the strongest programs could play around 8 kyu level (SmartGo, Many faces of Go). Not so bad, but I suppose it's at a blitz level, what about correspondence Go...
I train myself against gnuGO and I've been told about Kombilo, a free Go program (database), but I did not really enter it. SmartGo and Many faces of Go seem to be really good programs to learn the basics of the game.. but then ? .. Should we learn life and death structures, other things or only practice ?
Anthony Bingham (2006-10-03 15:47:07)
Introduction
Hello all, my name is Tony, aka (DEwillget8 @ Gameknot). I am looking forward to our upcoming tournament and would like to give a big thank you to all involved. I do have one question. How do I challenge a player here to a match so I can get used to the layout of your site? Thanks, Tony
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-03 17:10:08)
Delay / Slow down the games ?
An interesting idea had been submitted here a few months ago to "decrease the pressure" for all players and to slow down the games... (correspondence chess & Go are quite addictive :))
It would consist in delaying the transmission of moves or at least avoiding one can respond to a move immediately after being played.
The server works very well, but I feel there could be irregular peaks of charge in future... More and more tournaments start, faster and faster and that's probably only the beginning.
So what do you think about the "delay" idea ? .. 1 hour would be probably enough to spread out charge over time, but players may expect more or no delay at all !?
Yannick Maret (2006-10-09 09:39:01)
A question about chess engines
At first I was against using engines but the opinions given in another thread made me believe that they might be an useful teaching mean.
So I'm starting to think about using a chess engine here... but just to check if the moves I chose spring any tactical opportunities for my opponent! Following the suggestions of the engine would just remove the fun of the game for me.
Anybody has an idea on how to do that easily, and what engine to use? I would like a method that avoid the temptation of playing moves suggested by the engine!
Thanks in advance,
Yannick
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-12 15:41:13)
FICGS chess championship #1
Pairings for the semi-finals in the first FICGS WCH knockout tournament are known :
GM Farit Balabaev / SM Peter Schuster
-
IM Gino Figlio / SM Petr Makovský
FICGS WCH round-robin tournaments (stage 1) are still running, next round should begin in 2007 january.
This time control, 30 days + 1 day / move, is definitely hard ! .. but definitely challenging :)
Wolfgang Utesch (2006-10-13 14:18:01)
Game of time ?!?!
Someone of us are just thinking to play with thinking time rules as a part of correspondance chess game is a fine and sportsman like behavior. I don't think so: It is just childish and primitive - nothing to do with the culture and art of a chess game!
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-14 18:33:37)
Chess and Go diagrams / Forum update
A major update for FICGS forums (& blogs) !
Now you can insert Chess & Go diagrams in messages...
(useful to submit chess problems, analysis and so on...)
See the FAQ in help section - http://www.ficgs.com/help.html - for details, in example here is the position of the last game in the FIDE world chess championship between Veselin Topalov & Vladimir Kramnik, just before Topalov blunder 44. ...Rxc5 ??
ChessPosition (see diagram)
Diagrams format is quite simple (see Help), please note only one diagram / position will be displayed per message.
Also minor bugs (links, search functions) corrected...
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Wayne Lowrance (2006-10-14 18:37:24)
Best game
While kicking around the site I got the message advising my posting of a game of mine in "Best game" I don"t know how that happened, but it rembarrases me. I would not have made the post voluntarily (2168). Remove it for consideration please.....Wayne
Graham Wyborn (2006-10-17 12:24:05)
Top of Rating List
How can Atalik, Suat be top of the rating list, when this player has never played a game on this site? Or have I got these facts wrong!
Benjamin Aldag (2006-10-18 19:59:02)
Kick this player !!!
Hello, please KICK this player: Arsch, Popo His handle is german "arsch = asshole" ! Thank You !
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-19 20:06:19)
Mate in 292 moves
Otto - Titus Blathy (1860 - 1939), Hungary
Vielzügige Schachaufgaben, 1889
(10 + 12)
Mate in 292 moves
Illegal position
Now you may try to solve the problem, but my question is : Why is this position illegal ??
ChessPosition (see diagram)
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Scott Prestwood (2006-10-20 19:32:24)
Time Control Clarification
I am looking for clarification on the interpretation of the time controls, specifically; time : 40 days, increment : 40 days / 10 moves. I presume it is 40 days to make the first 40 moves then it is an additional forty days to make to next 10 (to move 50). This seems to be a disproportionate amount of time for moves 41-50. Thank you, Scott
Wolfgang Utesch (2006-10-21 10:51:02)
Thinking on opponents' time
Most of my opponents are wondering how I'm able to managing my answers to their moves so quick on a very high level!? There is no mystery - I'm just thinking on there time! There are only very rare situations where a answer of may opponents is able to surprising me. So my next move is nearly always clear and I can do it immediately and - after it - I'm thinking on of next opponent's move. Just a suggestion. Wolfgang
Wolfgang Utesch (2006-10-21 11:31:16)
Some strange tactics with server chess
Server chess is allowing to see all parallel games in the same tournament. So some players hope to get an advantage by playing their first moves very slow. Perhaps they can learn (so they hope) by the other more progressed games of their opponents. It's legal but not so funny - neither for their opponents nor for themselves! Playing your own style will give you the most satisfaction! Wolfgang
Wolfgang Utesch (2006-10-23 11:13:43)
Rating / 8-game match
Hello Thibault, it doesn't make any sense to count all results for the rating, independent whether generated by playing out or forfeits about time issues. At least one rating seems to be very excessive affected by this practise in the FICS Chess Championship! Wolfgang
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-24 13:06:31)
Anatoly Karpov, world champion...
... signing 1951 copies of the book (written by David Llada) "Karpov, el camino de una voluntad" - record of most books autographed by a celebrity.. previous holder was Bill Cullen, who signed 1848 copies of his book "Golden Apples" in april 2005.
Quite funny & great performance :) .. this chess festival in Mexico city obviously was a nice event : Simultaneous exhibition with 14,000 participants (world record), rapid chess tournament with Korchnoi, Kosteniuk, Karjakin & Hernandez...
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3446
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-25 11:47:22)
Once upon a time in Kalmykia
An interesting interview of FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov about future of chess, reunification match and other things...
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3448
I can't resist this quote :
Misha Savinov : Bearing in mind successful unification, do you see a chance of Kasparov returning to chess?
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov : In my opinion, Garry will not return. His age will not permit him returning, chess advanced too far. But, of course, we would all be happy if he returns. Actually, I would be happy if not only Kasparov, but also Spassky and Fischer come back. If they do, I am ready to organize a supermatch of FIDE champions. A good idea, by the way! We’ll invite Vassily Vassilyevich Smyslov, Spassky, Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov, Khalifman, Kasimdzhanov, Topalov, Anand, Ponomariov… It is going to be a good supertournament!
Misha Savinov : In Elista?
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov : In Elista. And, probably, it will be 25-minute games, double round-robin. I wonder if Fischer accepts the invitation, what do you think? We will announce the winner a superabsolute champion (laughs)!
Misha Savinov : One can call it an open championship of Kalmykia…
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov : Are you suggesting inviting the Kalmyk champion of 1978? I think I could play 25-minute games…
.....
Halil Kiren (2006-10-26 01:51:49)
I cant move
i cant move for 4 days..:(( whats that..and my clocks going to be over.. i have 13 hour in a game..and i have a lot of games like this.. ..this error is being for 2. time is there any one have a problem like me?? or only me?
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-27 19:37:08)
Chess quizz :-)
A chess quizz ? ... Feel free to post any funny question about chess.. :)
1/ Who said that : "At night Kramnik is in my dreams. I dream that he has accepted my offer for a return match in Sofia. Or that I make a long stroll with him in Moscow, after which we visit an expensive nightclub. The strange thing is that the two of us are the only visitors there."
Ok, quite easy... The pressure should have been really high... :/
Solution - http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com
Another one... May be interesting :)
2/ Who lost........ ? (question unfinished, just say your first thought :))
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-28 17:43:05)
Match FICGS vs. GameKnot , the games
Hello to all.
It would be great to follow how the match evolve in this thread. As far as I know GameKnot leads by 1-0 (Ilmars blundered :))
http://gameknot.com/anbd.pl?bd=5966999&rnd=0.9197820842414586
It seems that's possible to link to all games (that started) on GameKnot, so feel free to post the links & results here.
Reminder, you can follow games played on FICGS there :
http://www.ficgs.com/tournament_FICGS__CHESS__FICGS_VS_GAMEKNOT_MATCH.html
Scott Prestwood (2006-10-28 19:58:33)
Connected players
What is the "Connected players" list in the messages for and why does my name stay on it as others are changing, and the list of others in the tourney I am in do not show up in the list?
Dinesh De Silva (2006-10-29 16:13:10)
JUDIT POLGAR ..........
Thibault, Is it possible for Judit Polgar to try/ask for a title shot versus Kramnik?!! If it becomes reality, it might turn out to be a huge attraction. Judit seems to nearing peak form right now. What do FIDE rules say about such a possibility?! Any obstacles?!
Graham Wyborn (2006-10-30 10:04:22)
Go games "display"
First allow me to say how much I enjoy playing chess & go on this site. Keep up the very good work!
Would it be possible to mark or display on the board when playin Go the piece that was last moved?
Also on other sites the option to flip the board is present. On this site the board is already fliped when playing white. Is this needed? If you download the .sgf to a viewer it will not show the game the same way round.
We have to press "send" and then "next". Is it possible to have an option included where after pressing "send" you go automatically to the next game?
Hannes Rada (2006-10-30 17:56:49)
Member No. 1000 !!
Thibault, Congratulation to the 1000th FICGS - member !! . As far as I know chessfriend had 1900 members after 3 years. . I am quite sure that FICGS is the fastest growing chess organization on the web.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-30 18:13:36)
Big chess "birthday" tournament !
FICGS now counts more than 1000 members :)
The display of Big Chess games has just been improved : Last move marked, coordinates, speed, bugs fixed... So it may be funny to see more games !!
A special tournament will start soon, if you want to enter it, just post "I'm in." (or something like that :)) in this thread. The first 7 players will be in.
The tournament will be there :
http://www.ficgs.com/tournament_FICGS__BIG_CHESS__THOUSAND_MEMBERS_EVENT.html
Games unrated, time control is 30 days + 1 day / move... 7 players -> 6 games per player (big challenge).
Reminder : To see what Big Chess is, see the Inaugural match game...
http://www.ficgs.com/tournament_FICGS__BIG_CHESS__INAUGURAL_MATCH.html
100% human chess guaranteed, no chess engines & databases :)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-30 20:20:03)
2nd FICGS chess WCH waiting list is open
Hello to all.
The waiting list for the 2nd FICGS chess world championship is open !
The 2nd stage of the first cycle may begin before the end of 2006. Thus, a new WCH cycle should begin every 6 months !
A small update in the rules : "A player can't be involved in two consecutive knockout tournaments." (of course, the 8 players involved in the quarter finals during the last cycle can enter the round-robin tournaments cycle)
Several logical reasons to this change : More fun & more chances for more high-rated players, decreasing the risk of rating peaks & to see a world champion involved in several knockout tournaments & candidates finals... to play the final match against himself :)
[edit : this rule is no more effective, simulations show the results wouldn't be interesting enough, and as it will be hard to start a new WCH cycle every 6 months, it's simply better to see the highest rated players in the knockout tournament, whatever the consequences]
Good luck & best wishes to all...
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-31 10:54:18)
Go : pro game videos on Youtube
An incredible mistake in a Go game by a professional 9p player. Pressure is high too :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj58O_qHBAU
"The player of the Black stones was Nakano Hironari 9p and the White stones were played by Ishida Yoshio 9p of joseki dictionary fame. This is part of a broadcast of a game from a TV tournament in Japan. The announcer who comes on in the middle says that there isn't time in the program to show the whole game so they are skipping to the end."
From GoDiscussions forum :
http://www.godiscussions.com/forum/showthread.php?t=732
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-31 12:02:00)
Chess videos : Youtube
Some interesting chess videos on Youtube...
Sofia Polgar vs. Viktor Korchnoi (wow ! :))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxeiGipoFSE
Kramnik vs. Topalov (Elista, 2006)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va9Hxr7bfEk
Kasparov simultaneous exhibition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqvMSgxj6O4
Game Over (Kasparov vs. Deep Blue) trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ias_bmSCev4
Kasparov vs. Altavista :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPIpWMCKEbk
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-31 15:47:58)
Chess games belong to the world !
Quite funny (or frightening) to see this kind of discussion now on a Go forum, the excellent godiscussions.com
About ten years ago, FIDE tried to claim Copyright over non-commented chess game records. In an article entitled "Chess Games Belong To The World" (published in The Kibitzer), Tim Harding argued how this would benefit only a few companies like ChessBase. The same thing now might happen in the Go world. (I saw at somes places Go games are not allowed to be free)
Tim Harding's article :
http://www.moyogo.com/blog/2006/10/i-have-no-problem-obeying-law-i-do.html
More on GoDiscussions forum :
http://www.godiscussions.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1323
Stefano Ghisi (2006-10-31 19:18:13)
Time overstopping
My games 3516 and 3519 had never begun. I won for overstopping or the match is "no contest"?
Saksham Wal (2006-10-31 22:53:03)
Help For New Members
I tried to check all existing post, but could not find what i Needed. Can someone Please Help me out in Few Things
1. How do i Start a Single Game Here ? Or playing Tournaments is the only way?
How do i find out which Tournaments are Open to join and which ones are already closed?
2. Are all moves played by e-mail(if yes, how?) or is there on site-java based Interface or something of the sort (eg: like features on GameKnot )
I understand that my Questions Might happen to be silly but well... i-need-to-know...
Hope this topic does not annoy anyone.
Regards
Daniel De Noose (2006-11-01 02:03:19)
Partie perdue ????
Je viens de perdre une partie du championnat contre Samy Ould Ahmed alors que j'ai joué mon coup hier et quand je regarde l'historique c'est comme si je n'avais pas joué. Par contre mon message que je lui ai envoyé en même temps que le coup, lui est visible ???? Bizarre. Serait-il possible de réactiver la partie? Merci d'avance.
Alarich Lenz (2006-11-01 18:44:52)
Draw offer
my oponent offered me a draw. i did not see his offer and made a move how can i contact him (offer a draw)?
Stefano Ghisi (2006-11-01 19:42:06)
Checkmate
My match 1679 was won by checkmate. Is automatic the adjudication?
Graham Wyborn (2006-11-02 13:50:28)
Next & Send buttons.
Could "next" and "send" be added to the list on the left hand side of the screen. Could this be in addition to the current setup? This would save having to keep scrolling down the screen!
Yes, I know, I'm lazy! :-)
Wayne Lowrance (2006-11-03 04:18:01)
Rating change
Hello, sorry, but try as I do I have difficulty with the rating calculaltion here. I am in a dead draw game with a player rated 1765 at table 236. I wonder if you would not mind giving me my expected loss in rating points with this draw. My rating is 2005. By way of information, I have offered twice now, but he plays on. That is ok, that is his privilage. Thank you Wayne
Henri-Louis Muller (2006-11-03 11:19:19)
temps de réflexion
j'ai entendu - et j'en fais partie - énormément de plaintes et de discussions concernant le temps de réflexion ! Il est en effet totalement aberrant, illogique et...décevant, de devoir attendre parfois PLUS de 60 jours afin qu'une partie soit déclarée perdue par dépassement de temps - d'un adversaitre qui ne répond plus !! Ceci est d'autant plus illogique que cett façon d'agir profite à celui qui commet cette...aberration. L'erreur profite donc au fautif !?? Je connais des joueurs qui quittent FICGS pour cette raison !? Dommage. Mais il doit exister une solution....!!
Thibault de Vassal (2006-11-05 12:45:06)
Fischer : "Now chess is completely dead"
A new interview from the former world chess champion Bobby Fischer...
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3468
No surprise : Fischer’s problems with the Union Bank of Switzerland, United states founded and being run by extremists, Capablanca brillancy, but also : "I don’t like chess any more" (what about chess 960 ?), "Now chess is completely dead. It is all just memorisation and prearrangement. It’s a terrible game now. Very uncreative"...
I just wonder.. How can we find so much pleasure in correspondence chess ? .. Was his pleasure only to destroy weak players or in real challenges against strong[er] players (ie. Karpov).. I can understand why a grandmaster stop to play competitive chess because it's too hard & it takes too much time, but I can't explain myself such a champion finding "limits" to chess & getting no more pleasure...
"Play Go !" :)
Wolfgang Utesch (2006-11-06 18:06:27)
Board diagram not the same as pgn
Hello Thibault, your move sent (26.bxc4) is not realized on board diagram! What is to do? I would like to answer 26....Bxc4, but I can't. Greetings, Wolfgang
Wolfgang Utesch (2006-11-11 10:24:20)
Can't enter in waiting list
Hello Thibault, why I can't enter the waiting list for FICGS__CHESS__CLASS_SM__000004 ? Greetings, Wolfgang
Thibault de Vassal (2006-11-11 19:27:15)
Chess tournaments : Performances
Hello to all.
Performances are now displayed for chess tournaments in the tournament crosstable pages.. (click the picture near the tournament name)
It doesn't mean anything for the rating calculation as games taken in account depend on tournament entry ratings (TER). Informative only :)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-11-12 02:26:10)
New chessboards (design)
Hello to all.
You can now choose (see in 'Preferences') new sizes & sets of chessboards. It's still quite basical, but I'll try to find other sets of boards in a while... My suggestion : Default (big)
Wolfgang Utesch (2006-11-12 13:42:38)
White to move!
Is there a way to win for White and if it is - which could be the only move to realize this? ChessPosition (see diagram) Black's last move has been 49...Qa7. Has there been any better move for Black? Have attention to the proposals of your chess engines!
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Thibault de Vassal (2006-11-12 18:41:41)
Incredible life of chess players...
Sometimes I'm simply stunned by the players informations I can read... :)
http://www.ficgs.com/display_informations.php?member=1065
That's great to welcome players from all horizons... and ages !
Ilmars Cirulis (2006-11-13 13:10:22)
Challenge!
I think that
- Latvian gambit 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5
and
- Traxler counterattack 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5
is won by white.
So I challenge everyone serious player who wants to play Latvian gambit or Traxler counterattack (for example, Thibault Vassal :D ) with black.
My e-mail is ilmars.cirulis@gmail.com
Ilmars Cirulis. :D
Thibault de Vassal (2006-11-13 18:10:25)
New forum section : Problems
Hello to all.
You may have noticed a new line in the menu : Problems (above forum)... This is a new forum dedicated to Chess & Go problems !
Feel free to submit any interesting & challenging position :)
Feedbacks are welcome.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-11-14 16:47:18)
Kramnik vs. Deep Fritz, 2006
In less than 2 weeks from now, classical & FIDE world champion Vladimir Kramnik will play the best (at least most famous) chess program Deep Fritz 10 !
From november 25 to december 5, 2006 at the Federal Art Hall in Bonn. One million US dollars for Kramnik if he defeats Deep Fritz, half this amount otherwise...
We did not forget the previous match in Bahrain (2002), that ended with a 3-3 score.
Do you feel Fritz improved enough to beat a player like Kramnik, who most probably improved his play too... Will Kramnik play rather different openings than in his match against Topalov ? .. Anyway it should be an interesting match to follow.
A few links :
http://www.kramnik.com/eng/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=95
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2947
Thibault de Vassal (2006-11-15 02:35:07)
FICGS update : Security improved
Hello to all.
You may (sure :)) have noticed the new login page with two forms.
This is most probably temporary.
Of course, passwords are stored 'hashed' on the server so that noone can retrieve it, even me... Now, if you login with the first form, your password won't be even sent through the internet, it is hashed by your browser before. Second, passwords won't be stored anymore in cookies with the secure form. At last, a new barrier against hacking... The old form is still available because it might be possible for certain players to be disconnected early because of their changing ip address (according to the internet provider).
Please just tell me if you encounter any problem. Thanks in advance :)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-11-15 14:23:14)
Go scorer (improvement)
Hello to all Go players.
A small improvement in the Go scorer : Komi (7.5 points) is now added to White score and the program says who 'probably' wins !
Also a small bug corrected in the count algorithm, about a few unknown points...
In example, you can score this exciting game Vorobev -Steveson :
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=score&game=3102
Just remove these groups : n8 m9 g18 r18 g17
Score is 183 to 178 (+ 7.5) -> White wins by 2.5 points. (verified with a viewer)
See the game here :
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=3102
Thibault de Vassal (2006-11-15 18:06:42)
The Campbell Report
A must... :)
18 years of chess... Funny & really interesting. The problem is great too !
http://correspondencechess.com/campbell/apctcol/c0611.htm
Wayne Lowrance (2006-11-16 01:26:09)
Players needed
Hello all. We need 4 more players to fill out the Class A 000009 tournament rating range is 2000-2400. It should be a nice tourney. Wayne Lowrance
Ryaad Aabid (2006-11-16 01:42:44)
Something to be changed
FICGS__CHESS__CLASS_C__000005 Game 741 The clock of my opponent was almost 0:0 He came and has done his move #22 until the move #31 , then he hid after his clock drank 40 days! What type players is there? I think something should be changed. Another opponent (Game 1265) has appeared after his clock became almost 3 days! Either I am an unlucky player, or there is somerule should be changed. Because of this I will leave, but never leave those 2 games for the rubbish of the chess:Adrian and Balogh.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-11-16 13:27:51)
Please link to FICGS
Dear friends, you may know how it is important for a website to be linked from other places on the internet since Google created his famous ranking system Pagerank...
FICGS has got about 1,000 links so far (not too bad after 7 months) for a Pagerank 5, but the more links, the more players !
Feel free to link to FICGS from your website, blog, in forums and so on...
You may contact me - info (at) ficgs.com - if you have a chess or Go related website, so that I add it in the file that displays random links at the bottom of each game page, ie. http://www.ficgs.com/game_342.html
A link written one of these ways would be very appreciated :
<a href="http://www.ficgs.com " title="Correspondence Chess Server">FICGS</a>
<a href="http://www.ficgs.com " title="Chess Server">FICGS chess server</a>
<a href="http://www.ficgs.com " title="Go Server">FICGS Go server</a>
<a href="http://www.ficgs.com/forum.html " title="Chess forum">FICGS chess forum</a>
<a href="http://www.ficgs.com/wikichess.html " title="Wikichess">Wikichess</a>
Thanks in advance !
Thibault de Vassal (2006-11-17 14:40:56)
Chess and politics...
Just noticed this link on TCCMB correspondence chess forum, to MSNBC article by Howard Fineman : "Iraq exit strategy and the Tehran gambit"... Quite funny. (no matter political ideas, only chess metaphors)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15728086
Thibault de Vassal (2006-11-17 18:59:02)
Tournaments with money prizes
Hello to all.
Finally, Chess & Go tournaments with money prizes will begin in 2007 january !
"Money chess" is an all times controversy, many players play for fun only (even at the highest levels), others like much more this way of play. I think it's simply the most challenging, finally it quite looks like classical tournaments.
About Go, things are quite different, as software & particularly engines are a negligible factor in the play. The best players will probably always win, but weak players may be interested in a lesson.
You may have noticed some changes in the waiting list categories for money tournaments :
Two formats for 2-players matches will be available, 8 games matches (time control 30 days + 1 day / move) and 2 games duels (time control 40 days + 40 days / 10 moves) renewed in case of a draw.
Simultaneous games will be also organized with international masters for both games, with prizes shared if some players could beat the masters.
Of course, it won't change anything to the free tournaments & championships, it will be optional only. I hope it will help to provide prizes for the FICGS chess & Go world championships (sponsors are welcome :)) ...
The membership page - Terms and Conditions - has also been updated.
http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html
Some major changes (as in money tournaments pages) might happen until 2007 january.
Feel free to post here if you have any comment or suggestion.
Best wishes.
Marc Lacrosse (2006-11-19 13:33:40)
Where else do/did you play corr. chess ?
I just wondered where else did some of us play before coming on FICGS (and do some of us still play elsewhere ?).
Thibault I could not find you on AJEC or ICCF listings although I see you are a regular poster on ICCF's forum (TCCMB): where did you play before ?
For what regards myself I played in ICCF tournaments in 2000-2003 than switched to playchess.de and then here. And now I just began with ICCF play at new : I had one half master norm there and thought it could be nice try to get the other half :-)
Marc
Dorel Oltean (2006-11-19 15:51:50)
retire, come back. What's next ?
Is allowed to retire from FICGS tournaments (loosing around 10 games on time) and then come back to resume unfinished games and start new ones? The answer is YES , it happened and , after more then a week from my previous message, it seems it can happen again. The soft reaction of the administrator of the site and the totally (surprising for me) lack of reaction from any FICGS member showed it’s only me who has a problem. (Maybe, by changing the subject, my message was hidden behind the discussions about ‘the 60 days rule’). I cannot accept that ! For me chess is a serious thing. I consider chess a sport where the equality of chances and the respect for the competition must be the first rules. So I decided to retire from all FICGS tournaments . In M02 group I didn’t finished any game so my retiring will not affect the final standing. In WCH M01 I have only one unfinished game and my opponent will finish second last anyway. So my withdraw will only permit someone else to finish first and qualify instead of me. In my last group, A02 I wish to finish my remaining game (if I am allowed) than I will leave, with real sorrow, FICGS for good. Whishing you nice games Dorel Oltean
Daniel Khayman (2006-11-19 18:20:37)
Messages
Hello everyone, I'm new here and have joined after recommendation from Mr. Wayne Lowrence, my good web friend and chess master (watch out for him:-). I've been trying to communicate within the site via text message but that seems to be impossible unless the receiver is your direct opponent; can anybody help me out? Is there a way of sending texts to whoever one likes? Thank you for dropping by, Daniel
Miguel Pires (2006-11-19 22:22:46)
WCH qualifications
I've a question: Me and my opponent have win this group, both are going to the next fase? (i hoppe so) Regard's Miguel Pires
Don Groves (2006-11-20 07:33:54)
Go : Komi
I feel 7.5 points komi is too much for some Go games. Since we do not use handicaps (which is good, IMHO) should not komi be reduced if White is a higher rated player than Black? For players of equal ability, 7.5 komi is fine, but when I must give Sebastian Ilie 7.5 points, it seems a joke. He beats me by 200 anyway ;-) I suggest komi be reduced by one point for every 100 (or perhaps 200) rating points difference (to a minimum of 0.5) when White is the superior player. What do others think about this?
Daniel Khayman (2006-11-20 08:23:52)
Wikichess
Still me and still new. It's not quite clear to me how this Wikichess function works and what its purpose is. It looks like some sort of communal board where anyone can make a move and comment on it but, can one go back and replay previous moves in a different way? and what else can one do? Thanks, Daniel
Lawrence Nesko (2006-11-20 18:38:08)
En passant?
Hello again, all. Once more, I apologize if my question has been answered before, but I have searched the Help and Forum sections and can't seem to find an answer.
In one of my current games (#4602), I wish to capture my opponent's pawn en passant. I have a pawn sitting upon e4 and he has advanced his pawn from d-2 to d-4. I had always been under the impression that the proper algebraic notation for the capture would be
exd4 ep
However, this was not accepted in the notation field. I tried a couple of more variations (i.e. exd4 e.p.) to no avail.
Fortunately, I was able to execute the move via the board graphic. The move was noted as exd3. Is that the porper algebraic notation, or is that something that is necessary due to the mechanics of the notation field?
Thanks in advance for your patience and reply.
Lionel Vidal (2006-11-20 21:57:03)
Go handicap and rating
Is handicap Go really nonsensical in rated tournaments?
While it seems so in a world championship, where the aim is to determine the stronger player in an absolute sense, why should it be so in a tournament, where the aim is to determine the best player in a relative sense... hum, not a very clean or clear sentence, but I hope you got the idea :-)
In face to face Go, in most amateur tournaments, it is not a problem, and you can win or loose a tournament, win or loose points, playing with an handicap (some tournaments set a limit lower than 9 in the number of handicap stones). I do not know the formulae used to compute the knew ratings, but in practice it works well. (and the same thing works also in Shogi tournaments)
Before WWII, even pros played with handicap (one or two stones at most, more commonly with a fixed color and no komi) and that *for money*!! Nowadays this is not the case anymore: maybe the increase of pro-tournament prizes change the noble way to be the best of two players fighting *their best* at their *respective* level!
Anyway, I think such an idea may be interresting to motivate players: when weaker, I will fight my best because I have a chance to win, and when stronger, I *have* to fight well :-)
We could think of a rating system where you play your first, say, 20 games without handicap to get a starting rating, and then to receive or give handicaps automatically in tournaments. We could then consider a rating as fixed after a bunch of 20 more games...
Or any other system that will always generate tense and dangerous games! That will be, at least for me, a great motivation to play more :-)
(but then I do not care much for my rating :-))
Sebastian Palozzi (2006-11-21 15:53:22)
Vacation Help
Hello All, I've entered a vacation period in error. Is it possible to cancel the vacation? Please advise, Regards, Sebastian
Thibault de Vassal (2006-11-21 21:24:02)
Poker, chess & chance
As many of you, I regularly read Chessbase news and I was quite surprised to read this article "A chess master's poker tour" by Almira Skripchenko about World Poker Championship, french celebrities and so on... (a way to popularize chess ? or is it only Almira ? :))
I used to play stud poker and I was just looking informations about the part of chance in games. I only found this article written in french (sorry) :
http://jeuxstrategie.free.fr/page_le_jeu_de_strategie_cest_quoi.php
If you know something about that or an article on the internet, I'm quite interested in.
Here is a personal estimation - at first sight - of the part of chance (opposed to a perfect play) in some games :
Chess, Go (& all determined games) : 0 %
Scrabble, Trivial pursuit : 20 %
Poker : 30 %
Monopoly : 70 %
Roulette, Loto (& all chancy games) : 100 %
Barry Bell (2006-11-22 04:42:46)
Introduction - Anyone4chess.com
My name is Barry and after corresponding with Thibault on my website (www.anyone4chess.com) for the last few days, Thibault suggested I drop by and post something about our website. Anyone 4 Chess is not a correspondence chess, we call our system an online a turn based chess system (Association – A4C). The site works on a 7 day cycle for moves and you receive no emails that a move has been made however, if you are entered into one of our free tournaments (all tournaments are free and their will never be any cost to play chess on our system) an email is sent to each player in any tournament that the next round is about to begin. Anyone 4 Chess is an online turn based chess system however, it also hosts the Association dedicated to promoting, supporting and developing an association for webmasters / players who support this type of chess. We believe there is a place for this type of chess (different from correspondence, OTB and real time chess) and the association will work to promote this type of chess following the example of FIDE and other organization to work towards our mandate and goals. Thanks
Graham Wyborn (2006-11-22 09:00:54)
Go Software
Which is the stronger program. Many Faces of Go version 11 or the new SmartGo 2.3
Thibault de Vassal (2006-11-23 11:07:34)
Tal-Memorial photos
Many photos from Tal-Memorial tournaments. Some are really funny :)
Tal-Memorial blitz
http://www.64.ru/?/ru/articles/item=1394
Tal-Memorial
http://www.64.ru/?/ru/articles/item=1391
http://www.64.ru/?/ru/articles/item=1389
http://www.64.ru/?/ru/articles/item=1384
http://www.64.ru/?/ru/articles/item=1383
http://www.64.ru/?/ru/articles/item=1381
http://www.64.ru/?/ru/articles/item=1375
http://www.64.ru/?/ru/articles/item=1367
Don Groves (2006-11-25 20:42:20)
"Next" request
I would like to see the "Next" function changed to move through a player's games by going to the next game in the list instead of going to the front of the list each time. The reason for this is: if I have skipped over a game because I don't want to move in that game until I have given it more thought, I can't use "Next" to step through my games but must instead use "My Messages" to keep skipping that game. With a long game list, this gets tiresome.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-11-28 13:38:30)
FICGS chat !
Hello to all.
You probably noticed this new window on the right... :)
This is a chat window, here you can write to everyone in the international chat, and to people from your country only (in your own language !). You can moderate the messages by clicking on the arrow just before each message (please use it with moderation)...
Question is : Should it be permanent or not ??
Two ways :
1. It could appear only from time to time...
2. There should be a way to close the window during the session.
Feel free to tell me if you encounter any problem... Thanks for feedback !
Jason Repa (2006-11-28 20:32:05)
new chat bar
The "chat" bar you have added to the right of the screen is extremely annoying and makes it difficult to concentrate on the chess position. I am requesting that you remove it. You can put a link to the chat in the left "links" pane. It's not necessary to have to view this annoying chat bar constantly. If you're not willing to remove it, at the very least make it the same color as the rest of the page so it doesn't stick out visually as it does. Thank you!
Don Groves (2006-11-29 08:04:02)
Go: Komi revisited
This may have already been discussed but I wasn't around then. ;) I've read in more than one place that komi in Chinese scoring should be half the Japanese value or 3.75 instead of 7.5. Comments please.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-12-01 11:19:43)
Deep Fritz, Rybka & future
The Chess Challenge 2006 in Bonn between classical world champion Vladimir Kramnik and chess engine Deep Fritz 10 confirms (who ignored ?) the best chess programs can rivalize with the world champion in a match, but it first shows us these calculating monsters still have weaknesses.
Question is : What are the real improvements in Fritz 10 compared to Fritz 9 (engine speaking only) ?
Here is what I think about chess engines nowadays (Fritz 10, Shredder, 10, Junior 10, Hiarcs 10 and particularly Rybka 2.2) :
The way of think to play correspondence chess is (or should be) mostly human one combined with a chess engine algorithm. We follow the tree of moves like a program with our selective algorithm (much better than chess engines), applying our judgement of the position when necessary only. The point is we evaluate moves and we almost never evaluate a position twice.
Chess engines are very good analysis tools but are surprisingly not designed to be very good chess players. I think a major improvement in chess engines should be recognition of 'sufficient moves' : ie. it is no worth to always find the best move at a particular point of the tree, this reflection time could be used later... It depends on the evaluation of the position, on the clocks... Iterative model is quite basic (in a game at least !).
Another point is recognition of traps. This is the start of psychology in chess engines, and basics of the art of war. It first depends on who your opponent is, and on the clocks too. Finally, at the end of the tree, chess engines evaluate positions, but how many evaluate moves ? .. Speculative moves were a step, but it first shew chess engines were not able yet to see what move is worth to be analysed really deeper, consequently creating a 'human' weakness, particularly against some other chess engines.
I don't know how Rybka works, but as far as I read about this one that calculates much less positions (about 10 times) than Fritz, I wouldn't be surprised that Vasik Rajlich had implemented a better approach of human way of think, which is undoubtly the future of chess engines.
A good 'centaur' in ie. Playchess rapid tournaments is first a good choice between Chessbase engines according to the position and clocks. Fritz qualities probably apply best in standard games, where clocks are really designed for him. Among Chessbase engines, Hiarcs is probably the best Blitz player and could be the best correspondence chess player (even if it isn't the best CC tool for humans). Rybka is probably a kind of centaur itself (sorry, herself ;)), knowing when to use (in the tree !) brute force and more selective approachs - not to be compared to Hydra or Deep Blue which, on contrary, use most brute force.
My conclusion is chess engines have much to learn from humans yet, we'll see a Rybka 5 and Fritz 13, with much better results against other chess engines, but their results shouldn't increase a lot against the best humans in future. Finally, it will never be a good correspondence chess player :)
My two cents.
If I find time, I'll continue to implement my own chess engine..... but it's a lot of work :/
Elmer Valderrama (2006-12-02 15:31:47)
On the subject of intuition
Just received an e-mail from a known online book dealer inviting me to order the fifth Volume of G Kasparov's My Great Predecessors(about Korchnoi and Karpov).
I had a look at the online pages of the book (first three or so) and there is a paragraph about a proposed (by G K) division of players according to -guess what- intuition:
1) those players without any intuition but hard work (Botvinnik, Fischer..)
2) those with strategical intuition (Capablanca, Petrosian, Karpov..)
3) those with non-balanced positional intuition (Alekhine, Tal, Korchnoi, Kasparov..)
Very interesting reading. I guess we have to place engines in group one ;)
However, I would place Kasparov in the same group one of those without intuition but hard work as the criteria shows that players from that group tend to quit chess earlier (Botvinnik was on/off through his reigning) than the intuitive players who last longer (with Korchnoi the Terrible heading by far the lot)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-12-03 22:10:26)
Google Adsense
Hello to all.
You probably noticed these ads under the search field and on the chat bar.
Google Adsense could work with such a site with more than 24,000 pages viewed per day and constantly increasing, so I try. The idea is quite clear, if Google can sponsorize the server and FICGS championships prizes, they are welcome IMO. Google Adsense is an intelligent system, and adverts are quite relevant.
However, this is a test only ! .. Let's see.
Feel free to tell me what you think, is it unbearable, is it useful ?! .. Thanks for feedback !
Don Groves (2006-12-04 07:46:15)
Go: "Score" function
Hi Thibault. It would be nice to be able to score a Go game at any time it is being viewed. Is this possible to do?
Thibault de Vassal (2006-12-06 18:18:54)
David Bronstein
David Bronstein (February 19, 1924, Bila Tserkva, Ukraine - December 5, 2006, Minsk, Belarus) was not only one of the fathers of anti-computer play, he also drew a challenge match for the title of world champion by a score of 12-12 with Mikhail Botvinnik, the reigning champion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bronstein
He played (and beat) all the first well known chess programs : Rebel, Fritz, Zarkov, Chess player, Deep Thought, Socrates, Saitek Sparc, MChess, Genius, Dark Thought, Deep Blue Jr., XXXX ...
Some of his games - http://www.angelfire.com/on/anticomputer/bronst.html
Mladen Jankovic (2006-12-07 11:32:57)
Question : Waiting lists
Can you temporarily restrict someone from entering waiting lists?
Thibault de Vassal (2006-12-10 16:20:16)
FIDE's world championship format
Quite good news...
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3530
Ok, we'll have a final match between a challenger and the world champion, this is great !
(the worst is avoided)
In future, the challenger should be designated after a multi-stages round-robin tournaments cycle, then a candidates match (original :))
Will it be enough to attract sponsors... In my opinion the candidates match should be played in 6 games at least, and the knockout tournament should be at least 2 or 3 rounds long. Several round-robin tournaments, this looks like correspondence chess format and this is useful when you have many players and few time. I'm not sure it's a good choice for OTB world chess championship... :/
What do you think ?
Thibault de Vassal (2006-12-11 03:58:47)
Portuguese opening
Did you know this one ??
Miguel shows interesting lines in Wikichess... A future challenge for Ilmars ;)
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=wikichess&article=3731
Daniel De Noose (2006-12-13 14:29:26)
Rybka clearly the best ?
This week I have tested Rybka againt 3 others engines.
The parameters :
----------------
Intel Centrino 725 (1,67 Ghz), 64 Mb Hash Tables, games in 10 minutes (+ 2 seconds per move) for each "player", Shredder 9 interface, 20 games' matches, HS-Masterbook Opening book .
The Engines :
-------------
Rybka 2.2 W32, Gambit Fruit 1.0 Beta 4bx, Toga 1.2.1a and Shredder 9.
The Results :
-------------
1) Rybka - Shredder 9 :
15,5 / 4,5 (+13,-2,=5)
2) Rybka - Toga 1.2.1a :
12 / 8 (+8,-4,=8)
3) Rybka - Gambit Fruit :
13,5 / 6,5 (+10,-3,=7)
The comments :
--------------
Rybka seems to be clearly the best for the moment ... I would like to test Rybka against other engines like Fritz 10, Shredder 10, ... but I don't have these engines. Perhaps later... ;-)
Do you have comments about this ?
Yannick Maret (2006-12-15 10:29:25)
Withdraw from WCH waiting list
I registered on the waiting list of FICGS__CHESS__WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP but I would like to retire. How can I do it? The reason, is that I started too many games in another site and cannot afford to play more chess at the moment!
Thanks,
Yannick
Marius Zubac (2006-12-16 02:51:34)
Vacation clock frozen, with 1 exception
Hello Thibault. Before I requested my vacation I have captured all the situation of my running games including the number of days. The clock is frozen for all games except my game 2932 from FICGS_CHESS_CLASS_SM_000002 against Mr. de Silva. Initially it was 51 days. Today I looked again and is 49. Maybe there is a bug somewhere. Please look into it. Thank you. Best whishes for the Holliday season, Marius
Thibault de Vassal (2006-12-16 03:55:35)
Topalov vs. Kramnik v2, is it worth ?
I don't know how many times Kramnik will have to defend his title if challengers provide the money, but I'm quite disappointed with this news of a match scheduled only 6 months after the previous one.
I suggest they organize a match Topalov vs. Deep Fritz 10 (reigning world champion) first...
What do you think ? :)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-12-16 04:45:50)
Last game - Stage 1 / WCH 1
Stage 2 / WCH 1 did not begin yet... one 'undecided' game, take a look at game 1755 !
http://www.ficgs.com/game_1755.html
A double-zeitnot at correspondence chess time control, and an interesting endgame :)
Austin Ferrell (2006-12-16 23:31:37)
What is the best computer chess game?
Someone here should be able to help me out... should I get Deep Fritz 10, Deep Fritz 8 or Deep Shredder 10 (I'm getting a multiprocessor addition).
Thibault de Vassal (2006-12-17 01:38:17)
SEO forums
Hello to all.
You may have noticed new FICGS forums, linked from the Home Page (article follows) and from the bottom links...
http://www.ficgs.com/forums.html
The article : "The most famous game nowadays isn't chess or Go anymore, the game most played for several years is called SEO : Search Engines Optimization. The board is internet, rules are dicted by Google and players are the webmasters. Actually anyone who creates his homepage or a blog is interested at one time on how to get more visitors on his website. The stakes ? Glory or whatever, but first of all : Money, of course... FICGS now has his own SEO forums. Feel free to discuss anything about Google, his famous PageRank, Yahoo! search, MSN live, affiliate programs, AdSense, AdWords and so on... Have good-Google games !"
The idea is not to make this site a portal about everything or anything, of course :) .. But there are many good reasons to add such content to this site, even if it's completely separated.
SEO forums start today... first dedicated to webmasters, feel free to discuss anything about your website and search engines optimization. I'll try to give some advices :)
Best wishes.
Austin Ferrell (2006-12-17 05:01:40)
Accedental waiting list sign-up
I was looking at the waiting lists and I accedentally signed up for a GO Tournament... unfortunatley... I do not play GO...
Pablo Schmid (2006-12-22 01:08:47)
Vacation
"You have x days leave remaining for year 2006" Ca veut dire que le 1er janvier on reçoit tous nos nouveaux jours de vacances?
Thibault de Vassal (2006-12-24 17:25:20)
Karpov, Kasparov, Fischer play Go !
Just read this in IGN "Goama" newsletter (by Alexander Dinerchtein)
http://gogame.info/
"3. Both Karpov and Kasparov, former World Chess Champions plays Go on 10-kyu level."
"4. Somebody noticed, that Robert Fisher, the former Chess champion played Go a lot during his stay in Japan and reached the amateur 3-dan level."
Quite impressive. (particularly Fischer)
Graham Wyborn (2006-12-25 01:22:17)
Can I cancel vacation?
Can I cancel vacation? If so, how.
Ilmars Cirulis (2006-12-26 13:03:05)
Traxler is dead ?!
Here you can see my game with Thibault:
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 5.Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 7.Ke3 Qh4 8.g3 Nxg3 9.hxg3 Qd4+ 10.Kf3 d5 11.Rh4 e4+ 12.Kg2 0-0 13.Bb3 Rxf7 14.Qg1 Qf6 15.Rf4 Qe6 16.Nc3 Qh3+ 17.Kf2 Be6 18.Nxd5 Nd4 19.Rxf7 Bxf7 20.Nf4 Qf5 21.Bxf7+ Qxf7 22.Qd1 g5 23.Qg4 Qf6 24.Kg2 Rf8 25.b3 Nxc2 26.Rb1 Ne1+ 27.Kg1
It is not finished yet. But it looks like a draw.
-- My 16th move was a mistake. Only chance to play for win is 16.d3. -- I could make much better 14th move: 14.Rf4 with possible 14.. Rxf4 15.gxf4 Be6 16.Nc3 Rf8 17.Qh5 g6 18.Qh4. P.S. Hi, Thibault! :D
Miguel Pires (2006-12-26 20:23:46)
Opinion
Is against the rules to ask an opinion about the postion, not the move to make, but an evaluation of the position? Regard's Miguel Pires
Miguel Pires (2006-12-26 21:20:05)
Thematicall Tournaments
Thibault de Vassal i think in the thematical tournaments you should put an double round robin, not only one round. I've played some thematical tournaments and that is what append. Just my opinion Regard's Miguel Pires
Miguel Pires (2006-12-26 23:25:01)
Open challenge
Hello, I'm making an open challenge to all players (from the top to the bottom) in this site to play against me in the Portuguese oppening. Soo if someone accept the challenge please tell me. I play always with withe. To Thibault de Vassal If someone accept can you please setup the games in FICGS? Best Regard's Miguel Pires
Jason Repa (2006-12-27 20:07:53)
Ratings
When is the next rating update expected to occur? Also, How are the ratings calculated? Are there provisional ratings? If so, how many games must be completed until the rating is regular. Thanks, Jason
Thibault de Vassal (2006-12-28 10:47:52)
Cheating : Future is now
An indian player (rated 1900, suddenly 2484) gets ten year ban from FIDE for cheating... Using a bluetooth device stitched into his cap to receive external computer assistance.
Source - http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3573
A new danger for OTB chess... Could suspicion (like Topalov-Kramnik match) kill the game ?
Dinesh De Silva (2006-12-29 18:33:20)
An English translation needed......
Could any Spanish speaking player please translate the following to English? It would be much appreciated: "Estimados amigos, A fin de evitar mayores problemas en vuestra partida, he decidido que ambos jugadores envíen copia de sus mail obligatoriamente a mi dirección hasta el final de la partida. Yo recibiré esos mails y los archivaré en una carpeta especial."
Charlie Neil (2006-12-31 01:02:56)
Blitz Chess on Ficgs
Hello Thibault,"10 moves in one hour". Starting next year. I am intrigued. That would be something! All those dull Sunday afternoon in January and Februuary just crying out for something like this. Tell me more.
Wayne Lowrance (2006-12-31 22:59:37)
Strong players needed
Class A 000012 Tournament needs two more strong player near 2200 to complete the field. Will be nice strong tournament to start 07 Thank you Wayne
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-01 08:43:24)
Web directory
Hello to all.
A new extension (one more) to FICGS...
If you have a website, feel free to submit the url in the web directory to get more links :
http://www.ficgs.com/directory.html
Based on FICGS forums script, you can post your website, review other sites... You just have to create a free account that gives access to SEO (Search Engines Optimization) forums and Web directory.
Note : To create a hypertext link in the directory, just type ie. [url=www.yourdomain.com/page.html]Your site[/url] without http, see help.
Wayne Lowrance (2007-01-01 21:56:33)
draw offers
I wonder if anyone else has had experience where they did not see a draw offer. Apparently this has happened to me. It was unfortunate, as I do not like agrivating my opponents. Maybe a change can be made so that it is very obvious that a draw has been offered. maybe hi-lighting a draw offer placed in a more conspicious place rather down very low. Then again perhaps I am the only careless one here. Wayne
Francesco Laghetti (2007-01-02 14:25:39)
No winner?
Dear FICGS responsible, I would like to know the reason that in the FICGS_CHESS_WCH_STAGE_1_GROUP_09 there is no winner! Thank you very much. Regards, Francesco Laghetti
Wayne Lowrance (2007-01-02 19:47:51)
Tournament Winners update ?
Have they been updated to current ? I dont think so. Regards Wayne
Miguel Pires (2007-01-03 14:20:29)
Elo Question
Hello, For elo calculation what elo the system use, the current or the elo from the start of the tournament?
Wayne Lowrance (2007-01-03 20:49:41)
Game end time stamp
hi Thibault I have found it at times that I would like to know the date of a game result. Is this difficult to implement ? Do u think it is worthwhile. Just an idea Wayne
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-06 14:42:01)
Funny internet games
http://www.dailyhaha.com/_flash/jeu_chiant.swf
So, how much ?
Any other stup.. funny games welcome ! :)
Kieran Child (2007-01-07 12:14:08)
Rating
Would it be possible for the sign-up page to have a feature for entering your rating as a BCF rating rather than FIDE? I'm more used to BCF ratings and had to times it by five and add 80 then subtract 22% of my birthday before entering my rating - 'twould be much easier if the website did it for you.
This is just a suggestion though. I'm aware we're a minority.
Karsten Fyhn (2007-01-07 13:54:27)
Please remove me from the waiting list
Please remove me from the waiting list for FICGS__CHESS__WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP__000002. I am starting two other tournaments elswhere in mid January, so I dont have time for this one. Sorry.
Lawrence Nesko (2007-01-07 14:10:17)
Quick Draw?
Hello, all. In one of the tournaments in which I am playing, a game has been agreed drawn on the third move. I'm not saying that there's anything underhanded about it. But I am trying to understand what would lead to such a situation. I'd appreciate if someone could enlighten me. Are certain openings recognized as nearly certain draws? Could drawng situations be recognized so early in a game? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Barry Bell (2007-01-07 18:50:34)
Association Website
Well, the second phase of development has started and you can visit the Anyone 4 Chess association webpage at http://www.association.anyone4chess.com this is not a online playing site and their are no logins required. It is dedicated to providing information and tool to webmasters and people who may want to become a webmaster of a online chess system. The site is young but we that over the next several months to have enough content to be of value to the new and old webmaster. Thanks
Kieran Child (2007-01-07 21:00:13)
chat
When not logged in, I can see the chat but not post in it. When logged in, I cannot see the chat. I'm probably being a n00b but, could someone help me? thanks :)
Marc Lacrosse (2007-01-08 14:53:13)
My new little chess site ...
... is located at http://chessbazaar.mlweb.info
There will be some computer chess related stuff (opening books, collected ICC games, database processing tips, tests results ...) together with a few games, analyses, and maybe some historical data and so on.
Not that much so far, but I wish and hope that the baby will be growing fast :-)
Marc
Scott Prestwood (2007-01-08 23:56:57)
Zucketort gambit
What is the line for the Zucketort gambit?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-09 14:27:34)
Money in Go game
I just read on AGA e-journal that the top pro Go players (Takao Shinji 9P, Yamashita Keigo 9P, Gu Li 9P, Cho U 9P, Lee Changho 9P, Hane Naoki 9P, Park Jungsang 9P, Lee Sedol 9P...) in 2006 won a total of prizes between 330,000 $ and 750,000 $
Not so bad (I guess) compared to top 10 chess players...
Kieran Child (2007-01-09 16:09:09)
Votes for best game
Is there any way to withdraw a vote? I accidentally voted for one of my games (6131) thinking that I was going to be taken to the best games list.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-10 20:11:09)
Fritz 10, Hiarcs 11 UCI
Did someone try Hiarcs 11 UCI already ? What do you think about this new engine ??
http://www.hiarcs.com
By the way, comments about Fritz 10, Junior 10, Shredder 10 are welcome, are they really better than previous versions ?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-12 09:45:31)
Google videos
A 20-minutes chess film by Krzymowski Chess TV Production about 2005 European Individual Chess Championship in Warsaw, Poland :
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1209188319682979542&q=chess&hl=en
Including interviews with Vassily Ivanchuk, Agnieszka Brustman, Henrik Carlsen, Bartlomiej Macieja, Teimour Radjabov, Baadur Jobava, Sergey Karjakin, Charles Crawford (the British Ambassador), Boris Kutin (President of the European Union), Horst Metzing (Secretary of the German Chess Federation) and last but not least, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony :)
Also to see on Google video : Korchnoi beaten by a cow, Alexandra Kosteniuk playing blitz.....
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2085861679131106209&q=chess&hl=en
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7759628193600089422&q=chess&hl=en
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7831006117106424885&q=chess&hl=en
The history of computer chess (conference, 2 hours and 6 minutes !)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1583888480148765375&q=chess&hl=en
Elmer Valderrama (2007-01-13 11:23:38)
WikiEndings?
..is it feasible? (I'm sure it is, it's just a rhetorical question ;)
I believe endgame theory (and players) would benefit from a endgame section in Wikichess contributed by members taken from their practice, especially if general "rules of thumb" and guidelines are outlined together with analysis. Specially interesting I think would be many-pawn endings and other practical endings which are given poor coverage in the books and are less investigated (and, as it seems, there are always holes in the analysis even from very strong players, there would be a lot of room for improvement of the articles until a general consensus is reached)
Subsections could be created in the lines of the ECO classification for endgames, it would then be easy to find/correct/contribute in a given position.
Any thoughts?
Elmer Valderrama (2007-01-13 12:23:08)
Wikichess, javascript with comments?
(thanks Kieran for your support in the thread "WikiEndings"! hope you'll like this one too :)
Just looked up some lines in Wikichess but I had to go though every move with the browser, not with the javascript cleverly provided to view the line/game so far, to see the contributions from players. However if the comments in the line could be attached to the moves in the javascript it would be great as it would be seen as a "commented game", just a thought.
Wayne Lowrance (2007-01-14 19:59:13)
Draw declared
Is it possible that a draw take place without confirmation, only e-mail that it had taken place ? No cpmplaint intended in this instance. I was just inquiring if it could happen cause otherwise the draw could not be acceptable to me in another circumstance. The game indeed was drawish and my opponent was higher rated,. Thank you Wayne
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-15 12:18:28)
Go : Korean awards
Korean awards 2006
Best player of the year: Lee Sedol, 9-dan
Fighting spirit prize: Seo Bongsu, 9-dan
Best junior master: Paek Hongsuk, 5-dan
Top female prize: Rui Naiwei, 9-dan
Best Korean amateur: U Dongha, 7-dan
Most popular male and female players: Lee Changho, 9-dan and Park Chiun, 6-dan
Korean records 2006
The highest number of wins: Lee Sedol, 9-dan, 78-28
The highest winning percentage: Paek Hongsuk, 5-dan, 77%
The longest winning streak: Lee Sedol, 9-dan, 14 games straight (2.13.2006 -3.21.2006)
From IGN "Goama" newsletter - http://gogame.info
Sandor Marton-Bardocz (2007-01-16 18:29:21)
Conditional Move
Hi there! I noticed that there was a topic regarding conditional moves but it is closed. I think that conditional moves, aren't a bad thing after all..it should be implemented..Just think about the first moves of a game....for now, even the weakest players play theory ( fritz database or something)and this implies that the first moves will be played rather fast...Then why spend time clicking around to get to the games on a starting tournament over&over again, just to play the well known moves? U can overcome the "irritation" issue by limitating the use of conditional moves. Let's say every player has the right to use for example ...10 conditional moves in the begining of the game (in the first 15 moves for example). After that in 10 to 10 moves have let's say 2 possibilities to use conditional moves...This way it's erradicated the annoyance of countless use of premoves. Btw. I think that the example of those players who might use Fritz or whatever chessprogram to play, and then premove the lines indicated by the engine isn't really good..Only if the opponnent against whom they use it ...playes using the same lines indicated by ....an engine :-) Otherwise I can't realise how on earth the replied moves can be the same and matching with....or those lines are really forced..and if that is the case then the use of premoves is normal. Thank You.
Peter Schuster (2007-01-17 04:56:27)
First FICGS WCH
Hello, when starts the semi-finals in the first FICGS WCH knockout tournament? best wishes Peter Schuster
Benjamin Aldag (2007-01-17 11:12:14)
Free funny chess-videolessons ;-)
Hi folks,
after a long journey in vietnam, i am back ;-))
Don't forget to download my latest funny and free video-chesslessons at
http://www.dzindzi.de.vu
cu soon
Benny
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-17 14:26:42)
Correspondence chess & OTB chess
An interesting article by GM Nigel Davies on ChessCafe, a GM's view of this 'other' game :
http://www.chesscafe.com/davies/davies.htm
I hope you enjoyed your games at FICGS even (true) if it takes a lot of time... Also thanks for the link.
Best wishes :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-17 17:59:25)
2nd FICGS chess world championship
Hello to all.
2nd FICGS chess WCH just started only 6 months after the first one and with about 75% players more.
24 tournaments with an elo average from 1620 to 1698, 1 group M (elo average 2363) and 4 quarter final matches in the knockout tournament :
GM Farit Balabaev (2569) - FEM Wolfgang Riemer (2415)
Thibault de Vassal (2514) - FEM Wolgang Utesch (2460)
SM Peter Schuster (2537) - FIM Harry Ingersol (2456)
Wolfgang Kund (2557) - SM Wladyslav Krol (2423)
By seeing the first moves, I predict the 4th quarter final will be a very exciting match with risky games :)
Thanks to all for enjoying these tournaments, I wish you good games and may the best player win !
http://www.ficgs.com/category__ficgs__chess__wch.html
WCH waiting list will stay open during next months for eventual replacements.
Wayne Lowrance (2007-01-17 18:53:15)
Wch Stage 1 group 15 00001
What is next for the winners of WCH stage winners. ? The above group now has a winner (me). What is next ? Sorry, I have to ask, I don't think I understand the formats yet. Thank you Wayne
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-17 23:59:52)
Chess engines ratings
Some useful links about ratings and statistics for all well known chess engines : Rybka (2.2, 2.1 ..), Deep Fritz 10, Deep Shredder 10, Deep Junior 10, Hiarcs 11, Zap!Chess paderborn, Loop 10.32, Toga II, Fruit 2.2, Glaurung 1.2, Spike 1.2, Smarthink, Naum 2.0, Ktulu 8.0, CM9000, CM10th, Fritz 9, Chess Tiger 15, Chess Tiger 2007, Ruffian 2.1, List 11 and many others...
http://computerchess.org.uk/ccrl/4040/rating_list_all.html
http://www.husvankempen.de/nunn/40_120_ratinglist/ratinglist/rangliste.html
http://web.telia.com/~u85924109/ssdf/list.htm
Hossein Dabbaghyan (2007-01-18 02:10:52)
how can I play in the "class tournament"
Hi I would like to play in the class tournament here on Ficgs....how can I enter this tournament and start playing? I appreciate any help....
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-18 11:58:31)
Titles update from FIDE / ICCF / IECG
Hello to all.
A reminder : "It is possible to update the best title obtained from FIDE, ICCF or IECG just by sending an email to FICGS."
Rule 11.8 - http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#rating
I just updated titles from IECG for Dinesh de Silva (FIM), Harry Ingersol (FIM) and Wolfgang Riemer (FEM). Congrats :)
Wayne Lowrance (2007-01-19 00:25:10)
Nigel davies
http://www.chesscafe.com/davies/davies.htm This very interesting link provided here on FICS is good reading "chess Cafe" The article by Nigel is very interesting and informing. I find it very interesting that he uses Fritz as his analysis partner here on Fics. Speaks volumes for Fritz I think. I have had Fritzies for long long time starting with Fritz5, and have learned a lot that has helped me with OTB as with Nigel. I would love to find out what Nigel thinks about the latest releases of other chess engines. Sad to hear him say he no longer has time for coorespondence chess. The loss is mine and all of you. Wayne
Barry Bell (2007-01-19 03:13:05)
Chess Ring
Hello I have already announced the new chess association located at http://www.association.anyone4chess.com however, I also wanted to mention the new chess ring located at http://www.chessring.anyone4chess.com even though the ring is only available to webmasters that run online chess systems, there is an optional link section that is available to any chess player that would like to advertise (place a link) to their chess website. Thanks
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-19 11:41:07)
FICGS login & registration problems
Hello to all.
It seems there are some login, password recovery & registration problems for a few players. I'm looking for an explanation...
Some can't register without getting message "please enter the correct number" while they did enter it, so it may be a format problem for numbers. (in this case please write to the email at the bottom of the page)
If you failed to obtain a new password that works with password recovery, just try once more and it will 'most probably' work.
Really strange... I'm inquiring.
An example : "Although I got a new password I was not able to use my account from my PC!-So I decided to log in from my colleague´s one and it worked - I don´t know why."
So some computers could send a format for numbers that the program does not recognize yet. (?!)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-19 16:06:35)
Best chess forums
It could be useful to know which chess forums we like best and are active in...
My favourite ones (english) :
TCCMB
http://pub11.bravenet.com/forum/924995304
Talkchess
http://www.talkchess.com/
Yours ?
Spiros Lois (2007-01-21 12:09:13)
rank explanation
what are the SM, FEM, FIM ranks in some players in the rating list? i only know GM = grandmaster IM = international master
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-21 13:48:44)
Go and chess, IGN Goama newsletter
From IGN Goama newsletter by Alexander Dinerchtein - http://www.gogame.info
Go and Chess Two Games, Shared Experiences
Chess and go show are similar in many ways, yet it's always strange to see how the masters of each game try to "invent the wheel", instead of benefiting from the knowledge of their colleagues.
Let's consider sharing experiences!
These ideas can be useful even for strong Asian Go professionals:
1. Currently, only a few pros use Go databases and programs for studying. It is easy to find commentaries, written by 9-dan masters, which state that a move is new and has never been played before. Yet if one checks such moves in Go databases, one can sometimes find up to 100 examples from professional games. How can they cheat the readers who study these commentaries?
Once in Korea, I showed the Bigo Assistant program (similar to GoGod, MoyoGo and SmartGo) to Lee Sedol's brother Lee Sanghun, 5-dan, who is the director of a large children's Go school. He was surprised and said that the program looked very useful, and he added that he had never met this kind of program before. He even suggested deleting all amateur games and games played on Go servers, because of their low quality. I promised to order the programs and to install them on the school's computers if he liked this idea, but he did not follow up. Lee Sanghun, 5-dan was not able to break the traditions of his forefathers …
2. Even such top chess players as Kasparov, Kramnik and Topalov enlist the support of trainers during important tournaments and matches. During the Communist era, almost every Russian grandmaster worked on behalf of world championship candidates. Our government forced them to help, to show them new moves and ideas. Those who refused to help were punished severely: for example, sometimes a player would be prohibited from playing in tournaments abroad and would be refused foreign visas.
We do not see this in Go. Everyone thinks only about his or her own self. Do you know who is currently assisting Lee Changho? I don't know, either!
3. I would like to say a few words about playing technique. Chess players often used to write the move on paper first and then make it on the board. This helps to avoid impulsive moves and to prevent blunders. Go masters record the game afterwards, and so one can often find terrible mistakes, such as overlooking ataris and recapturing ko without playing a ko threat first. As an example you may see Black's move number 271 from this game: http://www.go4go.net/v2/modules/collection/sgfview.php?id=10828 I am sure that if a player looked at their move at least twice before they write it on paper and after they would not make such mistakes.
4. Even top Go tournaments are usually run by the knock-out system so we often see sensational results. Mightn’t it be reasonable to think about increasing the number of games in each round? If rounds were best-of-three (in case of time constraints, it would be possible to use blitz time controls for the third game), it would help to minimize sensations.
How about organising a definitive World Go Championship? Chess players have contested one for more than 100 years, and competitions for this World Championship have revealed the very best players of each generation. In Go it's harder to tell which player is true champion. In 2006, for instance, one international tournament was won by Lee Changho and another one by Lee Sedol, while Cho U won the largest amount of prize money. Whom can we call the World Champion? Who can say which tournament is the most important : LG, Samsung, Fujitsu, Chunlan or another? We don't even have a unified rating system …
If we determined a single World Go Champion, he might earn the same degree of popularity as Garry Kasparov achieved in chess, and this could have a very positive influence on Go popularity around the world!
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-21 14:31:00)
Chess ratings
Hello to all.
I have been submitted this case :
"Rating system: Look at this situation: Current rating ot the player: 2200, 10 games, all players with TER 2200, result 9=, 1+ Case 1: Finished games: 01.01-28.02: 9= --> New rating 01.03: 2200 01.03., no other finished games in this period: --> New rating 01.05: 2228 Case 2: Finished games 01.01-28.02: 9=, 1+ --> New rating 01.03: 2200 --> New rating 01.03. 2214 In case 1 the value of the won game was 28, in case two it was 14. IMO the value of a result should not depend from the number of games you finish in a period. The value of a result only should depend on the rating of both players that they have at the start (preferable) or at the finish date of the game and the result. And the rating formula should be like NewRating = LastRating + SumOfAllValuesOfFinishedGamesInThisPeriod. That's the way (idea) IECG is computing the ratings."
This result looks quite normal to me as a player's level may increase as time passes. Rating calculations are done after periods long enough to avoid big differences... I don't know if you're right about IECG rating calculation, FICGS ratings seem to evolve quicker and I think it's best. By the way this system is used by several chess federations.
Best wishes.
Michael Finkelstein (2007-01-22 08:39:51)
problems with playback --
Whenever I play back a game and hit the move button, the computer screen drops down a quarter of a page and I have to move the screen up to get to the move buttons. I use firefox as my browser I came here from playing a lot at queen alice. That site has an easier to use and more informative interface. For instance, allowing me to download my games in progress all at once instead of one at a time; also, have a light by the name of a player to indicate he is online; a buddy list, etc.
Michael Aigner (2007-01-22 17:44:52)
Stage 2 FICGS chess world championship
Does somebody know when stage 2 of the championship is starting? Is there something to do for the qualified players (winners of stage 1) to enroll for stage 2? Have a nice day Michael
Dan Rotaru (2007-01-22 22:13:20)
WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP Waiting list
Hello. I registered on the waiting list for FICGS__CHESS__WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP__000002 on January 17 so I assume I am on for replacements during next month. However there are quite a few people before me on the waiting list so I am not sure what my chances to play are. Would it be possible to predict if I can play? I would like to start another tournament by I don’t want to have the surprise to have too many games at once. Or will it be wise to wait? Thank you! BTW. I really enjoy this site :-).
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-23 12:27:06)
Famous chess games
Hello to all.
I am testing a new database which will contain famous chess games / games from famous chess players... World championships, Man vs. Machine, Computer games, Correspondence chess, Curiosities etc.. Now 2200+ games in, but it will grow quickly.
Feel free to suggest any link with interesting free chess database, or you may send to me PGN games (particularly looking for non-chess celebrities chess games).
http://www.ficgs.com/informations.html
(see A-Z)
All suggestions & feedback are welcome. Thanks in advance :)
Dan Rotaru (2007-01-24 16:42:19)
Suggestion for rating period
I would suggest that the rating period to be monthly instead of every 2 months. I understand the reason for longer periods between calculation being to avoid big differences but 2 months seems a little bit too long for me. I have noticed that some players with high provisional ratings or who started with high provisional ratings still have a much higher rate after they lost all or almost all their games, and players which started with, let’s say, standard 1400 still have lower ratings even they won all the games. And there is no such a difference between the Elo average of the opponents. My point is that a monthly period will increase the dynamic of the ratings and eventually will lead to a much realistic overall ratings and why not to a more challenging environment.. Of course the number of games played will have the biggest impact on re-adjusting the ratings based on results, but a month period will help for example a player to obtain a higher TER sooner and eventually play on a higher ELO bracket tournament. The other reason is that I believe many players will want to see how their rating evolves and a month seems more reasonable. As I said it is just a suggestion, others may not agree with me. Thanks, Dan
Mladen Jankovic (2007-01-25 15:58:46)
Horrible players wanted ;)
Horrible players wanted to start the Class G tournament no. 10.
We'll also take anyone whose rating currently sucks, n00bs, and generaly just anyone who has ELO rating 1200 or less.
Miguel Pires (2007-01-26 21:36:21)
Scandinavian defense
Hi, I wana sugest a new thematical tournament: 1. e4 d5; 2. exd5 Nf6 I think is called the Portuguese atack in the scandinavian defense. What you think?
Phil Cook (2007-01-26 22:47:41)
chat box
Just notice,its missing or is it unavailable?
Anton Schellen (2007-01-28 19:02:46)
holiday
Hi, I thought, the max. holiday for a year is 30 days??? How can a player to take holiday more as 30 days (see tournament E 0000014) !!!! A. Schellen
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-28 19:34:00)
Rybka 2.2 vs. Fritz 10
Harry Schnapp organized a 6 games match between Rybka 2.2 and Fritz 10 on DUAL XEON 5160 (4x3000Mhz), the same computer Fritz 10 played and won against Vladimir Kramnik.
Rybka : 5,5 - Fritz : 0,5
http://perso.orange.fr/lefouduroi/tournois/tournois66.htm
All details and article in German / French.
Now look at the games...
What do you think ?
Benjamin Aldag (2007-01-29 11:51:07)
Without computer !
Hi, it would be nice, to have some tournaments, where it is not allowed, to use computer-assistence. And it would be great, to have list of players, which dont use computer-assistence. Since my comeback here, i dont use an engine for my games and i can say, it makes more fun ! ;-) yk
Ron Keyston (2007-01-29 15:54:26)
German Translation?
Can I get a german speaking member to translate a couple of lines of text for me? Hattest Du seine mail mit der Datenbank bekommen? Viele Grüße and Nein, ich habe keine Datenbank von ihm. Thank you for your help, Ron
Ron Keyston (2007-01-29 17:27:38)
"Major" Deep Fritz 10 Bug
I've confirmed this problem on two different computers with completely different hardware and different operating systems. I've also sent the problem off to Chessbase, but have not yet gotten much of a response. If anyone else has Deep Fritz 10, would you mind giving this a try and reporting back with your results? Also, if anyone has the non-Deep version of Fritz 10, I'd be interested in knowing if it is also affected by this problem.
Input a game into Deep Fritz 10 and get to a point in the game where it is possible for black to castle long. Now save the game into a database, close the game and then open it back up from the database. If you either turn on infinite analysis, or just try to make the move, black is not able to castle long...Fritz assumes that it is an illegal move.
Furthermore, if you castle long BEFORE saving the game into the database, then save it and re-open it, then go to the position after black has castled queenside and turn on infinite analysis, the analysis is "messed up." Either the analysis text is invisible, or it reports impossible lines, or the evaluation score is very obviously wrong. This should be enough info for anyone to give the test a try, but if you want some specific examples, please let me know.
Ron
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-31 00:09:34)
Rybka secret
An interesting (even if totally wrong) article about Rybka's strength and particularly his results against Deep Fritz on Rybka forum.net .. A computer gate, is Rybka cheating ? :)
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=90
Rybka forum - http://www.rybkaforum.net
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-31 18:21:40)
1.e4 c5 2.f4 d5 3.Nf3
This is the line for the next chess thematic tournament :
http://www.ficgs.com/tournament_FICGS__CHESS__THEMATIC_TOURNAMENT__000023.html
A line played several times here already by SM Wladyslav Krol, and a really interesting opening that produced the current 'best game' :
http://www.ficgs.com/game_864.html
Does anyone know a name for this opening, or may I call it "Krol attack" :)
Anyway, it should be a spectacular tournament !
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-31 19:58:17)
Zap! Chess Zanzibar
... this is the last version of the chess engine, Anthony Cozzie said on Talkchess forum :
http://216.25.93.108/forum/viewtopic.php?topic_view=threads&p=91793&t=10956
By the way, his reasons are quite interesting.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-02-07 00:52:58)
Rybka 2.3
An interesting thread about Rybka 2.3 (should be available on february 12) and his new features, described by Vasik Rajlich. In a few words : stronger, new chess knowledge, better search algorithm, better positional play, bug fixes and an interesting feature called "randomizer" :
Quote : "You can put Rybka into a mode where she will play against herself over and over from the same position without repeating variations - she will systematically explore the space of possibilities in the variation, branching from the previous games at later and later points. It's an effective way to get a Monte-Carlo-based evaluation of a position."
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=180
Thibault de Vassal (2007-02-07 18:26:15)
Illya Nyzhnyk
Younger and younger...
The new chess phenomenon seems to be this young boy, Illya Nyzhnyk (birthdate 27.09.1996). He just won Moscow open B (8,5/9 - perf 2633 !)
Impresssive, what do you think ?
http://www.dril-chess.com/
Simultaneous video
http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DbGwDRgVOhZs
Article from Scacchierando
http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=890
Charlie Neil (2007-02-08 09:32:48)
Why I play here.
Reading the forum postings as I do everytime I log on, I have noted that we are a diverse group here at Ficgs. For that reason I thought I would make my statement of intent. "Why I play here." 1. It is Free. I am Scottish and that is that! 2. I like the 7 player single pairing groups. 3. I know zero about chess and computers but I think I am learning something just by reading the Forum. 4. As I said a diverse group of people play chess here but in many ways it is similar to being at an OTB club, well at least as I remember them. All different types united by one game. 5. Chess is fun but what else can make you so happy when a scheme comes together in victory and what other game can have you rocking back and forth in your chair making you doubt every decision you have ever made. And all in the time it takes to click from one game to another. 6. I wonder how long it will be now before Thibault gets fed-up with us whinging, complaining and not appreciating his hard work! (Thibault just once tell someone complaining person to go and .....!) Maybe not.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-02-10 03:08:52)
Rybka, Fritz and future...
Computerchess is definitely an exciting challenge... The community is fast-growing, new versions of chess engines appear every day, many dream to be the next Vasik Rajlich and to produce an engine that would beat the well-known Chessbase engines and the famous Rybka.
These days, I had a look at Fruit 2.1, TogaII and Crafty source code that are available to download, and started to implement new search & evaluation functions. It's quite easy to understand why chess programming is so addictive, so much done and so much to do... finally I did not enter this mad race without an ending, probably for the same reasons Anthony Cozzie (the author of Zap! Chess Zanzibar) and many others retired.
However here are my feelings about future of chess engines, and the fight that just started between most probably Chessbase engines (Fritz, Shredder, Junior and Hiarcs) and a new era of chess engines that started with Rybka...
First, it's quite obvious to me that Rybka (now Rybka 2.3) is only another one of a long series of chess engines always stronger than each others ! .. I expect the next ones to reach 50, 100 then 200 points more (and maybe more) on the next chess engines elo rating lists, a scale that definitely can't be compared to human elo rating list ! .. Several reasons to this : (1) Chess engines are human killers at standard time controls, but chess engines are far to play perfect chess yet. (2) The way ratings are calculated.
Rybka taught us several things IMO :
- Algorithms and evaluation functions are no more enough. Now chess engines have to play chess, not only search a tree of chess positions... That's probably what Rybka brought to computerchess. Since Fruit 2.1 & Toga II source code is available, and computerchess community is constantly discussing improvements in algorithms, evaluations of positions and new ideas, to implement a chess engine becomes easier so I have no doubt that new very strong chess engines like Rybka will come.
- To become famous, a chess engine must 'also' beat his rivals. I first thought that Rybka was designed to be an engines killer only (at least before to be an analysis tool) with some tricks exploiting most engines weaknesses. No, Rybka is also a great UCI engine, simply stronger and with many options & features. Like Vasik Rajlich, who is engineer and international chess master, you'll have not only to think like an engineer to create such an engine. However I still don't think it is the best analysis tool for correspondence chess, it doesn't play really better chess and in all cases it is not enough. More, Rybka 3, 4, 5 shouldn't influence correspondence chess (maybe even human vs. machine) much... Computerchess influences computerchess first.
It's written sometimes that the strongest chess engines could reach a IM, even GM level at correspondence chess. I definitely disagree with that, at least for the moment (it will take a long time yet), but as chess engines results tend to approach correspondence chess ones (means more and more draws), I do think chess engines have much to learn from correspondence chess players way of thinking, meaning : A more psychological approach, bonus for traps detection. Evaluate moves, not only positions. A more complex search, not 'only' iterative (brute force is definitely useless). No more anti-human style, speculative moves (=weakness, ie. Deep Junior) for speculative results against strongest chess engines, draws are prefered. To avoid positions not understood by the engine. Longer games, closed games (if supported)... Opening books should look like correspondence chess GMs ones (of course according to the engine's style of play) and no more been made of FIDE GM games. A better time management... Future of computerGo may teach to computerchess about some evaluations.
A chess engine must play good moves AND try to win (which is not always the same). It seems Fruit & Rybka play solid and are waiting to exploit their opponent's weaknesses thanks to a better "chess" algorithm/knowledge. As far as I have seen, Shredder & Fritz still have the best 'eye', they see far but fuzzy. Quite the same about Fruit & Toga developped by a great engineer, Fabien Letouzey : Less chess knowledge but an improved algorithm. As for Rybka, a great chess knowledge and probably a smarter algorithm (not better, smarter !) were probably enough already. The future best chess engines will be made by good chess players...
An interesting point is it could be not so easy, maybe even nonsense, to create the best analysis tool that would also obtain the best results against other chess engines. My first prediction is Rybka won't be the top rated chess engine ever, hundreds of new ideas will appear in all parts of chess programming, slowly breaking Rybka secrets, then speed will be a factor again. Deep Fritz, Junior, Fruit or Hydra are most probably the core of the next generations of chess engines... but there's a lot of work yet :)
My two cents.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-02-10 15:58:56)
King's indian
Radjabov's good score in Corus 2007 tournament (Wijk aan Zee) gave a second youth to King's indian after Kasparov dropped it about ten years ago. Chessbase now sells a dvd by ex-FIDE world champion Kasimdhzanov.
I still consider this opening as a good OTB weapon, but what do you think about it in modern correspondence chess, particularly after the nice victories by Christophe Léotard during last ICCF world championship.
I think it could be interesting to discuss this opening, why not in Wikichess... What would you play after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 (9.Ne1 and 9.b4) ?
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=wikichess&article=4156
Thibault de Vassal (2007-02-11 16:42:09)
Topalov suspected
Investigations to come. FIDE & ACP, Pavel Tregubov accusations...
Is Silvio Danailov the 'teddy bear' of Topalov ? :)
The whole story :
http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=741182
Really strange to see Veselin Topalov under attack the same way Vladimir Kramnik was.. by him. To be continued.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-02-13 11:14:43)
Funny video
Have a look at this video posted on Chessbase news !
"The truly universal simultaneous master"
Really funny :)
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3665
Dan Rotaru (2007-02-16 00:32:00)
Rating list
I think it would be nice to have a second rating list for established ratings. I have noticed that there are quite many players in the actual rating list who haven’t played yet a single game on FICGS. This list would also give an accurate picture of how many players are actually playing. Maybe this list can be implemented when the list will be updated at the beginning of March? Thanks, Dan
Thibault de Vassal (2007-02-17 12:26:13)
Les échecs en France
Here is the agreement just signed by the ministry of education and the french chess federation - fédération française des échecs (F.F.E.)
This should help to promote chess in France.
CONVENTION-CADRE
Établie entre les soussignés :
L'État - Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche représenté par Monsieur Gilles de Robien, ministre, ci-dessous dénommé " le Ministère "
et
La Fédération française des échecs représenté par Monsieur Jean-Claude Moingt, président, ci-dessous dénommé " la Fédération "
Rappelant
Que le jeu d'échecs, activité à la fois ludique et sportive, constitue aussi et surtout une activité intellectuelle qui permet de développer des compétences diverses chez ceux qui le pratiquent, et notamment chez les jeunes auprès de qui il constitue un réel vecteur de formation ;
Que la pratique des échecs encourage notamment le développement des capacités intellectuelles telles que la mémoire, le raisonnement logique, la capacité d'abstraction, l'analyse de problème et la mise en oeuvre de stratégies de résolution ;
Que la pratique des échecs contribue également à la construction de la personnalité en encourageant l'attention, l'imagination, l'anticipation, le jugement et la confiance en soi ;
Que le jeu d'échecs, école de concentration et de maîtrise de la pensée, est enfin une école de maîtrise de soi qui favorise l'apprentissage des règles et le respect d'autrui, et à ce titre participe de l'apprentissage de la citoyenneté ;
Considérant
Que, pour toutes ces raisons, le jeu d'échecs constitue un complément légitime et pertinent des activités éducatives proposées par l'Ecole ;
Que de nombreuses expériences menées en académies ont permis de mettre en oeuvre des projets de qualité associant des établissements scolaires et des clubs d'échecs dans un cadre réfléchi et concerté entre les parties concernées ;
Que ces initiatives ont permis de développer des pratiques et des outils permettant une exploitation du jeu d'échecs dans un cadre scolaire et/ou périscolaire ;
Il a été convenu ce qui suit :
Article 1 - Objectifs
Par la présente convention le Ministère et la Fédération affirment leur volonté commune de favoriser le développement de la pratique du jeu d'échecs dans les écoles, les collèges et les lycées. Ils se donnent comme objectifs la mise en oeuvre de deux axes de travail privilégiés :
- le jeu d'échecs au service de l'égalité des chances, l'expérience montrant que la pratique des échecs peut constituer pour des élèves en difficulté scolaire une occasion privilégiée de se remotiver et de se remettre sur la voie de la réussite scolaire ;
- la dimension éducative du jeu d'échecs auprès du plus grand nombre, en favorisant la transférabilité des acquis entre les pratiques ludiques et les situations d'apprentissage.
Article 2 - Egalité des chances
Le Ministère et la Fédération conviennent de développer l'accès de la pratique des échecs auprès des publics scolaires qui en sont les plus éloignés pour des raisons sociales ou géographiques. Le partenariat portera en particulier sur des actions impliquant :
- les collèges " ambition réussite ", qui visent à offrir un cadre d'excellence à des publics scolaires confrontés aux plus grandes difficultés socio-économiques. La contribution de la Fédération consistera notamment en mise à disposition de matériel (ludique et/ou pédagogique), en actions de sensibilisation ou de formation organisées dans le cadre des établissements concernés, en appariements des collèges avec des clubs de proximité ou encore en parrainage de certains collèges par des joueurs de haut niveau recommandés par la Fédération.
- l'opération " Ecole ouverte ", qui accueille les jeunes dans les EPLE pendant les vacances scolaires pour leur proposer des activités de loisirs à visée éducative. Parce qu'il conjugue les dimensions ludique et formatrice, le jeu d'échecs correspond bien à l'esprit de ce dispositif qui contribue à modifier l'image de l'école auprès des jeunes.
- les dispositifs relais (classes et ateliers), qui accueillent temporairement des élèves en voie de décrochage ou de désocialisation. La pratique des échecs peut permettre à ces jeunes de reprendre goût à l'activité intellectuelle, tout en leur inculquant le respect des règles et de l'autre.
Article 3 - Action éducative
De façon plus générale, le Ministère et la Fédération conviennent d'encourager la connaissance et la pratique des échecs auprès du plus grand nombre. A ce titre, ils pourront notamment :
- développer la pratique des échecs dans le cadre des activités péri-scolaires au sein des internats scolaires, des clubs et des foyers socio-éducatifs, en partenariat avec les clubs locaux.
- mettre en place des actions de sensibilisation et/ou de formation dans les écoles et les établissements volontaires, en rapprochant les équipes éducatives et les clubs selon des modalités à préciser entre les partenaires concernés : enseignement et pratique dans le temps scolaire ou périscolaire, projets thématiques fédérateurs s'appuyant sur les dispositifs transversaux, opérations d'information et d'animation, tournois scolaires à l'échelle d'une ville ou d'un bassin, etc.
- développer des ressources en co-édition, en lien avec le réseau des CRDP et des CDDP (sites Internet de jeu pour les écoles, dépliants de présentation, outils pédagogiques, etc.).
Article 4 - Contribution des partenaires
La Fédération française des échecs s'engage à apporter aux écoles, collèges et lycées qui en font la demande une aide en matériel ou en ressources diverses (publications, outils pédagogiques etc.). Dans le cas d'actions spécifiques conduites au sein des établissements dans les temps scolaire ou périscolaire, les cadres qualifiés de la Fédération ou de ses organes déconcentrés devront avoir reçu un accord préalable du Ministère et/ou de ses services déconcentrés ; ils pourront apporter des aides techniques ponctuelles auprès des enseignants qui en feront la demande après avoir pris l'avis des corps d'inspection.
De son côté, le Ministère s'engage à diffuser, par le biais de son réseau de communication et de diffusion ainsi que par l'intermédiaire de ses services déconcentrés, l'information nécessaire à la mise en oeuvre de ce partenariat.
Article 5 - Communication
L'application du présent accord-cadre peut donner lieu à des déclarations et communications aux médias par chacun des partenaires, lesquels conviennent de se concerter préalablement.
Article 6 - Mise en oeuvre et suivi
Les partenaires conviennent de se réunir au moins une fois par an pour examiner les conditions de mise en œuvre de l'accord-cadre et dresser un état des lieux des actions entreprises sur la période de l'année écoulée.
Article 7 - Durée
La présente convention est signée pour une durée de trois ans à compter de la date de la signature. A l'issue de ces trois années un bilan global permettra de faire le point sur l'évolution des pratiques à l'école, au collège et au lycée et d'étudier sur cette base les termes du renouvellement de la convention. Elle peut être résiliée par l'une ou l'autre des parties, à l'expiration d'un délai de trois mois suivant l'envoi d'une lettre recommandée avec accusé de réception valant mise en demeure.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-02-17 13:41:03)
Tablebases 7 pieces
I've read that Nalimov ending tablebases 7-pieces should be completed in 2012 ...
Quite impressive, it should enlighten many interesting endgames.
Charlie Neil (2007-02-17 15:36:41)
Gameknot Match
What's the score now? And are there any challanges to others sites planned? I enjoyed the visit to gameknot. Put me down for any other inter-site challanges.
Tom Hodges (2007-02-17 19:02:17)
Go features
Most servers have a button for Send and Go To Next Game Can this be added here? Also for Go games it is vital to display the # of prisoners taken. A game may go up to 300 moves and the score may be within a few points. Since the server doesnt do a fimal score, we need to see the # of prisoners.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-02-18 00:05:00)
Morelia Linares 2007
Super-GM tournament of Morelia-Linares starts... with Topalov, Ivanchuk, Leko, Morozevich, Svidler, Carlsen, Anand and Aronian.
Will Topalov be affected by rumors ?
Let's see who will make the best predictions ? :)
My final standings :
1. Aronian, 2. Topalov, 3. Leko, 4. Anand, 5. Svidler, 6. Morozevich, 7. Ivanchuk, 8. Carlsen
Thibault de Vassal (2007-02-18 19:14:30)
ICCF champions league
Hello to all.
While looking for interesting challenges that could take place here at FICGS (ie. simultaneous games at standard time control by a FIDE / ICCF IM-GM, or team challenges against other servers), Valer Eugen Demian (ICCF) suggested we build a team that could play in the next ICCF champions league... If we can build a team, why not ?
Rules of the event (taking place on ICCF server) are here :
http://tables.iccf.com/email/ChLeague/2004/season1faq.htm
What do you think ? .. Did anyone play this tournament already ?
Lazaro Munoz (2007-02-21 15:28:24)
Go suggestion
The one thing that is missing and I think is essential is the count of stones that have been captured by each side. I know I could just count what is left on the board but near the end it becomes very tedious. --laz
Nicola Lupinacci (2007-02-21 16:04:25)
Standing suggestion
It's possible to see standings with winner of tournament in first position followed by the second, the third, etc etc? It will be great! thanks thibault for this beautifull chess server! and sorry for my bad english :-)
Nicola Lupinacci (2007-02-23 20:45:40)
The best chess player of history
Who is the best player of history?
From 1500 to 2007, who is for you the strongest?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-02-25 13:23:18)
Big Chess
Finally, Big Chess tournaments waiting list is open !
If you like to play without chess engines and against human players only, you may try this really interesting variant of chess. (unrated games)
Have a look at these Big Chess events by clicking 'Tournaments', then 'FICGS__CHESS__SPECIAL_EVENTS' :
FICGS__BIG_CHESS__THOUSAND_MEMBERS_EVENT
FICGS__BIG_CHESS__INAUGURAL_MATCH
Have good big chess games :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-03 13:32:43)
FIDE world championship, Mexico
Here is the decision of the FIDE President (Kirsan Ilyumzhinov) in respect of the World Chess Championship cycle :
http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=1277
Now if Kramnik wins in Mexico, Topalov will play his match against him... But if Kramnik loses his title, he (Kramnik) will play a match against the winner.
Conclusion : Topalov will support Kramnik in Mexico :)
Kim Peters (2007-03-03 13:41:34)
Suggestion : Analysis board
forgive me if this has been mentioned before but i think the one thing this site is missing, and the one thing that would take it from being a very nice site to a GREAT one is an analysis board. one of the advantages CC has over OTB chess is the ability to move the pieces around and see how a position will play out 5,6 10 moves down the line. yes we have the "review" board, which is nice to see where you've been but we need something to see also where we are going.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-03 17:12:57)
Rybka 2.3.1
Rybka 2.3.1 beta is available, Rybka 2.3.2 is announced, quite hard to follow Vasik Rajlich's work day after day :) .. Rybka forum is very active and it seems Rybka 2.3.1 is the strongest Rybka and the strongest chess engine today !
I hope Fritz, Junior, Shredder and Hiarcs authors are working hard...
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=472#fp
Samy Ould Ahmed (2007-03-03 19:40:48)
5th Freestyle tournament
I'm playing in this tournament in the chessbase server, very difficult tournament with a fast time controle 1h+15 for the game. After 4 rounds I scored 2 points. 5th round at 8 p.m. today.
Nicola Lupinacci (2007-03-06 12:39:26)
Follow a game move after move
Is it possible to follow a game move after move?
i.e.: is it possible to receive an email (or something else) when players make a move in the game i want to follow?
sorry for my bad english :-)
Khaled Toutaoui (2007-03-08 18:18:52)
do you know this sicilian...
in one of my games i play with the blacks and after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 i played 4... e6 so e6!? or e6?! what do you think...my opponent played after that 5.e5 Nd5 6.Ne4 Qc7 7.f4 Bb7 8.c4 Bb4+ 9.Ke2...and what do you think about the position...thanx a lot for all..:)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-09 15:11:18)
Kingston Defense !
While looking at links poiting to FICGS.com, I found this Wikipedia article and realized that one of the Kingston Defense's fathers was among us :)
http://www.ficgs.com/wikichess_3670.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Defence
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavin_Wilson
"Crack the Frutch : How to play the Kingston Defense"
.. by Gavin Wilson. ISBN 0-9514103-0-X
The opening is fully commented in Wikichess by Gavin... Quite funny :)
By the way, this opening looks interesting ! .. I just launched a thematic tournament. Thanks for all your comments in Wikichess, Gavin :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-09 16:53:11)
GM Ehlvest vs. Rybka
A strange match happened between FIDE GM Jaan Ehlvest (2610) and Rybka, with White playing with 7 pawns in all games...
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=519
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=564
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-11 01:36:31)
Your best quotes :)
I just read a great "quote" written by one of my opponents... :)
You saw these quotes about chess, Go and other subjects while playing your moves, actually you probably saw all of them already, so I'd like to gather your favourite quotes here, I'll add the best ones in the file !
Don't hesitate to submit your own ideas ;)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-12 12:37:20)
A new computer Go era ?
It seems a new computer Go era just started...
http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSL2053348420070221?pageNumber=1
Quote : "The 19 by 19 board which top players use is still hard for a machine, but the new method is promising because it makes better use of the growing power of computers than earlier Go software."
Quite strange to read about the growing power of computers regarding Go... I suppose programs have much to learn first.. We will see :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-12 15:31:09)
Major update : SSL encryption forms
Hello to all.
This is the last major update before money tournaments can start...
Now you can login through SSL encryption forms, meaning the best security to prevent hacking.
You should use SSL encryption forms only to browse the whole site with HTTPS, particularly if you wish to enter money tournaments later... It is also strongly recommended to change your password regularly (at least 8 characters, numbers & letters is best).
Thus you should always see HTTPS:// before the url after you login.
Feel free to follow this link for more advices about security & phishing :
http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#security
FICGS now uses SSL data encryption, hash functions and a bunch of other security features...
4 login forms is a lot but thus anyone can connect, even with browsers that doesn't support HTTPS and Javascript.
Also a few minor bug fixes and improvements, komi updated in .SGF files, reinforced hash functions, last connection date displayed in profile and so on...
All feedbacks are welcome :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-13 00:37:20)
FIDE about time controls
This topic, very discussed in Correspondence Chess forums (see TCCMB), is also debated in FIDE. We may play games with 1 hour + 10 seconds time control in future open tournaments...
http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=1288
Any opinion ?
Don Groves (2007-03-13 06:55:09)
Login timeout is sometimes too quick.
Hi Thibault -- I was just typing a long response to a Forum article and when I tried to preview what I had written, I got the dreaded "Try again" message. My login had apparently expired and when I logged in again, all my typing was gone! Is it possible to extend the period of inactivity before we are automatically logged out so this is less likely to happen?
Elmer Valderrama (2007-03-13 18:43:31)
Why isn't there a Chessbase forum?!
..any ideas?
The best I can think of is...they would definitely benefit from one..or maybe not -and that's why there isn't any ;)
Example, we could learn about CB freestyle tournaments impressions there, or about performance of programs, or about recommended books, DVDs, etc, oh well thanks God there are other forums ;)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-13 20:53:51)
Correspondence Go rules
I read a post at GoDiscussions.com by a player who wondered how to tell his opponent he's lost... That's quite true some correspondence Go games may last (sometimes more than 50 moves) whereas the result is obvious, ie. when a very strong player beats a beginner who even doesn't really know why he's lost.
I was thinking about a rule to solve this problem but I couldn't find one good enough :/
Is it correct to ask his opponent to resign (according to a rule) or simply he's 'most probably' lost ?!
All ideas are welcome.. Thanks in advance !
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-14 17:00:55)
Elections in France :-)
A small thread about politics (could be interesting), just curious about what people from the whole world see and hear about elections in France, that will start in about 40 days from now.....
The news that Jacques Chirac will not try to be re-elected has been relayed everywhere, but what about the election itself ?
One more time opinion polls could influence the way people will vote and create a surprise at the end of the first "round"...
So just curious, who did you hear about among them : Nicolas Sarkozy, Ségolène Royal, François Bayrou, Jean-Marie Le Pen, Marie-George Buffet, Dominique Voynet, Olivier Besancenot, Arlette Laguiller, José Bové, Philippe de Villiers, Nicolas Dupont-Aignant, Frédéric Nihous ?
And last but not least, any predictions ? :-)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-15 13:59:35)
Lightning chess games
Hello to all.
A new update, you may have seen a new category in money tournaments :
Lightning (correspondence) chess games, time control 30 minutes + 1 minute / move
I think it's a quite interesting time control for chess, it should attract more advanced chess players (or simply strong computers).. Really faster than "blitz correspondence chess".
I updated the server so that it is really easier to play fastly in these games. When you send your move, a new option will appear next to (Flip) and (Next). The link (Wait) will redirect you to the viewer page that will be auto-refreshed every 10 seconds. When your opponent play his move, you'll be automatically redirected to the "move" page to play your move and a pop-up window will appear to warn you (if Javascript is activated)...
Read more about in Time rules - http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#time
Money tournaments will start on April, 2
Sandor Marton-Bardocz (2007-03-19 15:43:51)
Leader update inacurracy
In the FICGS__CHESS__RAPID_M__000005 tournament..
Sandor Marton-Bardocz (2007-03-19 18:23:29)
Perf
What is perf in cross table, and how is it calculated?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-19 22:52:04)
Blokus
Do you know this fantastic game called Blokus ?
I play this game for several years, rules are very simple (like Go), quite easy to start, and I must say the variety of strategies makes it maybe even more interesting than Go. Intuition is very important too, computers are quite weak.
Just wondering if this game is known worldwide...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blokus
Marc Lacrosse (2007-03-20 11:50:17)
Droppers ...
Too many droppers in my running tournament (M007)
This is not funny ...
Marc
Don Groves (2007-03-20 22:30:21)
Blaise Pascal
I just read that Pascal said that all of man's problems arise because we cannot sit in a room alone with ourselves. Obviously, Pascal never played chess or go on FICGS :-)
Nick Burrows (2007-03-21 01:20:27)
*Go to Pi*
The film Pi is about a mathmetician who is using chaos theory to find a pattern within the stock market. His obsession leads him to observe the mathematical structures underpinning the whole of nature - eg spiral shells.
He visits his old maths teacher. They play Go together. The teacher explains that the ancient chinese saw the Go board as representing the whole universe, and so Go is used as a metaphor to understand chaos theory.
Starting with a very simple set of rules structures of untold complexity can form, systems such as the weather are so complex that they appear to be 'chaotic' or random. Go shows us that although it is too complex to see a game to its end, or understand the whole structure, there is logic or order within the chaos. It is just beyond our humble human limitations to understand it fully.
Go and chess intrigue us because in revealing the hidden truth within a chaotic structure, we are understanding a wider truth of order behind ALL phenomenon in the universe. Peace.
Michael Aigner (2007-03-21 11:50:16)
Books for GO beginners
Hello everybody, I am looking for a a beginners book to learn go. Any recommendations? Thank´s a lot Michael
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-23 17:56:02)
Chessbase & Correspondence Chess
Chessbase just published an article (to be continued) about Correspondence Chess, quite interesting & debating the question 'should computer analysis be allowed' in correspondence chess...
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3749
Lionel Vidal (2007-03-27 15:57:30)
Chess and Xiangqi
A very interresting article in Chesscafe (www.chesscafe.com) by K.Müller on some endgame similarities in chess and xiangqi.
Xiangqi is great chess game (one of the greatest, even if I am quite weak at it; and in any cases, by far the greatest chess game by the number of players :-)): in short time limits (standard is 20 minutes per players) you can't beat that game for a exciting tactical mélée... and then if both palyers survive, the endgame is full of subtilities...
BTW *all* K.Müller articles on that site are a must-read! :-)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-28 04:11:59)
Class GM : 2500+ players needed
Hello to all.
Even if the number of very strong players should increase significantly during next months, it may be interesting to reduce the limitation for GM class tournaments from 2600 to 2500... It could return to 2600+ later if there are players enough of this level to fill such a waiting list.
Until this moment, players rated 2500+ are welcome for a bloody tournament :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-28 04:21:32)
100 games per player
With the last update, a new "limitation" appeared on the server : It is not possible anymore to enter a waiting list (but money tournament) if you have more than 100 running games...
Of course, a hundred games is enormous already, actually the aim is not to reduce the number of running games on the server but only to prevent some cases of massive forfeits. Also a few players asked to prevent them to enter too many tournaments at the same time... This site may be too addictive :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-28 20:06:16)
Wiki Go ?
As there isn't much space in the chat bar, we could discuss here the idea of a WikiGo (for Joseki ?!)... I'm not convinced it could be useful yet, as the tree of the game is too large but just waiting to be convinced :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-29 05:28:00)
Droppers : New rule
Hello to all.
I'm to add a new rule to minimize the effects of silent withdrawals & forfeits without an explanation. The aim is first to guarantee to players they will not play again with droppers before a while... Rule is : "Any player who forfeits (by resignation or silent withdrawal) his games without giving an explanation to referee in a rated chess tournament will get an instant rating penalty of 200 points."
Thus, players go at least one category down. Of course it could be easier to ban players for a while, but just trying to avoid this.
All comments and suggestions are welcome.
Graham Woodcock (2007-03-29 17:03:09)
game 6909 query
Regarding game 6909 (on Best Games), can someone explain the thinking behind 10.exf5 when white could have moved 10.gxf6 instead? Also, why did black then choose 10. ... d5, which allowed 11.gxf6 when the f6 knight could have been moved to safety on black’s 10th move? I’m sure there must be some good reasoning for those moves, but I can’t see it. Cheers.
Marc Lacrosse (2007-03-29 19:00:16)
Double RR tournaments ?
Seven players in a tournament is a good number
A larger number would lead to longer waiting time before a tournament actually begins.
But with such a small number of players being white or black against a given opponent may be decisive for tournament win.
So my suggestion : double round robin tournaments with a smaller number of players (five ?).
At five players, completing the full list of players is faster than for a seven-players single RR one and everybody plays 8 games with the advantage that no colour advantage/disadvantage exists against any opponent.
Your opinion ?
Wolfgang Utesch (2007-03-30 17:56:11)
Rules
Where can I find the rules of different chess tournaments?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-31 16:14:34)
Grand prix attack sac. against Caro Kann
I always look with interest the games played by Wladyslav Krol :)
We discussed last month this explosive variant with 3.Nf3!? in Grand Prix attack, now Wladyslav used the same opening against Caro Kann !
1.e4 c6 2.f4 d5 3.Nf3 ...
I found 3 results on Google about this opening, 2 come from FICGS :
http://www.ficgs.com/game_6886.html
http://www.ficgs.com/game_8263.html
http://www.chesspublishing.com/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1160671893;start=all
It would be interesting to have comments from the players for this interesting opening, out of the books at move 3... Could be a new thematic tournament very soon :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-01 00:35:38)
WCH prize fund - EUR 30,000
Hello to all.
A great news ! .. This is now confirmed just before the start of money tournaments, a german bank joined FICGS to guarantee a prize fund that just increased from EUR 2,000 to EUR 30.000 for the winner of the 2nd FICGS chess world championship !
Ads for both current sponsors will be displayed permanently in a few days on the site, thanks again to them, it will give a new dimension to this chess competition for sure ! .. Still looking for a second sponsor for the FICGS world Go championship, at the moment a japanese firm offers a prize fund of $1,500
Best wishes and have good WCH games !
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-01 15:21:45)
Anand number one, or not...
Vishwanathan Anand was announced to be ranked #1 on the next FIDE rating list. Finally, Veselin Topalov is still ranked first on the list that was published yesterday. Protestations by the indian federation... The results of Morelia-Linares should be included in the next list to be published very soon. Quite strange mistake !? :)
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3768
Elmer Valderrama (2007-04-01 17:37:59)
Chessbase 10 with Xfcc is released!!
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3749
PS...and I am GM Elmar Magerramov..
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-01 19:00:23)
Internet Go vs. Masters
From Goama newsletter - http://gogame.info
How strong are Tygem ( http://tygem.com/ ) stars?
Korean Tygem Go server announced a tournament between top 3 Tygem players and Korean Dream team: Cho Hunnyun, Lee Changho and Yoo Changhyuk.
The results are:
First game: Cho Hunhyun, 9-dan lost by resignation to "spiderman1"
Second game: Lee Changho, 9-dan lost his game by resignation to "GoldHammer"
Third game: Yoo Changhyuk, 9-dan lost by 6.5 points to "gurenarukl"
It's hard to believe it, but they played without any handicap! Each game gathered more than 5000 observers. It seems, that Tygem has lot of other good players, considering that these 3 masters are not undefeatable. Their scores: Spiderman1 , 9-dan on Tygem, W113-L51 GoldHammer, 9-dan on Tygem, W275-L60 gurenarukl, 9-dan on Tygem, W893-L360
Maybe the online Go is far from the offline Go, or do we need a special experience for playing Go on servers? How strong are Tygem star players? Do we know them in real life? There are so many questions.
Chess players will also ask about the possibilities of computer help. Unfortunately they don't have English client available.
Stephane Rouillard (2007-04-01 21:32:11)
Espace Francophone (french space)
Espace dédié aux francophones où le français est de rigueur :)
Jason Repa (2007-04-02 03:28:30)
Abuse
How do I report abuse from another player. I took a screenshot but I don't know where to send it. Thank you.
Catalin Ionescu (2007-04-04 21:49:29)
European Individual Championships
2 rounds played ... who do you think will win?
top seed Jakovenko has 2 points (already); the same is in the women section where Stefanova won the first 2 matches
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-05 01:58:22)
Big Chess championship
Hello to all.
You may have seen in the chat bar the idea to organize a Big Chess championship at FICGS is in the air.
It could be interesting for several reasons, the first one of course is there's no engine to help players :) .. by the way, it may be really hard to program a good Big Chess engine, it should use some Go concepts combined to a powerful chess engine (with quite different parameters).
Now there are some questions :
- What rules for a Big Chess championship ?
- What about a Big Chess rating ?
In my opinion, there shouldn't be a Big Chess rating. That's a pity, but "simple" chess should remain the main rated game here. Actually, the nature of this game (and time control) makes me think it should remain a friendly game first. However there could a championship for fun...
About the rules for such a championship, it could look like the Go championship : A two-stages tournament, first stage would be a single round-robin tournament with the 7 players who won most Big Chess tournaments (will help to promote tournaments ;)), second stage would be a 6 games match against current champion (if the final score is a draw, the current champion will keep his title).
What do you think ?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-05 04:17:09)
Links for Go beginners
A few essential links to learn Go (for beginners) :
http://senseis.xmp.net
http://senseis.xmp.net/?BeginnerStudySection
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_board_game
This game is definitely great, play Go :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-05 04:22:32)
Go : Simultaneous games with handicap !
Hello to all Go players !
It could be interesting to organize simultaneous games by 1 kyu+ players with a stones handicap against weaker players... or another kind of hard & funny challenge, feel free to make a suggestion if you have ideas.
Any taker ? :) .. come in, more fun !
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-05 05:17:31)
Happy birthday FICGS :-)
FICGS started on 2006, April 5... Exactly one year ago !
How much work... I'm really happy how the server evolved, there's still a lot of work (actually there's always something to improve) but the main things are done, it is now really stable (no more major bugs) and it works "almost" by itself :)
Almost 10,000 games started this year, I predict much more for the next year ;)
Thanks to you all for enjoying it !
Ercan Ertem (2007-04-05 08:34:45)
My opponent's last move!
Is it possible to set Highlight my opponent's last move?
Phil Cook (2007-04-05 21:28:26)
Easter Holiday
last minute decision here,I'll be away for 1 week +/- 2 days,I've enough time to cover my time,so to players I'm playing @ GO,see you soon :o)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-06 04:50:07)
Rating calculation (algorithm update)
A small (but necessary) improvement in rating calculation algorithm for chess & Go : "In case of a loss or draw against a player rated more than 350 points less, the opponent's rating considered in calculation is : Current Rating - 350"
http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#rating
In example, if a player rated 2000 loses to a player - most probably a new player helped by a strong engine - rated 1400, the rating considered in calculation will be 1650. It should help to keep ratings more coherent.
All chess results since March 1st will be affected by this change. Next rating calculation will occur on May 1st.
You can see your future chess rating (calculated on the basis of your results since last rating calculation) by clicking on the magnifying glass in "Preferences", then "ELO".
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-06 05:00:13)
Automatic login
Hello to all.
Everyone probably noticed security improvements these months. To use the SSL left form when you login is recommended for maximum security.
However, you could prefer to login faster, in this case you may bookmark the link below (working only if you use the right form & save your username and password in a cookie) :
http://www.ficgs.com/index_identify.php
https://ficgs.com/index_identify.php (SSL)
No more need to click the login button this way...
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-07 05:00:31)
Live games (demo)
Hello to all.
I need two chess players who would accept to play a demo game using the "blitz" time control : 2 hours + 2 hours / 40 moves.
The game would start today, 2007 April 7 at 16:00 (server clock), thanks to respond to this post if you're interested. Thus everyone will see the last server improvements that will appear with money games.. (that should start next week, a new delay :/)
Among the new features :
- Real time clocks
- Auto refresh for all & auto redirecting for the players
- Pop up windows to warn the players "it's your turn"
- Links for live games in comments on each page.
Thanks for your help !
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-09 03:25:04)
Your favourite Chess / Go movie ?
All in topic :) .. may be instructive, what's your favourite Chess & Go movies, at least movies where the game appears.
Mine is probably "La diagonale du fou" (Dangerous Moves) by Richard Dembo, with Michel Piccoli, Alexandre Arbatt, Liv Ullmann, Jean-Hugues Anglade & Michel Aumont... A great movie about a chess world championship that strangely looks like Karpov vs. Korchnoi.. or Fischer vs. Spassky, something between. Michel Piccoli is simply marvellous in this character :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dangerous_Moves
About Go I remember "Pi" and "Hero"... I did not see the famous "Hikaru No Go". Any others ?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-09 16:16:41)
GM vs. chess engines database
Someone mentioned "Marc Lacrosse´s database" in a Rybka forum's thread, I did not find it with Google, but I found this interesting Man vs. Machine database, 2837 GM vs. engine games on ICC so far, on Marc's website : Chessbazaar (link was on this forum :))
http://users.skynet.be/mlcc/chessbazaar/gmvscompsicc2006.html
Mikhail Ruzin (2007-04-09 19:24:34)
Go : Pro vs Amateur on Japanese Agon Cup
Mace Li on go4go wrote: "A contributor sent me quite a few game records from Japanese Agon Cup, the only tournament that reserve some seats for amateur players. The amaturs are doing extremely well!" ... The game records: http://www.go4go.net/v2/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=217&forum=6&post_id=864#forumpost864
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-09 23:41:10)
Go / Weiqi : Enigma
While looking for other ways to optimize the server, I had an interesting question about Go, that may look more complex than at first sight :)
"Is it possible to repeat a position (at a particular move) without taking a stone or group (at this particular move) ?"
I submitted it in GoDiscussions forum, one member proved it is possible on a 2x2 board... then on 19x19
http://www.godiscussions.com/forum/showthread.php?p=27834
Marc Lacrosse (2007-04-09 23:43:22)
Thematic tournaments suggestion
A small and hopefully interesting suggestion :
When we go to the list of running and/or finished thematic tournaments we just see "tournament 001", tournament 002" and so on.
It would be nice to have the start position (as a PGN line) immediately under each tournament title so as to see at a glance which opening was played.
Marc
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-11 01:20:30)
Active players rating list
Hello to all.
For information only at the moment but it will replace the current list as the "main" list, here is the active players rating list (displaying players who connected to the server these last 30 days) for chess :
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=rating_list&active=1
It is about 1/3 of the members, so not bad "for a start" in my opinion.. :)
To be continued.
Mikhail Ruzin (2007-04-11 19:17:20)
Suji. The Swiss Go magazine
http://www.suji.ch/ ...Available for free download.
Matt Lasley (2007-04-13 22:15:13)
Skip feature
Is there a skip feature? When a move is entered on one game, it's great to hit "next" and move to the next game. Sometimes, I want to "skip" a game, and go to the next without making a move. So far it seems I must go back out to "games" and come back in to a different game. tx-Matt
Achim Mueller (2007-04-21 09:39:24)
WCH Stage 1 rules
Hi all,
a few words regarding the rules for WCH Stage 1. As far as I know now one player (out of 7) qualifies for the 2nd stage. In case of having 2 or more players with the same points at the top the player with the highest rating will qualify.
This is already difficult enough for newbies (with lower raing) because their opponents will have an advantage of 0.5 points in these 6 games. It's getting nearly impossible if you play in a group, where three players lost all their games on time within 10 moves (so they didn't play a single game seriously).
You can't afford a single draw in the remaining three games then, because in reality you play a tournament with only four players, where at least one player has a nominell advantage of nearly 20%!
I for myself now decided not to play future tournaments having this exceptionell ruling. Sorry to say so, but I don't see a realistic chance of winning all three games in correspondence chess nowadays, but what is needed to have a chance.
Ciao acepoint
Marc Lacrosse (2007-04-22 11:59:10)
win against Anand :-)
Yesterday world number one Vishy Anand played a 90-minute simul against 19 opponents on ICC to raise funds for his favorite charity in India.
I had bought a seat and intended to play an unorthodox opening if possible.
I happened to be lucky enough to get the opportunity to play my favorite Basman-Sale sicilian defence...
... and I won !
In the very next days I will publish the game with a few comments on my site at chessbazaar.mlweb.info
This is the most beautiful day of my chess life :-)
Marc
the game :
[Event "ICC 90 5 u"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.04.21"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Anand"]
[Black "Bluesette"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "White resigns"]
[WhiteElo "2786"]
[BlackElo "2155"]
[Opening "Sicilian defense"]
[ECO "B41"]
[NIC "SI.41"]
[Time "12:04:06"]
[TimeControl "5400+5"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nb3 Bb6 6. Nc3 Ne7 7. Bf4 d5 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. Bb5+ Nc6 11. O-O O-O 12. c3 Bf5 13. Qd2 a6 14. Bxc6 bxc6 15. Be3 Bc7 16. Bf4 Bb6 17. Rfe1 Qf6 18. Be5 Qg6 19. Qf4 Be4 20. Qg3 Rfe8 21. Bd4 Bc7 22. Qxg6 Bxg6 23. Nc5 a5 24. b3 Bf5 25. f3 h5 26. g3 f6 27. Kf2 Kf7 28. Na4 g5 29. Rxe8 Rxe8 30. Bb6 Bxb6+ 31. Nxb6 Rb8 32. Na4 Rb5 33. Rd1 Be6 34. Ke3 c5 35. Kd2 c4 36. bxc4 dxc4 37. Kc1 Rf5 38. Rf1 Re5 39. Rf2 Re3 40. f4 gxf4 41. Rxf4 Re1+ 42. Kb2 Re2+ 43. Ka3 Rxh2 44. Nc5 Bg4 45. Ne4 f5 46. Rf2 Rxf2 47. Nxf2 Kf6 48. Ka4 Kg5 49. Kxa5 f4 50. gxf4+ Kxf4 {White resigns}
0-1
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-23 21:34:41)
Deep Fritz vs. Deep Junior
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3802
FIDE will organize a computer-computer 6-games match during the final days of the candidates match in june in Elista.
The "players" : Reigning computer chess world champion Deep Junior and 'reigning world champion' Deep Fritz. Time control : 75 min + 5 sec / move, the winner will get $60,000, the loser $40,000
This match brings a few questions : No particular comment on the choice of the engines, Rybka will wait for a win in a computer chess world championship... However I can't see a real interest for FIDE and for chess in such a match. I mean 6 games of rapid computer chess.. $100,000 !? Of course it will attract a few new players - to beat computers is an attractive challenge. But at least I hope Chessbase is the main sponsor :) .. does it mean a new Deep FRitz and Deep Junior version in june ? .. I hope that the games analyzed by Rybka 2.3 won't reveal the engines too poor.. :/ .. Finally what 'title' for the winner ?! ;)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-23 22:31:50)
Rybka tops SSDF rating list
2007 april 21 - New SSDF computer chess rating list is out !
http://web.telia.com/~u85924109/ssdf/list.htm
Rybka 2.3.1 tops the list with 2962 elo, followed by a surprising Hiarcs 11.1 with 2871 elo. Then, Junior 10.1 and Fruit 2.2.1 followed by Shredder 10. That's a pity Fritz 10 and probably Zap! chess Zanzibar are not rated yet.
The king Rybka will probably have serious opponents soon...
Phil Cook (2007-04-25 06:03:35)
Virus
Bad news this end,got a little gremlin in my system,,I'll be outta action till Sunday 30 April 2007 All players I'm playing,Sorry unavoidable,I've enough time to carry me for that period,so wont take vacation.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-26 17:45:48)
Art and Science...
Sometimes, while filling the registration form, new players just say Hi!, recently one of them wrote : "I like correspondence chess because it is both art and science while chess is art only."
Quite true... I like this new quote, what do you think about it ? :)
Nicola Lupinacci (2007-04-27 01:25:32)
Elo question...
I have a question...
I have now 1410 Elo points and at next elo refresh (1st May) I probably raise at 1576 Elo points.
Now there is a problem: I arrive at 1576 becouse I have won 5 game where after 15-20 moves my opponent's clock silently finish without any other moves and in 3 or 4 of this games my opponent was in a really good position.
The question is:
Is possible do not to calculate elo variation of this particular games?
I think it is a good idea to make an option that when I win a game by time, I can choose if this game will be calculate or not calculate in my elo variation...
I suggest this becouse I gain elo points from losing games and it is not fun :(
Sorry for my bad english... :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-29 23:48:55)
Google searches
Statistics are always instructive, often funny :)
Recently, a few new "magic" keywords appeared to attract Googlers on FICGS website... After 'Yahoo mail problems' and a bunch of other funny ones, it seems a new chess star is born on Google :) .. "Marc Lacrosse" or "Marc Lacrosse Anand ICC" appear many times a day... Another funny one "Rybka 2.3.1 free download" or "Rybka download free" : Dear friends, Rybka is not free for download here, I'm sorry ;)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-30 14:05:46)
The meaning of Go for modern Russia
An interesting (as usual) article from IGN "Goama" newsletter - http://gogame.info
Alexander Rodin, the member of Go Federation
"The meaning of Go for modern Russia"
I'll try to state my thoughts about the meaning of the Go for modern Russia.
To begin with I suggested that we extrapolate Go models on the political and economical maps. These maps are very important as the spheres of social life, because the questions that are discussed at political and economical levels touch upon our lives, the lives of ordinary Russian citizens. In these spheres they continue the fierce struggle for life and death; in these spheres rivalry is especially keen and the made decisions define the vectors of our country development.
Let's imagine a situation if somebody inadequate came to power and set the totalitarian regime! Then all social "dissident" institution would start dying and so would do the Go Federation as a phenomenon which unifies people with independent thinking. Then it would be inevitable to start "hiding in basements" to keep the organization and set the secret addresses. Under conditions of modern Russia such kind of reasoning seems to be mostly fantastic than real. But if we look behind into our history we’ll remember that we have already had this phase of social development and know everything about it.
I am for that only "adequate" people, patriots, must hold power (I mean all its levels: federal, regional, local and busyness elite as well). These people must think independently and it would be just perfect if they were the people who both understand the very notion of strategy and use in their activity all the arsenal of strategic instruments and among them principles, stratagems and Go philosophy.
Someone can argue: "What are the patriots who set Japan draughts?" the heart of the problem is not in the fact that somebody sets draughts and even the Japan ones. The matter of fact is that there is a "pacific" model the centre of which is the idea of balance and peaceful division of the territory and influence. If someone of us can offer something better, so let him rule. In my opinion, it's the same as to rewrite the Bible or "The Treatise of Military Art" Soun Tsi.
The Go essence manifests in the state scale in the following aspects:
The first one is historical and cultural. The game has a great history and longstanding traditions. Go is no less than a civil game with the development of which hand by hand goes statehood making in many countries. Besides, it's followed by strengthening of spirituality and moral principles of society.
The second aspect is social. Go unifies people, sets friendly relationships between them. Through Go a man manifests quickly, through it s/he can see his/her reflection. Owing to "open spiritual fight" your adversary is likely to become your best friend without saying a word during a game.
The third aspect is pedagogical. Through Go they bring up the grown generations and form their active civil position. Like chess, Go forms and consolidates dynamical stereotypes showing in following behavioral models of people. Penetrating and consolidation happen imperceptibly when sleeping, during the junction of conscious and unconscious.
The fourth aspect is economical. Why are business people interested in Go? Because through the game model a man learns how to manage material and non-material resources. Via the game s/he realizes economical and management notions: market (territory), economical integration, SWOT-analysis (the analysis of weak and strong aspects) etc. Managers start realizing the importance of interconnection and interaction of structural subdivisions ensuring. These subdivisions shouldn't be isolated from each other. They should work time in time like a well-tuned tuning fork.
The fifth aspect is political. The idea of community in politics is as relevant as the idea of group of stones. When a group is weak there is always a possibility of dividing it and this is a sign for the whole group. When our country, being a federal union of equitable subjects, was going through its stage of making a number of subjects had a wish to use the weakness of this chain. So, in 1992 1994 for the first time after the collapsing of the USSR there appeared first separatist tendencies. E.Rossel, the governor of Sverdlovskaya region, A. Philipenko, the governor of HMAO, claimed about the possibility of Ural republic creation. The emissary of Chechen separatists Gokhar Dudaev proclaimed the independence of Chechen-Ingush republic. The detachment didn't happen but the country paid with blood for it. Nowadays we can see demonstration of political integration and isolation on the modern political world map. Take a strong unity of the European Union and states-outsiders: Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Iran.
In terms of remaining of the USA's striving for establishment of world hegemony (from V.V.Putin's speech at the recent Munich conference), Russia needs the processes of integration and consolidation with other countries aimed at its strengthening. The unified countries have a lot of dame. Now we can observe the stronger split in the CIS as a consequence of energetic and territorial policy of Russia that uses economical instruments of pressure upon "unfriendly and opposing" countries. Is it good or not? It's more likely that it‘s bad. But there are some positive tendencies: the role of the EurAsEC as a community which's built not on the basis of "strange brotherhood" and the role of Russia in it are increasing. Go is an ideological and spiritual base making us related to the countries of Asia-Pacific region. Go teaches how to see and distinguish creative and destroying processes.
The sixth aspect is psychological. The game develops thinking, in particular such processes as analysis and synthesis. It develops the ability of seeing the whole board and its details, the ability of seeing processes proceeding at global and local levels.
The seventh aspect is verbal and lexical or even philosophical. Through studying of the game theory we realize such categories as life and death, territory and influence, reliability, stability, the whole and the parts etc.
So, what is the Go meaning on the country scale? I assume that Go, as philosophy (an ideological and spiritual base), is a very important instrument of upbringing of strategic leaders, those who make decisions at high economical and political levels that influence the country's fate. Because in Go the idea of peaceful co-existence shows the way to harmony. The most pleasant is the fact the "Go way" doesn't have an end and there sky's the limit.
Nick Burrows (2007-04-30 16:31:33)
T vs K - Cochrane Gambit
Heres the game Thibault!?
[Event "XVI Ciudad de Linares 99"] [Site "Linares ESP"] [Date "1999.??.??"] [EventDate "?"] [Round "8"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [White "Veselin Topalov"] [Black "Vladimir Kramnik"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2700"] [BlackElo "2751"] [PlyCount "62"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nxf7 Kxf7 5. Nc3 c5 6. Bc4+ Be6 7. Bxe6+ Kxe6 8. d4 Kf7 9. dxc5 Nc6 10. Qe2 Qd7 11. Be3 dxc5 12. f4 Re8 13. e5 Ng4 14. Rd1 Qf5 15. O-O h5 16. Bc1 Nd4 17. Qc4+ Kg6 18. h3 Nh6 19. Nb5 a6 20. Nxd4 cxd4 21. Qxd4 Rc8 22. Qb6+ Kh7 23. Qxb7 Rxc2 24. Be3 Qg6 25. Rc1 Rxc1 26. Rxc1 Nf5 27. Bf2 h4 28. Rc7 Ng3 29. Kh2 Nf1+ 30. Kg1 Qb1 31. Bxh4 Bc5+ 1/2-1/2
Thibault de Vassal (2007-05-01 04:15:25)
Chinese thoughts championship :)
Always looking for new funny quotes, Don just told me this nice one : "Man with more than one clock never know what time it is" :>
Do you have your own chinese thoughts ? .. or do you know websites like this one :
http://www.chine-informations.com/mods/dossiers/index.php?lg=en&action=fiche&id=253
Thibault de Vassal (2007-05-02 14:34:48)
Chess (but not Go !) in 2010 Asian Games
The Asian Olympic Committee decided to include chess in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, but not Go, decision based on Go not being an IOC-recognized sport.
Quite surprising...
Thibault de Vassal (2007-05-03 02:13:44)
Go championship cycle
1st FICGS go WCH will start in a few months, but I'm still not really satisfied with current rules :
"FICGS world Go championship is first a round-robin tournament, involving 11 players including the 6 players who won or lead most Go tournaments started during the previous year and the 5 highest rated players, among players who entered the waiting list. If more than 2 players win (or lead) a tournament with equal score, no win is granted. A win in a "pro" tournament is worth 9 "kyu" wins. A win in a "dan" tournament is worth 3 "kyu" wins. In case of equality, the next places will be taken in account.
The winner of this tournament is the challenger for FICGS world champion title. In case of equality, the winner is the player with the highest tournament entry rating (TER), If this rule can't designate a unique challenger, current ratings will be considered. If current world champion defends his title, they will play a 6 games match. In case of equality (3-3), the winner is the former world champion.
All games are played in 30 days + 1 day / move. Komi is 7.5 points. Rules for Go are chinese rules, as defined by the Chinese Weiqi Association."
Not clear enough, quite complicate and strange, even if I like the idea of a 2-stages tournament (round-robin tournament then challenger vs. champion match) and to give the opportunity to the best rated Go players to enter it without playing tournaments before... Other questions, double round-robin or not, should it be open to all players.. Feel free to suggest your ideas for a nice Go WCH cycle ! :)
Phil Cook (2007-05-04 08:35:03)
Chat box
Is the chat box missing,undergoing repairs or disabled? It's missing from were I'm looking from,lol ;o)
Ida Jonsson (2007-05-07 11:12:35)
Hello...
how do I start a new game ?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-05-08 23:03:28)
Herrstroem gambit, 1.Nf3 g5
What do you think about this gambit (new thematic tournament) ? .. Very critical. Is it lost for Black already ?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-05-12 15:44:08)
Money chess and Go tournaments
FICGS money chess & Go tournaments will be open today !
At last, after the next update (in a few hours) including legal informations (home page / rules) and the 'My account' page, the money chess & Go games can start.
Players interested are invited to read rules (updated) in its entirety, particularly 04. Entry fees, 05. Prize money, 06. Warranties, 07. Money transfer ...
http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html
Feel free to discuss rules for entry fees and prizes in this thread, some points may have to be clarified yet. It's a long time I think about these rules to make them most interesting at the same time for the players and the server, according to french taxes & laws.
Of course, all free tournaments will remain free. As FICGS becomes a commercial server, the more players will enter money tournaments, the more ads on the internet so the more players :)
Time controls for money chess games & tournaments are 30 minutes + 1 minute / move (lightning), 2 hours + 2 hours / 40 moves (blitz), 30 days + 1 day / move (rapid), 40 days + 40 days / 10 moves (standard). Thematic chess money games will be played at blitz time control.
Time controls for money Go games & tournaments are 30 minutes + 1 minute / move (lightning) and 30 days + 1 day / move (standard).
Marc Lacrosse (2007-05-12 17:02:41)
Basman-Sale defence
The Basman-Sale defence has now its site here :
http://users.skynet.be/mlcc/chessbazaar/basmansale/index.html
Comments are welcome.
Marc
PS. The BS is 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 !?
Albert H. Alberts (2007-05-13 09:45:39)
shesnikov
ALL: Here is a possible novelty in the Shesnikov:1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bf6 gf6 10.Nd5 f5 11.Bd3 Be6 12.0-0 Bd5 13.ed5 Ne7 and now tournament lines go say Re1 to respond e4 with Bf1 and win over Nc2/a4 in the endgame. TRY 14. c3 Bg7 15. g4!? e4 16.Bc2 b4 17.cb4!? Bb2 18. Kh1 and now I was able to win for white after both Ba1 or Ba3 having gf5/Be4 or Ba4 and an open g-( and c and b)-file for white.Suppose g4 is healthy no black tournament player will engage in Shesnikov for a while? www.howtofoolfritz.com updated late april. Albert H.Alberts
Thibault de Vassal (2007-05-13 16:24:06)
M-Tel Masters in Sofia
Another hard start for Veselin Topalov, this time in M-Tel Masters, Sofia (Bulgaria)... After three rounds, the standings are :
1. Mamedyarov 2,5 / 3
2. Adams 2 / 3
3. Sasikiran 2 / 3
4. Nisipeanu 1,5 / 3
5. Topalov 0,5 / 3
6. Kamsky 0,5 / 3
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3854
Wolfgang Utesch (2007-05-15 12:31:37)
Fighting against Tablebases ...
... is like fighting against windmills (as Don Quichote did)! Why is is so hard for some very good chess players here on FICGS, to accept their looses, to resign and to congratulate their oppenent?
Ilmars Cirulis (2007-05-17 22:52:42)
Challenge!
Who want to defend
- Evans gambit with white
- Traxler counterattack with black?
I will be happy to play Silver Ligting game and try to kill that UCOs.
Wait and I will add more openings to that list. :)
Rodolfo d Ettorre (2007-05-18 04:05:20)
Flag
Hi, when I registered and created my account, I put Australia by mistake, I am an Australian resident, but my nacionality is Venezuelan. Would it be possible to change it, so the Venezuelan flag will be besides my name?
Robert Mueller (2007-05-20 10:19:40)
Opponent dragging out lost game
Hi, Is it possible to get a game adjudicated, if the opponent just does not resign. It is game #5664, where my opponent ist in a hopeless situation. We are already in the six men tablesbases and he is lost with check mate in 34 moves. From his original 100 days time he already used 57. He seems to be determined to drag this out as long as possible. Do I have to wait another 43 days for the win :(
Wolfgang Utesch (2007-05-22 14:51:18)
#6869 ...
.. is there any win (earlier too)? This question by Thibault has to be answered. It seems to be a clear win, but ...
Mikhail Ruzin (2007-05-22 19:17:13)
Go Tetris =)
http://chesstris.com/2007/04/21/play-go-tetris-now
Marc Lacrosse (2007-05-22 22:20:20)
Any 2200+ for a rapid double round ?
Hi all, hi Thibault
Would you agree for a five players rated double round robin tournament at rapid timing (30 days + 1 day per move) if four other 2200+ players declare in this thread that they are ready to join ?
I am ready to play...
Marc
Catalin Ionescu (2007-05-27 13:52:21)
Candidates Matches 2007
The matches started today. You can see them live at: http://globalchess.eu/games.php.
The top match of round 1 is Carlsen against Aronian.
Who do you think will qualify for the WC?
Phil Cook (2007-05-29 08:17:01)
Call Ref
Question,I asked ref to adj a go game,Who is the ref?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-05-29 15:28:44)
Chess news RSS / XML
Hello to all,
Feel free to use the FICGS RSS feed for chess news (and Go news) to display it on your own website, like Centurion Chess Club does :
http://www.centurionchessclub.co.za
The RSS feed for chess news - http://www.ficgs.com/news_chess.rss
The RSS feed for Go news - http://www.ficgs.com/news_go.rss
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-01 18:05:21)
Vladimir Kramnik interview
An interesting interview with Vladimir Kramnik on the current world of chess in Chessbase news, speaking of the chess world championship in Mexico, the current format, the place of Topalov in it, also his illness and married life... Very clear, looks like his chess :)
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3894
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3899
Garvin Gray (2007-06-02 06:42:49)
Wch 3 rules
Time for a new thread since start of a new tournament.
I would like to see each round robin group have more people in each group. This way there is less chance of two or more people tying for first and having to be tie-breaked by TER.
Also it means more games, which I assume is a good thing :)
Marc Lacrosse (2007-06-02 11:17:26)
Wch older qualification
I once qualified in WCH preliminary by winning tournament FICGS__CHESS__WCH_STAGE_1_GROUP_20__000001 .
I then could not enroll for stage 2 due to personal reasons.
May I go directly to stage 2 of a subsequent cycle or do I have to go through qualifications at new ?
Thanks.
Marc
Khaled Toutaoui (2007-06-02 18:07:31)
just a question...
i wanna know when the Stage 2 of the 2nd FICGS chess world championship will start...im a winner of the 1st stage...
Dan Rotaru (2007-06-03 15:52:53)
World Team Championship
What about organizing a "World Team Championship"? Top rated players from each country willing to play can make a team and register it for the WTC. And than maybe a 9 rounds Swiss? I believe that organizing such an event can generate a lot of interest.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-06 05:51:55)
E-Points + 25% , affiliate links
Hello to all, now trying to promote tournaments with entry fees & money prizes :)
You may have seen in rules that there are 2 'rakes' for money tournaments, a one-time 25% and a 'rake' per tournament which is very low... From now and until september 31, you'll be given 25% E-Points more when buying E-Points through Moneybookers or Paypal (see "My account" page), which nearly cancels the main rake !
Also it is now possible to win E-Points by becoming an affiliate & helping to promote FICGS... All details in "My account" page : For each new member refered by your link on the web, you'll be given E-Points (now 0,5 per member)... Of course urls and new members are verified, but anyway it is quite easy to reach the 10 E-Points silver ticket !
There could be E-Points prizes for free tournaments (class SM & class M) soon...
It is also possible to post your websites in FICGS directory :
http://www.ficgs.com/directory.html
Mladen Jankovic (2007-06-06 16:57:44)
Go rules
I was wondering, are we still using Chinese rules?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-06 19:12:00)
Rybka: $100,000 challenge to FIDE
The author of Rybka - undoubtly the strongest chess engine (Rybka 2.3.1), Vasik Rajlich challenges FIDE for a $100,000 match between Rybka and the winner of the "Ultimate Computer Chess Challenge 2007" between Deep Junior and Deep Fritz, that just started (first game drawn) :
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=1126
Also the match offer to grandmasters is more and more interesting :
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=794;pg=1
I doubt Chessbase or FIDE would accept to organize & play such a match, even if Fritz 11 or 12 can beat the next Rybka... The war of engines is not on the chessboard nowadays but that's quite interesting to follow anyway :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-11 17:54:15)
Pirc defense by Nigel Davies
A new DVD on Pirc Defense by GM Nigel Davies :
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3913
Is Pirc a good weapon at correspondence chess ?! .. Any fans ?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-12 19:11:21)
More rating lists ?
What about more rating lists at FICGS ?
- Correspondence chess active & inactive players lists
- Blitz & lightning rating list
- Big chess rating list (class tournaments !?)
- Go rating list
Also there could be casual blitz & lightning chess tournaments with entry fee & prizes, blitz & lightning games with a tiny entry fee (no prize) and more ways to win E-Points...
Feel free if you have any comment or idea...
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-13 14:48:38)
Schachfeld on Chessbase
I just received an email from Schachfeld forum about Chessbase. Even if I don't understand a single German word, it seems to me that's not very positive...
There was a link to this thread :
http://www.schachfeld.de/f89/chessbase-4141
Anyone to enlighten this discussion ?
Ricard Laforgue (2007-06-13 19:14:00)
Go with handicap.
Is it possible to play go with handicap. I thing could make the games a lot more interesting.
Wolfgang Utesch (2007-06-14 09:13:35)
Figlio - Schuster
...that's the first final of FICGS-WCH!
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-14 18:14:03)
Rybka 2.3.2
Just after President's cup "Ultimate computer challenge" finished, Vasik Rajlich threw a new Rybka 2.3.2 in the chess engines arena... (partly explains the $100,000 challenge to Ilyumzhinov a few weeks ago)
Once more, Rybka 2.3.2 seems stronger than her predecessors with indcredible results (blitz time control) against Hiarcs 11.1, Zap chess Zanzibar, Shredder and so on... Maybe +35 elo points compared to Rybka 2.3.1 !
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=1264#fp
http://www.rybkachess.com
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-15 14:32:49)
Strelka 1.0
Some interesting readings in Talkchess & Rybka forums about this new engine : Strelka 1.0 x32
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?pid=9297
http://216.25.93.108/forum/viewtopic.php?p=117821
http://computerchess.org.uk/ccrl/404/
http://www.husvankempen.de/nunn/40_40%20Rating%20List/40_40%20BestVersion/rangliste.html
Is Strelka only a joke about Rybka (and a clone of an earlier version) or the 'little arrow' (Strelka in russian) that will catch Rybka in future...
I don't know much about this one but its first ratings are "not bad" ! .. Any informations more ?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-15 17:12:39)
Online chess today
A few links to discussions at TCCMB (The Correspondence Chess Message Board) on chess servers nowadays, future of ICCF, correspondence chess [once more] and so on...
http://ancients.correspondencechess.com/index.php?topic=105.0
http://ancients.correspondencechess.com/index.php?topic=109.0
In the second discussion I tried to answer on the future of correspondence chess & chess engines :
1) Like the 'tour de France', it is impossible to organize a "bicycle race" at chess without doping today IMO. Also there are so many 'products' : Various books, databases, engines, human help.. so it seems to me that it is a non-sense to try to make it like an OTB tournament. Online chess is "motorcycle races" & freestyle, nothing else.
2) The ratio of wins does not decrease much in computer games & advanced chess (blitz), and correspondence chess games will never be all drawn IMO. We just have to follow the horizon line... Engines still have difficulties when there are 32 pieces on the board... Make the position more and more complex & critical, play Benoni structures, East indians and English openings... There will probably be more and more draws but when looking at CC 2500+ games, the ratio is still quite good. The problem at CC is mainly the style of play with humans 'humanly' trying to remain in known positions where they can win and can't lose.
'The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy', 'Opportunities multiply as they are seized' (Sun Tzu)
A solution is to make rules that motivate players to avoid draws, particularly when playing against a higher rated opponent. (ie. the rule for FICGS 8-games matches)
3) We feel that engines play almost perfect chess because of our poor human's level of play (I should say ratings)... But engines & computers have to improve a lot yet - not obvious they can do it in a more or less near future -, the horizon line is not so far, each version of Rybka wins about 30 elo points... We'll see engines at level 3200, 3300 maybe much more... (4000 ?)
4) If too many players have their CC rating between 2750-2800 in future, we can make new rules : Ratings wouldn't be calculated on the basis of each game, but on the basis of ie. 8-games matches... Then strategy would be more important & we would see rating gaps again between the best players...
Finally if I'm completely wrong, play Big Chess ;D
Graham Cridland (2007-06-15 17:29:55)
Game 11393
Just finished an interesting game in the Scandinavian. Pretty level most of the way, although both sides must have missed some chances. A couple of questions: First, in the final position, what is the evaluation of the endgame after 31 ... Qc8 32 Qe5+ Qc7 33 Qxg7 Rxg7 34 Re8+ Qc8 35 Rxc8 Kxc8 36 Rxg7 (thus far all forced) 36...Rxd4 37 Rh7 Rf4 38 Rxh6 Rxf2 39 Rg6 Rh2 40 h6 (this exact endgame can be reached by other move orders in Cridland-Khayman)? I looked at the ending for a long time, as it seemed to be my only option other than forcing a draw (32 Qe3 Re4 33 Qd2 isn't attractive). But I think it's drawn! White's only plan is bringing the king to g1 to release the back rank, but that gives black time to rush forward with pawns and king on the Queenside. White can get to h7 by Rg8+ Kc7, Rg7+ Kb6, h7 at some point, but then what? It looked so attractive at first.
Wolfgang Utesch (2007-06-15 21:29:58)
Dead Man's Defense
Game #11340, my opponent is playing since 10 moves against the tablebases. No comment from me can him stop! Loosing is just to difficult!
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-16 15:45:46)
FICGS 3.0 , novelties & advanced chess
Dear chessfriends, the new FICGS version is installed :) ... Improvements :
- New random design (see preferences) after each login, great IMO :)
- Correspondence chess established, preliminary & complete rating lists (user mode)
- Big chess rating list
- http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#rating_big_chess
- Rated big chess tournaments (no more unrated)
- Advanced ches rating list
- http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#rating_advanced_chess
- Rated advanced chess tournaments (money blitz & lightning games)
- New advanced chess games category : CHESS MONEY BRONZE (entry fee 0,2 E-Point)
Advanced chess games are chess games played at Lightning (30 minutes + 1 minute / move) or Blitz (2 hours + 2 hours / 40 moves) time control. Computer assistance is encouraged. See rating rules for advanced chess, everyone gets a rating (first estimated from your correspondence chess rating) after you played your first game.
Every member now has 2 free E-Points to play 10 free CHESS MONEY BRONZE (advanced chess) games. Consequently the FICGS advanced chess server is not free of charge after this free trial.
This is a major improvement, so there will be some adjustments during the next days, particularly to reorganize money tournaments.
Feel free if you have any comment or suggestion...
Have good games :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-16 22:00:18)
FICGS vs. IGAME.RU
Hello to all.
I'm glad to announce a new match between chess servers, that should start in about 10 days to 2 weeks. The previous match was FICGS vs. GAMEKNOT (we lost :))
The opponent is the russian server - http://www.igame.ru , an opportunity to meet new chessfriends from eastern countries :)
Here is the agreement :
1. Teams should consist of 25 players maximum (an exact number should be agreed later);
2. Number of games on each board equals 2 (one for White and one for Black);
3. Time control is 30 days + 3 days/move;
4. Leaves are provided, 30 days/year;
5. The match is played on www.ficgs.com;
6. Start date of the match should be agreed by both sides after squads are completed;
7. ICCF rules of play are applied.
In this match chess engines are allowed, it goes without saying we need a strong correspondence chess team, but anyone who wish to play may email me (or use the 'message to webmaster' form in "My account"), or just respond to this post.
Best wishes.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-18 01:50:11)
Translators needed - all languages
Hello to all.
Thanks to players who helped me to translate the home page to spanish, italian and deutsch already ...
I still need some help to translate it to all other languages : russian, romanian, chinese, japanese, korean... and so on !
Anyone who have some time to translate these lines can do it by clicking here :
http://www.ficgs.com/user_wiki_en-ficgs_home_page.html
... then following the link to your language.
Thanks in advance !
Best wishes, Thibault
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-18 02:05:59)
World Computer Chess Championship (WCCC)
Is this World Computer Chess Championship still worth something without programs such as Hiarcs, Junior & Fritz ?
This way, only 3 or 4 games are decisive and undoubtly - or I should say randomly - Rybka will win ahead of Zappa and Shredder. At least Rybka will obtain the "last major" title to pretend to be the very best chess engine.
WCCC 2007 - http://www.grappa.univ-lille3.fr/icga/news.php
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-18 20:50:23)
Big chess theory : "Queens opening"
The first rated Big Chess tournament started a few days ago... I like this game more and more, no theory, no databases, no chess engines, many strategies & many queens captured already ;)
Every opening seems ok, we still don't know if taking pawns with the queen during the first moves is worth something or not, the value of the pieces is quite unpredictable... Many players now play 1.Nh4 to threaten 2.Qo7 then 3.Qc7 if needed, winning a pawn. What is the best response if you want to keep the same material ? .. Anyway that's very interesting to see a side with 1 or 2 pawns more, giving some rooks activity to the opponent.. Still looks like a draw theorically.
My main line is : 1.Nh4 Nh13 2.Qo7 No14 3.Qc7 Ql13
Any other suggestion ?
See Big Chess waiting list in Chess Special Tournaments.
Robert Mueller (2007-06-18 21:09:21)
Lightning and Blitz Time Controls
Question: Let's say I subscribe to a lightning or blitz time control (30 min or 2 hours) match and I am the first one, when does the game start? As soon as another player signs up? That could be hours or days later. I could be asleep and lose on time. Or am I missing something here?
Ilmars Cirulis (2007-06-19 04:17:05)
Searching for opponents
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 1-0
1.e4 e5 2.f4 0-1
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 0-1
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 1-0
Who don't agree? Stake of 10 e-points.
Lighting game.
Viktor Savinov (2007-06-19 15:34:04)
GM_FICGS__CHESS__RAPID
GM_FICGS__CHESS__RAPID (type : rated round-robin, time : 30 days, increment : 1 day / move) entry fee : 100 , prize : 894 Let's play in such structure: Savinov, Viktor; Atalik, Suat; Balabaev, Farit; Figlio, Gino; Sumets, Andrey; de Vassal, Thibault; Vovk, Andrey; Schuster, Peter; +1
Ilmars Cirulis (2007-06-23 05:57:48)
Poisoned Pawn Variation
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.e5 h6 11.Bh4 dxe5 12.fxe5 Nfd7 13.Ne4 Qxa2 14.Rd1 Qd5 15.Qe3 Qxe5 16.Be2 Bc5 17.Bg3 Bxd4 18.Rxd4 Qa5+ 19.Rd2 O-O 20.Bd6.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-23 06:54:16)
Nicknames
A few words about real names, asked at registration :
While registering, using your real name is really appreciated and helps to build this friendly atmosphere, not using your real name is tolerated if you don't abuse of it...
... but it is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN to use dictators or any other famous people names !
If you feel concerned or notice such a name I wouldn't have noticed in the rating lists, please warn me through the message form in "My account" or by email.
Thanks in advance.
Ilmars Cirulis (2007-06-23 10:02:10)
Variation of Marshall counterattack.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d4 Bd6 13.Re1 Qh4 14.g3 Qh3 15.Bxd5 cxd5 16.Qf3 is won for white, IMHO.
Who want to refute me? ;)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-23 18:12:34)
FICGS freestyle cup
Hello to all.
You may have noticed new changes in the waiting lists & tournaments pages. Trying to create more interesting tournaments with entry fee & prize, with different time controls.
The FICGS chess freestyle cup (I did not find a better name yet :)) will be a 6 rounds swiss tournament played from time to time (every month would be great) at a very fast time control : 10 minutes + 20 seconds / move, see the rules in the tournament page in waiting lists. All rounds will be played the same day, about 1 round per hour.
Blitz tournaments have been gathered with lightning ones under the category advanced chess lightning tournaments.
Feel free if you have any idea or suggestion !
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-23 18:35:15)
Rating rules update
Hello to all.
As I said in another thread, experience shows that rating rules were still too hard IMO : A player winning or drawing against another one rated 350 points more most often means the lower rated player should be rated higher, not the contrary... A few games only are concerned, but with provisional ratings such results are still not fair, and many players rated 2100 to 2300 fear to lose points in the chess WCH, even if they win their groups. The new rule should allow strong players not to fear (too much :)) to play against anyone in rated tournaments without rating restrictions, like wch, blitz & lightning ones.
Consequently, the rule "In case of a loss or draw against a player rated more than 350 points less, the opponent's rating considered in calculation is : Elo - 350" has been changed to "In case of a loss or draw against a player rated more than 200 points less, the opponent's rating considered in calculation is : Elo - 200"
All correspondence chess results of these last 2 months & in the future will be affected, as well as future advanced chess & big chess results.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-23 19:46:32)
Dortmund 2007
The Dortmund 2007 tournament just started, a category 20 event with Vladimir Kramnik (recovering from illness), Viswanathan Anand, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Peter Leko, Boris Gelfand and Magnus Carlsen...
Who is the man of the moment, able to win such a tourney in your opinion ?
... well, and where is Veselin Topalov ?!
Pekka I. Turakainen (2007-06-24 06:17:11)
One variant of BIG CHESS
For one variant of big chess, see http://apollo13.wippiespace.com/doublechess.html ________________________________ Good thing about this version is that it is faster than DeVassal's Big Chess, and that it can be played with two normal chess boards. From the rest I'm not at all sure of...suggestions for improvements?
Thomas Tamayo (2007-06-25 04:07:49)
Recently Completed Games
Just an idea: It would be nice to have a list of recently completed games (last 5 or so). It can be hard to figure out which game ended in a list of 10 or so games.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-26 01:04:56)
Vacation : 1 month / year or 6 months ?
Hello to all.
I've been told that the 30 days leave per year rule was a bit hard (at least harder than ICCF rule). For several reasons, it wouldn't be possible to have 2 months per year but 1 month / 6 months would be ok.
I'm not so favourable to such a change, but I'd like to know players opinion. (please respond if you're not favourable to this change also :))
Thanks in advance.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-26 01:35:03)
A guide to Endgames Tablebases
Endgames tablebases fully explained, a great page :
http://horizonchess.com/FAQ/Winboard/egtb.html
* [A.1] What is a endgame tablebase? How do they work? How much stronger will it make my chess program play?
* [A.2] What are the different endgame tablebases formats out there? What are the differences?
* [A.3] Where can I learn more about the endgame table formats?
* [A.4] What are the Chess programs that support endgame tables? Which format do they support?
* [A.5] Where can I get endgame tablebase?
* [A.6] Where can I buy tablebases?
* [A.7] Where can I download tablebases?
* [A.8] How do I generate tablebases on my computer?
* [A.9] How large are the tablebase files? Can I put then all into one directory? Do I have to use a complete set of 5 men tablebases?
* [A.10] Questions about 6 men endgame tablebases. Which are the most useful?
* [A.11] How do I find out which tablebase is corrupted? How do I know the endgame tablebases are working?
* [A.12] What is datacomp.exe? Where can I get it?
* [A.13] How do I get Crafty to work with Endgame tablebases?
* [A.14] How can I get Fritz to use Endgame tablebases?
* [A.15] What is the difference between tablebases download from Dr Hyatt's ftp site and those on the Chessbase endgame turbo CD? Can they be used together?
* [A.16] What are the files ending with .tbs? What about those with nbb and nbw? Do i need both?
* [A.17] Help, the endgame tablebases are not working properly!
* [A.18] Can I use tablebase files in zipped form?
* [A.19] Where can I get a useful graphical browser to view endgame tablebases? What about an online searchable database?
* [A.20] Misc questions
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-27 04:02:55)
DMD / DMA : Dead Man's Attack :)
You know the DMD - Dead Man's Defense... but do you know the Dead Man's Attack ? :))
Dinesh opponents may know this "funny" situation, but this time I prefered to wait the next rating calculation... Sorry Dinesh, I hope you did not sacrifice your sleep this last month (sure not) ;) .. Quite strange anyway, I'm curious to understand.
http://www.ficgs.com/game_2931.html
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-27 06:19:40)
Bullet games & prizes
Hello to all.
A few new changes and one more time control in lightning tournaments category :
- Bullet games (available for chess & Go), 10 minutes + 20 seconds / move.
- Bronze bullet Go games are available... Everyone can test it for free.
- Bullet & lightning Go games are now rated (same rating list).
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-27 21:18:36)
FICGS vs. IGAME.RU, the games
Hello to all.
The friendly match between FICGS & IGAME.RU teams just started :)
http://www.ficgs.com/tournament_FICGS__CHESS__FICGS_VS_IGAME_RU_MATCH.html
I'd like to thank Sergey Pligin for organizing this match and all players who registered to play. I apologize to the players who couldn't play :/ .. 25 boards was not enough this time. To build FICGS team I selected players with the highest ratings but one cause his rating should be clearly >2000 already. Also IM Mark Noble plays at table 6 because his opponent is another FIDE IM.
I wish good games to everyone, this is a great opportunity for us to meet russian chessfriends.
Amici Sumus !
... quote of the day : "Top boards make the show, last ones win matches." :-)
Here are the complete teams :
FICGS :
1. Thibault de Vassal # 1
2. Michael Aigner # 139
3. Peter Schuster SM # 323
4. Janos Helmer # 47
5. Miguel Pires # 83
6. Mark Noble IM # 1991
7. Leszek Tymcio # 2151
8. Heinz-Georg Lehnhoff # 142
9. Silviu Nenciulescu # 1319
10. William Taylor # 1232
11. Poulerik Jorgensen # 940
12. Wayne Lowrance # 135
13. Edward Kotlyansky # 1140
14. Christophe Czekaj # 1193
15. Konstantin Dudulec # 1329
16. Robert Mueller # 1233
17. Josef Riha # 157
18. Dan Rotaru # 1394
19. Garvin Gray # 1363
20. Nick Burrows # 1643
21. Vadim Khachaturov # 1078
22. Daniel Khayman # 1032
23. Gaetano Laghetti # 138
24. Alexander Nent # 1411
25. Ilmars Cirulis # 533
IGAME.RU :
1. Sumets Andrey, Member # 2137, GM
2. Pljusnin Ivan, Member # 2147
3. Pligin Sergey, Member # 2189
4. Doinikov Owl, Member # 2191
5. Romitsin Nikolay Sergeevich, Member # 2159
6. Vovk Andrey, Member # 2144, IM
7. Yunusov Adkham, Member # 2124
8. Pavlikov Andrey Nikolayevich, Member # 2157
9. Leskiv Miroslav, Member # 2133
10. Domanov Dmitry, Member # 2130
11. Kragujevcanin Stole, Member # 2148 12. Silkin Aleksey, Member # 2198
13. Orlov Sergei, Member # 2207
14. Kim Vladimir, Member # 2139
15. Gerasimov Vladimir, Member # 2190
16. Larin Igor, Member # 2193
17. Zarullin Ivan, Member # 2203
18. Filimonov Evgeny, Member # 2176
19. Pezikov Evgeny, Member # 2174
20. Stork Denis, Member # 2180
21. Mancubov Boris, Member # 2156
22. Ilyuschenko Yury, Member # 2168
23. Prokopenko Alex, Member # 2182
24. Basiliev Iouri, Member # 2205
25. Shpakovsky Alexander, Member # 2185
Edit : There was a mistake while building the games, I had to make a replacement at board 23.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-28 04:49:33)
Joop van Oosterom, ICCF world champion
Oops, he did it again :)
Dutch GM Joop van Oosterom won the 21st ICCF final ! .. In three participations in ICCF world championship final tournaments, he came 2nd in Final 15 (+8 -1 =6, after GM Timmerman), 1st in Final 18 (+8 =6), 1st in Final 21 (+7 -1 =6).
Joop van Oosterom is also ranked 1st on the ICCF elo list with 2770 (207 games), an enormous achievement for sure !
More about ICCF world championship Final XXI :
http://www.iccf-webchess.com/EventCrossTable.aspx?id=5952
Also congratulations to Arno Nickel for beating the world champion in this tournament (!) .. I'd like much to see the game (is it possible ?)... The "other one" in Final 15 where GM Timmerman beats GM van Oosterom to take the title was very impressive.
Alexander Shalamanov (2007-06-28 08:35:41)
FICGS Chess World Championship
Hello dear chessfriends, I regret to inform all of you that, due to lack of time because of my involvement in the Russian Team Cup Final and a lot of time needed to analyse my remaining games there, I find it utterly impossible to play in the global championship on this server. I have to make this move reluctantly, but the circumstances are above me. I might return back later when I have more free time. Hopefully, you will understand why I took this decision. Amici sumus! Alexander
Wolfgang Utesch (2007-06-28 13:40:40)
Thinking in decades of moves
There are many specialists here who are thinking in decades of moves. I mean not the extreme of this, Dinesh, but many other players do it in a moderate way. I accept in principle that it is more effective to use to full capacity of thinking time, because there is a chance, that some players will forfeit in that more time. I think in WCH-Cycle it is much better, because there is no period to control as every move. Perhaps it will be better, if this method can transfused to all other tournaments without changing the average total time for all different types of tournament we have. Just a question.
Samy Ould Ahmed (2007-06-29 00:13:13)
Interesting Go website
A really great go website : www.online-go.com
Charlie Neil (2007-06-30 09:26:19)
Cheering on Ficgs!
Hi, go to Tournaments, then Special Tournaments, then Ficgs Special Events and there is the Ficgs vs IGame match. There is one King's Gambit already! This is brave play in a strong match or not? Who needs sites covering matches and tournaments elsewhere when we can stay here and cheer on our own players against this strong team. "C'mon Ficgs! Check every move twice and again before sending. Take your time. Good luck!" Unfortunately we cannot pass comment of any kind on any of the games in progress. Rules forbid it...There must be somehow home advantage can count.
Amir Bagheri (2007-06-30 14:02:02)
Newsletter and Blog Recruitment
I am trying to set up a Newsletter. This would be an excellent way to spread news amongst ourselves. This newsletter targets primarily The Chess corner Members however I would like to create a column dedicated to the FICGS Members a bit like a gossip page or anything that you would like to share. This Newsletter will be distributed to all my members and to FICGS Member that wishes to receive it To do so I require help from you all we are actively looking for 1) writters 2) editors 3) researchers 4) Designers To express your interest, please go to www.chesscorner.com and fill up the application form. For those of you wiling to help us please bare in mind that I will create a forum where you could share ideas and opinion it is therefore essential that you register on The Chess Corner. All authors will be acknowleged and credit will be given. If you want to help but reckon that a Newsletter maybe a bit out of your league, we are looking for some enthusiasts to look after the Blog. The Blog Regards Amir Bagheri (GM) PS I welcome all comments http://www.thechesscorner.com http://thechesscorner.blogspot.com/
Mladen Jankovic (2007-07-03 13:08:47)
Small board variations
I know that on this site people tend to talk much about large board variants, but, recently I have gained an interest in small board variants.
The reason is simple. They are fun!
I'm interested in the experiences of other members.
I've so far played only Los Alamos Chess. About 30 games. They were simply fun, regardless of winning or loosing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Alamos_chess
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minichess
Victor Dolganiuc (2007-07-08 08:17:18)
FICGS__CHESS__WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP
When starting?
Garvin Gray (2007-07-09 17:46:17)
Norms and titles
How do players achieve norms and titles at ficgs? What tournaments do players have to compete in to get norms and titles at ficgs?
Andrew Stephenson (2007-07-10 11:11:52)
FICGS Data base of Games
Is there a searchable database of games on FICGS? How can I search for games by a particular player? Compliments to Thibault on an excellent site.
Wayne Lowrance (2007-07-12 18:24:02)
game 8029
Responded in international chat, but it is rather cumberson. My thoughts. White still has 10 days on his clock, so I would think he has the right to slow play it here. In addition white has winning chances, that should be considered. Lastly if you do adjudicate it Thibault I guess you would award a draw. If white is holding up progress it would seem to me the fault is not his but in the selection of match time controls. White has every right to expect to use all of his clock, do you not agree Thibault. :) Wayne
Jason Repa (2007-07-12 22:15:04)
One more needed for 2200 - 2600 tourney!
We've been waiting for the 7th player for the class "M" section to sign up for about a week now. Anyone interested?
Dinesh De Silva (2007-07-13 04:48:27)
A certain email chess website.....
Dear chess friends, I want to bring to your attention that there's a certain chess website (which plays only by email) of a certain South American country where the main Arbitor who owns the website cheats and favours certain players in a world championship final. Playing there is at your own risk.
1.He protects certain players by saving them when they even have stepped the time limit twice. (He cunningly sends the game into adjudication etc., instead of dealing with the proof). 2.When requesting that an opponent should provide email proof in certain critical situations, he protects them by refusing that at all times. 3.He blames the persons who make a claim by saying "Don't Be Rude!", instead of taking action against those who clearly break rules. 4.The website keeps popping in and out on the internet, and the website says its under construction most of the time! 5.He does not send monthly reports to players. 6.He does not show finished games. 7.He stays silent for months and says he has lost files due to a virus. 8.He does not include some finished games in some reports. 9.At least 3 other players have already withdrawn from the tourney. 10.He has extended the tourney twice already! obviously trying to favour his favourite playes who are very slow players to climb up in the list. Pathetic!
Thibault de Vassal (2007-07-14 01:39:07)
SSDF changed its url
You can now find the top chess programs SSDF rating list here :
http://ssdf.bosjo.net
April 2007 :
1 Rybka 2.3.1 Arena 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2962
2 Rybka 1.2 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2909
3 Hiarcs 11.1 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2871
4 Junior 10.1 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2867
5 Junior 10 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2851
6 Hiarcs 10 HypMod 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2845
7 Fruit 2.2.1 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2837
8 Shredder 10 UCI 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2830
Thibault de Vassal (2007-07-14 02:57:01)
Rybka vs. Ehlvest (2nd)
A new 6-games match occured during july 2007 between the latest version of Rybka and GM Ehlvest with some "advantages" given to the human. One more time, Rybka convincingly won the match : 4,5-1,5
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=1614
Well, not so bad after Kramnik's 4-2 loss vs. Deep Fritz... Help, we need help :)
Wolfgang Utesch (2007-07-14 14:20:50)
Quite funny, 3 Wolfgang in WCH2-
... Semifinals (chated by Thibault): Wolfgang von Kempelen - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe :-)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-07-15 12:25:27)
Invitation in WCH 1 stage 3 round-robin
Hello to all.
As I've been asked, in WCH 1 round-robin final tournament there are 2 players from WCH 1 stage 2 group 3 because it was not possible (at least desirable) to adjudicate game 8029 in its current position (move 36)... So it is not possible to tell who wins the group yet. However if I had to adjudicate this game, it would be a draw so Alberto Gueci would win the tournament. As WCH 1 stage 3 must start now and as I needed one more player to fill the group, according to the rules Francois Caire (due to his position of possible -likely- winner in the tournament and his rating) was invited to solve game 8029 problem.
William Taylor (2007-07-15 16:47:23)
Go ratings
At the moment only ELO ratings are shown beside players' names when viewing a go tournament. I would prefer dan/kyu rank to be shown than ELO rating (or both). Discuss.
Jason Repa (2007-07-15 20:12:13)
Bobby Fischer's IQ
"In previous writings I have cited Fischer's I.Q. as in the range of 180, a very high genius. My source of information is impeccable: a highly regarded political scientist who coincidentally happened to be working in the grade adviser's office at Erasmus Hall - Bobby Fischer's high school in Brooklyn - at the time Fischer was a student there. He had the opportunity to study Fischer's personal records and there is no reason to believe his figure is inaccurate. Some critics have claimed that other teachers at Erasmus Hall at that time remember the figure to be much lower; but who the teachers are and what figures they remember have never been made clear."
The Chess of Bobby Fischer (c) 1975 by Frank Brady
http://bobbyfischer.net/bobby02.html
Nick Burrows (2007-07-15 20:29:03)
IQ vs Multple Intelligence
Are there other forms of intellingence independant of having a high IQ? Or are they simply 'skills'?
How about...
1. Linguistic intelligence involving sensitivity to spoken and written language, the ability to learn languages, and the capacity to use language to accomplish certain goals. This intelligence includes the ability to effectively use language to express oneself rhetorically or poetically; and language as a means to remember information. Writers, poets, lawyers and speakers are among those that
2. Logical-mathematical intelligence consisting of the capacity to analyze problems logically, carry out mathematical operations, and investigate issues scientifically. This entails the ability to detect patterns, reason deductively and think logically. This intelligence is most often associated with scientific and mathematical thinking.
3. Musical intelligence involving skill in the performance, composition, and appreciation of musical patterns. It encompasses the capacity to recognize and compose musical pitches, tones, and rhythms.
4. Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence entailing the potential of using one's whole body or parts of the body to solve problems. It is the ability to use mental abilities to coordinate bodily movements.
5. Spatial intelligence involving the potential to recognize and use the patterns of wide space and more confined areas.
6. Interpersonal intelligence is concerned with the capacity to understand the intentions, motivations and desires of other people. It allows people to work effectively with others. Educators, salespeople, religious and political leaders and counsellors all need a well-developed interpersonal intelligence.
7. Intrapersonal intelligence entails the capacity to understand oneself, to appreciate one's feelings, fears and motivations.
Jason Repa (2007-07-16 05:19:18)
Sandipan destroys Tiviakov
http://chessmusings.blogspot.com/2007/07/excellent-attacking-game-by-chanda.html
Garvin Gray (2007-07-17 09:52:11)
Game sorting
Currently on the game page, the order of the games is shown from oldest created game to newest created game.
I would like the ability to show the games in terms of least amount of days till time out, where the game with the shortest number of days till time out is at the top of the list.
It would be even better if there was a way to show only the games where it is your turn to move.
Don Groves (2007-07-20 07:46:32)
Checkers anyone?
It has now been proven: checkers (draughts) is a draw with best play. Details are at http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~chinook/ Is chess next?
Ilmars Cirulis (2007-07-24 02:14:01)
2200
I like you, Jason Repa. Now I have good stimulus. :)
I need to overreach this limit to play against Jason. :)
Jason, do you agree to post both our one minute games here. I don't understand how to get PGN from all cb* and others strange files. :)
Andrey Vovk (2007-07-25 22:08:14)
WCH tournament GROUP M 01
I was not registered to play in this tournament!
Nick Burrows (2007-07-27 21:47:18)
Nice game from Tiviakov.
[Event "8th It"]
[Site "Montreal CAN"]
[Date "2007.07.26"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Tiviakov,S"]
[Black "Miton,K"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2648"]
[BlackElo "2648"]
[EventDate "2007.07.19"]
[ECO "C87"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. O-O Bd7 6. c3 Nf6 7. Re1 Be7 8. d4 O-O 9. d5 Nb8 10. Bc2 c6 11. Nxe5 dxe5 12. d6 Bg4 13. dxe7 Qxe7 14. Qd3 Nbd7 15. Nd2 Rfd8 16. Nf1 Be6 17. Ng3 Nf8 18. Qf3 Ne8 19. Be3 Qc7 20. Nf5 f6 21. h4 Nd6 22. b3 Kh8 23. c4 c5 24. Rad1 Bg8 25. h5 Ne6 26. h6 Nxf5 27. exf5 Nd4 28. Qe4 Rd6 29. Bb1 Ne2+ 30. Rxe2 Rxd1+ 31. Kh2 Rad8 32. Bc2 R1d7 33. Qh4 Qd6 34. Be4 b6 35. hxg7+ Rxg7 36. Bh6 Rgd7 37. Re3 b5 38. cxb5 axb5 39. Rg3 b4 40. Rg4 Rc7 41. f4 Re7 42. Rg3 Red7 43. Qg4 Qe7 44. fxe5 fxe5 45. Bc6 Qf6 46. Bg5 Qxc6 47. Bxd8 Qh6+ 48. Rh3 Qd6 49. Bg5 Rf7 50. Rh6 Qf8 51. Qh4 Kg7 52. Rg6+ 1-0
Garvin Gray (2007-07-28 03:58:25)
Rapid tournament games
I would like to propose a change to the rapid tournament time control.
Currently it is 30 days plus 1 day per move.
From the games I have been playing on here under this time control, I have noticed that as soon as you get to about 20 days left, it seems very difficult to get any higher than 20 days or so.
When you have a few games with this amount of time, it feels like not much time left at all.
I would like to propose that a new time control be made of 20 days plus 3 days per move. This still guarantees that a player will have 3 days to think of a move regardless of how many initial days they have used up.
Samy Ould Ahmed (2007-08-01 02:00:21)
Go Server
A great go server : http://world.cyberoro.com Do you play in this server ? What do you think about it ?
Polina Stefanova (2007-08-02 16:13:21)
Threatened to kill the person
...in Moskow.
Unfortunately I inform, that --- [moderator : name deleted] from Ukraine promised to employ killers and to kill in Moscow the strongest chess player Igame - Sex God (2 place in rating Igame).
Sex God should play for command Igame against ficgs on the third board.
Sex God was against participation --- [moderator : name deleted] in match Igame – ficgs, because he supports addicts and played for a command which captain is the sick person and addict R2.
In Russia against a narcotism, including this illness a harm, however the command headed by addict R2, exists on Igame till now :(
As a result captain Igame, being afraid for a life and health Sex God has been compelled to exclude Sex God from a command.
Best wishes, Polina Stefanova (the leader of rating Igame)
Wayne Lowrance (2007-08-04 17:42:51)
Rated
Are the match games with russia rated ? Wayne
Dinesh De Silva (2007-08-05 06:45:36)
A translation needed
Can anyone translate for me the following into English: "El final es claramente tablas, no hay forma de forzar la posición, ya que el Rey blanco está mal ubicado y no puede zafar del perpetuo de la Dama negra. El análisis de Luzuriaga comienza con la jugada 48.Qe5+ por lo que se presume que ésa hubiese sido su jugada de continuarse la partida. La réplica negra 48. ... Kg8 que él indica es mala y lleva a una posición perdida para las negras, pero si las negras juegan 48. ...Kh7 como bien indica De Silva en sus análisis no hay forma de ganar el final. He comprobado todas las variantes en la computadora y en todas ellas el resultado es el mismo TABLAS."
Andrew Stephenson (2007-08-06 03:23:55)
Search games
How do you use the search by opening facility of the search games option? ECO clssification did not work nor the general name.
Dwight Oldenhof (2007-08-06 15:05:52)
future rating
What happens when I win a game (e.g. game 11686) and nothing changes the number of games calculated or my future ELO rating? That number was 3 before I won the match and unfortunately stayed 3. Consequently, future ELO and performance rating didn't change either.
James Breeden (2007-08-07 12:38:47)
score sheet, history, replay...
might any [all] of these (score sheet, history, replay, side to move) be useful on the main page with the board?
Garvin Gray (2007-08-07 18:32:38)
Challenge game
I would like to make some arrangements to play a game of FICGS__CHESS__BLITZ_SILVER__000002 if someone is interested. Please just reply to this post to start arranging a time.
Sheng Wu (2007-08-07 19:58:56)
Go game 10878 Why black resign?
Why black resign? Black has huge advantage, four corners, one group of stones in center can escape.
Dinesh De Silva (2007-08-09 06:51:22)
Real names in chess websites
I have some critical suggestions: 1. Chess websites should allow players only to play under their REAL NAMES. Using any nicknames or fake names should be prohibited, as it leads to all sorts of confusion at one point or another. 2. In chess websites, whenever a question of which player to give captaincy arrives, the highest rated player should always be given first choice, UNLESS that player declines or that player has been proven to have broken rules or rules state a specific way of choosing a captain. 3. In chess websites, accusations against any player should be rejected IF there is no clear proof. 4. Players who still continue abusing each other after some warnings should be disqualified/thrown out. There should be no favourations whatsoever. 5. When awarding titles, it should be clearly stated from where the title was earned fom. For example, if a player gets an IM title at Igame, it should be stated as Igame IM.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-08-10 21:29:49)
Hiarcs forum
After the successful Rybka forum - http://rybkaforum.net (about 20,000 posts in a few months), I just discovered the HIARCS forum... Let's hope that Hiarcs chess engine will improve the same way thanks to these new forums - http://www.hiarcs.net/forums
Wolfgang Utesch (2007-08-11 22:35:56)
Found on YouTube - funny
Have a look at Magnus Carlson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N003wIDsiCc Best, Wolfgang
Thibault de Vassal (2007-08-12 16:17:18)
Contest : Your best quotes !
Once more it would be funny to add new quotes from FICGS players to the site... Feel free to create your own quotes and submit it in this thread ! .. The best ones (best play on words, most funny and so on...) will be displayed [with names] with the famous ones !
Have good quotes :)
Marc Lacrosse (2007-08-13 11:53:27)
(Unfair) partial withdrawal
A few weeks ago IM Andrey Vovk had a discussion in the forum with Thibault regarding the fact that he did not wish to play in the new WCH although he had formerly enrolled on the waiting list.
As Thibault confirmed that he had to play in tournament FICGS__CHESS__WCH_STAGE_1_GROUP_M_01__000003, IM Vovk announced that he would forfeit all his games in this tournament.
That's what he seemed to do for more or less 30 days as he let his clock run and so lost five games on time.
Then he seemed to change his mind and began to play in his three remaining games where his flag had not yet fallen.
Although I admit that anybody may decide to play or to resign whenever he wishes, this seems a bit problematic in a qualification tournament : five players got a full point whereas three have to fight one more opponent (and presumably a very strong one)...
For what regards myself I am very happy to play a game against IM Volk but I feel that three of us have not the same chances anymore as the five other ones for qualification ...
I think this situation calls for establishing new rules for qualification tournaments : if a player clearly forfeits a given number of games, then all his games in this tournament should be withdrawn.
Your opinion ?
Marc
Thibault de Vassal (2007-08-13 17:20:46)
Go Search Engine
From IGN Goama newsletter - http://gogame.info
Go Search Engine, created by Alexander Dinerchtein
There are many sites on the Internet dedicated to Go. The majority are non-profitmaking. They were created by people who enjoy playing Go strictly as amateurs. As a result, they don't invest much money or effort in making their sites popular among search engines, so it's hard to find their sites using Google, Yahoo! or other common tools.
Of course, it's not easy for them to compete with online gaming stores and gambling sites, which spend thousands of US dollars monthly on advertising and optimizing their sites for search engines. The verb "to go" makes the situation even more difficult. If we search for "go magazines" or "go news" on Google, we may find only a few Go-related resources on the first few pages. It's terrible!
The situation with Asian Go masters who have short and common names is also confusing. It's almost impossible to find their games, biographies and photos on the main search engines. We have decided to solve this problem! We have made a special search engine, based on Google Custom Search, which searches information only on Go-related sites.
Right now there are more than 500 sites in our database (99% of all Go-related resources) and we are trying to increase this number daily. We allow people to suggest new sites to crawl. Each site passes moderation, so you can be sure that each side is relevant to the subject of your search. We exclude non-Go related sites, doorways, sites with hidden text and dishonest competitors.
Dear Go-lovers, we hope that our system will be helpful for you!
You can find it here: http://find.gogame.info
Wayne Lowrance (2007-08-13 18:37:13)
General comments
Hi all. I really enjoy playing here at FICGS. It is really one of the best places for CC. Recently there has been a lot of junk discussions, accusations and unfriendly talk. Only in the last couple of months I guess. Some preety bizzare talk. I hope it gets cleaned up and I feel confident that Thibault has taken notice and does not approve. On the recent post of "unfair withdrawals". My opinion is that players games should be forfeited across the board in a situation like this. Just my thoughts. I really like this team concept. I am enjoying playing very much. I expect to get our team 1 1/2 points. Those of you who might be interested please check out game number 11987. It is/was really loaded with threats and tactical chess right out of the get go. I cannot and should not comment about it now, but will at its conclusion, I think some of you will get a kickout of it. :) bfn Wayne
Marius Zubac (2007-08-13 20:24:33)
Obvious blunder possible move back?
I confused my game with Kuhne with the one against Aigner. Is it possible to get the move back?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-08-14 19:45:25)
Chessboard serial killer of Moscow
Source Chessbase - http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4047
Guardian Unlimited: Along the leafy lanes of Moscow's Bitsevsky Park, Alexander Pichushkin was a familiar figure. The 33-year-old supermarket worker played chess under the trees and even invited his opponents for a drink afterwards. But yesterday Mr Pichushkin was in court accused of murdering 49 people and attempting to kill three more, a tally which would make him one of Russia's most deadly killers. According to the prosecution, Mr Pichushkin lured his victims, who were mostly elderly men, to a quiet part of the park. He then attacked them from behind with a hammer. Mr Pichushkin boasted that he had killed 63 people. He said he drew a cross on his chessboard after each murder. His plan to fill all 64 squares came unstuck in June 2006 when he went for a walk in the park with Marina Moskalyova, 36, a supermarket colleague.
Times Online: The prosecution claims that [Pichushkin] wanted to kill more people than Andrei Chikatilo, Russia’s worst known serial killer, who murdered 53 people. “He dreamt of surpassing Chikatilo and going down in history,” said Yuri Syomin, the Moscow prosecutor. The Russian press suggested last week that he would enter Guinness World Records by being charged with 62 murders. But in the event he was charged with only 52 killings over a five-year period. That compared with the 53 murders of women and children in the Rostov area of southern Russia for which Chikatilo was executed in 1994.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2252021.ece
Garvin Gray (2007-08-15 13:32:32)
Transferring e points
How does someone transfer e points (money) from their account to someone elses?
Thomas Tamayo (2007-08-15 14:47:04)
SGF Result field
Would it be possible to update the SGF Result field for a completed game? For example: Black wins on time: B+T Black wins on score/resign: B+ (since no scoring is done on the server). It might clear up problems like the thread post "Go game 10878 Why black resign?" (it is unclear if it was time or resign).
Daniel Daoust (2007-08-15 17:24:45)
Jouer!
Comment fait-on pour jouer aux échecs pour le plaisir dans ce site?
Ulrich Imbeck (2007-08-18 02:04:15)
Individual games possible?
Are here on ficgs.com individual games without a tournament possible?
Charlie Neil (2007-08-19 16:56:18)
Draws and wins
Hello Everyone. I have just checked my chess rating and win/loss/draw ratio. I haven't 'won' that many games. The vast majority are 'time-outs' as my opponents silently withdraw. Well, that's how it is at the bottom of the table. Are there a lot of 'time-outs' elsewhere on Ficgs?. You can expect that in a free site and players do go for whatever reasons. But my number of draws, 6, I think. Very low. I don't engage in chats with my opponents very much, just because I can barely concentrate on the game. anyway the question(s) is(are) why so few draws? Are Ficgs players so good?
Philip Roe (2007-08-21 00:19:50)
Best game voting
It is a nice new feature to be able to see all the board positions in a tournament. This inspired me to look through the "20 best games". On average a mediocre bunch! Perhaps the problem is the link "vote for best game" You look at this and wonder "What happens if I click on this?" and then discover that you have voted for the game you happened to be examining. I suggest a less ambiguous wording "Endorse this game as a best game candidate"
Graham Wyborn (2007-08-26 09:44:13)
New Icon?
I notice that the "FICGS" icon has changed from a black crown to a red letter "T" underscored with a broad blue line. What does this new icon stand stand for and mean?
Ulrich Imbeck (2007-08-27 01:48:36)
Go-Endgame at ficgs-GUI
At an Go-Endgame someone begins to pass. How can i pass here at the ficgs-GUI?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-08-28 12:42:38)
Who is chess champion in your country ?
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave just won the France chess championships in Aix-Les-Bains, after a great tournament (other players in National A tournament were Vladislav Tkachiev, Andrei Sokolov, Christian Bauer, Josif Dorfman, Robert Fontaine, Laurent Fressinet, Jean-Marc Degraeve, Anatoly Vaisser, Igor Nataf, Olivier Renet, Laurent Guidarelli)... Thal Abergel won the National B tournament.
Now the question is :
Do you know who is champion in your country ? .. Not only to know who is champion, but to see if this information is well known or not...
Christophe Czekaj (2007-08-29 13:42:09)
Correspondence Chess without computers ?
Is there anyone interested about this topic ? Could we imagine a tournament in wich players agree to play without search engines ? For example, with a sort of gentlemen agreement to not use computer's help ?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-08-31 09:40:32)
Neuroanatomy of a chess player
http://maverickphilosopher.powerblogs.com/chess
http://maverickphilosopher.powerblogs.com/files/maverickphilosopher-IMG_0256.JPG
Quite funny, and interesting blog :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-08-31 09:45:23)
FIDE, Topalov, Danailov & Short
FIDE Ethics Commission rules on Topalov/Danailov and Short
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4083
Much to read... Any opinion ?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-08-31 13:22:59)
Your chess websites ?
Hello all...
What about listing here the (chess or other) websites you made ? .. Could be a way to know better each other, at least all webmasters among us :)
Garvin Gray (2007-08-31 15:30:16)
Private message facility
Is there a pm facility on here? If so, how do I access it? If not, can one be created please?
Garvin Gray (2007-09-01 07:14:59)
Site unable to load, timing out
Just 'finished' a blitz silver game with Ilmars Cirulis.
Had four minutes remaining on my clock and five moves to make to the time control, when ficgs would not load on my browser and kept timing out.
I am not happy about this situation because this has resulted in costing me e-points (money) through no fault of my own.
It is not my fault that the site kept timing out.
I am not sure what remedy there is for this situation, but I really dont feel like I should be out of pocket financially through a site fault and not my own fault.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-02 14:21:35)
China, chess and Go champion ?
The match between chinese and russian chess teams just ended in Nizhniy Novgorod. Both russian men and women teams lost to chinese by, respectively, a 24.5-25.5 and 23-27 score. Finally, China beat Russia by 52.5-47.5 points.
More details - http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4084
Chess seems to be much less played than Xiangqi in China, the chinese are probably able to take the crown in every board game, soon a chinese world champion for chess ? Practice, practice and practice... Their only secret ? :)
... or was the russian team simply not strong enough ?
Still waiting for more chinese friends here at FICGS, but internet seems to have its own limits too :/
Viktor Savinov (2007-09-03 12:27:34)
FICGS__CHESS__CLASS_GM__000001
Two months tournament FICGS__CHESS__CLASS_GM__000001 is not formed. Perhaps, to lower a rating of the admission up to 2490-2470? To admit in tournament of GM FIDE & GM ICCF, having put them a conditional rating 2500? Perhaps, to dispatch players personal invitations?
Andrew Stephenson (2007-09-03 18:25:05)
Ajudication
Thibault is there any way for the sever to link to table bases and automatically give a result? I face playing 39 moves to give mate in a queen v R + P ending
Garvin Gray (2007-09-06 17:35:00)
Playchess freestyle tournament
Am curious, how many of our members are playing in the playchess freestyle tournament, starting in about 24 hours: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4093
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-06 21:00:47)
Rugby World Cup 2007
The Rugby World Cup 2007 starts these days in France... Who will be able to win this great tournament according to you ? .. All Blacks of New-Zealand, England, France, Australia... ?
France has a good chance IMO :)
Hannes Rada (2007-09-06 21:19:59)
Who is cc champion in your country ?
This should be the right topic, because we are playing correspondence chess :-) Austria: Rüdiger Löschnauer won the 27th and the 28th correspondence chess championship of Austria. This is a novelty for our country because no reigning champion could defend his crown so far !
Hannes Rada (2007-09-06 21:28:07)
FICGS Hardware + Software
In my opininon it would be interesting to know on which hardware + software (Opening system, database) our server is running ? So Thibault, hope that's not a big secret :-)
Svante Carl von Erichsen (2007-09-06 22:04:56)
Norms
What is the exact definition of a "norm"? When googling, I found something along the lines of "a tournament performance indicating that a certain level has been reached", but what does it mean? Winning more than half of the games? How does it depend on the opponents' strength?
Johann Piek (2007-09-07 23:23:24)
Enrolment Cancellation
How do I cancel if I enrolled for a tournament, and I don't want to play in it anymore?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-09 15:28:33)
FICGS update & wish list
Hello to all.
You probably noticed a new extension to the chat bar, it delivers some random messages and news (forum, problems, public comments, entries, login). It also automatically warns a player if he started an advanced tournament [bullet, lightning or blitz games], which is more convenient... As it refreshes every minute, you shouldn't log out automatically anymore until you close the chat bar.
Other changes :
- Serbia & Montenegro (SCG) has become Serbia (SRB) and Montenegro (MNE).
- New players will start with a 1800 chess rating.
- Lightning tournaments become Advanced tournaments (blitz, lightning, bullet)
- New quotes added from the forum :)
- Some Google optimizations...
- Waiting list for unrated no-engines tournaments is open !
- Minor bugs corrected.
I did not implement the private messages facility yet... I feel it could create some problems (not technically), I still have to think about it.
This is probably a good moment to open a wish list and discuss all changes you'd like to see on the site...
Best wishes, Thibault
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-10 13:32:41)
Netiquette (rules update)
11. General rules
11. 1. Netiquette
Computer assistance is authorized, as any other kind of help but in the "no-engines" tournaments.
It is possible to leave public comments for your games. No player may post in forums or send to another member any voluntary message that contains abusive, insulting, provocating, advertising, vulgar, foul, racist, sexist or other discriminatory or politically sensitive content. Doing so may lead to being immediately and permanently banned. You agree that the webmaster, administrator and moderators have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic, comment or message at any time should they see fit. Responding to a provocative message is strictly forbidden and will lead to get a limited access to the server during one month a first time, two months the second one and so on. In this case, please just warn the moderator or webmaster in private.
Andrew Stephenson (2007-09-10 21:05:48)
chess engines
Following Thibault's comments about Rybka having changed correpondence chess I purchased the rybka engine. It is a very good program but I dont see how it has affected cc anymore than Fritz. I have used Fritz 8 and 9 extensively for analysis and have until now no experience of other engines. Although I have just downloaded Toga II which is an excellent engine (and free!!) if anyone wants a free engine this is a top program that downloads in seconds and is up there with the commercial programs. I noticed Rybka seems more conservative evaluating positions than Fritz. However it has blind spots. For an example taken from the current chess cafe "Yasser Annotates" (Ivanchuk Seirawan 1990)after 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 dxe 4 Nxe Bc5 5 Ng3 Bg6 6 h5 h6 7 Nf3 Nd7 8 h5 Bh7 9 Bd3 Bxd 10 Qxd Ngf6 11 Bf4 e6 12 0-0-0 Be7 13 c4 b5 Black offers a pawn my reaction is not to take - otb I would never take. Why open the c file for black and grabbing the pawn by Qxb5 looks risky with only 2 pawns to cover the king and open b and c files. Fritz prefers 14 c5 with 14 cxd followed by 15 Kb1 as 2nd choice after 3 minutes ply 15 depth Rybka r chooses 14 cxb cxb then 15 Qxb5?! even after 1 hour at ply 19! In cc I would look at 14cxb and 15 Qxb5 to see if I could survive and win with the extra pawn but working with Fritz it takes but a few minutes to see black has compensation after 15 Qxb5 Nd5. When 16 Be5 gives an inferior endgame for white and 16 Bd2 Rb8 gives an attack for black. The top professionals work with a range of programs Fritz, Junior, Shredder, Hiracs and Rybka to generate ideas. Does anyone have any views on these other program's characteristics?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-11 17:34:55)
Contest : Best jokes !
Chess is not everything... Do you know some good ones ? :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-14 02:33:32)
FIDE World Championship 2007
The FIDE World Championship 2007 just started in Mexico. A double round-robin tournament with 8 players and a US $1.3 million prize fund. Players are Vladimir Kramnik, Peter Svidler, Alexander Morozevich, Levon Aronian, Viswanathan Anand, Boris Gelfand, Alexander Grischuk and Peter Leko.
Round 1, all games drawn... Any favourite ?
Edwin Dabbaghyan (2007-09-15 03:09:57)
how can I enter (or qualify for) ?
Hello :) I am new here and I am going to start my first games.... I wonder how I can enter the world championship cycle? where should I start from? and...how can I enter the freestyle money tournament? do I have to qualify or just paying is enough? how much should I pay? I appreciate any help :) by the way, I live in sweden, stockholm... I have played all of playchess freestyle tournaments but the first one and am playing in the current one too...( 2,5 of 5 so far ) ...anyone from sweden, stockholm here in Ficgs? we can drink a beer together in Medborgarplatsen och snacka lite om schack :) I appreciate any help :) regards Edwin
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-15 12:59:08)
IECG WC 2006 final
As the IECG WC 2006 final just started, this is a good time to end the game. Quite surprising but finally, after 2 or 3 discussions about it, noone solved it and found me (some really looked for though) ;)
Clues were : Playing this year in a world championship final, birthdate (1973-04-13), first FICGS rating (2407, IECG rating), movies (a few players at IECG and FICGS knew about it, the trailer of 'A Clockwork Orange' where the other name is mentioned...
Here is the message I sent to my opponents :
"Dear chessfriends,
That's a real pleasure and honor to play my first IECG WC final with you all. Dinesh, Carlos, Farit, Massimiliano and John, nice to play again :)
I'm 34, single, living in the center of France... I play correspondence chess since 2002, IECG is the place I started with.
I made a few strange movies and videos a few years ago (soon available on the internet) :)
http://www.ficgs.com/psi/download/psi_divx411_vost_720x360.avi
http://www.ficgs.com/psi/download/A_clockwork_orange_2005__teaser.avi
http://www.ficgs.com/psi/download/Aphex_Twin_-_Inkeys_video_clip.avi
I wanted to play correspondence chess under my director's name but I'm now more known in our small CC world as Thibault de Vassal... I'm the webmaster of FICGS - http://www.ficgs.com , another Correspondence Chess Server, where I knew some of you :) .. Sorry about the confusion. I don't know how IECG rules will apply, I hope I can play this tournament anyway.
Best of luck to all !
David Gordh."
TS: Gordon Evans
+---------------------------------+---+----+----+---+---+----+----+------+-----+
|IECG WC-2006-F-00001 1 1 1 1 1 1 | | | |WC 2006 Tournament # 00001 | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 | Tot | Plc |
+---------------------------------+---+----+----+---+---+----+----+------|-----|
| 18149 Robson, Nigel ENG 2646 | # | 0,0 | |
| 16702 Sirota, Anatoli AUS 2553 | # | 0,0 | |
| 19142 Pappier, Carlos ARG 2518 | # | 0,0 | |
| 18096 Chovanec, Milan SVK 2508 | # | 0,0 | |
| 15446 Makovsky, Petr CZE 2500 | # | 0,0 | |
| 11273 Blanco, Cesar GUA 2451 | # | 0,0 | |
| 13336 Gordh, David FRA 2443 | # | 0,0 | |
| 17738 De Silva, Dines SRI 2425 | # | 0,0 | |
| 10969 Rocca, Horacio ARG 2422 | # | 0,0 | |
| 17342 Perez, Brigilia PHI 2410 | # | 0,0 | |
| 16273 Fiala, Jaroslav CZE 2406 | # | 0,0 | |
| 13552 Claridge, John WLS 2403 | # | 0,0 | |
| 21524 Balabaev, Farit KAZ 2398 | # | 0,0 | |
| 15174 Massimini Gerbi ITA 2363 | # | 0,0 | |
| 18311 Bendig, Frank GER 2341 | # | 0,0 | |
+---------------------------------+-------------------------------+------+-----+
Rating Average = 2452 Category = 9 Start date: 12.09.2007
I didn't know that I would create FICGS when I registered at IECG and I prefered to use my director's name. I hope you don't mind. Sorry to Igor Khokhlov, Harry Ingersol and Farit Balabaev (I played them under both names).
Best wishes, Thibault
Thomas Tamayo (2007-09-15 13:59:23)
I like the status bar...
because it keeps me logged in... My only wish would be for a (non-scrolling) status of my games. If I have any open moves, maybe it could tell me or change color? It would cut down on me refreshing my game list :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-18 15:55:07)
Major update : New interface !
Hello to all.
You may have noticed that the way to send moves has changed, at least the way by default (you still can choose to play through the old - HTML only - interface by clicking "slow moves" in My games).
Please note that there are no more confirmation pages when using the new Javascript interface, meaning your moves will be sent as soon as you press the Send button. Also Javascript should be activated in your browser, that is generally the case.
Other changes :
- My games display only games where it's your turn, you can change it by clicking 'display all games'.
- It is now possible to download all chess games (PGN format) in a particular tournament, see the bottom of the page.
- To avoid massive forfeits, the number of running games is now limited to 60.
... and hundreds of other small improvements :)
Feel free to report possible bugs or if you have any suggestions. Thanks in advance !
Albert H. Alberts (2007-09-18 17:04:14)
110 best chess moves ever
All: Dutch GM Tim Krabbe has compiled "110 best chess moves ever".I computerevaluated them.Most of them are spotted by machines and if not: they are refuted. Notably nr. Topalov-Shirov and a classic 1960 Spasski-Bronstein.www.howtofoolfritz.com. Albert Alberts Amsterdam.
Wayne Lowrance (2007-09-19 00:56:11)
Missing game(s)
I seem to think at least one of my games does not appear in "My games" tab. I see no result for game A_000012 5866. I dunno if this is the game or not. But anyhow I am used to seeing one gamer in the 5k series listed when I click "My games" tab. Hope there are not others as I have many games going. In my Ficgs database of games I do not anotate a win or loss. Help please Thibault......thank you Wayne
Andrew Stephenson (2007-09-19 13:11:27)
Password
Thibault if I want to change my password how do I do that?
Josef Riha (2007-09-19 18:21:15)
Empty
Hello Thibault, please can you tell me what's this means?
The move of my opponent is done (5. ...Bb4)
A000026 game 14550.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bb5 not 5.empty *
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-22 01:36:25)
Rybka vs. Zappa Mexico
While Anand, Kramnik and the other top chess players fight for the FIDE crown, it seems that another match is taking place in Mexico : Rybka vs. Zappa "Mexico".
http://www.chessvibes.com/?p=1239#more-1239
More info at Rybka forum - http://rybkaforum.net
Andrew Stephenson (2007-09-23 13:23:38)
Log out
Thibault I get logged out of the site automatically after a certain time is there anyway I can extend the time before the sysytem logs me out forcing me to log back in?
Wolfgang Utesch (2007-09-23 16:53:41)
50 moves rule
Is the 50 moves rule effective (50 moves without striking any figure or moving a pawn) - as in FIDE or ICCF rules? I can't find a hint in our rules.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-24 02:13:51)
1st FICGS freestyle cup
Dear chessfriends,
The 1st FICGS freestyle cup waiting list is open ! .. This advanced chess or more commonly said "freestyle" (computers, teams, everything allowed) swiss tournament will happen on 2007 October 20 & 21 (14 pm, 17 pm, 20 pm server time), time control : 1 hour + 15 seconds / move. Entry fee is 10 E-Points (10 Euros), prize is 100% of E-Points (see rules/membership).
Thanks to players who broadcasted the news on the web already !
Denis Chumakov (2007-09-24 12:59:29)
SM, FEM, FIM
Hi! What is Titles SM, FEM, FIM?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-26 18:45:47)
Chess, love... ego
In a discussion where Susan Polgar (in her new forum, see link below) encourages members to ask questions to strong OTB GM & IM, I suggested to ask them :
"...how the venue of Rybka and other engines crushing them OTB (ie. Hydra-Adams) in classical games affected their love of the game ! .. More than learning us & them humility, obviously noone can feel the same than Bobby Fischer in front of the chessboard anymore (and probably before him also). How can a human player love the game like he did, nowadays ? .. What is the place of the ego in this strange relationship ? Finally... do they play other games more and more as time passes ?"
An interesting point, undoubtly to be discussed, is the place of ego in the love of the game IMO. Go players may have an interesting point in this discussion ;)
http://www.chessdiscussion.com
http://www.chessdiscussion.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=196
Gregory Ross (2007-09-29 01:01:39)
2-player match?
Is there no way to play a simple two-player match here for free?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-10-01 05:20:50)
Tablebases : Mate in 517+
While I was checking some positions in 6-pieces tablebases, I was wondering what was the longest win found in tablebases so far...
I found the answer here (new record established in May 2006) :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endgame_tablebase#Endgame_theory
"For some years, this position held the record for the longest computer-generated forced mate. (Otto Blathy had composed a mate in 292 moves problem already in 1889.) However, in May 2006, Bourzutschky and Konoval discovered a KQNKRBN position with an astonishing DTC of 517 moves. This was more than twice as long as Stiller's maximum, and almost 200 moves beyond the previous record of DTC = 330 for a position of KQBNKQB_1001."
What I just can't understand is how is it possible not to know the DTM (Distance To Mate) while knowing the DTC (Distance To Conversion) ?!
Anyway, amazing ! .. Any taker ? :)
Peter Schuster (2007-10-01 10:07:37)
New Interface castling
Hello, I'm not able to castling in the new interface. When I move the king from e1 to g1 then the rook stays on h1. Only when I write O-O in the text field, the castling is O.K. Best wishes Peter
Thibault de Vassal (2007-10-01 14:09:36)
Other Russia, Kasparov president ?
"The former world chess champion Garry Kasparov entered Russia's presidential race on Sunday, elected overwhelmingly as the candidate for the country's beleaguered opposition coalition (Other Russia)"
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/09/30/russia.kasparov.ap/index.html
This is a bit off topic but it could be interesting to know the view of our russian friends, from the inside, about this !?
Hannes Rada (2007-10-01 19:21:49)
Chess Books
What is your favourite chess book ? I bought 6 volumes of G. Kasparov's 'My great predecessors' and I really like them. Quite interesting to see how the style of the champions changed during many years.
Don Groves (2007-10-02 05:32:52)
Rating lists
It is good to have a rating list now for active players, that list is much shorter. But still, I see a problem. I checked only one person for this but I'm sure there are others -- this person is playing several games of Chess and no games of Go, yet is on the list of active Go players. IMHO, the active players lists should be limited to those currently active in each game.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-10-02 13:42:15)
Chess & Go terms
Question : Is there an equivalent word at Go for "zugzwang", "zeitnot" and all other chess terms ? .. Actually there are many more Go terms, so what would be the equivalent words at chess ? .. It could be interesting to make such parallels between the games to point their differences.
http://senseis.xmp.net/?GoTerms
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_terms
Thibault de Vassal (2007-10-03 14:03:06)
Cool websites
Feel free to share here the last funny websites you just surfed on :)
Here's a completely mad one - http://twitter.com
Wolfgang Utesch (2007-10-05 15:37:27)
Slave of ...
Thibault said, he is slave of his site - but I think, we are slaves of his site, aren't we?
Wayne Lowrance (2007-10-07 17:02:50)
time increment
A 000027. game 14107. I dont understand this tournament time control i guess. I have been making moves this game but the time increment isnt happening. If continues i will loose on time.....What am I missing Thibault ? Wayne
Thibault de Vassal (2007-10-09 14:49:05)
Cracking Go less than a decade away ?
I just read this astonishing article in the last American Go E-Journal :
“I believe that a world-champion-level Go machine can be built within 10 years, based on the same method of intensive analysis—brute force, basically—that Deep Blue employed for chess,” wrote Feng - Hsiung Hsu (r) in “Cracking Go,” a provocative article in the October issue of IEEE Spectrum, published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). (...) "with some optimization a machine that can search a trillion positions per second would be enough to play Go at the very highest level."
Looks serious... Any opinion ?
Wayne Lowrance (2007-10-12 19:05:54)
Marcelo
Howdy Marcelo, so very sorry that you are resigning your games. Your game with me is very close and I was enjoying it. Thank you for your consideration. All the best for you. Wayne
Philip Roe (2007-10-15 16:56:55)
Chess 960 masterpieces
Have there been any games of chess 960 played, of a quality that would justify them being included in an anthology of great games? If so, I would like to see some.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-10-20 05:17:30)
Rybka 3, Fritz 11, Shredder 11...
Rybka 3, Fritz 11, Shredder 11, also Chessmaster 11... new versions of many engines are announced or coming (Fritz 11 - end of november).
It is said in computer chess forums that one secret of Rybka may be "table of exchanges", in other words knowledge, added to a 'simple' & very fast engine typically like Fruit. Many now think that other engines may catch Rybka in a while, but we might have to wait for the thirteen series at least IMO :)
Anyway, the battle continues... Also waiting for Hiarcs 12 !
Thibault de Vassal (2007-10-21 01:07:45)
Go freestyle tournament
What do you think about a Go freestyle tournament, just like FICGS chess freestyle cup ?
A problem is to define the best time control and number of rounds... With about 100 to 120 moves per game & per player, time control 30+10 means 2 hours per round. As there's no draw at Go, 5 or 6 rounds played in a single day could be ok to find a winner. Any opinion ?
Another question is : Are there players interested to play it ? .. Entry fee would be 10 E-Points / 10 Euros, prize 100% entry fees in E-Points (or 75% for a money prize). It may attract some strong players for interesting games :)
Don Groves (2007-10-21 04:46:54)
Garry Kasparov
One the video guests on Friday night's US television program, Real Time with Bill Maher, was Garry Kasparov who had been in New York (his family is still there for a while longer). Maher is a political comedian and most of his show revolves around anti-Bush humor. Everyone (including myself) was amazed at the knowledge (particularly of Middle East politics) and political maturity shown by Kasparov! In addition, he easily outdid Bill when it came to comedy, saying at one point that he was aiming quite a bit higher than simply being better than Bush. I wish we had him running for our president!
Thibault de Vassal (2007-10-24 18:43:25)
FICGS server change
FICGS should be unavailable on 2007 october 28, maybe 29 also because of a server change.
Of course, all running clocks will be corrected !
1 or 2 days of vacation for everyone :)
Wolfgang Utesch (2007-10-27 15:11:26)
Still on leave ...
... until November, the 4th! Best from my holidays on Mallorca, Wolfgang
Thibault de Vassal (2007-10-30 04:16:49)
Go tournaments : New categories
I'm to add new categories for Go tournaments and to change rating ranges for PRO, DAN & KYU tournaments, it should help players to get a more accurate rating.
FICGS__GO__TOURNAMENT_PRO : 2600+
FICGS__GO__TOURNAMENT_DAN : 2100+
FICGS__GO__TOURNAMENT_KYU_III : 1600-2600
FICGS__GO__TOURNAMENT_KYU_II : 1100-2100
FICGS__GO__TOURNAMENT_KYU_I : 0600-1600
FICGS__GO__TOURNAMENT_KYU : 0000-1100
Feel free if you have any suggestion...
Marc Lacrosse (2007-11-01 15:56:06)
Tournament categories
In the list of players having enrolled for tournament Rapid M 000009 there are two players with 2174 and 2147 elo points.
The tournament is supposed to be reserved for 2200+ players
Is this OK ?
Marc
Thibault de Vassal (2007-11-02 20:55:37)
Videogames & the future of Board Games
Quite funny to see the same discussion on GoDiscussions.com and ChessDiscussion.com forums :
http://www.chessdiscussion.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=457
http://www.godiscussions.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4644
<<
Apparently, two years ago there was a major exhibition sponsored by the Asia Society in American museums called "Asian Games: The Art of Contest." I have been fortunate enough to get a copy of the exhibition book. I found a quote there that I would like you to comment on:
“We hope that this exhibition, in addition to persuading visitors of the historical importance of games, will also stimulate an interest in playing board games. As computer gamers sit in solitary oblivion frantically pressing buttons to manipulate images on screens, it is worth considering how such games could have succeeded, to a large extent, in eclipsing real board games. The answer may be that they have appropriated much of the best of traditional board games. But it is also worth pointing out that the appeal of most electronic games is ephemeral. Ask a teenager if he still plays the same game he played two years ago, and the answer will inevitably be no. We can predict with confidence that twenty years from now, of the electronic games currently in fashion, it is only those versions of classic board games—chess, weiqi/go and perhaps backgammon—that will still enjoy widespread popularity. Does the future of chess, weiqi and backgammon, then, lie solely in electronic media? We hope not. However convenient it may be to play chess or weiqi on the internet, nothing can replace the face-to-face social interaction of real games playing—and indeed the attraction of such games as spectacle. It is no coincidence that there is a trend now among jaded electronic games players to return to board games. This renewed interest undoubtedly reflects the need to compete with a real (as opposed to real-time) person. But there may be another reason for this development. The physical satisfaction of holding a well-crafted gaming piece or die, or of hearing the sonorous click of the pieces as they are placed on the board, does not exist in an electronic universe. No culture better understood the aesthetics of games than the Japanese, whose go, sugoroku, and shogi boards were not only objects of exquisite beauty, but were also designed to enhance the sound of piece struck against board. If, in addition to stimulating more research on Asian games, this exhibition prompts some of its visitors to take up chess, xiangqi, or weiqi—or even better, to work out the rules of liubo—then we will be entirely satisfied.”
Colin Mackenzie and Irving Finkel, “Preface”, Asian Games: The Art of Contest (Asia Society), p. 17
>>
Interesting !
Michael Mueller-Toepler (2007-11-04 13:03:40)
New tournament
Dear Chessfriends, I have an idea for a new tournament. Swiss System: 20 players, 12 rounds 2 games at saturday, 2 games at sunday over three weeks. What is your opinion to my proposal? Greetings from Munich Michael
Andrew Stephenson (2007-11-07 15:03:22)
New category (chess rapid 2000-2200)
Thibault I think there may be a case for rapid tournament category 2000 - 2200 as there may be enough players in that category at the moment who might not feel very motivated to enter the 1800 - 2200 but would go for a 2000 - 2200 event. In the available tournament 1800 - 2200 for example no player above 2000 has entered. Just a thought.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-11-07 21:36:55)
Go game 9307 score
Could someone confirm that according to FICGS rules (chinese counting, Komi 7.5), the score in game 9307 after removing groups m17, h3 is W+0.5
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=score&game=9307
Actually my opponent should have won the game, his first pass (probably because of a bad count) just gave me the point I needed :/ .. Now an interesting question, as there's no possible draw (that's a pity), would you resign in such a case ?
Thanks for your answers.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-11-08 15:51:12)
The Bilbao rule
Two interesting articles published by Chessbase about the Bilbao rule effects in chess and football (Win : 3 points, Draw : 1 point, Loss : 0 point)
This issue will probably be discussed again and again, as FIDE world chess championship rules... or FICGS chess wch tie break rule :)
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4232
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4237
Thibault de Vassal (2007-11-09 01:05:28)
Chess sponsorship
An interesting discussion about chess sponsorship started on ChessDiscussions.com (Susan Polgar forums)
http://www.chessdiscussion.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=504
Several issues : "How to bring chess to the masses ?", "How to make chess a show ?", "What kind of sponsorship is possible ?"
Susan obviously thinks that OTB chess still has a great potential and that organizations could do much better to promote it... Here's my last response in the thread (reminds some old threads here) :
<<<
In other words, you say that chess has a show-potential like any other sport that could be used and that isn't...
For sure traditional marketing methods could help to promote OTB chess, and chess organizations could do much better... but is chess "bankable", just like an actor ? .. I just saw one more comparison between chess & poker in the thread "How to bring chess to the masses", but there's a major problem in chess that doesn't exist in poker or soccer : "everything can't happen", at least at a first sight, actually the way people can see it...
FIDE tried to change some things, ie. time controls, wch cycle but that's not enough, obviously. Anyone can win a lost hand at texas hold'em against any professional player, like any 2nd division soccer team can beat the Real Madrid once... Of course long-time statistics will be always favourable to the best players, but it takes a much longer time... Everything can happen in any event in these games (poker wch, soccer world cup). The probability for a real surprise that makes buzz is much lower at chess, the same best players invariably play the best tournaments, won statistically (ie.) 20% by Anand, 19% by Topalov, 18% by Kramnik and so on... quite boring.
The only interesting chess events follow the same scheme : David vs. Goliath, the buzz-genius 12 boy vs. Kramnik, mystery-Deep Blue vs. Kasparov, Anna Kournikova vs. Fischer & so on... nowadays the man vs. machine match is no more interesting since any home computer is stronger than HAL 9000 or Kramnik and there's no clear world champion (too many FIDE wch, different cycles..)
Chess needs real events and I'm curious to see the ones "that could bring chess to the masses" in the future... Maybe I'm a bit pessimistic, at least for OTB chess, but I'm very interested to see how good marketing methods will be able to transform our chess world... Just wait, hope & see :)
Best regards, Thibault
>>>
I'm now working again on SEO (Search Engines Optimization) for FICGS, more and more players find us via Google... Of course one next step is to sponsor the FICGS WCH & freestyle tournaments but it is a hard task for sure... All comment and suggestions on this issue are welcome :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-11-11 05:08:02)
Number of games limitation
Hello all.
The current number of running games limitation before the program blocks the access to new standard or rapid tournaments is 60 (which doesn't mean the number of running games is limited to 60)
After having experienced myself the "too many games" effects (more than 80 games, quite stressful and time consuming), and after a few general forfeits by players who probably reached the overdose, I decided to change some parameters to prevent such consequences. In a previous discussion, it had been concluded that it was up to each player to manage this and eventually to take the risk, but definitely too many correspondence games is not the same than playing chess all day.
The number of running games limitation before the program blocks the access to new standard or rapid tournaments (but world championships cycles) will be 30, once more it doesn't mean the number of running games will be limited to 30... Of course faster tournaments will remain unlimited. It should accelerate running games, prevent general forfeits, and help us not to become chess machines, at least "correspondence chess machines" :)
Best wishes, Thibault
Thibault de Vassal (2007-11-11 17:53:24)
2nd FICGS chess freestyle
The 2nd FICGS chess freestyle cup waiting list is open. This 6 rounds swiss tournament will start on november 24, 15:00 server time. Time control is 1 hour + 15 seconds / move. Entry fee is 10 E-Points (10 Euro). Prize is 100% of the entry fees in E-Points.
FIDE GM & IM, FICGS / ICCF GM, SM & IM are invited to enter the waiting list for free, please just send a message to webmaster through My account page to register (you may be asked to send a copy of your passport or ID card).
Definitely we need strong players to rivalize with SIM Eros Riccio :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-11-14 02:35:38)
Best Go games played at FICGS
As there's no best game section for Go (Weiqi, Baduk.. as you like) only yet, it could be interesting to share & gather the most interesting games played at FICGS in this thread.
Feel free to post a link to your favourite game and a comment about what makes the game interesting.
In example :
http://www.ficgs.com/game_9314.html
In this one won by Claude Brisson, several ko & superko rule made the position really hard to understand...
Robert Mueller (2007-11-18 08:52:18)
Class M Waiting List
Hello Thibault, I noticed that in the Chess Class M (ELO 2200-2600) Waiting List there are two players with a rating of well under 2200 (2174 and 2147). I suppose, they had a rating higher that 2200 when they signed up, but dropped under 2200 before the tournament was started. Shouldn't they be removed from the waiting list now?
Wayne Lowrance (2007-11-18 23:00:53)
Remove me please
Thibault please remove me from Rapid M waiting list #9. I give up on it and I entered standard class M # 15 and it opened up and were playing too my delight. I do not want to be overloaded, I am sorry to ask this,. thank you Wayne
Xuan Feng (2007-11-19 01:36:27)
how to start a go game?
hi guys, can someone show me how to start a game. is this server a real time go server?
Dinesh De Silva (2007-11-22 03:57:13)
Is the IECG lss.chess-server down today?
Thibault, Is the IECG server down today? I tried to connect to make moves, but been unable to log in to it for hours now.
Marc Lacrosse (2007-11-23 21:00:02)
Any strong player for Rapid class M 00 ?
... Three players are awaited for completing rapid class M tournament 009.
There are already four players enrolled (2147-2215 Elo)
I (2373) would be pleased to join if two 2300+ do come with me for completing the table.
Anyone interested ?
... We need more strong tournaments.
Marc
Graham McGrew (2007-11-23 21:03:15)
Wilkes-Barre/Traxler, anyone?
I prefer black but I will take what I can get. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5
Thibault de Vassal (2007-11-24 16:33:54)
SC. von Erichsen is FICGS Go champion !
Svante Carl von Erichsen 4d is the first FICGS Go world champion, congratulations :)
According to the rules : "In case of equality, the player with the strongest tournament entry rating (TER) is qualified for the next stage."
As Svante Carl now leads the tournament by 7/7, even if he loses his last game and another player also finishes with 7/8, the TER decides. And as there's no previous winner to defend his title...
After the second championship (the level should increase), we may have the first 5 games match between two very strong players :)
Hannes Rada (2007-11-26 19:23:10)
2nd Chess Final H. Ingersol - W. Utesch
Both player won clearly their semifinals. Any predictions for the 2nd final ?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-11-27 22:37:57)
Baduk and chance : 1dan in LG cup final
A Go player ranked 1 dan is about 800 elo points below a 9 dan player (whatever the ranking system ?!), meaning about no chance to win a game against such an opponent, right ?! .. How is it possible to see a 1 dan player at this level in one of the main Go tournaments in the world ?
Of course everything can happen in a Go game, but I suppose it is not the case during a whole tournament...
From IGN Goama newsletter - http://gogame.info
"An interview with Han Sanghoon, 1-dan, the first 1-dan in Go history, who entered the final match of the World Go Championship (LG cup)
- Congratulations! What was the most difficult game in this tournament?
- The last one with On Sojin, 4-dan. It was really close finally and I think, that I was slightly behind until the endgame stage
- You became a professional about 1 year ago. Did you think that you can reach the final match of the World Go Championship so quickly?
- I remember that it was very hard to become a professional. I was almost 18 and it was my last chance to win the qualification among inseis. Of course, I did not think, that I can show good results quickly. I was surprised, that professional tournaments are not much harder than the insei league :)
- What are your weakest and strongest parts in Go?
- I am weak at the opening, but I feel myself confident in middlegame fights. Usually I try to defend my groups solidly, before fighting
- Who is the hardest opponent for you?
- Yun Junsang, 6-dan. I lost him twice and feel that he is much stronger than me. Also his Go style is very impressive
- What do you think about your final match with Lee Sedol, 9-dan. How big are your chances?
- I never played him before, but I saw lot of his game records and I know that Lee Sedol, 9-dan is much stronger than me. Any way, I will try to win the match! Usually I am not afraid of the star opponents at all!"
Pekka I. Turakainen (2007-11-27 22:44:48)
Can u figure this out?
Some time ago we played a game of chess with my friend and after 66. move reached the following position: 6k1/5b2/8/4q3/1K6/8/1RR5/8 w - - 0 1 We agreed that it's a draw. No it isn't! It's white's move and the material looks balanced, but black will have his win after 53 moves (if white has an ideal defence). This is what the almighty Nalimov says. Don't bother to check this out with your multiprocessor chess software...it'll probably take months before it finds the right combination. What to speak of the poor human brain. Feeling humble now....
Ulrich Imbeck (2007-12-01 12:57:09)
time counting
Why is there such a big difference between me and my opponent in http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=move&game=15704
Thibault de Vassal (2007-12-01 17:26:49)
Quote fest, revenge :)
What about a new quote contest ? ;)
Pio opened the festivities : "I always say that, next to a battle lost, the greatest misery is a battle gained. (The Duke of Wellington, War and Peace)
Any taker ? (quotes by yourself are welcome for the FICGS quotes files ;))
Wolfgang Utesch (2007-12-04 19:26:05)
Looking for the opponent of ....
...the winner of first knockout final: Gino Figlio! Congratulations!!!!! Who will win the first round robin final?
Garvin Gray (2007-12-05 11:10:40)
Downloading individual games
I used to be able to download each individual game to my desktop so I could save it and analyse using a chess engine.
In firefox, I cant do that anymore. Each time I try and download an individual game, the window just changes over to the text pgn, instead of downloading the game to the desktop.
I have looked through my tools- options section in firefox and cant solve the problem.
Has anyone else had this problem?
Possible fixes?
Dan Rotaru (2007-12-06 00:16:51)
Private message to another member
If somebody has the private message option turned off and someone else sends a message, is there a reply like "This member has this feature turned off" or the message just goes in Nirvana?
Andrew Stephenson (2007-12-08 21:30:53)
Back button
Thibault I find that if I enter tournaments then view a particular tournament then an individual game when I try to use the back button to return to the tournament cross table from the individual game it does not work but keeps returning me to the individual game. This is a bit tedious as it means re entering tournaments and selecting the particular tournament. Is there any way to fix this?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-12-14 15:40:44)
Tablebases on R+B vs. N+N
Good to know this endgame (Rook + Bishop wins against 2 Knights in 150 to 220 moves in the longest cases - tablebases 6 pieces), as there's no draw granted after 50 moves without any capture according to FICGS rules.
Karjakin, Sergey (2694) - Shirov, Alexei (2739)
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (6.3), 11.12.2007
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4322
Robert Mueller (2007-12-16 13:57:56)
Conditional Moves
I am sure this must have been discussed in the past, but if I could vote for one improvement on the FICGS server software, it would be conditional moves. After all, it is soon Christmas and the time for big wishes ;)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-12-16 16:31:33)
Make your chess variant :)
"Too many draws, chess is dead", one read such things quite often for a few years. True or not, what about to imagine a new variant like Chess-Vodka (one move or capture, one mouthful.. funny games :))
Ok, I can't implement Zubrowka on this server :) , but we could imagine a funny rule that would let the game rules very near classical chess but with more mad games, less drawish & giving equal chances to both players (main point being FUN)?!
Any ideas ?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-12-17 02:42:31)
FIDE world cup / WCH
Gata Kamsky (2714) just won the FIDE world cup final match against Alexei Shirov (2739) : 2.5 - 1.5 in Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia).
According to a recent FIDE rule, he should challenge the former world champion : Veselin Topalov. So he may play the reigning world champion after that (if he wins of course, if Anand keeps his title until there and if I understood well, not sure). Okokok...
Marc Lacrosse (2007-12-18 18:33:50)
High level performance
Marius Zubac just won tournament FICGS__CHESS__WCH_STAGE_1_GROUP_M_01__000003 with an impressive 2631 performance (6.5/8 and no loss in a 2378 tournament)
On his way to victory he cruelly refuted a knight-for-three-pawns sac that I tried in our encounter. Nice job!
Congratulations for this fine performance.
... we need more high level tournaments ...
Marc
Thibault de Vassal (2007-12-20 18:44:21)
Kramnik vs. Anand 2008
Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand, FIDE & UEP (Universal Event Promotion) have come to an agreement : The next FIDE World Chess Championship will take place from October 11 to 30, 2008 in the National Art Gallery in Bonn (Germany). Reigning world champion Viswanathan Anand will play challenger Vladimir Kramnik in a twelve-game match. The prize fund is 1.5 Million Euro, the main sponsor is an industrial enterprise, Evonik Industries, located in Essen (Germany) which was the exclusive sponsor of the 2006 World Chess Challenge between Vladimir Kramnik and the most famous chess program distributed by Chessbase, Deep Fritz.
Any predictions ? .. (may Anand lose his title before that date ?)
Wolfgang Utesch (2007-12-22 08:29:36)
What will happen ....
... if in WCH Round Robin Final 1 two or more participants will be having 4/6 points. Who will be the opponent of Gino Figlio in this case?
Ilmars Cirulis (2007-12-23 12:17:40)
Xmas!!! :P
Wishes of happiness! ;)
Josef Riha (2007-12-24 10:41:20)
Merry Christmas...
...to all members, especially my opponents, of FICGS.com.
Garvin Gray (2007-12-25 05:47:53)
Chess 960 possible problem
Nice Xmas present for you Thibault- a possible server problem :P
Not sure if I am doing something wrong or it is the server.
When I download a Chess 960 game and attempt to start engine analysis through fritz interface, I have only just realised that the downloaded game does not recognise 'Chess 960' or even the traditional version castling.
Only when I set the position up and select the four castling options will the game start analysing castling options.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-12-29 23:27:34)
Major update : challenges
Hello to all.
Now it is possible to challenge connected players for bullet / lightning / blitz games (advanced chess tournaments - note : please verify time controls, ie. blitz games are played in 2 hours + 2 hours / 40 moves) with White or Black.
Many improvements to come (when I find some time), to display ratings and so on... All feedback welcome.
Jason Repa (2007-12-31 07:34:18)
Kramnik is question about cheating
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=6775818301&oid=18105380992
Ulrich Imbeck (2008-01-01 06:06:03)
Holidays
I want to take a free week. But it is not possible. When can i take Holidays in 2008?
Garvin Gray (2008-01-03 04:29:22)
Steve Lopez latest article on chessbase
My only comment is that I would have liked Steve to also have compared the chessbase engines to Rybka, Zappa et al
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4357
[moderator : please just leave a link to articles from other websites]
Konrad Hornung (2008-01-05 07:07:42)
Titles definitions
Can someone tell me what FIM and FEM stand for? I assume the M is master.
Andrew Stephenson (2008-01-07 06:22:01)
Search games
How can you use search games to find games in a particular variation?
Wolfgang Utesch (2008-01-07 06:34:46)
First FICGS GM tournament
There will be a forfeit by Viktor Savinov (Rating 2668 !!!) - good for ratings of the other players in this tournament! :)
Thibault de Vassal (2008-01-08 00:50:55)
Incomes of top Go players
One more interesting article from the IGN "Goama" newsletter - http://gogame.info
Incomes of Top Korean Professionals in 2007:
1. Lee Sedol - $600.000
2. Lee Changho - $400.000
3. Park Yeonghun - $360.000
4. Cho Hanseung – $180.000
5. Kang Dongyun - $150.000
6. Mok Jinseok -$148.000
7. Lee Yeongku -$122.000
8. Won Sungjin -$116.000
9. Yun Junsang - $113.000
10. Kim Jiseok – $113.000
Japanese players, even who is not famous on international arena, makes more money, but it's still hard to compare their tournament incomes with top football or hockey players.
Maybe better to compare chess and Go players: "As sports go, chess is not lucrative for the average professional. The well known top players who have been able to achieve millionaire status (Karpov and Kasparov) are the exceptions. Aside from them, there are only about 20 players world wide who do well financially from chess ($100,000+ per year income), and another 100 or so that make a comfortable living ($50,000+). The next 1,000 players, on average, come out about even -- earning in prizes what they incur in entry fees and expenses. Then come perhaps 10,000 players who invest several thousand dollars more per year than they earn." -- from "GM RAM: Essential Grandmaster Knowledge" by Rashid Ziatdi and Peter Dyson, PROChess LLC, New York, 1998
Wolfgang Utesch (2008-01-08 18:35:22)
When will start ...
... the WC-2-final match Ingersol vs Utesch?
Thibault de Vassal (2008-01-09 05:42:09)
4th FICGS chess championship
The 4th FICGS chess championship just started, it is now much easier to find tournaments (quarter finals, stage 2...) in the Tournaments page.
Quarter finals this time are :
1 - Harry Ingersol vs. Mark Noble
2 - Hannes Rada vs. Farit Balabaev
3 - Eros Riccio vs. Marius Zubac
4 - Peter Schuster vs. Thibault de Vassal
As a reminder, in case of equality the highest TER in each match qualifies if all games are drawn, the lowest TER qualifies if not all games are drawn.
The next stages of the previous championships will start as soon as possible...
Have good games !
Thibault de Vassal (2008-01-11 05:00:33)
FICGS improvements : Your opinion
Hello to all...
Kind of poll, it would be useful to know which part of the site looks quite or really unclear to you. FICGS website continues to grow, I tried to use some symbols repeatedly to make it coherent but it's quite obvious that it's not easy to understand how the site works at a first sight.
Feel free to point unclear functions or to make suggestions...
Thanks in advance :)
Andrew Stephenson (2008-01-14 10:08:25)
challenges
Thibault I must confess to being mystified by this: a name appears in the box entitled challenge a player, the name varies. Whats happening? does the system generate random names of those currently on line to offer up in case I want to challenge?? Or is the player challenging me?? Out of curiosity I have occasionally pressed the challenge button but nothing appears to happen. All in all quite baffling - now I ignore it!
Thibault de Vassal (2008-01-15 05:13:17)
"No games to display"
Did anyone notice a strange bug, ie. "Sorry, there's no game to display" (when actually that's wrong) in My games, while other pages, ie. the forum, work correctly.. this bug looks like to happen after a long time without loading a new page.. (so only the message box automatically refreshes regularly)
I'm not sure where's the problem yet... Thanks for feedback.
Peter Unger (2008-01-15 14:56:25)
FICGS_WCH_STAGE_2_GROUP_04__000002
Who won the tournament "FICGS__CHESS__WCH_STAGE_2_GROUP_04__000002" Peter Unger?
Thibault de Vassal (2008-01-16 04:36:01)
FICGS unavailable -> time added
FICGS server was offline / unreachable (provider problem) during 7 hours. I added 7 hours to all clocks in running games.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-01-16 18:10:48)
FICGS emails unavailable jan. 14 to 16
FICGS email provider had a problem from january 14 to 16, 2008.
Emails sent not through the server to FICGS domain most probably did not reach me :(
In this case, please resend it to me. Thanks in advance.
Philip Roe (2008-01-17 03:05:06)
Excellent enhancements
Thibault,
Many thanks for the work you put into this!
I have one minor complaint. I think it is very unlikely that I will ever want to respond to any of the displayed challenges, so for me that is just clutter. Is there way to opt out of having this feature displayed?
Hannes Rada (2008-01-18 14:22:53)
Bobby Fischer is dead !
Bobby Fischer Dies at 64 !
Wayne Lowrance (2008-01-21 05:06:18)
Making a database of my Ficgs games
can this be done in the fritz format ? if not may I make this a suggestion for next up date Wayne
Don Groves (2008-01-25 09:45:36)
Logged out!
Hi, Thibault -- I'm being logged out rather quickly again. I log in, take a few minutes to decide on a move but when I make the move, I am told to try again. I thought the practice of being logged out automatically had ended a while back.
Wolfgang Utesch (2008-01-25 11:59:22)
Rating rules
Hi Thibault, will games rated also if one player withdraws without any move (or only a few moves < 10)? I can understand that the withdrawing player should be penalized by negative rating, but not if the "winner" will get positive rating! Otherwise the FIGCS ratings will be a farce or better a gamble! i.e. Ingersol - Popov 8:0 without any move by Popov (TER 2463) in WC quarter final 4-000003
Christophe Czekaj (2008-01-25 13:10:00)
Chinese Chess
Hello Thibault, Did you ever think about includind chinese chess on Ficgs ? Any volunteers ? And is it technically possible ?
Thibault de Vassal (2008-01-29 02:26:52)
WCH 3 semi finals started
The semi finals in the 3rd wch knockout cycle just started :
1. Peter Schuster (2539) - Daniel Brunsteins (2476)
2. Harry Ingersol (2555) - Farit Balabaev (2481)
Faites vos jeux, rien ne va plus :) .. Have good games !
Thibault de Vassal (2008-01-29 02:36:57)
1st WCH candidates final started !
Finally, the 1st WCH round-robin final tournament finished with the 3 most dangerous fighters at tie, Xavier Pichelin, Gaetano Laghetti and Alberto Gueci (4/6). Congratulations to them !
According to FICGS chess WCH rules, the player with the highest TER qualifies for the first candidates final against the winner of the knockout cycle.
The first FICGS WCH candidates final just started !
Gino Figlio (2568) - Xavier Pichelin (2355)
http://www.ficgs.com/tournament_ficgs__chess__wch_candidates_final__000001.html
Good luck to both players and be careful, we're watching your games ! :)
Hao Nhien Nguyen (2008-01-30 10:02:33)
Rating from the other site.
I've got a rating of 1834 in chesshere.com. Can I get this rating here?
Nicola Lupinacci (2008-01-30 21:40:50)
Something strange inside...
I have played 2 CHESS BULLET BRONZE at 21.00 today (unfortunatly I win both without moving).
The first game appear as "Game 12143", and the second as "Game 18538".
Something strange inside... :D
Thibault de Vassal (2008-02-01 15:49:49)
Bobby Fischer Goes to War
Kevin Macdonald will direct "Bobby Fischer Goes to War", a movie that should focus only on the match against Boris Spassky in Reykjavik 1972. Fischer to become the new american heroe ?! .. could be funny (or not)
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4424
Andrew Stephenson (2008-02-06 21:07:47)
WCH candidates final tie break rule
Thibault I noticed on reading the rules for the candidates final that "the knockout tournament winner is qualified for stage 5 if all games are draw, the round-robin cycle winner if not all games are draw." Why did you not just stick with the tie break rule that applies for all other matches? Namely the higher TER (tournament entry rating)goes through on even score if all games drawn or lower TER on even score if not all drawn? Why have you made a special different tie break rule for the candidates final match?
Philip Roe (2008-02-09 18:01:20)
Moving advertisements
Thibault,
I understand your need to generate revenue, and I may be the only one to feel this way, but I find it very irritating to have advertisements displayed that employ dynamic graphics.
They are, of course, designed to be eyecatching, and I find that they make it almost impossible to focus on the analysis board, which was a very welcome recent innovation.
Andrew Stephenson (2008-02-10 14:55:28)
opening novelties
Thibault there is a section for best games which receives votes. I was wondering whether it would be possible to do the same thing for opening novelties?
Thibault de Vassal (2008-02-11 02:07:18)
Next thematic tournaments
Any suggestion for the next chess thematic tournament(s) ? The full list of all thematics played at FICGS is available here :
http://www.ficgs.com/wiki_en-thematic-tournaments.html
Thanks for your ideas :)
Andrew Stephenson (2008-02-12 20:56:41)
3 fold repetition
Hi thibault I was just wondering is there a draw rule on FICGS by 3 fold move repetition?
Andrew Stephenson (2008-02-14 13:40:04)
ratings
Hi thibault some time ago I think you suggested that you were going to start people at a higher rating? Maybe 1800? At present you have some players starting at very low ratings who are obviously going to be strong cc players. One outstanding example is Zack Stephen at 1300. He won the PAL/CSS frestyle advanced chess tournament in 2005 and as ZackS has remained at the top getting high places each year Just a thought .....
Amir Elnemr (2008-02-15 11:31:11)
How to edit GO games on FICGS
Hello all, I am just starting my first Go tournament, I still struggle to understand the so much alien game to myself, anyway, I like to edit and review my chess games externally with winboard, but I don't seem to be able to do the same with GO games, It seems as if the notation used is different than of that used by my software, I use PANDA-gIGo, so if anyone can help me by suggesting another program that can read the game format on FICGS or give me directions on how to edit it with PANDA-gIGo I will be very grateful. Thank you and have a good day.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-02-15 14:36:07)
Kamsky vs. Topalov 2008
FIDE has announced its decision to accept the US $150,000 bid made by the Bulgarian Chess Federation, unless a country comes up with a US $250,000 bid by April 11th. The Kamsky vs. Topalov match is scheduled for the end of year 2008, after the Anand vs. Kramnik match.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4448
Now, a small test : Who is the current chess world champion ?
(you could also ask to 5 people who don't necessarily play chess around you and leave the results here.. could be interesting :))
Thibault de Vassal (2008-02-15 22:47:18)
FICGS other forums
Hello to all.
You may have noticed new banners on the right of the chat bar before to login, so this other part of FICGS website. Well, looks like a small portal now, these new forums (seo forums, buzz blog, web directory, country & city forums and chat..) should help the games server, even if there's a lot of work to make it coherent and to improve it yet. Feel free to use it anyway :)
Lots of improvements to come on the chess server next month. Have a nice week !
Best wishes, Thibault
Thibault de Vassal (2008-02-27 12:55:45)
Morozevich on FIDE Grand Prix
An interesting interview of Alexander Morozevich in Sport-Express (russian) translated in Chessbase.com
http://www.sport-express.ru/art.shtml?154431
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4477
Morozevich shares his views about the new FIDE WCH cycle, its length (that can be compared to a correspondence chess championship) & the lack of informations around it. Anand, Kramnik & Topalov wouldn't play FIDE Grand Prix also. One more call to get back to the original chess world championship format...
Marius Zubac (2008-03-02 23:49:06)
2nd GM standard tournament
Hello Thibault. I have now over 2500 and I would like to register for the 2nd GM standard tournament, however for some reason it is closed. Can you look into it please. Thanks, Marius
Alexander Minkin (2008-03-05 15:46:14)
Apology
I apologize to all my opponents. I've recently gotten very sick and can not keep up with game analysis. As such, I will resign all my ongoing games and return anew once my health is back to normal. Alex
Wayne Lowrance (2008-03-09 19:47:26)
Tournament Catagory S, FEM 4.5
What does this mean ? Wayne Lowrance
Thibault de Vassal (2008-03-15 12:43:07)
Unfought draws & rating calculation
An interesting article at Chessbase.com on unfought draws (mathematical, logical and practical considerations), also called "grandmaster draw" in the article, and ways to avoid it, by mathematician and logician Kung-Ming Tiong, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4513
I notice that the main solution proposed just looks like FICGS rules for advanced chess (Performance +/- delta according to the color) :-D .. Anyway I still have to take some time to make this part of the server more attractive.
This thread may be a good place to ask for a feedback about FICGS current rating rules (for both chess & Go), what do you think ? :)
Tano-Urayoan Russi Roman (2008-03-15 17:02:14)
Question about ICCF
I have read the ICCF rules but in no place they refer to computer assistance, is this allowed for ICCF games? Could you cite any document concerning it? Thank you for your responses.
Mark Hailes (2008-03-17 09:45:08)
Leave waiting list
Unfortunately, I put myself on both Rapid A and Rapid B waiting list. Can I leave the Rapid A one? Currently there are no other players on that one. I still have a bit to learn...
Thibault de Vassal (2008-03-17 15:08:09)
Chess rapid tournaments : Rating ranges
Chess Rapid M waiting list has been deleted in order to change rating ranges for all rapid tournaments (increased by 100 points), sorry about that.
It should help players to reach the 2400, 2000 and 1600 elo barriers...
Thibault de Vassal (2008-03-18 19:43:35)
Quote festival, part 4
Now everyone (but newcomers) know the principle :)
Feel free to let your madness go and share your own quotes about chess, life and whatever.. The best ones will enter the FICGS quotes files :)
... just like in this previous thread :
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=forum_read&id=3448
- Hello Thibault, if I have had a plan (and I had one, I hope), I have forgotten it during the last week... - Hello Heinz-Georg. What do you mean a plan ? :)
(Anonymous players during a Big Chess game)
Mark Hailes (2008-03-20 17:56:40)
Voting for best game
Woops screwed up again. I inadvertantly pressed "vote for best game" on a game in my tournament and immediately got a confirmation of the vote. Sadly i don't think it was one of my own games :-) and in any case the tourney has only just started! I think it might be an idea to have a confirmation dialog with the game information that you are voting for, to make it harder for dense people to screw up. BTW is this option for voting for best game in a tournament or some other criteria?
Thibault de Vassal (2008-03-24 19:11:34)
FICGS 2nd Freestyle Cup
The tournament will be played on April 6, 2008.
All questions and feedback are welcome here.
Purity Tallant (2008-03-26 01:26:30)
Go! Challenges, why not?
I would like to challenge someone outside of a tournament.
Vjacheslav Perevozchikov (2008-03-27 11:14:31)
Ratings
I have played more than 40 games. 30 wins & only 1 loss (misclick :)), and don't understand one simple thing: why my rating is so small - 1867 points. I saw other members with much worse performance & much more rating? What's wrong here? Thanx
Lincoln Tomlin (2008-03-27 19:31:52)
RAPID_A__000041 points error
Hi Thibault, Myself and two other players finished the first 3 games against each other in FICGS__CHESS__RAPID_A__000041, all games being drawn. We have all been awarded 1/2 point in total instead of 1 point each so far? Regards
Andrew Stephenson (2008-03-28 18:57:10)
time per move
Thibault the time per move rule and vacation rules need to be changed as they create a ridculous situation. Example you have under the time per move rule 10 days (but 20 toal days) left and without thinking take 11 days vacation - you have resigned the game! the game is lost because you cannot cancel the vacation and cannot move!! This is an easy mistake to make becase the my games summary just shows the total moves left, This seems harsh and you should at least allow vacation to be cancelled at any time I cannot see any down side to that.
Yugi Inving (2008-03-29 19:09:43)
performance.
How does the performance is calculated. like me Games calculated : 7 Result : 92 % Elo opponents : 1299 Performance : 1700 from this 1700 come from, from my victories and the elo of opponent or the types of games i play.
Don Burden (2008-04-01 23:21:35)
April Fools!
Here is a link to one of the better April Fools jokes I've seen - from the Chessbase site:
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp
The author hasn't admitted that this is a joke yet, but it obviously must be.
Lincoln Tomlin (2008-04-02 03:38:45)
Unsporting behaviour
It would be respectful if players who have no intention of making any more moves in a game would have the decency to resign. Some players on here are carrying on with other games at the same time so are obviously ignoring these games on purpose. It messes around with your grading cycle if you only have a few games awaiting results and I personally find it very rude behaviour. Rant over :)
Hu To (2008-04-13 16:36:23)
Go learning program for kids
GoChild is designed for kids to learn go. http://www.gochildgame.com
Arnab Sengupta (2008-04-15 08:23:25)
RATING
please tell me is the ICCF or FICGS rating recognised by FIDE?
Ilmars Cirulis (2008-04-18 18:37:37)
Idea..
Hi, Thibault!
What do you think about possibility to save (so, that I can see) message exchange between opponents during the game?
Good luck! :)
Andrew Stephenson (2008-04-19 08:20:38)
Alberto Guecci
I see Alberto has got into the round robin final of the 8th Freestyle chess tournament under the name Spaghetti chess - congratulations Alberto and best of luck in the final which is showing on the Playchess server on April 25-27th
Benjamin Block (2008-04-21 15:29:49)
Free rated tournament on iccf!
Now you can play free in the 3rd WebChess Open Tournament. A.Players without ICCF ID or, B.Players with ICCF ID but who never played a rated game in the past. Read more here. http://www.iccf-webchess.com/Message.aspx?message=210
Benjamin Block (2008-04-23 17:51:07)
Free bullet &lightning.
Thanks it is really funny with free entery but bow we will get lots of messages in the chat?
Benjamin Block (2008-04-28 16:20:51)
How do you play correspondence?
Hi, In bigchess i use my own brain because i don´t know if there is any computer i think around 1 min in the moves. In Go i am a beginer and i just think 10s. In corrspondence chess i let my computer think 0-1 min. How do you play corrspondence? Do you use Deep position analysis?
Andrew Stephenson (2008-04-29 10:17:10)
messages
Hi Thibault I sent you a private message - did you get it??
Dale Leisenring (2008-05-01 10:00:26)
What ever happened to the "FREE"
Internet chess server"? FICS? Now Ican't play online for free after playing on FICS for over 11 years!! What a RIP OFF!! - Jedi Dale
Dale Leisenring (2008-05-01 10:04:10)
What EXACTLY are the Time Controls?
Would someone PLEASE tell me EXACTLY where is the server, why do I need a new password everytime I log on, what are the time controls? Thank You Very Much!!
Wolfgang Utesch (2008-05-02 15:59:02)
Showdown time
It seems we should have a (deeper!) look at WC-Quarter Final Riccio-Zubac - it is showdown time! The both last games are equal for all the 33 moves and Riccio has just to draw for the match win - easy? I'm not sure.
Jason Repa (2008-05-02 22:36:29)
Lasker Variation of the From's Gambit
My game against Marc-Eric Plante is finally over after more than a year. I've been dabbling with the idea that this line of the From's gambit may be losing by force. If someone can find an improvement for Black with some supporting analysis, I'd love to see it. http://chessmusings.blogspot.com/2008/05/from-night.html
Jason Repa (2008-05-03 07:23:18)
Rating List
Only players 2400+ are shown now?
Thibault de Vassal (2008-05-05 11:07:56)
Chess Titans
I just played my first games versus Chess Titans on Windows Vista :> .. what a joke, a way to tell Vista customers they are smart ? :) Ok, Microsoft's goal wasn't to rivalize with Chessbase engines or Rybka but they could have chosen another name... The program most probably don't reach a 1800 level.
Jason Repa (2008-05-07 13:43:09)
Lasker Variation of the From's Gambit
[moderated : rule 11.1 Netiquette]
My correspondence chess game with Marc-Eric Plante finally wrapped up after over a year. It was an interesting game, IMO, and I thought that Marc had made some improvements over what had been played before by Black, such as 10...Qe7!? (instead of the usual 10...Bf5). However, it's been my thought that the Lasker Variation of the From's gambit might, at the end of the day, be lost for Black with perfect play. I'm not sure of Black could have done anything different in this game. http://chessmusings.blogspot.com/2008/05/from-night.html
Jason Repa (2008-05-08 03:13:22)
Pavasovic vs Baklan
This game was played a couple weeks ago in the 2008 European Individual Championship in Plovdiv.
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1491774
It's hard to believe a GM would play this in a real game. It's an old cheapo line of the Tarrasch French where White gives up two pieces, then dangles a third, for an attack. Black's defense is simple and intuitive. He gives back one piece to diffuse the attack and wins a relatively simply endgame. I first came across this when someone tried it against me in a bullet game on playchess.com. Even at bullet time controls I was able to come up with 13...Ndxe5 (not too difficult to find) and consolidate the material advantage.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-05-08 20:29:35)
Rating calculation & categories
Hello to all, I think it is a good time to gather feedbacks about chess (& Go) rating calculation and tournament categories. A player reported to me it was very difficult for a 2200-2400 player to reach the 2400 mark. Now we have a 2300+ rapid category, it may help but it is not very popular yet...
All feedbacks welcome :)
Best wishes, Thibault
Jason Repa (2008-05-13 00:43:41)
How to Win against the Pin!
This was an interesting game I played last year. My opponent blamed his tardiness for the loss, but the position seems quite resignable for Black as far as I'm concerned.
http://members.shaw.ca/winnipeg_chess/beating_internet_trolls_at_chess.htm
Andrew Stephenson (2008-05-13 11:30:35)
French traps
The French defence is one of the best replies to 1 e4 - accidents however are always possible as the following correspondence game shows with black playing into a lost position after just 13 moves: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qb6 9.Qd2 Qxb2 10.Rb1 Qa3 11.Bb5 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 Bb4 13.O-O O-O ?? (black had to play 13 ..a6 although he will still be under pressure) 14 Rb3 Qa5 15.Qe3 Nb6 16.Qg3 Nc4 17 f5! and the correspondence game finished Rd8 18.Rf4 Bf8 19.Rg4 Kh8 20.f6 g6 21.Rh4 h6 22.Kh1 Kg8 23.Qh3 Kh7 24.Bc5 Rd6 25.g4 Qd8 26.g5 h5 27.Rxh5+ These things happen OTB but French defence players have known of this since Rechlis (2525) - Zueger (2448) 2001 which went 19 f6 g6 20 Rh4 a6 21 Qh3 h5 22 Rxh5!! gxh5 23 Qxh5 axb5 24 Kf2 and white won. since then 13 0-0 has been avoided. Of course at cc a player has time to research the databases and access to powerful chess engines at no cost.
Hannes Rada (2008-05-14 22:04:53)
Opening Favorites and taboos in cc chess
It's quite interesting to look at the top level cc - player's opening favorites. Against 1.e4: Almost everybody is playing Sicilian, Sveshnikov and Najdorf No more Dragon oder other Sicilian lines seems to be playable at top level. 1.... e6 (French) and 1....c6 Caro Kann are rarely played. A little bit more frequently is 1....e5. But I think that also the old Ruy Lopez is not really popular among the cc cracks. Against 1.d4: Here seems to be more diversity: But I think The Slav is definitely the most popular Black's defense, followed by Nimzo Indian, Kings Indian and Queens Gambit. Benoni and Wolga Gambit seems to be dead here. What do you think, is there no more space for French, Caro Kann and Aljechin Defense in todays cc practice ? Is Dutch and Modern Benoni no longer playable ? In the sixties Hans Berliner won the ICCF championship with Aljechin Defense
Joaquim Malpalma (2008-05-16 10:42:29)
Rated Chess 960??
Any chance of being able to play rated Chess 960 games on Fics? I would be for it, any others?
Thibault de Vassal (2008-05-19 06:35:14)
Major update (may 2008)
Hello to all, a new update including :
- Regular tournaments with prizes (see thread "Free tournaments with prizes")
- Norms, titles and prizes are now announced by email.
- Players with Epoints are shown in the connected players list (My messages).
- Affiliate links : For each new player referred by your link (see My account) posted on the world wide web, 1 Epoint will be added to your account.
- Search games function improved : You can now search games by opening and by rating (White & Black)
All feedback welcome :)
Thibault de Vassal (2008-05-19 06:49:44)
Free tournaments with prizes
Hello to all.
You may have noticed that some free tournaments now have prizes :
FICGS__CHESS__CLASS__SM : 15 Epoints
FICGS__CHESS__CLASS__M : 5 Epoints
FICGS__CHESS__CLASS__A : 1 Epoints
FICGS__CHESS__RAPID__SM : 7 Epoints
FICGS__CHESS__RAPID__M : 2 Epoints
FICGS__CHESS__RAPID__A : 1 Epoints
FICGS__BIG_CHESS__TOURNAMENT__M : 15 Epoints
FICGS__GO__TOURNAMENT_PRO : 45 Epoints
FICGS__GO__TOURNAMENT_DAN : 15 Epoints
FICGS__GO__TOURNAMENT_KYU_III : 5 Epoints
FICGS__GO__TOURNAMENT_KYU_II : 1 Epoints
Membership and Help sections have been updated, see :
http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#prize
"When a player wins a free tournament with a prize in E-Points, the current prize displayed for that tournament when the winners list is updated is added to his FICGS account. Prizes may change (most probably increase) during free events at the tournament director's discretion."
Previous chess class SM winners and a few others have received these prizes already.
It is also possible to win free Epoints by posting your affiliate link (see My account) on the web. For each new player referred by this link, 1 Epoint will be added to your account.
Thanks to all, I hope prizes can grow in the near future, also for the WCH cycles :)
Best wishes, Thibault
Arnab Sengupta (2008-05-19 09:53:53)
Find the best move
Find the best move for white here and the possible continuation- 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nge2 dxe4 5.a3 Be7 6.Nxe4 Nf6 7.N2g3 O-O 8.Bc4 Nbd7 9.O-O Nxe4 10.Nxe4 Nf6 11.Qd3 Bd7 12.Nxf6+ Bxf6 13.Bf4 Re8 14.Rad1 Rc8 15.Rfe1 c5
Marc Lacrosse (2008-05-19 11:00:52)
Feature suggestion
A little suggestion :
When going on a tournament page it would be nice to have a list of the most recently finished games ordered by inverse chronological order so that it would be easyer to see at aglance what happened recently.
In the present state it's difficult to guess what happened since last visit.
Marc
Richard Blank (2008-05-19 16:24:57)
Chess player in Costa Rica.
After reading a few threads, I wanted to introduce myself to this community. I look forward to sharing ideas with other forum members on how to improve my game. I am new and have played very little. Yet, I find the game stimulating and very competitive. Hats off to those that are masters. Quite a gift. Best regards, Richard http://www.costaricascallcenter.com
Thibault de Vassal (2008-05-19 21:54:37)
Fritz 12, Shredder 12, Junior 12
While Rybka 2.3.2a w32 1CPU/mp still leads CEGT rating lists, Fritz 11 is now only about 50 elo points behind...
CEGT 40/20 (AMD 4200+)
Rybka 2.3.2a w32 1CPU - 2966
Fritz 11 - 2913
Naum 3.1 w32 1CPU - 2890
Deep Shredder 11 w32 1CPU - 2890
Hiarcs 12 SP 1CPU - 2869
Toga II 1.4.2JD 1CPU - 2864
Fruit 2.4 Beta A w32 1CPU - 2864
Zappa Mexico II w32 1CPU - 2844
Any predictions on the future ratings of Rybka 3 & Chessbase engines : Fritz 12, Shredder 12, Junior 12, Hiarcs 13, Zappa or other free engines ?
I can't find a rating for Junior 11 in CEGT rating lists, does anyone know it ?
Hannes Rada (2008-05-20 22:37:01)
3 fold repetition - working correctly ?
Does the server recognise a 3 fold repetition correctly ? If I am not too much confused, I think that my game against Balabaev - game 17830 - has been terminated after 2- fold repetition. Can you please take a look into that. Not really important because this game is definitely a draw, but it looks for me like a bug.
Arnab Sengupta (2008-05-21 14:01:58)
Help!
Does anybody has some better moves for black in the game between Kramnik-Aronian, Wijk aan Zee 2008, after Kramnik's 25. Nc3 dxc3 26.Qxc3+? somebody help me plz
Ilmars Cirulis (2008-05-21 17:34:47)
Poll
Have we (humans) the free will? (Y/N) :)
Joseph Costello (2008-05-25 04:18:56)
rybka vs rybka at full preformance
Anybody have this program working at its full capacity who has made it play itself and has it recorded you could post ?
Mik Kris (2008-05-27 19:01:02)
i am a go player looking for some thing
i know there arent so many of us here but one thing i wuld like to be able to do is to say chalnge some one for a game also how about behing able to bet E-Points on a normal game without having to make a turnemant just to bet aginst my oponent
Ilmars Cirulis (2008-05-30 12:46:23)
Scientology...
Does we have any scientologist here? :)
Thibault de Vassal (2008-06-01 21:46:05)
Go game (weiqi) in films
I just saw a Go game played (a few seconds) by Pierce Brosnan in "After the sunset".. I was wondering in which films a Go game can be seen. "Hero", what else... Do anyone know a list ?
Wayne Lowrance (2008-06-02 18:54:39)
Rapid chess entry rating
I sure do not like the entry 2100-2300. I guarantee you, I will not enter here, and I doubt that any other mid 2200 player will enter either, It is a opportunity bracket for 2100 players. It is not easy I know to managed rating requirements for tournaments. But the proper bracket for the 2300 entry tourney should be 2200-2400. That is my opinion. So it the rating entry of 2100-2300 will attract 2100 players for the most part, a great opportunity for them to advance and a darn good chance that a 2200+ player to loose points (guaranteed) cause rybka prevails, in the hands of a 2100 Player. Bravo Rybka ! With respect Wayne
Garvin Gray (2008-06-02 19:19:13)
Open entry tournament
Hello Thibault,
Have been thinking for a while that it might be an idea to set up a tournament where everyone enters and then groups are decided strictly in rating order.
So the top nine? players in rating order play each other, followed by the next nine and so forth.
Have been thinking that this might be worth a try to alleviate the issue of players not entering a waiting list when they are just under the rating cut off.
Advantages:
1) Players will get to play against a full field of similarly rated players
2) Players will not know ahead of time where they will be in the nine player division, so hopefully they will not avoid entering because they are just under the rating cut off.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-06-02 21:44:21)
Poll : Texas hold'em Poker at FICGS ?
Hi all,
Still thinking about adding other games at FICGS. Of course, Xiangqi and Shogi are good candidates, a popular one (I quite like) would be poker texas hold'em. What do you think about such a [chancy] game played for fun at a correspondence time control at FICGS ?!
All opinions or advices are welcome.
Arnab Sengupta (2008-06-03 19:44:12)
team chess
Hey Thibault why dont we try a team chess tournament?
Marc Lacrosse (2008-06-04 23:50:50)
Why so few top players in Wch 5 ?
In the present "active" players rating list there are 38 players with a 2300+ rating.
So far only three of them registered for the soon to begin 5th "world championship".
I just wonder why ...
Marc
Benjamin Block (2008-06-06 18:59:39)
Hydra vs Adams.
What was the time control in this game? How could Adams know that his move was better when the computer?
Thibault de Vassal (2008-06-09 23:37:39)
Alekhine's defence
Hello all,
The waiting list for the next chess thematic tournament is open : Alekhine's defence (1.e4 Nf6).
Feel free to make suggestions for the next thematic tournaments :)
Marc Lacrosse (2008-06-11 23:54:23)
Strange rating ...
Having a look at the rating list I see that Ryszard Kasperek has a 2544 rating and the FICGS FEM title.
I just wonder how he got the FEM title as he did never play a single game on FICGS ?
He has been rated 14 times with the same original 2544 elo without a single game played here
Strange ...
IMHO people who register here with a high foreign rating and do not play a single game in more than one year should be banned.
I cannot even imagine how they could be granted a FICGS title
Marc
Marc Lacrosse (2008-06-17 07:55:59)
Conditionals ?
I know that this has been discussed before...
But I still feel that possible use of conditional moves would be a nice improvement here.
Nothing mandatory : simply the possibility to tell your opponent : "If you play this move my answer is that one". I cannot see how it could hurt in any way but I feel that it may help soften (and fasten) the play in situations like forced suites, exchanges and so on.
Your opinion ?
Marc
Marc Lacrosse (2008-06-20 08:04:12)
Why ?
One of my opponents rated 2300+ continues to play even though there is an announced forced checkmate in eleven moves (no possible miracle : any engine finds the mate).
His game has been completely lost for weeks but the road to mate is long in this minor pieces ending.
Is it correct?
OK this does not infringe any rule but in OTB play this would be considered very bad manner.
Does it happen frequently here?
what is your opinion?
Marc
P. Bhaskaran Dhanish (2008-06-21 02:57:54)
Always White below?
Is there an option to make the board always display with White below?
Thibault de Vassal (2008-06-23 15:53:37)
Stanislav Musil
I'm so sorry and sad to announce to his opponents that our chessfriend Stanislav Musil passed away.
Thibault
Khaled Toutaoui (2008-06-24 17:38:50)
un match contre ould ahmed samy..:)
salut samy si tu me lis je voudrais faire un match contre toi en deux manches gagnantes si tu le veux bien...fais moi savoir ta reponse par le biais du forum si c possible...mes salutations les plus amicales...
Thibault de Vassal (2008-07-01 17:10:49)
Big chess in russian forums
Quite funny to see a Big chess game (Lehnhoff - de Vassal :)) discussed in a russian forum, even if I don't understand a single word of the discussion - any help welcome :/
http://kasparovchess.crestbook.com/viewtopic.php?pid=181338
We definitely need more Big chess players, great game - let's have fun ! :)
Garvin Gray (2008-07-02 13:36:39)
Closing of old topics
Making a recommendation: Can old topics please not be closed after 60 days?
On a couple of occasions now I have wanted to revive an old thread as it might be relevant now and I get the message that the thread is closed.
Two reasons for wanting to revive an old thread:
1) The past conversation is relevant to current matters and so having the old conversation would reduce people repeating themselves
2) Helps to reduce the number of threads talking about the same item(s).
Please change the current policy.
Wayne Lowrance (2008-07-02 17:26:08)
my games copied to Fritz database
How can you do this ? Thanks Wayne
Henrik Jonsson (2008-07-02 23:13:12)
Openings that leads to open games?
I have a rating of 1800 at ICC. But I don´t know very much opening theory. I like open games. So I would like to learn openings, where a lot of pawns are exchanged, that leads to open games. Any recommendations?
Garvin Gray (2008-07-03 16:30:20)
FICGS__CHESS__RAPID_M__000010
One more player needed. Please join up so the six can start :)
Normajean Yates (2008-07-04 16:02:52)
basic question re vacation
the faq says on vacation that : <<Vacation : 1. During [vacation], your clocks are frozen and it is no more possible to play, in order to reduce the effects on time controls. 2. Please note that the time limit per move clock still runs during vacation [...] you can add days leave during this period.>> Can someone make it clearer what point 2 means? Thibault?
Marc Lacrosse (2008-07-05 19:36:23)
Qualification information ?
Because i did not realise that I had qualified for two WCh tournaments I recently enrolled for a third one and had three tournaments beginning almost simultaneously in january, which proved to be too much for me.
And now the deadline for the next Wch (005)is approaching and it just seems that i will win WCH_STAGE_1_GROUP_M_01__000004.
So I am hesitating : when will Wch-004 next stage begin ?
I do not wish anymore to have more than one tournament starting almost at the same time.
More generally speaking, I wish I could get the following infos permanently updated on my "My messages" page :
* I enrolled for a tournament of type X on date Y. Presently there are already Z players enrolled for this tournament.
* I registered for championship X on date Y. this is supposed to start on date Z.
* In tournament Wch-X my present result ensures (or leaves the possibility open) that I will be qualified for next stage tournament that is supposed to begin on date Y.
Your opinion ?
Marc
Normajean Yates (2008-07-09 03:01:53)
re: make your chess variant
continuation of closed topic: http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=forum_read&id=4362
minichess: 5x5 board with starting pos
rnbqk/PPPPP/5/ppppp/RNBQK w Qq - 0 1
superchess:10x10 board with starting pos.
rnbqskqbnr/pppppppppp/10/10/10/10/10/10/PPPPPPPPPP/RNBQSKQBNR w KSks - 0 1
S is superqueen, moves like Q or N. Just as Q moves like R or B. So S moves like R or B or N.
Don Groves (2008-07-10 23:43:15)
Challenges
Thibault - Can we have a box on our preferences page that says whether or not we will accept challenges? Either that or a way to respond to a challenger with a message. I hate to appear rude and simply reject a challenge with no explanation.
Oksana Krylova (2008-07-11 08:45:14)
Why is not fixed mate?
Game 18928 Krylova - Denchev Why is not fixed mate? http://www.ficgs.com/game_18928.html
Thibault de Vassal (2008-07-11 23:13:29)
FICGS Go championship final match
The first FICGS Go championship 5 games final match (in WCH Go 000002) just started !
Svante Carl von Erichsen (2478, 4 dan) vs. Ke Lu (2591, 5 dan)
http://www.ficgs.com/tournament_FICGS__GO__WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP__000002.html
Nice & instructive games to follow :)
Best of luck to both.
Andrew Stephenson (2008-07-12 22:52:44)
rating categories
Its a purely cosmetic change but perhaps it would be better to adjust the rating categories to: 2200-2400, 2000-2200 etc because thats what they effectively are. Nobody with a 2400+ rating wil join the current 2200-2600 category - they would join the list for 2400-2800. It seems pointless to have the overlap.
Andrew Stephenson (2008-07-13 11:51:17)
Withdrawal WCH-2--3-00004
My apologies to the other participants in this stage 2 which has just started but I have to withdraw. Due to business and personal commitments I cannot sustain the rapid time limit so I have decided to resign all the games to try to minimise inconvenience. I had actually forgotten about this otherwise I would have informed Thibault before hand
Normajean Yates (2008-07-13 23:01:01)
help - chat column missing
I can see a white-background black-text chat column / frame on the right in some of my computer, but they are absent in others. Can someone please help? Windows XP, firefox 2, adblock plus [popups enables for ficgs]
Normajean Yates (2008-07-14 05:27:33)
firefox: adblockPlus 'disabling'
to 'disable' adblockPlus for ficgs, [ie to 'whitelist' ficgs for ABP) just add this filter:
@@http://www.ficgs.com
(of course this works for any http:// or https://.)
Wolfgang Utesch (2008-07-14 18:30:38)
Luck or Knowledge?
WCH-KO-Final 2: Ingersol - Utesch I'd just lost all my hope for winning the last game and the match - but now (after 89....g5??) !? In my opinion is chess a game of luck!!! Harry had been much better in most games of the match, but failed in last game - I won't be very proud on this match win.
Normajean Yates (2008-07-15 03:25:32)
is mirroring moves legal on ficgs?
suppose I am playing a tournament. I need only 1 point [1/2=draw,1=win]. in one game I am white. In another game I am black.
In the game where I am black, I wait for opp to move, say move w1. Then in the game where I am white, I make the move w1, then I wait for opp's reply, say b1. Now in the game where I am black I move b1. And so on..
So i am guranteed exactly 1 point (1/2+1/2 = 1 + 0 = 0+1 = 1).
Is this legal? If not, by which rule?
Thibault?
Benjamin Block (2008-07-16 14:32:33)
New idea
i have think about this a long time but now i think it is time to write it down.
What do you think about make you´re own money price tournament. First you choose e-points fee 10 or 100. Then you choose how many games you want. Of course the site need to have limit so nobody take 100 games. And you choose the highest and lowest rating you want here the site need to take a limit. And the last thing you choose the time control. Here it will be fun if we can take more time control example 30/10 days,50/10 days and 60/10 days.
What do you think?
Wolfgang Utesch (2008-07-16 20:40:08)
Surprise, surprise ....
... it looks like a pre decision in WCH-Final_1: Figlio - Pichelin?!
Jonathan Willis (2008-07-17 17:52:00)
Ending a game of Go
Hi Unless I'm missing something I can't seem to see how to end a game of Go I'm in. We've both passed (several times now) I've calculated that I win by about 6.5 points but as far as the help section goes it just seems to say you reach an agreement??!!! How do you actually end a game? Thanks.
Normajean Yates (2008-07-18 00:41:49)
how did member's name change?
in the FICGS__CHESS__CLASS_B__000049 tourney, Paulo Cerini after resigning against me (he put a Q en prise - no credit to me), became Frank Gavin in all his games. [now there is no member called Paulo Cerini] How?
by rule 11.2 last paragraph? Kafka, Calvino, Bunuel, or 1984/testify[RATM] (who controls the present controls the past)? :)
Thibault de Vassal (2008-07-18 14:24:09)
Chessbase Deep Rybka 3
Chessbase, who distributes the best chess engines (Fritz, Shredder, Junior, Hiarcs, Zappa...) now also distributes the little fish : Rybka 3 and Deep Rybka 3 are available.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4772
Rybka 3 (by Vasik Rajlich) is the reigning computer world champion and should be at least 80 points stronger than the previous version Rybka 2.3.2
Did anyone test it already ? What about the improvements (particularly Monte Carlo Analysis in endgames) ?
Rybka 3 book with 3,387,966 positions (260 MB) is also available.
Olivier Desormes (2008-07-18 17:24:56)
i just want to know why
i just want to know why half of my parties are lost before i finish it i play 1 move a week
Wolfgang Utesch (2008-07-21 06:23:07)
Caire - Utesch ...
... is next WCH candidates final!
Normajean Yates (2008-07-21 15:16:14)
why so few women on ficgs?
compare chess.com.
Simone de Beauvoir write in Le Deuxième Sexe, 1949 that women in l'Etats-Unis d'America are more advanced...
Still true? [with modification: women members of USA-based sites :)]
Thibault de Vassal (2008-07-23 14:00:26)
MoGo vs. Human
In 1997 Janice Kim (1 dan) beat Handtalk, then the strongest Go program, despite giving the program a 25-stone handicap.
On Thursday, August 7, Kim MyungWan 8p will play MoGo, probably the world's strongest computer Go program. MoGo will be running on a supercomputer boasting over 3,000 processor cores !! The game will be broadcast live on KGS - http://www.gokgs.com/download.xhtml
The human is "8p", meaning 8-dan professional; not quite 3 stones stronger than a 1d pro player, who in turn would give an amateur 1d at least 6 stones. Edward Lasker said that 3 stones handicap at Go is comparable to knight odds at chess.
Philip Roe (2008-07-23 20:42:20)
poems against humanity
Normajean,
I cant recall the ending either, but in a similar vein,
My fellow man I do not care for
I often ask me whats he there for
The only answer I can find
Is reproduction of his kind.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-07-25 17:26:45)
FICGS in Wikipedia
Just seen it in the logs, obviously one of our italian chessfriends just created the first article about FICGS (well, looks like the home page) in Wikipedia :)
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/FICGS
BTW, I hope this great encyclopedia will survive now that Google tries to concurrence it with its commercial wiki called Knol (just started).
http://knol.google.com
Normajean Yates (2008-07-26 00:26:37)
<< 1. e4? >>
- Breyer.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-07-26 23:43:11)
Strange Go games
Please share the strangiest Go games :)
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=22785
Andrew Stephenson (2008-07-27 16:04:37)
Logged off
Thibault is there anyway to prevent being auto logged off and sent to the ticker tape message screen?
Marc Lacrosse (2008-07-27 19:36:41)
The specifics of match play ...
Tanks to FICGS championships interesting formula I just entered Wch 005 in a quarter final 8-games match (against GM Balabaev).
This is the first time I have to play several simultaneous games against the same opponent in correspondence play.
There are interesting questions related to this unusual kind of tournament.
First of all, what kind of opening(s) should you play, and more precisely is it better to vary or to go for the same opening in several games?
Having had a look at my opponents former games I had prepared quite a few options.
As Black I decided to rely on my favorite Bc5 sicilian defence
Four identical games developped and very soon it appeared that these games should be decisive for the whole match
For long I was afraid that my opponent could come with some decisive prepared analysis leading to a 4-0 lead ...
But the opposite happened and all four games ended (draw by position repetition) before I had left my opening prep, after less than one month of play.
Thus I am left with four games where I am white
A considerable advantage IMHO ...
On this precise topic I wonder what is the opinion of top players here : is it better to be the one who vary early or should you go along your favorite analysis as long as your opponent won't diverge himself in case of match play
I have never read anything on this topic anywhere ...
Marc
Normajean Yates (2008-07-29 05:32:27)
why so few retrograde analysis fans here
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=problem_read&id=262
Nicola, Kieran, and me [ i hadn't discovered this site when the problem was posted]
This problem is not trivial, but definitely not difficult!
Andrew Stephenson (2008-07-30 11:03:31)
Databases
Thibault I believe FICGS games do not get into any of the databases (mega corr etc) Is there any way to get these games in? I have seen some tremendous novelties in FICGS that I have not found anywhere else. It seems this knowledge is hidden ....
Andrew Stephenson (2008-08-03 12:46:18)
Round Robin qualification
Thibault looking at the WCC rules for Round Robin tournaments. It says: "If necessary, a player could be invited to complete a group or to replace a forfeiting player." This must be how Marc Lacrosse came to be in the Round Robin final for 02 as he was not in any stage 1 or stage 2 tournaments for 02. With 5 qualifiers from stage 2 and a stage 1 M winner a 7th player was needed. How did you decide which player to leave out of stage 1 M 02 and put directly in the RR final? Presumably not TER as both Brunsteins and Marius had higher TER's. This is not a problem for 03 as there will be 4 stage 2 qualifiers and 1 stage 1 M winner. Just curious:)
Andrew Stephenson (2008-08-07 16:00:12)
Longest game
I just wondered whats the longest game game ever played on FICGS - in terms of moves? Potentially it could be very long as the 50 move draw rule does not apply automaticaaly on this site.
Andrew Stephenson (2008-08-08 20:05:20)
Marshall fest
We have 4 marshall gambits in Caire Utesch match....
Phil Cook (2008-08-11 05:23:46)
getting a game annotated
any thoughts on this? or would that slow server ?
Normajean Yates (2008-08-11 09:34:55)
bigchess annotation ?
now bigchess annotation - that's an idea. Start small - maybe Thibault or one of the other top bigchess players could take a sample bigchess game and annotate it ...
Thibault de Vassal (2008-08-13 00:04:16)
Designs
I'm so surprised to see that only 9 players use the RANDOM design (see in Preferences) which is my favourite by far... You should try it, more fun for the eye ;)
red (default) 3151
grey_chess 86
blue 83
red_flying 8
grey 52
red_paper 21
blue_board 5
green 26
blue_wch 7
grey_wch 12
blue_ocean 13
green_plain 6
red_wch 7
blue_plain 17
red_cubic 2
green_wch 6
grey_board 12
grey_plain 19
red_board 3
red_plain 8
blue_cubic 3
random 9
green_board 1
grey_cubic 2
red_fade 1
Thibault de Vassal (2008-08-14 14:00:53)
Contest : FICGS, acronym for...
FICGS, acronym for Free.. French, Fries what ? .. What is it, what should it be, what could it be....... Any ideas ? :)
Thibault de Vassal (2008-08-14 23:25:25)
Statistics : Players by country
Here are some interesting statistics, the number of players by country... with some surprises, what do you think ?
USA 1020
FRA 343
GBR 245
CAN 178
DEU 158
RUS 127
IND 114
ITA 113
ROU 89
TUR 88
BRA 77
BEL 72
AUS 66
ESP 61
POL 53
PHL 52
NLD 49
SWE 47
ARG 43
ZAF 42
MEX 41
GRC 37
BGR 36
UKR 36
HUN 35
CZE 31
ISR 31
CHE 30
FIN 30
IDN 29
IRL 27
PRT 27
VEN 24
VNM 24
CHL 23
DZA 22
AUT 21
SGP 21
CHN 20
EGY 20
COL 19
DNK 19
LTU 18
NOR 17
NZL 17
MAR 16
MYS 16
PER 16
SRB 16
SVN 16
HRV 14
IRN 14
PRI 14
JPN 11
SVK 11
THA 11
EST 10
HKG 9
PAK 9
LVA 8
ARM 7
ISL 7
KOR 7
TUN 7
TWN 7
BLR 6
GEO 6
LKA 6
MLT 6
ALB 5
CUB 5
CYP 5
URY 5
ARE 4
ASM 4
BIH 4
BOL 4
CRI 4
ECU 4
GHA 4
KAZ 4
LBN 4
LUX 4
MKD 4
NGA 4
BGD 3
DOM 3
FRO 3
GTM 3
JOR 3
MDA 3
MMR 3
MNG 3
PRY 3
SAU 3
ZWE 3
ATG 2
BHS 2
CMR 2
ERI 2
HTI 2
IRQ 2
KEN 2
KGZ 2
KHM 2
MDG 2
MNE 2
NIC 2
NPL 2
PNG 2
UGA 2
AIA 1
ALA 1
ANY 1
BHR 1
BRB 1
GLP 1
GMB 1
GRD 1
GUM 1
HND 1
JAM 1
LBY 1
LSO 1
MOZ 1
MRT 1
MUS 1
PRK 1
QAT 1
SHN 1
TKM 1
TTO 1
UMI 1
UZB 1
VUT 1
Total : 4097
Phil Cook (2008-08-16 10:54:51)
(D 00 Queeens Pawn,Chigorin varation)
Morales Vs Cook [Event "Single game, E4EC"] [Date "2008.04.22"] [Round "-"] [White "Morales, Rafael (rafafallo)"] [Black "Cook, Phil (Kiwi)"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1078"] [BlackElo "1170"] [TimeControl "10/30"] 1. d4 {(D 00 Queeens Pawn,Chigorin varation) 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 } d5 2. Nc3 {(D 00 Queeens Pawn,Chigorin varation) 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 e6..not commonly played } e6 {(D 00 Queeens Pawn,Chigorin varation) 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 e6..not commonly played} 3. a3 {3.blocking ..Bb4} h6 4. e4 a6 5. g3 dxe4 6. Nxe4 Nf6 {3. ....... h6 4. e4 a6 5. g3 dxe4 6. Nxe4 Nf6 attemps white into another exchange} 7. Bg2 {7.Bg2 defends } Nxe4 8. Bxe4 c6 9. c4 Be7 10. d5 {7. Nxe4 8. Bxe4 c6 9. c4 Be7 10. d5 (white here,trying to open the middle up) so black attacks} cxd5 11. cxd5 O-O 12. dxe6 {12.dxe6,,(black gives up a pawn or does he)} Qxd1+ 13. Kxd1 Rd8+ 14. Bd2 fxe6 {12. dxe6 Qxd1+ 13. Kxd1 Rd8+ 14. Bd2 fxe6(wins the pawn back,has white in disarray here)} 15. Nf3 Bf6 16. Rb1 Nd7 17. b4 Ne5 18. Ke2 Nxf3 19. Bxf3 {15. Nf3 Bf6 16. Rb1 Nd7 17. b4 Ne5 18. Ke2 Nxf3 19. Bxf3 (note whites black bishop)} Rb8 20. a4 b5 21. a5 Bb7 22. Rbc1 Bxf3+ {19. Bxf3 Rb8 20. a4 b5 21. a5 Bb7 22. Rbc1 Bxf3(white lost contol and game from here,yet plods on)} 23. Kxf3 Rxd2 {22. Rbc1 Bxf3+ 23. Kxf3 Rxd(loss of bishop)} 24. Rc6 Rd3+ 25. Ke4 Rbd8 26. Rxe6 Rd3d6 27. Rxd6 Rxd6 28. Rc1 Rd4+ 29. Kf5 Rxb4 30. Kg6 Rg4+ 31. Kf5 Rc4 32. Rd1 Rc5+ 33. Ke4 b4 34. Rb1 Rb5 35. Rb3 Bc3 36. f4 Rxa5 37. f5 Ra3 0-1
Thibault de Vassal (2008-08-16 12:29:32)
Questions to Xavier Pichelin
Xavier Pichelin is 1st FICGS chess champion after beating IM Gino Figlio in the first candidates final, he accepted to talk about his match, the tournament, his views around correspondence chess, chess engines and so on... The most important part may be he'll defend his title against the winner of the 2nd candidates final :)
Unfortunately, the complete interview is in french only as he doesn't speak english, but if someone finds a good translator (if possible better than Babelfish), he may post it in this thread. Thanks !
- Bonjour Xavier et tout d'abord félicitations pour ta victoire dans le match qui t'opposait au MI (ICCF) Gino Figlio [Pérou] dans la finale des candidats. Tu devais éviter à tout prix la nulle dans toutes les parties, finalement les noirs t'ont porté chance, comment expliques-tu ce résultat ?
Xavier : Bonjour, merci pour les félicitations. C'est vrai qu'en cas de nulles pour toutes les parties, le règlement indique Figlio Vainqueur en cas d'égalité avec victoire(s) et défaite(s) je remporte le match. Donc il fallait que je prenne des risques en attaquant et c'est avec les noirs que je l'ai fait car je pensais que Gino, dans ces parties, attendrait sans prendre de risques pour assurer les nulles.
- Peux-tu nous décrire la manière dont tu as abordé ce match contre Gino et son déroulement au fur et à mesure des différentes phases du jeu ?
X : C'est assez simple, dans ce match je n'étais pas du tout favori car avec plus de 200 points ELO FICGS en ma défaveur, et Gino titré Maître International avec plus de 2480 point ELO ICCF, je pensais que je n'allais pas résister sur 8 parties simultanées car sur une partie tout est possible mais sur 8 parties... c'était pour moi un grand défi ! Pour le déroulement du jeu j'ai joué la diversité sur mes débuts avec les blancs 4 parties 4 coups différents : 1.e4 1.d4 1.c4 1.Cf3. Gino a fait de même : 1.e4 1.d4 1.Cf3 1.Cc3. Ce qui m'a fait douter aussi car 1.Cc3 m'a surpris, je pensais qu'il avait prévu un début tonitruand et c'est là que je me suis dit qu'il fallait que je prenne des risques avec les noirs. Au fur et à mesure des différentes phases du jeu j'ai assuré les nulles des positions équilibrées pour me concacrer a deux parties avantageuses dont une avec les blancs et une avec les noirs pour au moins faire la différence dans une partie pour assurer la victoire. Et en fin de compte c'est 3 victoires qui me reviennent, ce qui me paraissait impossible étant donnée la qualité du jeu de Gino joué sur ce site pour arriver à la finale des candidats du championnat.
- Tu as réalisé pendant le championnat un parcours sans faute, aucune défaite à signaler, tu affiches également des statistiques stratosphériques à 78% contre une moyenne elo à près de 2200, quel est ton secret ?
X : Mon secret? Je n'ai pas de secret. Si j'avais un secret je ne le dévoilerais pas sinon je ne gagnerais plus ! Je pense que j'ai eu un petit peu de chance car il s'en est fallu de peu que je ne sois pas qualifié au stage 3 (robin-round final) car il y avait 3 joueurs à égalité et j'ai eu l'avantage du classement du départ de ce tournoi comme l'indique le règlement. Quant à mes statistiques, c'est aussi grâce aux erreurs de mes adversaires qui m'ont permis de gagner des parties équilibrées.
- Que penses-tu du système mi-ko, mi-toutes-rondes du championnat FICGS et de ses départages inédits lors des matchs en 8 parties ? Quelles modifications y apporterais-tu ?
X : Très bonne question ! Le système mi-ko pour moi est un peu trop rapide car un coup par jour c'est des heures d'analyses pour exploiter une position compliquée, ce qui est difficile quand on à plusieurs parties en cours. Surtout quand on travaille. C'est peut-être aussi grâce à cette cadence que mes adversaires, faute de temps, ont fait des imprécisions sur certaines postions ou exploité mes erreurs. Mais cette cadence a un avantage par rapport aux cadences ICCF qui est de 5 jours par coup, c'est que les parties durent 5 fois moins longtemps ! Le départage inédit des matchs en 8 parties est excellent, obliger le favori à assurer tous les matchs nulles pour gagner ce duel et sinon d'obtenir une victoire supplémentaire contre le challenger est un mode très bien pensé. La modification que je pourrais y apporter est peut-être la gestion du temps qui est rapide pour un système de jeu par serveur. Peut-être augmenter l'horloge de départ de 15 jours, soit de commencer avec 45 jours contre 30 en ce moment. Et aussi la possibilité des prendre des vacances uniquement sur le tournoi en cours afin de gérer les autres parties du site. Par exemple prendre 7 jours de vacances sur un tournoi d'échecs du championnat et pouvoir jouer un tournoi de Big Chess, de Go ou un autre tournoi d'échecs pendant ces vacances. Pouvoir choisir une date de début de vacances à l'avance serait également appréciable.
- Pourquoi t'être investi dans les échecs par correspondance ? T'apportent-ils d'autres satisfactions par rapport aux échecs classiques et au blitz ?
X : Je préfère les échecs par correspondance par rapport au temps. Car les échecs classiques se jouent souvent le week-end, à une heure précise et souvent en déplacement pour effectuer un tournoi. L'avantage, pour moi, des échecs par correspondance est que je puisse me connecter à n'importe quelle heure pour jouer mes coups, ce qui me permet, par exemple, de faire des repas de famille le week-end et le soir tard de jouer un coup, ce qui n'est pas possible aux échecs classiques.
- Tu as su ne pas céder à la tentation et te limiter à jouer un nombre très raisonnable de parties sur le site tout le long du championnat, penses-tu néanmoins que les échecs par correspondance soient addictifs et à quel point ? Ont-ils des répercussions sur ta vie de tous les jours ?
X : Oui ! Limiter mon nombre de parties en cours est pour moi essentiel pour essayer d'avoir des parties de qualité plutôt que de quantité. Avoir beaucoup de parties en simultanée est quand même une chose très difficile à gérer ! C'est peut-être la clé de ma victoire contre Figlio, j'ai regardé ses parties en cours, il en avait pas loin de 90 sur le site de l'ICCF, cela a pu se ressentir sur son temps d'analyse consacré à nos 8 parties sur FICGS. Sur la vie de tous les jours les répercussions sont familiales car il est vrai que je passe plus de temps à analyser les parties et moins temps avec ma famille, ce qui est assez difficile pour moi. Mais quand les résultats sont là je ne regrette pas !
- Que penses-tu de la place actuelle des moteurs d'analyse (Rybka, Shredder, Fritz et autres) dans les échecs par correspondance ? Quelles sont pour toi les qualités complémentaires essentielles du joueur par correspondance, devenu centaure avec la machine pour jambes ?
X : Les moteurs d'analyses dans les échecs par correspondances sont utilisés par 95% des joueurs... Maintenant il faut s'adapter et savoir utiliser ces machines à calculer. Car jouer simplement le meilleur coup de Rybka 3, de Fritz 12 ou Hiarcs 12 sans réfléchir mentalement mène à la nulle si l'adversaire fait de même ou possiblement à perdre si l'adversaire se donne la peine de réfléchir en les utilisant également. En sachant que lorsqu'on est dans le milieu de partie ces logiciels vous donnent souvent 4 à 5 coups evalués de manière semblable, et c'est là qu'il faut choisir le bon coup alors que celui-ci n'est même pas forcément cité par le moteur d'analyse...
- Tu joues désormais au Big Chess sur le site, curiosité ou intérêt ? Que penses-tu de cette version étrange des échecs ?
X : Par curiosité et par amusement et je pense que Rybka 3 ne joue pas encore au Big Chess ! Cette version est quasiment inédite je ne connaissais pas cette forme de jeu d'échecs auparavant donc celui qui a inventé ce jeu a très bien fait ! A propos c'est moi qui vous pose une question sur le Big chess... Y a t-il possiblité de roquer avec ce jeu si oui comment? (NDLR : Non, il est impossible de roquer au Big Chess)
- Et enfin la question que tout le monde se pose, particulièrement François et Wolfgang qui disputent la deuxième finale des candidats, penses-tu pouvoir défendre ton titre l'an prochain ? :)
X : Bien sûr ! Je défendrai le titre ! J'aimerais si possible savoir la date et la cadence du match. Et je souhaite à François et Wolfgang une belle finale ! Je dois faire honneur à cette compétition qui est bien organisée !
- Le match devrait pouvoir débuter durant la première semaine de janvier 2009, la cadence sera à nouveau de 30 jours et 1 jour supplémentaire par coup. Merci pour tes réponses, et encore bravo pour cette belle performance !
X : Merci ! Et à bientôt ! Bonne continuation à tous et bonnes parties !
Thibault de Vassal (2008-08-18 22:48:39)
Game 18078
The round robin final (in the 3rd cycle) must start... time to adjudicate this nice game (Stephenson vs. Helmer), but we may discuss it as rules allow it.
At a first sight, the game looks like a draw, does anyone have another theory ?
Ilmars Cirulis (2008-08-20 17:08:31)
Funny in pgn
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.e3 d6 4.Bd3 Bg7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.o-o *
Look at different castles! :)
Mine is bigger! :D
Marius Zubac (2008-08-21 22:32:59)
Attention Thibault! Bug related to WCH2
Hi Thibault There is a bug related to entering my 11th move 11Bd2 in both games 22676 and 22678 from our match played in FICGS__CHESS__WCH_QUARTER_FINAL_2__000005. In slow move selection after I enter the move I get the message "Incorrect move : 7.0-0 , from player white". If I try to send the move I get the message that the move is not sent. Can you please look into this matter? Thanks Marius
Thibault de Vassal (2008-08-22 17:50:17)
Team challenge : Latvian gambit
Based upon an idea by Ilmars, let's try to create a special Latvian thematic tournament that could start at the beginning of september, consisting in two teams : Latvian gambit "defenders" and latvian gambit "refuters" (that will play either Black or White), this could be interesting to improve the theory in this opening.
Any player who wishes to play this tournament may post in this thread "I am in as White (or Black)" and I'll make pairings in a few days/weeks.
Ilmars Cirulis (2008-08-22 19:13:16)
IGAME.RU
It looks like IGAME.RU is dead. :(
Andrew Stephenson (2008-08-22 20:18:54)
Round Robin qualification
"Round-robin tournaments are groups of 5, 7, 9, 11 or 13 players. The winner of each group is qualified for the next stage. In case of equality, the player with the strongest tournament entry rating (TER) is qualified for the next stage." Thibault these are the rules upon which I entered the tournament WCC 3. I have spent an enourmous amount of time sweating blood to beat Janos Helmer so that I won my stage 2 group and qualified for the Round Robin Final now this tournament has started you have 1)placed 6 persons in the tournament which breaches the rules 2) You have placed Miranda Marcus in the tournament even though she did not win stage 2 group but tied on 4 out of 6 and had a lower TER. If I had known you were going to arbitrarily change the rules like this I would have agreed a draw with Janos a long time ago and Marc Lacrosse and I could have both gone through. We have 5 winners and I request you to comply with the WCC rules for this tournament and place the 4 stage 2 winners and and 1 stage 1 group M winner in the Round Robin final. I will wait for your decision before continuing. Thanks. I would like to know other players views on this. I have no objection to the rules being amended for future WCC but I want to know what the rules are when I start a tournament.
Ilmars Cirulis (2008-08-24 19:22:58)
Internet censorship in China
What do you think?
Don Groves (2008-08-25 06:06:34)
Downloading pgn files
Salut, Thibault -- It seems now that we have to download each game of a tournament separately. It would be nice if we could download all six pgn files with a single command. What do you (and others) think? Or does this already exist and I am the only one in the dark.
Benjamin Block (2008-08-30 15:07:48)
How good is the program vs the man?
I want more test game in corr man vs computer. To know how high elo the computer have? It was a long time ago the Hydra played vs Nickel i want to see Rybka vs GM Nickel or some one other.
Alexis Bromo (2008-09-01 17:33:44)
Quotes for Thibault
Dear chessfriends, let's help Thibault with quotes. I like it. And I propose everyone to post here interesting quotes with their sources. Isn't it interesting idea? :) And a proposition to Thibault - choose the best and revard author anyhow.
Wayne Lowrance (2008-09-02 00:30:08)
Rating update
When ?
Ilmars Cirulis (2008-09-04 09:18:56)
Evans Gambit in Wikichess
I have suggestion to make some progress in Wikichess with Evans Gambit.
Maybe we can start with article #3617?! Compromised defence is my favourite. I take black. Who want to take white? :)
Peter Unger (2008-09-08 00:54:05)
a game ended with mate
my Game vs. Sharma ended with Mate. Why isn't it finished? And tournament-table isn't adapted?! Here is the game: [Event "FICGS__CHESS__WCH_STAGE_1_GROUP_04__000005"] [Site "FICGS"] [Date "2008.07.08"] [Round "1"] [White "Sharma,Kirti"] [Black "Unger,Peter"] [Result "*"] [WhiteElo "1365"] [BlackElo "2187"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. c3 Nf6 4. Qc2 Qc7 5. Be2 e5 6. O-O Be7 7. Na3 O-O 8. Nc4 Be6 9. Ng5 Bd7 10. Ne3 h6 11. Nf3 Be6 12. c4 b6 13. Nd5 Qb7 14. Qd3 a5 15. a4 Nc6 16. Qc2 Nb4 17. Nxb4 axb4 18. d3 Nd7 19. b3 Nb8 20. h3 Nc6 21. Qd1 f5 22. Nd2 fxe4 23. dxe4 Nd4 24. Bg4 Bxg4 25. Qxg4 Bg5 26. Rb1 Rf6 27. h4 Rf4 28. Qd1 Rxh4 29. g3 Bxd2 30. Bxd2 Qxe4 31. gxh4 Ne2+ 32. Kh2 Qxh4+ 33. Kg2 Qg4+ 34. Kh2 Rf8 35. f3 Qg3+ 36. Kh1 Qh3+ 37.* regards retep1
Thibault de Vassal (2008-09-09 18:27:21)
Kramnik vs. Rybka / Zhukov
Posted by Larry Kaufman in Rybka forum : "According to GM Roman Dzindzichashvili quoting GM Sosonko who says he was present, a two game minimatch was held recently between former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik and Russian Chess Federation President Alexander Zhukov, at a serious time limit, with the following condition: Every fourth move, Zhukov was allowed to consult with Rybka for three minutes."
The complete discussion :
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=7270
Around cheating in OTB chess, interesting...
Thibault de Vassal (2008-09-09 19:40:44)
Multi-site tournament
Hi all,
A multi-site tournament is being to be organized with 4 chess websites (not using real names), each player from each team playing 1 game with Black "at home" and 1 game with White in his opponent's home with 1 opponent of each website (3 in total, hope I'm clear), so 6 games in total.
2 websites in the competition are :
http://www.echecsemail.com
http://www.echeconline.net
6 games (3 games here and 3 games played on 3 other websites) seem a lot though, what do you think ?
Alexis Bromo (2008-09-12 08:34:29)
Does anybody play "Travian"?
It is on-line strategy game. "mind-killer" :)))
Thibault de Vassal (2008-09-15 20:54:47)
Wikichess : Update !
Now you can see strong improvements in Wikichess articles :
- Opening ECO code
- Name of the opening
- Moves played at FICGS
- Find games played at FICGS
- Statistics (White wins, Black wins, Draws)...
Thanks to report any bug.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-09-15 22:22:26)
Chess quizz beta
Another update, a chess 'quizz' : Guess moves in games played at FICGS.
This is a test version in "My messages" only (on the right).
To be continued, but all feedbacks and comments are welcome already.
William Taylor (2008-09-18 13:25:56)
Big Chess Championship
I know there was a discussion some time ago about a big chess championship here on FICGS. Now the first 'M' class big chess tournament has started and I think big chess has enough regular players to try a championship. What do you think?
Alexis Bromo (2008-09-25 21:48:22)
second language
if the most of people speak another language, this language must be the second official language of the country, will not it? i tell about ukraine and russian language...
Thibault de Vassal (2008-09-27 03:57:49)
Obama, McCain on tactic & strategy
Just heard a few words (live) in the first debate between senators Barack Obama & John McCain about tactic & strategy (around Iraq) but I didn't understand what followed... Can anyone describe what McCain mean by "tactics & strategy" ? :)
Normajean Yates (2008-09-27 23:27:51)
how to see private message?
I sent a private test-message to myself. It got sent but I cannot see it. Even after logging out and logging in again.
Can someone help - what can be the problem? In preferences 'private messages' is on (i.e. there is a tick-mark in 'private messages' box in my preferences).
Please, some one send me a private message to test if I can recieve private messages. [maybe self-messages don't appear...] I am member number 3879.
Thank you in advance.
Normajean Yates (2008-09-28 19:36:29)
how to verify that draw offer was sent?
I offered draw in a chess game here. How do I verify that the draw offer was sent properly? [i.e. I that remembered to click the draw offer box; and that the click registered; etc.?]
It would be helpful if the game showed 'draw offer pending' or something like that.
Wayne Lowrance (2008-09-29 01:07:57)
copy games/s to *.cbh in fritz
can it be done ? thank you Wayne
Thibault de Vassal (2008-10-02 11:50:49)
Game 16370, towards a new rule ?
What do you think about this case :
http://www.ficgs.com/game_16370.html
Last move : Qe4+ 2008 September 30 19:57:40
White clock - 94 days 18:34:55 (58 days 08:20:25)
Black clock - 0 day 01:19:54
[Event "FICGS__CHESS__CLASS_A__000032"]
[Site "FICGS"]
[Date "2007.11.30"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Koch,Christian"]
[Black "Stephenson,Andrew"]
[Result "*"]
[WhiteElo "2140"]
[BlackElo "2104"]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.h3 Be7 9.Qf3 O-O 10.O-O-O b5 11.g4 b4 12.Nd5 Nxd5 13.exd5 Bc8 14.Kb1 Nd7 15.Qe2 Bb7 16.f4 Qc7 17.fxe5 Nxe5 18.Qf2 Bd8 19.Bg2 a5 20.Nd4 a4 21.Rhe1 a3 22.b3 Ra5 23.Nf5 g6 24.Nh6+ Kg7 25.Qf4 Bxd5 26.Bxd5 Rxd5 27.Qxb4 Qc6 28.Rxd5 Qxd5 29.Qf4 f6 30.Bc1 Qc5 31.Rd1 Ba5 32.Qe4 Rc8 33.c4 Bb4 34.h4 Qc6 35.Rd5 Re8 36.Qf4 Bc5 37.Bd2 Qb7 38.Bc3 Bb4 39.g5 f5 40.Qd2 Bxc3 41.Qxc3 Kf8 42.Kc1 Qb6 43.c5 Qc6 44.Rxd6 Qh1+ 45.Kc2 Qe4+ 46.Kc1 Qh1+ 47.Kc2 Qe4+ 48.*
So here player Black has good chances to lose the game on time, even if the best thing player White can do is to draw the game. In my opinion, "in general" player Black should play his next move, unless an analysis prove that the game is a forced draw - according to the rules, http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#adjudications - and eventually the result will be corrected after the game, but I'd like to know what other players think about this situation in general...
Thanks for helping to build strong rules.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-10-02 20:15:08)
Game 22676, towards a new rule ?
Once again, an unusual case that may lead to an enforcement of FICGS rules. In our match, Marius lost 3 games on time and continues to play the other ones : FICGS__CHESS__WCH_QUARTER_FINAL_2__000005
Games 22676, 22678 and 22679 have been lost in an equal position.
Currently, the rules specify : 11.6 "Games are not rated for the winner if less than 10 moves have been played by his opponent (most probably forfeit, silent withdrawal or obvious cheating) or in global forfeit cases against the same opponent, ie. 8-games matches, but games where an advantage is obvious."
Of course, it is up to the referee to estimate an 'advantage' which is quite hard to define accurately, but the real problem is there's no real silent withdrawal in this case, as Marius had about 1 day only to play his last move. It is fair to cancel my wins in these games IMO but the question is how to make the rules fair enough in all cases.
My suggestion : "...or in global forfeit cases, including losses on time whatever the context, in at least 2 games in a 2 players tournament, ie. chess championship's 8-games matches, but games where an advantage is obvious."
What do you think ? Also does anyone see another unusual case that this rule wouldn't envisage ?
Thanks in advance.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-10-03 21:37:20)
FIDE rating list oct. 2008
FIDE published the October 2008 rating list, the 5 top ranking players are in a 8 points range only...
I still wonder what would happen in case of a come back by the King (Gary Kasparov) .. Great thing to see a player like Morozevich at the 2nd place.
Rank Name Title Country Rating
1 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2791
2 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2787
3 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2786
4 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2786
5 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2783
6 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2772
7 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2757
8 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2751
9 Leko, Peter g HUN 2747
10 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2737
11 Wang, Yue g CHN 2736
12 Adams, Michael g ENG 2734
13 Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2732
14 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2731
15 Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2730
16 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2729
17 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2727
18 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2726
19 Eljanov, Pavel g UKR 2720
20 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2719
21 Dominguez Perez, Leinier g CUB 2719
22 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2719
23 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2719
24 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime g FRA 2716
25 Alekseev, Evgeny g RUS 2715
26 Bu, Xiangzhi g CHN 2714
27 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2711
28 Ni, Hua g CHN 2710
29 Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2705
30 Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2704
31 Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2703
32 Rublevsky, Sergei g RUS 2702
33 Cheparinov, Ivan g BUL 2696
34 Wang, Hao g CHN 2696
35 Sasikiran, Krishnan g IND 2694
36 Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2686
37 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter g ROU 2684
38 Najer, Evgeniy g RUS 2682
39 Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2682
40 Milov, Vadim g SUI 2681
Thibault de Vassal (2008-10-03 21:46:16)
Anand vs. Kramnik
While the match Kamsky vs. Topalov still seems uncertain, the match Anand vs. Kramnik for the FIDE world chess championship is quickly approaching... After many good & bad results recently for both players, any favourite ? :)
As for me, I have no idea... chess just looks like lotery sometimes.
Lars Klassen (2008-10-04 00:27:06)
Performance?
Hello, what means 'Performance' in the personal ELO statistic? Good night ;-)
Thibault de Vassal (2008-10-05 20:30:11)
Go ratings, rule update
In order to limit the inflation of Go ratings, I've updated the rules for ratings superior or equal to 2000. The idea of the original rule was to help players to find their rating range more quickly only.
"Go ratings are first estimated from Go ranks (n kyu give a 2100 - 100 * n rating, n dan give a 2000 + 100 * n rating, n dan pro give a 2630 + 30 * n rating), then adjusted in real time after each result :
Performance = Opponent Current Rating + 350 if the game is won, -350 if the game is lost.
Case of a win (rating > 1999) : New Rating = ((9 x Current Rating) + (1 x Performance)) / 10
Case of a win (rating < 2000) : New Rating = ((8 x Current Rating) + (2 x Performance)) / 10
Case of a loss : New Rating = ((9 x Current Rating) + (1 x Performance)) / 10
The rating calculation does not take account of wins obtained by a stronger player when the Elo difference is superior to 350 points, the same with losses by a weaker player.
In case of a loss against a player rated more than 350 points less, the opponent's rating considered in calculation is : Current Rating - 350."
Andrew Stephenson (2008-10-05 23:03:12)
The Many Faces of Go
...is the name of the program that just won the Go section in the Beijing International Computer Games Association tournament. It won all 12 games which included beating the 2nd place program MoGo. In the 9 x 9 Go competition Many Faces also triumphed winning 15 out of 18 games but was beaten by MoGo who took 3rd after a playoff with the program Leela. the chess of course was won by Rybka
Thibault de Vassal (2008-10-06 18:03:43)
Rybka is World Computer Chess Champion
No surprise, Rybka wins the 16th World Computer Chess Championship (2008)... Strangely, Rybka was running on the most powerful hardware, a 40-core system, in comparison Mobile Chess was running on a Nokia cell phone, so results are to be compared. Anyway, good result for Hiarcs, and a (very) bad tournament for Shredder.
The tournament results :
Rybka 8.0 / 9
Hiarcs 7.0 / 9
Junior 6.0 / 9
ClusterToga 5.5 / 9
Shredder 4.5 / 9
Falcon 4.0 / 9
Jonny Beijing 4.0 / 9
Deep Sjeng 3.5 / 9
The Baron 2.5 / 9
Mobile Chess 0.0 / 9
Wayne Lowrance (2008-10-13 07:33:14)
Hello Thibault
I am just curious. I just realized that I am getting close to 3 norms for FEM. In Tournament M #15 I have already enough points for a FEM norm. In Tournament M #21 I will earn a FEM and possibly FIM norm. In M #19 it is possible I could earn FEM norm. Question: in the M #15 tournament I have not been notified about qualifying. ( and I have). Which brings up the question. Do you notify the players of norm status. And should a player earn enough to get 3 FEM norms does the server notify that player, and how often are Status achievments upgraded. Wayne
Ilmars Cirulis (2008-10-22 19:49:53)
Svedenborg variation
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.Bc4 fxe4 4.Nxe5 d5 5.Qh5+ g6 6.Nxg6 hxg6 7.Qxh8 Kf7 8.Qd4 Be6 9.Be2 Nc6 10.Qe3 Nh6 11.d3 Nf5 12.Qd2 Ncd4 13.dxe4 dxe4 14.Nc3 (14.Qd1 Qh4 15.g3 Qh3 16.Bf1 (16.g4? e3 17.Rf1 Nxe2 18.gxf5 Bc4 19.Qd7+ Kg8 20.Bxe3 Nd4 -/+) Qh8 =/+) e3! 15.Qd3 exf2+ 16.Kxf2 (15.fxe3? Qh4+ 16.g3 Nxg3 17.Qxd4 Ne4+ 18.Kd1 Nf2+ (18.-- Rd8? 19.Rf1+ Kg8 20.Nxe4 Rxd4+ 21.exd4 Qxe4 22.c3 =) 19.Ke1 Ng4+ =/+) Nxe2 17.Kxe2 Bc5+ 18.Kf3 (18.Ke1?! Bc4 19.Nf4 Nd4 20.Nd2 Nf3+ 21.Kc3 Ne5 22.Nd3 Bd4+ 23.Kd2 Nxd3 24.cxd3 Bxd3 between =/+ and =) 18.Bxg2 Bg5 =
(I'm now too lazy to put it in WikiChess...)
Thibault de Vassal (2008-10-23 22:35:49)
Server changes (october 23, 2008)
Hello everyone,
FICGS will have a new (much faster) server tomorrow !
It won't be possible to connect to the old server during a few hours, then it will depend to your access provider to update more or less quickly the domain names server, it generally takes from a few hours to one week.
As a consequence, I'll add 7 days to all clocks tomorrow (friday, at most saturday).
See you soon on the new FICGS server ! ;)
Thibault de Vassal (2008-10-26 11:57:39)
SSL / https problem
Hello all,
If you use the site in HTTPS mode with Firefox 3 or a more recent version (the latest is 3.0.3), you may have intermittently encountered this error : SSL received an unexpected Change Cipher Spec record. (Error code: ssl_error_rx_unexpected_change_cipher)
This is a bug from OpenSSL that occurs with Firefox 3+ , I just added something to correct it so please just report any bug of that kind here if you have it yet. Thanks in advance.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-10-26 22:10:03)
Search wikichess & games in one click
New features in chess games !
It is now possible to search wikichess & games in one click from your running games in the fast moves mode (page move_express), see the S & W options below the chessboard. One more tool to get quick statistics from FICGS database before to play.
Please report any bug. Thanks in advance :)
Arne Sigvald Engo (2008-10-28 11:01:31)
Big Chess Board
Does anybody know where to procure board & pieces for BigChess ?
Normajean Yates (2008-10-29 02:50:10)
Wikichess is *really* great now!
Wikichess is coming out really great now! I recommend all who haven't seen it recently to have a look!
Scott Nichols (2008-10-30 10:06:18)
Quick chess?
I would like to see a new time format of game in 10 days with a 4 hour increment per move. A lot of players like to play fast but need more than one day, but do not need 30 or more days. Would anybody else be interested? Any thoughts?
Normajean Yates (2008-10-30 20:15:55)
5x5 chess again - thibault please read!
Thibault, I know you dont want to start another variant - but since we [meaning ficgs] pushed the theory [and the demise :( ] of the latvian gambit further... and we will have another round of that, so
in 5x5 chess (5x5 board, starting position rnbqk/ppppp/8/PPPPP/RNBQK) [o-o-o etc allowed - all 8x8-chess-type moves allowed] - as far as I know this hasnt been solved yet - far from it; so:
Please consider introducing this some time in the future... ask around to see if there is enough demand... you can consider payment-only tournaments for 5x5 chess....
Plus it will make ficgs academically famous!
[I don't know who suggested this version first: I first read about it more than 25 years ago in a Martin Gardner article - at least then, no theory was known about it.]
Thibault de Vassal (2008-11-01 21:55:48)
Chessgames.com
I just noticed that a few games played at FICGS were in chessgames.com, ie. this game Peter Schuster vs. Thibault de Vassal (WCH4 QF4, 1-0)
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1507687
Does anyone know how games are selected in chessgames.com ?
Maybe we'll find games played here in correspondence chess databases in a while :)
Normajean Yates (2008-11-02 05:15:50)
does vacation 'freeze' scoring?
One opp of mine is going to time out within 23 hours. I desparately need a vacation from chess, but I don't want 'unfinished business' hanging. So, if I go on 15-day vacation say 5 minutes *after* opponent times out, will the game be still shown as won by me within 1-2 days? Or will the recogition that the game has ended [in a win by me] be also 'frozen' for 15 days i.e. until my vacation is over?
Normajean Yates (2008-11-03 05:43:35)
vacation bug?
I have gone on vacation, but in Game 21702 it is opponent's move - and opponent's clock is still moving!:
Normajean Yates ... is in vacation until 2008 November 7
White clock - 98 days 01:11:33
Black clock - 94 days 15:34:05 (59 days 23:22:32)
and now:
Normajean Yates ... is in vacation until 2008 November 7
White clock - 98 days 01:11:33
Black clock - 94 days 15:32:46 (59 days 23:21:13)
So opponent's clock has decreased from 94 days 15:34:05 to 94 days 15:32:46 !
Ben Milton (2008-11-05 14:51:33)
opening book
I have downloaded the games played on playchess and was wondering how i could make an opening book based on them?
Normajean Yates (2008-11-06 16:22:19)
what about a sokolosky thematic ?
What about a sokolosky (1.b4) thematic? Let's put 1.b4 to test, specially in view of 1.b4 e5 2.b5 - let's expand the theory!
No hurry, I mean say some time next year?
Ben Milton (2008-11-06 16:47:28)
Downloading games
Is there a way to download all the long games (non blitz, bullet, etc) above the rating of 2200? Im sure a very strong opening book can be made from that considering that most of the people use engines here...
Normajean Yates (2008-11-07 08:44:13)
0-0 rather than O-O in wikichess..
Some people have mistakenly put in 0-0 [zero-zero] rather than O-O [Oh-Oh] in wikichess lines for short castling. As a result, the diagram does not show castling after 0-0, but it seems the contributors forgot to notice.
I rectified *one* of them, but a 'batch mode' repair of this by thibault is needed - this error might have crept in in so many lines, and might keep creeping in in the future also ..
Thibault de Vassal (2008-11-07 14:59:07)
Kamsky vs. Topalov
"Kamsky vs. Topalov" to sell...
Roustam Kamsky, father of world championship candidates Gata Kamsky had hard words against FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov : "I do not have any faith in FIDE and Mr. Ilyumzhinov who in front of the whole world breached his word, which is not the first time. Also, I do not have much faith in Mr. Makropoulos, a personal friend of Mr. Danailov."
More surprising, he said a few words about the former match Anand vs. Kasparov : "I would like to use this opportunity to congratulate Vishy Anand on his true victory. This is his third victory at the world championship. I think he could have achieved even more success if during his match against Kasparov he did not have as his trusted seconds grandmasters from the former Soviet Union. I was very impressed by the organization of Anand’s match in Bonn, Germany, except that the match should have been played between Kamsky and Anand. It was unjust to allow Russian GM Kramnik to play three world championship matches, in 2006, 2007, 2008, without a proper selection, just so Russia can maintain the world championship title."
The whole open letter is intersting to read...
Chessbase news :
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5002
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5000
Wayne Lowrance (2008-11-14 00:58:53)
Future Rating
Hello Thibault, In the short msg's window all I was asking for was what happened to the feature ! I click on my tournaments, click on magnifying glass, then try to click on elo, but no longer does this respond. What am I doing wrong sir. I accepted a draw offer, wondering what impact it will have Thank you. Wayne
Don Burden (2008-11-14 02:45:07)
Jacques Brel radio station
There is a great all Jacques Brel online radio station from Belgium here:
http://91.121.40.196:8000
I don't know how long this has been on. I discovered this station only a few weeks ago.
Ilmars Cirulis (2008-11-14 19:07:51)
'Experimented players' still here :)
'Experimented players' still aren't corrected.
I look at the right upper corner of site (when I am not logged in yet). And what I see?
Imho, I see some flash animation with rotating sentence (in purple colour under line in blue "Wikichess, open chess repertoire") - "Chess moves explained by experimented players"
It was what I meant previous time. :D
Wolfgang Utesch (2008-11-15 10:24:52)
Curious in Round Robin Final 3
Look at game #23804. What happened? Time violation?
Rick Spangler (2008-11-16 07:54:30)
in big chess can u o-o or o-o-o
is this possible
Thibault de Vassal (2008-11-19 00:51:01)
Poker Holdem at FICGS !!!
Finally, one of the biggest update this year !
Poker Holdem (or Poker Texas Hold'em) is available at FICGS !
This should be a start for long discussions... It was quite complicated to implement so I hope there will be no bug (please report if necessary). Please do not forget to read the complete rules here :
http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#poker_holdem
If you estimate you're an experienced player, please just let me know (through the form in My account) and I'll update your "poker holdem ELO" to 1800.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-11-20 12:47:15)
"Are all chess players machos ?"
An interesting interview of Levon Aronian in Chessbase news !
His answer : "As a chess player one has to be able to control one’s feelings, one has to be as cold as a machine. We men do not let ourselves be, let us say, seduced by our emotions and feelings. But there is a paradox in chess. - Which is? - The paradox is that the best chess players are the most emotional ones."
"A gentleman at the board can suddenly turn into a barbarian. Like Anand."
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5025
Sebastian Boehme (2008-11-20 13:35:08)
Some poker entertainment
Hi, I just thought since poker has become the new topic of the day here I'd share some video I consider a very interesting poker example and still entertaining. It's the highest pot that was ever battled out in High Stakes Poker, maybe some of you already know it. Here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyAj0ZygG80
Thibault de Vassal (2008-11-22 13:22:52)
Poker Holdem Championship
Hello all !
The next chess & Go championships waitings lists are now open, this is a good time to share our views for an interesting Poker Holdem world championship scheme (before to open the waiting list)...
It may look like the FICGS Go championship (one round robin tournament involving the 9 highest rated players, then a match between the winner & title holder), or it may be a multi-stages round-robin tournament (with or without a final match).. and so on. What do you think ?
The idea of a cycle looking like the Go championship is that the standard tournaments are in a way also preliminary tournaments of the championship.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-11-22 22:55:35)
Bug : Poker games 26171 to 26300
A small bug happened in a few Poker games from game 26171 to 26300.
FICGS uses a virtual board to save processor time and avoid to re-calculate all moves to display the current hand, but there was an 'invisible' bug until now : The virtual board may be different from the re-calculated current board in rare cases. Consequently, when you'll look at previous moves in some games, your hand may not be the one you actually played. This bug has no consequences on the result of the game, it shouldn't happen again.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-11-23 15:39:23)
Show both cards at Showdown
A small update to come for Poker Holdem as, according to the rules, if a player must show his hand, he's required to show both pocket cards, even if one (or two) of these cards are not necessary in the best hand. (thx Volker :))
I understand that this rule applies in all cases, please correct me if I'm wrong.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-11-24 18:48:29)
Go championship : Lu vs. von Erichsen
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=tournament&tournament=FICGS__GO__WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP__000002&boards=1
About 40 moves played in all games.. at a first sight, the games are still open, any predictions ?
Normajean Yates (2008-11-25 04:10:26)
a 1433 - character chess-engine!
http://home.hccnet.nl/h.g.muller/umax1_6.c
If deciphering *a little bit* obscure C code is not your cup of tea, explanations are at:
http://home.hccnet.nl/h.g.muller/max-src2.html
Thibault de Vassal (2008-11-25 13:45:48)
FIDE Grand Prix
No more FIDE Grand Prix in Doha (Qatar), so why not Elista... The FIDE world championship still in question, John Nunn's views and so on :
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5033
Thibault de Vassal (2008-11-26 17:27:45)
The very best Poker hands at FICGS
Here we go :)
November 26, 2008 - Almost 200 running poker games and already a nice best of poker texas holdem hands seen at showdown (one per game only) :
1. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=26173&move=36
2. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=26208&move=169
3. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=26407&move=729
4. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=26182&move=94
5. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=26234&move=190
6. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=26233&move=41
7. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=26183&move=41
8. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=26311&move=20
9. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=26196&move=10
Well, I touched my first four of a kind (aces) yesterday but it seems logical as I'm probably the most addicted player :)
Francisco Gramajo (2008-11-26 19:19:39)
Fold button needed.
Some times, the cards dealt are so bad, not even worth it to play. Please add a fold button at the showdown. Let me fold 7-2 by the way, pls...
Michael Sharland (2008-11-26 20:32:17)
Time controls for Holdem
It seems clear that most holdem tournaments are going to require 200-600 moves to complete. This seems to indicate that the time control probably needs to be accelerated from 1 move / day in order to finish these in a reasonable time. Given that the thinking time needed for poker is only a few seconds rather than hours or days, the time needed for a move should be much less than for Chess or Go.
Some ideas might be to:
1) reduce the time control further to 1 move / 12 hours or even less.
2) cap the maximum days at 30 or so.
3) change the format to 2 out of 3 rather than 3 out of 5.
Anyway, just some thoughts.
Don Groves (2008-11-29 00:45:17)
Problem in Hold'em?
In game 26257, a hand just started where I have 4S and 2C as my hole cards. The game says I have 4 chips in the pot. I would never bet or call with this trash, so how did I get four chips in?
I've noticed other hands today in which the same sort of thing seems to have happened.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-11-29 01:07:30)
Poker : bug fixed, a few games restarted
A few games restarted (or a few moves were deleted), Game 26234 and a few games played by Xavier Pichelin who highlighted a bug : It is no more possible to enter ie. "Fold" (only "fold" is correct), "call", "raise", or "check" when only "fold" is possible and so on...
Sorry for the inconvenience.
Normajean Yates (2008-11-29 04:04:33)
suggested improvement in game->wikichess
At present, for any game, only the current position can be searched in wikichess with one click. That too only if it is your move. So,
(a) In current position, if it is opponent's move you cannot one-click-wikichess-search.
Also, (b) therefore other people's games cannot be one-click-wikichess-searched.
(c) Further, But if you click on an earlier move, you can see the diagram of the earlier position, but you cannot one-click-wikichess-search that position.
So, suggested improvement: implement 'ocwcs' (one-click-wikichess-search) for a,b and c.
Don Groves (2008-11-30 00:17:27)
Hold'em problem?
In game 23306, my opponent called the big blind, then at my turn, I was only given the option to check. Is this correct?
Wolfgang Utesch (2008-11-30 11:43:57)
Is Marshall attack ....
... good enough for a win on high level correspondence chess??? You can make your own mind with a look at 4 games of WCH_CANDIDATES_FINAL_000002 (# 23018, 23019, 23020, 23021) where Black played an unusual defence which could have fundamental importance of judgement this opening!
Don Groves (2008-12-01 09:09:34)
Game 26311
Hi, Thibault -- Strange game. I just won all his chips and the next hand shows 16 chips in the pot for me, none for him, and wants me to choose between Raise, Call, and Fold?
Don Groves (2008-12-01 09:14:19)
Game 26306 problem
I just lost the last hand of this game but never saw the showdown! I had two pair going into the river and don't know what happened next except that I apparently lost.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-12-02 15:30:12)
Chess and doping
"According to the Russian totally non-free chess journalist Yuri Vasiliev (fortunately not the most reliable one whom we know for bringing up the ghost of Alexander Chernenko) Ilyumzhinov has already stated that Vasily Ivanchuk might get severely sanctioned for the doping test refusal after his game against Gata Kamsky." (Alexei Shirov, Riga)
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5047
A direct attack from Shirov to FIDE & Kirsan Ilyumzhinov on chess laws and -of course- the World Championship system.
Any opinion ?
Thibault de Vassal (2008-12-02 20:07:17)
Update : challenges & move send
Hello all,
It is now possible to challenge a player for a chess, Go or Poker holdem game ! You can choose the game by clicking the pictures near "Challenge a player" in My games, you can also change the 'challenges' option in Preferences. This is an important improvement as advanced poker & Go games are a faster way to improve ratings ie. in order to qualify for the FICGS poker holdem & Go championships. (advanced chess has its own rating, different from the correpondence chess rating)
Also a new improvement in the 'move send' process, it should be much faster now, please report any bug if you notice one.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-12-03 11:30:29)
Chess olympiads, Tkatchiev "forfeits"
After the case of Ivanchuk on doping, a new unexplained and undercovered (actually completely missed by the official websites - FIDE, federations, olympiads site...) case at the Olympiads !
France just lost 1,5-2,5 to Azerbaijan, Vladislav Tkatchiev just did not arrive to the board !! .. while the France team has 5 players for 4 boards... One full point lost. No explanation, nothing, maybe a conflict in the team. I hope there will be more information about it. To be continued.
Don Groves (2008-12-04 04:15:29)
Game 26311 all in
My opponent is all in yet I had to check and now the game is waiting for him to check. Shouldn't the hand be dealt out now?
Thibault de Vassal (2008-12-05 01:06:02)
FIDE Grand Prix & WCH
Magnus Carlsen withdraws from the FIDE Grand Prix 2008-2009
From Magnus Carlsen chess blog - http://blog.magnuschess.com
"We have just informed FIDE by e-mail that Magnus withdraws from the Grand Prix series due to the dramatic change to these regulations approved by the General Assembly. (...) Magnus is simply not motivated to continue the GP series with the dramatically changed conditions approved in Dresden, and the uncertainty related to any future changes that may be decided by FIDE."
Just another 'Grandmaster attack' to the Federation Internationale Des Echecs...
Thibault de Vassal (2008-12-05 14:28:28)
Invite your friends - tool
A new tool that may help to find many new players :)
You may now add your contacts as friends and invite them to join us at FICGS in a single click. See at the bottom of "My messages" page, above the connected players list.
Many features will be added soon to this tool !
Thibault de Vassal (2008-12-06 15:21:14)
Rybka 4, Fritz 12, Hiarcs 13 & future...
What about a small point on chess engines ?
A few months ago, it was quite predictable to me that Chessbase engines (well, Rybka 3 actually also is a Chessbase engine now) like Fritz, Shredder & Hiarcs were dedicated to catch Rybka in the computer chess rating lists.
The current CEGT 40/20 (AMD 4200+) rating list shows :
Rybka 3 x64 4CPU 3202
Rybka 2.3.2a x64 4CPU 3079
Deep Fritz 11 4CPU 3031
Zappa Mexico II x64 4CPU 3022
Shredder WM Edition Bonn 4CPU 3011
Naum 3.1 x64 4CPU 3011
Hiarcs 12 MP 4CPU 2968
In other words, Rybka 3 always has a quite large advance, but all other ones filled the major part of the gap with Rybka 2.3.2, including free chess engines. What future for chess engines now ? What kind of improvement can we expect from Rybka 4, Fritz 12, Shredder 12, Hiarcs 13 and co. ?
IMO one future version in theory may reach 3600 or more in such rating lists (which probably doesn't mean anything compared to the human rating list) but the interest of programmers may now decrease in this race where efforts/money can be compared to the grandmasters involvement to enter the elo top 100... What do you think ?
Wolfgang Utesch (2008-12-06 23:15:27)
Game #23794
another time violation?
Thibault de Vassal (2008-12-10 18:39:52)
FICGS for mobile phone !
FICGS is now available with a slight interface for mobile phone (that can connect to internet, ie. Iphone, Google Phone, Blackberry, Samsung player...)
You may try it there :
http://www.ficgs.com/mobile.html
Feel free to make any suggestion to improve it.
Thanks to Hervé for his help :)
Thibault de Vassal (2008-12-10 19:39:04)
Rune Vik-Hansen's article on Chessbase
Chessbase just published a long article by the Norwegian philosopher Rune Vik-Hansen (graduated from the University of Tromsø in 1999 with a thesis on Heidegger's concept of Dasein) on consciousness and development of chess skills.
"Conscious memory", "Pattern recognition", "Pattern vs. Structure", "Exformation", "Chess Improvement", "Conceptual problems"...
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5055
What do you think about it ?
Scott Nichols (2008-12-11 03:47:57)
Poker and the chess GM
Any experiences playing poker with GM's? I played with Walter Browne in Vegas, he was an average poker player.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-12-12 11:04:23)
Quote festival, part 5
Time for a new quotes festival ?
Don't hesitate to share your own quotes, the FICGS quotes file like it :)
BTW, I just read this one on a car this morning : "You think that education is too expensive ? Try ignorance."
Stanislas Gounant (2008-12-13 01:52:18)
an article about FICGS on wikipedia IT
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/FICGS I'm very surprise. I have not imagine that FICGS was a encyclopedic Thing. lol On the discussion page the author write: FICGS is one of the most important organisation of correspondance chess. Is it true ?
Thibault de Vassal (2008-12-13 23:42:25)
FICGS poker holdem championship
The waiting list for the 1st FICGS poker holdem championship is open, as all ratings are not established, the rating limit has been changed to 1600.
Only the 9 highest rated players at the beginning of the tournament (february 1, 2009) will play it, consequently the best way to improve your rating before the deadline is probably to play POKER HOLDEM BULLET BRONZE games (you may use the challenge function in My games).
The current rules :
"FICGS world poker holdem championship is a 2 stages tournament. First stage is a single round-robin tournament, involving the 9 highest rated players who entered the waiting list. The winner of this tournament is the challenger for FICGS world champion title. In case of equality, the player with the strongest tournament entry rating (TER) is qualified for the next stage. If tournament entry ratings are equal, ratings when the next stage begins will be taken in account. If current world champion defends his title, he will play a 5 games match (3 games with White, 2 games with Black) against his challenger.
All games are played in 30 days + 1 day / move. Rules for poker holdem are official rules. You may find more information about the FICGS betting structure in FICGS rules. Both players must play until one resign or game is adjudicated. One game is played in 3 winning rounds of 100 chips by player played in no limit mode. The minimal bet is always 1 chip and does not depend on the blind's value. The small blind's value is doubled after the 50th hand, then after the 70th, 80th, 90th and 100th hand (the big blind then is 64 chips) of each round."
Don Groves (2008-12-15 01:57:22)
A suggestion
Bonjour, Thibault
There are many players here who like to play several moves per week and there are others who sometimes play less than one move per week until forced to move faster by their clock. There are even a few who don't move at all (or rarely) until their clock is red.
Would it be too much work to make another tournament classification? The time control would be 7 days plus 7 days more for each 3 moves, up to a maximum of 7 days. In other words, each player must make a minimum of 3 moves per week.
Those players who can't, or won't, move that often can play in the standard tournaments. Those of us who like to move more often can play in the faster tournaments. Everyone is happy ;-)
Normajean Yates (2008-12-15 03:40:42)
another suggestion
The slowest time controls on offer are too fast for some people.
Could there be a separate category - say 80 days/10 moves, 80 days fischer-increment after each 10-move block; up to 200 days accumulation-ceiling?
Normajean Yates (2008-12-15 06:57:08)
does anyone here use the hydra engine?
does anyone here use the hydra engine?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydra_(chess)
Normajean Yates (2008-12-15 23:55:15)
how about a fun thematic with foll pos
starting position:
RNBQKBNR/PPPPPPPP/8/8/8/8/pppppppp/rnbqkbnr. [this is offered on fics i.e. freechess.org as 'chess wild-5']
Note that all pawns of both sides are ready to promote, but because of self-blockade the only legal first moves are knight moves!
Engines fluctuate wildly on this because they are not designed for such positions!
Normajean Yates (2008-12-17 03:53:02)
small improvement suggestion..
Don groves sent message with prev move; I was ready for reply to move so - i noticed the envelope icon but by that time I had made the move in a reflex action.. and the message disappeared! So I couldnt read it..
It would be nice if opponent's message stayed until opponent made next move.
Normajean Yates (2008-12-17 04:15:15)
Game 26099 - fit case for adjudication?
Game 26099 Salinas - Yates 13...Qe1# {mate} - more than 50 hours ago. On my checkmating move I had sent request to resign.
Salinas posted this in international chat: [I am pasting:]
"salinas marcelo : congratulation ..nice victory Norma. (2008-12-16 00:31:15)"
So he has sent 'final friendly message' also. But in international chat, *not* with resignation! He has *still* not resigned.
If you click 'more messages' and scroll down international chat, you'll see that I had - immediatety after his message, politely explained that he had to resign.
Salinas has blocked private messages.
I feel that all this is annoying and unfriendly, so the game should be adjudicated. (since the purpose of NOT having automatic checkmate-recognition is NOT being served, but the feature is being abused by opponent.)
What do you people think? What is the precedent/convention for such a case on ficgs?
Thibault, adjudicate?
Wolfgang Utesch (2008-12-22 17:08:59)
Outstanding future rating 2.610 by ...
Michael Aigner!!! And 2 GM-norms!!! Congratulations, Wolfgang
Wolfgang Utesch (2008-12-24 05:28:14)
Pichelin - Utesch
First FICGS__CHESS__WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP Final!
Matteo Tognela (2008-12-25 16:56:46)
Small Linux script - pgn to clipboard
I know it's not of vital importance... but looking for some more automatic way to copy to clipboard the moves from a game window, say to be pasted into db software, I I've written this little bash script. (this requires xclip to be installed; for the rest I make reference to gnome&firefox, but it should work also in other environments)
#!/bin/bash
#content of grabpgn
xclip -i -selection clipboard $1
exit
...chmode +x grabpgn, and then associate the extension pgn to be opened with it (in gnome it's quite easy, but for sure there's some conf file where you can do it manually)
Then from a game window, click the "download" button, and in the dialog box, select "open" and check "always perform this action on similar files".
Done! now when you hit "Download" you end up with the game in your clipboard, ready to be pasted wherever you want.
(you can still download it with a right click on the link)
Gultekin Gumusyazici (2008-12-28 17:25:10)
Chess rating system and Suat Atalik
Primitive Chess Game rules still applied through world competitions does not represent capacity and skills of human brain but a useless rating system that only orders whose photographic memory is higher to cheat others detail improvisions. I just want to present a past time memory about this hypo. Suat Atalik Number 1 rated Master Skill here in FICGS was opponent to me at a simulation of 25 person at Middle East university when he gets fame. I have started a very defensive game to make him bored crazy. But those boring behaviours caused him to lose his Queen and game next 3 moves. What is most interesting that, His Photografic memory aworns him after he made his moves and passes 3 more players after me. Then, While i congragulate myself with some fucking hand moves, he stood there where he froze and came back to my desk disobeying order. There he stood against me and made his pose as he just remembered something. While I was pretending My man there is no hope for just fuck off he hehhehehe, He asked Ahh sorry i made some misplacement, let go 3 move back and evaluate this situation again. Man, I am just human I am not machine or Computer Memory. I can not fight against bots. it is insane. So I let him score back knowing I am Winner not loser. Loser he is loser the system he tries to success on. Chess System applied to rate people with such communities only applies a fake counts depends on bots photoprahic memories. And It tries to neglect Humans sensitive intentions on variations. There exist no bot yet to evaluate humans preferences at a game with advanced chess rules. Do not you ask me what is those advanced chess rules. Just Imagine them as not bots can do. And Cheating is applied on determined systems. Cheating belongs to bots and botminds. Sincerely, Best Chess player nEverknown
Gultekin Gumusyazici (2008-12-28 18:57:50)
Advanced chess game project
A. Primitives about common chess. 1-Although there is at least 50 more variation of chess game. They are not evaluated as common as standard.(Since they have no software with bot players that is strong as human at those variations, And Standart chess players have no tendency for them cause they re not up enough yet with that stupid standart chess game which is most suitable for software. Or might them be less intelligent as expected?) 2-Rules are rules even they are meaningless. 3-It reflects only bi-dimentional thinking. 4-Mostly depend on probability. (Remind you that probabiliy is a tool applied only known data- "not unknown") 5-No one complains much. (That is Conservation, And it is against the realization of Universe and science). 6-.............. To start with responsing against me please fill your facts about chess here. Then we can evaluate fact about chess. To develop advanced chess rules that mostly suits human to enlight his abilities not robots.
Bradley Small (2008-12-30 19:40:05)
How to play correspondence chess
I am brand new to corr chess. I wonder what are the specific practical/ethical considerations? Will people be using databases, computer analysis, other people and the like? Should I be using these resources? What is considered expected and what is considered cheating? -- B
Don Groves (2009-01-01 05:21:01)
Small problem?
Salut, Thibault!
When I tried to enter the Hold'em World Championship, this was what I was presented with:
"You can't enter this tournament: Your chess rating : 1597, is out of the restrictions."
Should my chess rating matter, and, if it does, could we use my correct rating ;-)
Normajean Yates (2009-01-01 13:01:53)
0 days in 'my vacation'
and it is only 1 january! how? Where is my 30 days vacation time for this year? :)
Andrew Stephenson (2009-01-01 20:02:58)
Vacation - "Each january 1st, ......
the server sets the number of days to 30 for all players." Not so far! Thibault does it happen at the end of January 1st?
Bradley Small (2009-01-03 05:29:24)
Dumber question than my last
The best I can find is that all moves are to be sent to the server. How specifically do I make a move? Do I simply reply to the email that I received telling me the previous move? And what is this GUI that I hear speak of, as none of them I see am I able to move any pieces?
Wayne Lowrance (2009-01-04 06:45:28)
Rybka Chess Forum
What happened to it > my booked marked url takes me to some lady and a bunch of options, nothing to do with the forum, anyone else have this problem Wayne
Ben Milton (2009-01-05 16:00:41)
CHALLENGE!!!
I hereby challenge all to 2 games one as black and one as white, to whoever believes they can beat Rybka 3 using tuned Perfect 15 book and depth 23 after opening. This is ofcourse to win my E-points. Any one interested at all?
Wayne Lowrance (2009-01-06 00:56:30)
Norms
I have no norms credidted to me, why ? Tournament M000015 finished with 5.5/6, a Norm, no/yes ?I understand that one must finish all of his/her games to get the credit , or is the tournament needed to be ended by all players, gad I hope not that ? What about the case where a norm is guaranteed, but a players games within a Tournament are not complete. I have always had confusion on this topic. Bah humbug Wayne
Thibault de Vassal (2009-01-06 13:50:23)
Weiqi in a Dominos TV spot
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1543292789?bctid=6068769001
http://www.godiscussions.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7882
As someone said it in the Go Discussions thread, a few years ago the game would have been chess, most probably.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-01-06 20:36:36)
FICGS turns into a social network !
An enormous update just occured, FICGS now has a complete social network connected to various forums.
A few links will explain better than words :)
http://www.ficgs.com/whole_display_people.php?id=9
http://www.ficgs.com/network.html
http://www.ficgs.com/discussions.html
Feel free to create your profile to discover the features : A powerful search engine that helps to find people you may know or people around you, a complete blog with 6 levels of privacy, tons of forums, a friends inviter & so on......
Feel free to let me know what you think about it, all suggestions are welcome.
I hope we'll find more and more players with these new tools :)
Don Groves (2009-01-07 08:40:46)
Procedural question
Suppose another player and myself want to play Bullet Bronze Hold'em but a third person's name is already on the waiting list. How do we proceed?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-01-08 12:31:52)
A cat on the goban :)
http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/chatnoir/chatnoir.swf
Can you keep the cat on the board ? Not really hard but quite funny ;)
Hannes Rada (2009-01-08 20:06:47)
New strong player !
Banikas, Hristos GM 2582 Bravo. That's what FICGS needs. More Players, More strong players. Is he an OTB GM, or Corr GM ?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-01-08 21:42:49)
Halasz gambit
A new chess thematic tournament !
The very hard Halasz gambit : 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.f4
What do you think ? Ilmars ? ;)
Don Groves (2009-01-10 01:02:36)
Time span of ratings
Someone else brought up this subject recently and I feel it deserves discussion:
Suppose one player starts at FICGS at ELO 1200 and gradually improves. Another player starts at 1800 and also gradually improves. Even if they are equally good players, the first player will always be at a ratings disadvantage to the second because the first player's opponents' average ELO will always contain those lower rated games.
Would it make sense to compute ratings based on, for example, only the previous one or two years of play at FICGS, or possibly the previous 100 or 200 games, rather than a player's entire history at FICGS?
I'm wondering if this may yield a truer current rating for everyone.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-01-10 17:29:26)
Forum features
Hello all,
It may be time to discuss this forum's features ! .. I always thought it should keep its simple aspect (no images, no bbcode and so on) but I'm ok to do it differently if the most think that way.
In example, keeping the <br > tag to jump a line was an easy way to keep the threads easily readable (imho).
Feel free to make suggestions or just tell what you think ?!
Tom Smith (2009-01-11 11:54:02)
Newbie time question
Hi, new player here. I am slightly confused by the time controls, in the rules it states minimum of one move every 60 days (which to me is a little over the top) but the tournaments state 40 days then 40 days /ten moves but it doesnt state if the first 40 days is for each single move or for a set amount of moves, say for example 40 moves in the first 40 days. Could some one please clear this up for me? Thank you. Tom
Tom Smith (2009-01-11 12:16:27)
Engines allowed?!
Hi I have another issue with the rules and conditions here, I came across the following: Computer assistance is authorized, as any other kind of help but in the "no-engines" tournaments. This in itself is confusing, am I to believe that players are allowed to use engines to play for them in the "no engines" tournament?? Unless it is a mistake and means engines are allowed but NOT in the no engines section. If this is true then do most people use enignes here? I really do not want to play on a site where engines use is considered ok!I am far too weak to play engines :) Would somebody please clarify this section of the rules for me please. Thank you Tom
Thibault de Vassal (2009-01-11 18:39:05)
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
I just watched a french tv documentary on Canal+ : "L'effet papillon" (the butterfly effect), a very rare & surprising topic in France : Kirsan Ilyumzhinov !
The president of Kalmykia & FIDE, long ago introduced by Boris Eltsine at this rank, was clearly presented as a despot in this poor region of Russia, not really far from North Korea (not speaking of distances). The images from "city chess" near Elista were quite terrible, a phantom city, part of the cult of the personality beginning in schools (children learning that GM Ilyumzhinov is the one example to follow)... Images from a few 'sponsor' industries of one competition held in Elista were just another way to suggest how Ilyumzhinov finds the money to keep the hand on the world of chess. Finally we saw a few GM timidly saying that probably everything was not clear in the FIDE.
Well, I do not believe 100% of what is said on tv, that's just what french people saw today, each one is free to make his own opinion after watching this kind of portrait.
Normajean Yates (2009-01-15 05:34:46)
engines and deep analysis...
A year ago, Thibault posted links to record of GMs v engines -- but almost all games were blitz.
raising questions:
1. At standard [2.5 hours / 40 moves] time controls, and at correspondence time controls [like here - or even 1 day/move] - humans are still better than engines. true?
If true, how long are they expected to be better?
[I mean in competitive chess, not in specifically design positions which are at present very difficult for engines]
2. which engine is best for standard and correpondence time controls (as I defined in 1)?
Normajean Yates (2009-01-15 07:11:28)
how to get < br > in?
When discussing changes, sometimes one wants '< br >' [without the spaces] - without it being converted to linebreak.
Thibault did that in one post - but how ?
Webmaster hacking it through? :)
Or is there a way for ordinary members also to display '< br >' ?
[without the spaces and the quotation marks :)] ?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-01-15 13:40:41)
Poker question : All in at the river
Hi all,
I'm just not sure about this : When a player calls by all-in at the river, is he supposed to show his cards (just like in a pre-flop all-in) even if -in that case- he pays to see or is it a particular case ?!
In example :
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=26199&move=232
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=26199&move=233
In other words, is there a bug in the example above ?
Thanks in advance.
Dinesh De Silva (2009-01-17 11:18:33)
GAMES STEALER ON THE LOOSE? LOL!
All my games have vanished! Even the established rating list has disappeared. Who's "THE GREAT ERASER?" lol!
Sophie Leclerc (2009-01-19 21:51:23)
Big chess pieces values
Hello, I have just how terrible the board in Big chess are for the pieces, so, I would presume the pieces values are much differant than in normal chess. I wonder, If a pawn worth 1, how much the knight, bishop, rook and queen would worth ? Forget the king as hs is alone and too slow to participate in the action.
Htay Kyaw (2009-01-20 19:44:38)
Myanmar
Hi, I'm new player from Myanmar. Nice to Meet You all.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-01-20 22:37:00)
FICGS group at Facebook !
To all Facebook users, the "FICGS games server" has just been created :
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=44287869522
Welcome to everyone ;)
Alexis Bromo (2009-01-21 12:01:11)
Go-engines
I have a question. Which go-engine is the best? For training myself of course, I do not use any engine here.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-01-24 14:51:22)
Chess computers & nodes by seconds
What about a thread on chess dedicated computers... dual-core, quad-core or even 10 years old tired processor ?
It could be interesting to gather some informations here on hardware evolution by comparing the speed of chess engines [nodes by second], specifying the operating system & the program that runs the engines (Arena, Chessbase, Fritz 11 interface & so on...)
Wilhelm Schuett (2009-01-26 22:35:30)
Using this specific board
If I get a private message from another member outside of the game : How would I see it?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-01-27 16:40:31)
We need more Big Chess players !
Come on, let Rybka & other chess engines work in your 8x8 games & play Big Chess with us, that's the real life, amazing chess & the only way to see such incredible moves :)
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=24656&move=85
Waiting lists > Big Chess standard tournaments !
Waiting for strong players in Big Chess standard M tourney.
Garvin Gray (2009-01-28 03:22:26)
Since poker has started
Since poker has started on here, it feels as a general rule that my chess opponents are taking longer to reply with their moves, suggesting that poker is taking over.
Has anyone else noticed this? If my hypothesis is correct, then this would be a real shame and could cause me to find another chess freestyle site.
Tano-Urayoan Russi Roman (2009-01-30 19:03:40)
No winner in this tournament ?
FICGS__CHESS__WCH_STAGE_1_GROUP_11__000005 No winner. Why there was no winner?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-02-03 13:37:42)
Chess WCH 4 round-robin final
The chess wch #4 round-robin final should start as soon as the situation is a bit clearer in game 22698 (Helmer vs. Broniek)
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=22898
I can't analyze it right now, any predictions ? :)
Thibault de Vassal (2009-02-03 14:29:07)
Chess WCH 5 stage 2
The chess wch #5 round-robin stage 2 should start as soon as the situation is a bit clearer in game 22401 (Bernal Varela vs. Tommasi)
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=22401
Don Groves (2009-02-04 06:03:19)
The next chess computer champion?
http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/supercomputers/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=213000842&subSection=News
Thibault de Vassal (2009-02-05 14:03:39)
Poker bug today : Cards repeating...
Hello all... There was a quite strange problem with a PHP file for a few hours (or a bug but I can't see it yet - particularly as I did not change anything to the code), cards may have been always the same in some games while going backwards in the game looked strange too. I may have solved the problem with a backup but now the cards may have changed (actually corrected) in these games.
I check... if everything's ok now. Sorry for the inconvenience :/
Scott Nichols (2009-02-08 16:58:00)
GM quotes trivia
"I felt that my judgment and skill were being challenged by a player who had every reason to fear both." (Who said this and what was the game?)
Thibault de Vassal (2009-02-17 17:23:43)
Poker : suggestions & improvements
A new thread to discuss possible improvements for Poker Holdem 'board', in example I've been asked to add the possibility to know the "rabbits (?!)", in another way the turn & the river even if a player folds after the flop, what do you think ?
Also, for those who prefer to know what is the next card just after having played, the "slow moves" option may be a good choice but it may be really too slow (do we really need to confirm a bet ?), your opinion is needed...
I'll probably add a button to open a new window displaying the previous move very soon.
Feel free if you have any other suggestion.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-02-17 17:31:24)
Coupon Go, computers & future...
Two articles reported by the AGA (American Go Association) on Monte Carlo simulation, Coupon Go, Computer Go in general :
"Based on predictable advances in computing power, he rockons that a program will beat the best professional Go players on even footing within 28 years."
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2009/02/computers-get-go.html
"(...) To get around this obstacle, Berlekamp created a version of Go called Coupon Go, in which players have the option of either putting a stone on the board or taking a coupon. The coupons, which have different point values, showed Berlekamp what the most valuable moves were."
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/40910/title/Coupons_help_evaluate_game_of_Go
Frightening, what do you think ? :)
Robert Mueller (2009-02-21 06:30:07)
Norms and Titles
For obtaining a title (e.g. FEM) you need three FEM norms. Does winning a FIM norm automatically give you a FEM norm too? In other words: if I have two FEM norms and then get a FIM norm, do I get the FEM title?
Hannes Rada (2009-02-24 22:27:38)
Server's clock
is incorrect. Here it is 22:15 and at FICS 22:25 :-) Can this be adjusted ?
Don Groves (2009-02-25 02:11:37)
A little European humor ;-)
In Heaven:
The Police are British,
The Chefs are Italian,
The Mechanics are German,
The Lovers are French,
The Government is Swiss.
In Hell:
The Police are German,
The Chefs are British,
The Mechanics are French,
The Lovers are Swiss,
The Government is Italian.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-02-25 14:52:12)
Risky opening
The games played with Black by Tomas Civin are worth a glance, nice to see this opening at this level (quite hard to play for sure)
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=29043
Maybe a thematic tournament to follow :)
Thibault de Vassal (2009-02-25 15:37:38)
BCcard cup World Baduk Championship
Just read in the IGN Goama newsletter by Alexander Dinerchtein :
BCcard cup World Baduk Championship will be the first open tournament in Go history !
The tournament will take place in Korea, the first prize should be about $300.000 and the real point : Everyone can take part in it.
Nice to see such news in the small world of Go, I would participate for sure (just to see it) if I could :)
Garvin Gray (2009-03-03 00:39:37)
Order of games, chess, poker etc
When displaying games being played, would it be possible to show them by type of game?
As in all the chess games in order, then poker games in order etc. while still maintaining the oldest created game in that game format.
I would prefer the game display this way, rather than having the poker and chess games clumped in together.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-03-05 23:35:04)
Update : Auto-check (!) in "My games"
A small but interesting update (particularly for very fast players & poker players) :
Now the "My games" page will check if it's your turn in a new game ! .. Then you'll see (!) in the "My games" page title, that you can see in the task manager at the bottom or in your navigator even from another page...
Feedback welcome :)
Philip Roe (2009-03-06 14:06:34)
Thanks for the check, not for the clock
Thibault,
The notification check on the My Games title is a typically thoughtful touch. Thank you.
However, the clock just adds clutter unless you have a use for it. Can this enhancement be made an optional preference?
Also, since I am not interested in accepting challenges, is there a way to prevent challenges from being issued?
Arnab Sengupta (2009-03-06 18:00:44)
Walking Tall
Hey guys remember me??? well i was busy lately but am back now....sorry that my rating has gone sooooo down.....which makes me laugh by the way....but i'm back....hope to see some good games..
Michael Aigner (2009-03-07 20:34:56)
Unrated Tournaments
Sometimes I would like to experiment with some more or less unserious openings (e.g. to "improve" my OTB opening repertoire). I would not like to this in serious rated tournaments, therefore I would be happy if we could have some unrated tournaments (special tournaments area) similar to thematic tournis. What do you think about this?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-03-08 23:10:38)
Big Chess World Championship
Hello all,
Finally, the very first Big Chess World Championship will start in a few months... Feel free to train to this incredible game before the event :)
The tournament should be a multi-stage round-robin tournament. Feel free to make suggestions if you have ones, thanks in advance.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-03-10 18:25:31)
Topalov vs. Anand
Veselin Topalov vs. Viswanathan Anand [reigning FIDE world champion] is the final match in the current FIDE world championship cycle, but it is now official that FIDE postponed the match already, from September 2009 to (at least) April 20th, 2010, and opened a new bidding process.
Where will the match take place ? To be continued.
Arnab Sengupta (2009-03-15 14:54:44)
Great player
Hello Guys Do you think that Anand is as great a player like Tal, Fisher, Kasparov...and i would really like to see Anand taking on deep bule or something like that...has he ever player any chess computer?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-03-15 15:07:07)
Wch 4 round-robin final started !
Finally, the WCH 4 round-robin final tournament started (game 22898 is a win for White). Initially, only 5 players qualified, meaning 2 games with White and 2 games with Black. I was thinking about a future rule to make double round-robin tournaments in this case but I thought it was more interesting to invite 2 players in this particular case due to the results of Alberto and Jason.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-03-17 20:50:44)
Epoints with a SMS or phone call
Now it is possible to buy Epoints (thus also supporting FICGS & sponsorize tournaments - the prizes have just increased in most categories) by entering a code after sending a SMS or with a phone call.
More informations in "My account" page, see the window on the right of the chat bar.
Here is a free code for 3 Epoints : X358F876 , let's see who will be the first one to try Allopass :)
Scott Nichols (2009-03-18 10:28:13)
Ratings floor.
Hi Thibault. One thing I would like to see implemented is a ratings floor here. By this I mean a player can never drop below one class below his/her ratings peak. e.g., a player with a 1951 rating can never drop below 1600, a 2001 player can never drop below 1800. In the U.S. (and maybe worldwide, not sure) we have this system to keep strong players from sandbagging and artificially let their rating drop so they can play in the lower sections of big money tournaments. On FICGS I don't think that is a big problem. The problem here is that Corr. chess takes long term dedication and some players tend to drop out for whatever reason and resign all their games or just quit and let their time run out. This also drops their ratings artificially low levels. Then, as it seems to always happen, Caissa's power sweeps over them and they get back in. Or, they just bought a new super computer and want to show it off. Anyway, when they do get back in....you have an expert player coming in with a very low rating. This to me is unfair to the other players who try very hard on their ratings. e.g., In the current world Ch. cycle I am playing a very strong player who is over 800 points below my rating. I would appreciate any other opinions on this subject. Thank you.
Nadia Kaif (2009-03-20 04:35:16)
Which is the best forum
Hi Everyone I am new here. I would like to know about the best chess forums around the world. Please share what you know.
Francisco Gramajo (2009-03-23 07:36:43)
Free $5 to play poker..
I give you $5 or more, just to sign in with this link... http://Pokarito.friends.pdcpoker.com
Nick Burrows (2009-03-27 19:34:33)
Claymation Chessgame
A game of chess animated in clay!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bS0ow3mmAM
Thibault de Vassal (2009-03-28 19:30:21)
New category : Unrated tournaments
Finally, a new chess tournaments category : "Unrated tournaments" in FICGS__CHESS__SPECIAL__TOURNAMENTS
A place to test new ideas & openings... Thanks to Michael Aigner for the good idea :)
Thibault de Vassal (2009-04-01 18:09:47)
FIDE rating list April 2009
The new FIDE rating list is out.
1 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2812
2 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2783
3 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2770
4 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2759
5 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2756
6 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2754
7 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2753
8 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2751
9 Leko, Peter g HUN 2751
10 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2748
Veselin Topalov is ranked number 1 again, over the 2800 mark. Magnus Carlsen is more and more impressive.
You may find a more complete list in Chessbase news :
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5323
Wayne Lowrance (2009-04-02 06:39:58)
my poor ole parrot
Is not in the circulation of displays ....poo hoo hoo :) Wayne
Ranganathan Raman (2009-04-03 00:10:39)
chess max limit to join?
how many games can i join?max each type
Scott Nichols (2009-04-05 18:50:07)
Programming
Hi Thibault. Most of us have no clue about what it takes to program. Something we think looks like an easy add-on may be a programming nightmare. It is VERY impressive all of the things you do on this great site. Just one question, is making the chess ratings happen instantly like the poker does one of those programming nightmares?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-04-11 17:08:18)
3rd FICGS chess wch candidates final
For the second time (out of 3), the winner of the round-robin tournament won the candidates final, congratulations to Edward Kotlyanskiy and Peter Schuster for a nice match !
Here is the spectacular game which decided the result :
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=28292
William Taylor (2009-04-12 14:41:59)
FICGS Oympiad
Not sure if this has been suggested before, but how about a big tournament on FICGS with teams from different countries, like the Olympiad? The number of boards per team would have to be thought about carefully to get the right balance between number of teams able to participate and number of players from each country able to participate. The Austrian team would probably be favourites (headed by Aigner, Rada, Kund), but there are other potentially strong teams too.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-04-14 01:14:32)
Draw offer and rules
Hello all, I'd like your opinion on this case :
A player sent a message with his move in a chess game saying "I offer draw", but he forgot to check the draw box.
His opponent replies with his next move saying his opponent most probably forgot to check the box, but finally the first player plays a new move saying he is sorry but now prefers to continue the game.
What's your opinion on this ? Should the rules be changed to adjudicate the game as a draw (if the draw offer was clear enough) or should the draw checkbox preval in all cases and in this case should it be added in the rules also ?
Thanks for your comments on this.
Samy Ould Ahmed (2009-04-14 15:57:14)
Shogi & Xiangqi
Hi Thibault, what do you think about introducing here Shogi and Xiangqi ?
Normajean Yates (2009-04-15 13:34:38)
shortest possible bigchess checkmates?
Experienced bigchess players please respond!
What are the shortest checkmates in bigchess, for white and for black (e.g. in 'normal' 8x8 chess they are the "fool's mates" - 3 moves = 5 half-moves for white; 2 moves = 4-half-moves for black..)
So which are the bigchess "fool's mates" (shortest mates)?
Daniel Parmet (2009-04-15 15:48:49)
Suggestion for "my waiting lists"
Not a big deal but if it is simple to do... it would be nice to see a my waiting lists tab to show all the things you are waiting to start quickly :)
Ranganathan Raman (2009-04-15 22:50:29)
Suggestion for my games
how do i find easy way to my games?each game type
Chess,Big Chess, Go and Poker Holdem
Suggestion heading it ex:
Chess
Game 28237 ! Raman - Lois 26... Nd3+ -1 days
Game 28241 ! Dadban - Raman 57. g3+ 13 days
Big chess
Game 28645 ! Raman - Rakovic 39... Rh1+ 0 days
Game 28653 ! Raman - Ruzin 48... Qb1+ 20 days
Go
Game 28913 ! Sternik - Raman 43. c4+ 2 days
Game 28922 ! Lois - Raman 30. Qxh6+ 4 days
Poker Holdem
Game 28976 ! Carrizo - Raman 30. g8Q+ 35 days
Game 28989 ! Raman - Sternik 29... Rh2+ 1 days
Ulrich Imbeck (2009-04-18 22:24:35)
GO__TOURNAMENT_KYU_I__000012??
I could open my games in GO__TOURNAMENT_KYU_I__000011 and GO__TOURNAMENT_KYU__000072 and I made my moves there, but I can't open GO__TOURNAMENT_KYU_I__000012.
Ranganathan Raman (2009-04-23 00:03:06)
how to play Go and Poker Holdem?
any one teach here step by step
this is more use ful too new users
Don Groves (2009-04-23 06:52:56)
Please send a move with a draw offer!
I think this is standard in correspondence chess and it is necessary on FICGS because there is no way to respond to a draw offer without also sending a move in return and this is hard to do when it's not your turn!
Thibault de Vassal (2009-04-28 11:47:57)
K factor & FIDE ratings
FIDE decided to increase the K factor so that ratings change quicker...
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5381
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5376 (bottom)
Does anyone have an opinion on these changes ?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-04-29 14:17:53)
1st team tournament !
Hello all,
As you may have read in the forum previously, the idea of a team chess tournament came up (originally Olympiad, maybe later).
The 1st FICGS CHESS TEAM TOURNAMENT will start on May 15th, 2009. Each team must be made of 4 players, whatever their ratings.
The tournament will be a single round-robin tournament, games will be unrated (just for fun !), time control : 40 days + 40 days / 10 moves.
You may contact other players through the form in My Messages (bottom) or just make a call here in this thread or in the chat bar to find partners, the definitive teams should be announced with their name in this thread to be in !
We might also vote for the funniest team name after the tournament started, be aware ;)
Have fun :-)
Benjamin Block (2009-04-29 16:24:46)
Filter in My tournaments?
I have a lot´s of tournaments played and it would be very funny if we can filter them. Like "Ended Tournamnets", "Tournaments with my games", "Runing Tournaments".
Nick Burrows (2009-04-29 20:11:23)
Past game search
To look at an opponents past games, i click on the magnifying glass>games>individual game.
Then to look at the next one i have to close the window and repeat the above process for each new game
Is there a faster way?
Wolfgang Utesch (2009-04-30 11:38:24)
Xavier Pichelin is old and new WC
Congratulations for the his win - he was better than me!
I'd like to have a longer outside from chess.
My interestings are actually more in endurance sports like cycling.
All the best for the future,
Wolfgang
Normajean Yates (2009-05-11 02:07:31)
thoughts on Big Chess... and tips...
I find bigchess more and more fascinating.. I Think it is a wonderful creation of Thibault's (I presume it is Thib. who created it: any way he offers it seriously on this site...) - the starting position is very well-concieved..
I think Bigchess needs more publicity. This is about the only place one can play it - and here there are 2-3 top-class players; less than 20 middle-standard players (including me); others try it once or twice and for some reason get scared or overwhelmed and give up - I see no reason why..
Bigchess gives no advantage on account of huge memorisation of theory, or of better engines: there are *no* theory books; and there are no known engines in existence (probably there isnt one - too little demand, and writing a *good* engine is somewhat laborious, coming up with a *good* static-eval function is tricky, fast board-implementation issues...), so it is all wits...
In fact last week I spend part of two days writing down whatever theory I could discover [with help from top games], it comes to half a page..
Tips for people who want to try bigchess:
1. Bishops are much more powerful than Knights. (because of much longer range compared to 8x8 chess).
The consensus on the values of bigchess pieces is David Grosdemange's valuation:
pawn=1
knight=2.5 (written 2,5 in the continent, of course)
bishop=4
rook=6
queen=11
2. In the opening position, the c,f,L and o-pawns are unprotected.
So, if white's opening move is with the j2-Knight ( freeing the queen), then on move 2 white can move the Queen and threaten to pick up a pawn by forks.. Similarly for black.
*However*, such pawn gambits are quite playable because the Queen can be forced to make many moves to capture a pawn, while the gambitting side develops their pieces.
3. Most Important For Many People: board for offline analysis.
Best of course, is to take time to draw a 16x16 board on paper and stick it on cardboard. And get hold of four sets of chess pieces.
Another way: print a position, and after a move is made - just update the position using correction fluid (typewriter/printer-ink erasing fluid) or something. That way you don't have to keep printng a lot of positions.
Scott Nichols (2009-05-11 14:19:28)
Poker norms?
Since corr. poker is so new and innovative, do you think Thib that you can come up with some levels that we could earn poker IM, or poker GM titles?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-05-12 22:34:06)
Team tourney : Players without a team
Players who would like to play in the team tournament but who don't have a team yet may announce themselves in this thread, I'll build the last teams myself if necessary by gathering as much as possible players with the same ratings...
Teams will be announced in this thread :
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=forum_read&id=7059
Join the fun :)
Thibault de Vassal (2009-05-18 21:43:40)
Rybka 3 wins the 17th WCCC
Rybka 3 is still the king of computer chess, she just won the 17th WCCC tournament on an Intel Xeon W5580 / 3.2GHz x 8 with 8 points ahead of Junior, Deep Sjeng & Shredder (6.5 points).. Hiarcs finished the tournament with 6 points.
That's a pity, Fritz did not participate, once more.
Vjacheslav Perevozchikov (2009-05-20 16:31:57)
FICGS__CHESS__WCH_STAGE_1_GROUPS
Sorry for a bit stupid question...
I wonder how many players come out from a group to the next round of the tournament?
Normajean Yates (2009-05-22 06:52:31)
comment on Thibault's quote..
Well not exactly a comment, but the following quote reminded me of a Woody Allen quote:
"War is the child of passion, passion is the child of narcissism and narcissism is the child. (...) Another game ? (Thibault de Vassal)" [ellipsis in the original]
"I used to be of the Hebrew persuasion, but lately I've converted to narcissism." - Woody Allen's persona in the film 'Scoop'.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-05-23 00:31:31)
1st team tournament : games & results !
A new thread to comment the games & results in the 1st FICGS team tournament that just started ! The teams are :
>> The knights who say "Ni"
Michael Aigner - 2602
Xavier Pichelin - 2577
Hannes Rada - 2559
Thibault de Vassal - 2473
>> FSF En Passant
Heinz-Georg Lehnhoff (2270)
Volker Koslowski (2264)
Sebastian Boehme (2175)
Roland Markus (2096)
>> The Dark Knights
William Taylor - 2140
Scott Nichols - 2089
Don Groves - 1991
Josef Riha - 1989
>> Happy Pawn
Stephane Legrand 2209
Garvin Gray 2125
Daniel Parmet 1961
Ilmar Cirulis 1805
>> Yellow-Blue Warriors
Iouri Basiliev
Dmytro Romaniuk
Ostap Hladky
Yura Lemehov
>> The Ghost Knights
Vadim Khachaturov
Yugi Inving
Sophie Leclerc
Jorge Orden
>> The Knights with no name (yet)
Alexander Blinchevsky
Stanimir Denchev
Benjamin Block
Ranganathan Raman
You can follow the games here :
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=tournament&tournament=FICGS__CHESS__TEAM_EVENT_TABLE_1__000001
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=tournament&tournament=FICGS__CHESS__TEAM_EVENT_TABLE_2__000001
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=tournament&tournament=FICGS__CHESS__TEAM_EVENT_TABLE_3__000001
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=tournament&tournament=FICGS__CHESS__TEAM_EVENT_TABLE_4__000001
Note : The first player displayed in each tournament table is not always the player of the first team because when the 1st & 3rd players of a team play White against another team, the 2nd & 4th play Black against the same team, this is not obvious to read (sorry).
I'm really sorry to the 2 players that were not included in a team, but we had to start the tournament now... The last team may still announce their name (provisional : "The knights with no name")
Have nice games :)
Normajean Yates (2009-05-23 07:50:33)
wikichess: extra goodies! but why ..
If you access wikichess *without* logging in; you will see the following extra goodies:
1. '... or enter a line' [below which is a form to enter an opening line for search]
2. 'Or find an opening in the chess openings directory.' [link to chess openings directory]
3.'Openings most analyzed :' [at present:] Traxler counter-attack, Latvian gambit, Kingston defense [all hypertext links]
These goodies are excellent! But Thib. has forgotten to make them available if you are logged-in. Thib, please rectify! (Or is there a reason why you have to be logged-out to access these? I can't think of any...)
Thibault de Vassal (2009-05-29 20:09:04)
EGF rating list
To all european Go players who could be interested, the European Go Federation rating list moved from :
http://gemma.ujf.cas.cz/~cieply/GO/gor.html
... to :
http://www.europeangodatabase.eu/EGD/EGF_rating_system.php
EGF ratings should be updated more frequently.
Hristos Banikas (2009-06-01 07:16:46)
Withdraw
I was wondering if it would be possible to withdraw from a tourney once you have joined.
Exal de Jesus Garcia Carrillo (2009-06-02 23:36:57)
How to change my country flag?
Hey, I want to change my country flag to my natal country Mexico instead the Chilean flag, Chile is the country I'm living currently.
so please help me, thanks.
Scott Nichols (2009-06-03 03:09:30)
Chess is dead? Not hardly.
In his book "The world of chess" by Anthony Saidy the following paragraph appears. "Later in his (Capablanca) career, his play became ever more technical and drawish. He expressed the idea that with the perfection of modern knowledge it would soon be impossible to win a game against a master. Chess would soon reach a "draw death". He even proposed interchanging the initial positions of the Bishops and Knights to inject new life into the game."
An exact quote found earlier in this same book exemplifies more of what this thread is about---In reply to a Steinitz comment Tchigorin replied "Chess is a limitless forum for the human imagination. Each position is a fresh challenge. Rules and book openings, to the creative player, are no more than guidelines to be transcended. Individualize. Each position is new--terra incognita that may contain the seed of a beautiful combination. Gladly give up a pawn in return for the attack. Play chess with joy."
Thibault de Vassal (2009-06-04 00:45:17)
Consecutive draw offers verbally refused
This may be an issue : Should there be a rule on consecutive draw offers verbally refused in a chess game (which may be considered as impolite in some cases, justified in some others) ?
What do you think ? Do you know how this is ruled in other organizations ?
As for me, I have no strong opinion yet on this subject... Maybe we could only add something in the rules without any consequences on the game, just like a complement to the netiquette that players could refering to, but it may not solve the problem in some rare cases.
Normajean Yates (2009-06-04 08:40:10)
another suggestion: draw offer+timeout
another suggestion: suppose *I* make a draw offer and then *opponent* runs out of time; in such a case *my* draw offer is automatically deemed accepted by *opponent*: the result is recorded as a draw.
Or maybe this: giving a disadavtage only to repeated-draw-offerers:
Above rule, but only applied if it is *not* my *first* draw-offer in the game: i.e.:
In a game between player A and player B; if player A make a draw offer and in response player B runs out of time; and further, if there have been two draw offers in the game by player A such that player B has *not* made a draw offer between the said two draw offers by player B; then the draw offer of player A is automatically deemed accepted by player B: the result is recorded as a draw (instead of player B losing on time).
Thibault de Vassal (2009-06-08 21:19:20)
New feature : Silent mode !
Due to several problems caused by a few players recently (mainly insults in private messages), I just created a "silent mode".
Every player who will not respect the FICGS general rules & netiquette may be placed in this mode for a certain time or permanently, that way the player can play games and enter new tournaments but it is no more possible to send messages to other players (or receive messages with moves) by any way, this is the only way to avoid troubles in tournaments.
I'm very sorry to anyone who received such messages and I'll take care to avoid and prevent this in the future.
My best wishes,
Thibault
Thibault de Vassal (2009-06-08 22:29:42)
Vacation : now 45 days per year
I think that it will be a good news for most of us !
As it seems that many players have problems with the rapid time control, mainly in championships, and as the championships period has changed (more than 6 months if necessary), I decided to change the days of vacation per year to 45 days instead of 30 days previously.
This should avoid some games to be lost on time and a few players to forfeit all their games because of the time pressure.
This change applies immediately, so everyone now has 15 days of vacation more.
Have a nice time :)
Normajean Yates (2009-06-12 21:55:31)
graphics for ratings: where are they???
The international chat mentions graphics for ratings. Where are they? I can''t find them anywhere!
Normajean Yates (2009-06-14 12:22:10)
serious researching the Kings Gambit!
at ficgs. Three consecutive thematics: #81, 82, 83 are King's Gambit!
That is very welcome!
Garvin Gray (2009-06-15 16:57:01)
Freestyle tournaments
It has been a long while since this style of tournament was attempted on here. When will the next one be organised?
Robert Gally (2009-06-16 20:22:27)
E-mail notification
Is there some way to set notification e-mails on just the FIRST game an opponent moves in? Often, in tournaments, I get 4 e-mails at a time for moves made within a short period of time...
Thibault de Vassal (2009-06-16 22:33:44)
World Go Oza canceled by sponsors
Sad news for the world of Go, the rumor was reported in GoDiscussions.com forums then confirmed by the AGA (American Go Association) : The Nihon Kiin announced that Toyota & Denso Cup World Go Oza has been canceled by sponsors. TOM news website reported that JP Morgan is discontinuing sponsorship of the Zhonghuan Cup and GoGameWorld.net reported that the Chinese NEC Cup has been canceled as well.
Looks like the economic crisis hits the small Go world also.
Marc Lacrosse (2009-06-19 23:24:59)
FICGS commented on rybkachess
Quite a few comments regarding FICGS and correspondence chess opening preparation in this recent thread on rybkachess forum :
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?pid=165142;msg=ReplyPost
Your opinion ?
Marc
Michael Aigner (2009-06-21 22:44:42)
Suggestion for thematic tourny
I am interested in the Cochran Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Sf3 Sf6 3.Sxe5 d6 4.Sxf7)
and would be happy if we could play a thematic tourny with this opening - some day.
All the best,
Michael
Ulrich Imbeck (2009-06-23 14:55:27)
GO: Game 32800
In Game 32800 (GO) black, a DAN-player, began with 1.q15 d4 2.q5 d16 3.f3 c6 4.k4
1.q15 and 2.q5 can't be the best.
1.q16 and 2.q4 is risky enough.
Arno Bezemer (2009-06-23 16:14:50)
waiting lists 2400+
For months now i see 4 players in the +2500 waiting list and 3 in the 2400-2800 waiting list. If there are no objections i suggest we combine the two groups.
Best regards,
Arno
Nick Burrows (2009-06-23 16:39:02)
Candidates Matches Regulations
http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/candidates-matches-regulations-published-who-will-qualify/
Daniel Parmet (2009-06-24 02:50:06)
Learning Go
Greetings!
I really really want to learn to play Go (and play some of it on ficgs of course!). Does anyone have recommendation for the easiest way of learning the basics? Good websites for rules, follow masters etc. I appreciate any and all help!
Joey Hung (2009-06-26 04:36:10)
Go Summer Camp at Fremont, CA.
Joey's Go School is hosting Go Summer Camp at Fremont, CA from 6/25-8/28/09. Checkout http://www.egogames.com for details.
Wayne Lowrance (2009-06-29 20:48:08)
WCH6
Thibault. Why does it say closed ?
Wayne
Thibault de Vassal (2009-07-01 16:20:17)
FIDE rating list, july 1st 2009
The new FIDE rating list is out, Veselin Topalov (2813) still tops it 25 points ahead of FIDE world champion Viswanathan Anand (2788), in third place Magnus Carlsen (2772)...
All players rated over 2700 :
1 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2813
2 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2788
3 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2772
4 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2768
5 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2760
6 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2759
7 Leko, Peter g HUN 2756
8 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2756
9 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2755
10 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2751
11 Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2740
12 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2739
13 Wang, Yue g CHN 2736
14 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2733
15 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2732
16 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2727
17 Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2721
18 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2717
19 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2717
20 Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2717
21 Eljanov, Pavel g UKR 2716
22 Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2716
23 Dominguez Perez, Leinier g CUB 2716
24 Alekseev, Evgeny g RUS 2714
25 Akopian, Vladimir g ARM 2712
26 Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2710
27 Motylev, Alexander g RUS 2710
28 Malakhov, Vladimir g RUS 2707
29 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime g FRA 2703
30 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2703
31 Rublevsky, Sergei g RUS 2703
32 Bu, Xiangzhi g CHN 2702
33 Ni, Hua g CHN 2701
Normajean Yates (2009-07-03 01:38:27)
The Scheming Mind
I provided a quote from Arthur Conan Doyle where Sherlock Holms says that excellence at chess is a mark of a scheming mind.
Voila, there is a correspondence site called 'the scheming mind', and its motto is precisely that quote!
http://www.schemingmind.com/ . This offers some variants also; it is the only site I have seen which offers the 7th century persian chess 'shatranj' at correspondence time controls.. [engines won't help in that one!]
Marc Lacrosse (2009-07-03 09:47:02)
My chess site ...
... has been rejuvenated and I intend to add content more regularly.
Address is still http://chessbazaar.mlweb.info
I hope computer chess and correspondence chess fans will find some interesting info there.
There is a linked blog where comments and suggestions are welcome.
Marc
Nick Burrows (2009-07-04 07:55:18)
Minimum rating idea
A common problem encountered in correspondance chess is that of strong players forefitting several games and their rating dropping by hundreds of points
This spoils the tourny for lower rated players who often have a 2200 rated player in their group with a misleading rating of 1600.
It also de-stabilises the ratings across the whole site as many players grades are false.
Lastly, and of least concern because players who made the drop deserve some handicap - the artificially low-graded player has a whole year of uncompetitive matches as he waits to regain points.
In o.t.b tournaments in England, a method employed to stop rating cheats is that a player who has won a certain class of tournament previously, cannot re-enter at that level.
The equivalent here would be that your rating has a minimum value, equal to the highest rating requirement of a tournament class you have previously won.
This seems to solve the problems experienced by many on this site.
It may be said that the rating drop is a necessary deterrent to prevent players from doing this. My experience is that it occurs from factors out of one's control (illness) and any deterrant is irrelevant - just as a death penalty doesn't stop heroin addicts from stealing!
What d'yall think?
Simon Johnson (2009-07-06 17:02:44)
question
i'm new here, and i was wondering... are we able to play anything without it being a tournament?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-07-08 15:05:34)
Kasparov meets Obama
This is quite a surprise to me already, Barrack Obama met former chess world champion Garry Kasparov and other opposition leaders in Russia !
Nobody knows exactly what has been said during this meeting but the site Theotherrussia.org provided a full transcript of United Civil Front Chairman Garry Kasparov’s statement to president Barack Obama and an interesting interview of Garry Kasparov... The name of the forgotten Khodorkovsky appears several times.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5562
A good summary could be : "Obama seems like a man who doesn’t try to solve problems that don’t have solutions. He saves his energy and political capital on realistic goals. If there’s a big obstacle he simply takes it off the table and deals with what can be done." (Garry Kasparov)
Thibault de Vassal (2009-07-09 23:20:06)
Men versus women
"(...) gender stereotypes can have a greatly debilitating effect on female players leading to a 50% performance decline when playing against males. Interestingly, this disadvantage is completely removed when players are led to believe that they are playing against a woman. This may, in part, occur because women choose a more defensive style when playing with men."
A must read article (at least funny) !
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5567
What do you think ? :)
Wayne Lowrance (2009-07-23 17:29:16)
Rybka tablebase work qround bug
Thanks to Kullberg of Rybka forum fame. This long known bug has a work around that works. Just set max cpu to N-1, then exit and go back to engine paramaters and reset it to N where of course N is equal to max cpu's of your computer. then exit. That is all there is too it. It works, no one knows why, save Vas who said "it is now clear".
Wayne
William Taylor (2009-07-23 17:57:12)
Draw offers
Would it be possible to record draw offers in the notation of the game? (Maybe with an = sign or the words 'Draw offered') Sometimes I forget whether I have offered a draw a move or two earlier, and it can be annoying for your opponent if you keep offering a draw on each move.
Klearchos Loukopoulos (2009-07-24 18:01:32)
vacations question
Hi all,
I just took a vacation but when I see my games I can still see the clock ticking and removing time available. Is that normal?
Cheers,
Klearchos
Thibault de Vassal (2009-07-24 20:01:57)
New : Go games in the forum
Now you can post complete Go games in all FICGS forums with the nice interface Eidogo (Flash), see the Help section to know how to do it with the SGF /SGF tags.
In example :
(
;
FF[1]
GM[1]
SZ[19]
AP[Ficgs]
RU[Chinese]
GN[Lu,Ke-von Erichsen,Svante Carl]
HA[0]
KM[7.5]
WR[2483]
PW[Lu,Ke]
BR[2653]
PB[von Erichsen,Svante Carl]
DT[February 28 3:6:11 CET 2009]
;
B[pd]
;
W[dp]
;
B[pq]
;
W[dd]
;
B[fc]
;
W[cf]
;
B[jd]
;
W[po]
;
B[pl]
;
W[mp]
;
B[no]
;
W[mo]
;
B[oo]
;
W[hq]
;
B[nq]
;
W[mq]
;
B[cn]
;
W[cp]
;
B[ck]
;
W[qf]
;
B[qh]
;
W[nc]
;
B[qc]
;
W[oe]
;
B[pe]
;
W[pf]
;
B[of]
;
W[ph]
;
B[od]
;
W[ne]
;
B[nd]
;
W[me]
;
B[md]
;
W[le]
;
B[ld]
;
W[qi]
;
B[fe]
;
W[he]
;
B[ke]
;
W[lg]
;
B[kf]
;
W[hg]
;
B[jh]
;
W[hc]
;
B[fg]
;
W[hi]
;
B[cc]
;
W[dc]
;
B[cd]
;
W[de]
;
B[db]
;
W[eb]
;
B[cb]
;
W[fb]
;
B[be]
;
W[dj]
;
B[cj]
;
W[di]
;
B[el]
;
W[dm]
;
B[bm]
;
W[dn]
;
B[dk]
;
W[gm]
;
B[gh]
;
W[hh]
;
B[gj]
;
W[ef]
;
B[ff]
;
W[fj]
;
B[gi]
;
W[fk]
;
B[gd]
;
W[hd]
;
B[ec]
;
W[ci]
;
B[bi]
;
W[gc]
;
B[hk]
;
W[bh]
;
B[jk]
;
W[jb]
;
B[kb]
;
W[kc]
;
B[lb]
;
W[hb]
;
B[hj]
;
W[ga]
;
B[aj]
;
W[gl]
;
B[bo]
;
W[bp]
;
B[jn]
;
W[il]
;
B[hl]
;
W[hm]
;
B[ln]
;
W[mn]
;
B[ll]
;
W[jp]
;
B[ng]
;
W[og]
;
B[nr]
)
Caetano Langaro (2009-07-27 06:44:26)
Game won on time
Hello!
Is there a problem with the robot that adjucates games? I have a game (32446) that should have been adjudicated but waited for days and nothing happened.
Well... tks for attention!
See ya!
Thibault de Vassal (2009-07-28 19:35:16)
Tournament Entry Rating (TER) history
Hello all,
A new feature, now you can see graphics for your correspondence chess, advanced chess, big chess, Go (weiqi) and Poker Holdem TER history.
To see your TER history, several ways :
1) Direct link with username :
http://www.ficgs.com/players/devassal_thibault/history.html
2) Direct link with member id :
http://www.ficgs.com/display_history.php?member=1
3) Preferences : Click the magnifying glass then click History
Why a TER history ? Because TER are more significant (and less numerous) than every rating changes for most games.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-08-01 22:28:54)
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave wins Biel 2009
Finally, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave emerged from the 2600 GM field to convincingly win the top tournament of Biel, a category 19 double round robin tournament, ahead of super GMs like Vassily Ivanchuk, Alexander Morozevich or Boris Gelfand. At eighteen and with a FIDE rating of 2703 he may be the next french good surprise in the top class players and bring some fresh blood in such tournaments. Does anyone have an opinion on his style of play or something ? :)
Thibault de Vassal (2009-08-04 17:29:51)
Quote festival, part 6
Maybe this is time to start a new quote fest, what do you think ? :)
As a reminder, you're encouraged to post your own quotes about anything, but do not forget that you may enter the FICGS quotes file then ;)
"Always remember: He will blunder for sure, but he may play like a genius as well."
Thibault de Vassal (2009-08-04 19:02:35)
Kasparov vs. The flying phallus
Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov has found a new and strange opponent :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq_-Gf9rXhE
Thibault de Vassal (2009-08-04 19:20:34)
Karpov vs. Kasparov rematch
You are probably aware of this promising rematch between former world chess champions Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov. (Valencia - Spain, september 21-24, 2009)
What do you think about the possible games ? Is Karpov now too old, is Kasparov able to concentrate on chess only again ? What can be their state of mind during such a match, 25 years after their first match that became legendary... It should be a great event anyway, maybe even more interesting than the last FIDE chess championships. (By the way I don't know if there will be sponsors and/or prizes)
Thibault de Vassal (2009-08-08 11:26:55)
MoGo vs. Many Faces Of Go
Just read in the AGA newsletter (American Go E-Journal vol. 10) on the rematch between Myeong-Wan Kim 8p vs. Computer :
"Many Faces was very different, it behaved more like a human, while MoGo was pure computer and very unpredictable. It was easier to play Many Faces -- though it may be the stronger program -- because I could predict what it was going to do. Many Faces made better shape, but MoGo had better reading. I’d really like to see both programs play each other and see what happens."
I never played MoGo, but it may be instructive...
Benjamin Block (2009-08-10 09:52:08)
Poker engine?
Anyone know a good poker engine i can get free. I did found some on google but i don´t know witch that is best.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-08-10 13:01:25)
Simultaneous Chess World Record
After the records by Ulf Anderson, Andrew Martin and Susan Polgar, the current Simultaneous Chess World Record has been established this year by Kiril Georgiev, who played 360 opponents at the same time, now Iranian GM Morteza Mahjoob wants to play 500 opponents to bring it at a new level.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5659
Is this kind of record worth something according to you or just a nonsense?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-08-11 12:03:37)
A. Dinerchtein is European Go Champion
Alexander Dinerchtein 3p (silent player at FICGS) is new European Go Champion after beating Javier Aleksi Savolainen in the final round of the European Go Championship while Taranu Catalin lost his final game to Kim Joon Sang and did not succeed in defending his title.
Congrats ! :)
I hope I can post some games here soon...
Vjacheslav Perevozchikov (2009-08-12 13:52:43)
All games (PGN)
Hi, Thibaul, when will be updated «All games (PGN)» available? Now we can download version from «Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:24:09 GMT». It's rather old ;)
Scott Nichols (2009-08-13 13:09:47)
Rapid expansion?
Hi Thib, I was wondering what you think about expanding the parameters for rapid tournament from 200 points to 400 points to make it the same as standard tournaments? This would allow for many more rapid tournaments IMHO.
Samy Ould Ahmed (2009-08-14 22:04:43)
Hall of Fame
it would be nice to have a "Hall of Fame" page to see our champions in the different games.
Ralf Mulde (2009-08-18 00:24:11)
DESC corr. chess Open 2009 invitation
Dear chessfriends,
German e-mail Correspondence Chessclub (DESC) invites everyone to
join the DESC Open. Join with uns and have fun playing chess!
Everyone in the world who can play chess (and has the possibility to
use an e-mail-system) is invited herewith to take part at this tournament.
It's a cost-free tournament, no one has to pay any fees.
Please register per e-mail at [ turnierbuero@desc-online.de ] until
Sept. 19th 2009.
Your registration has to include
a) your family name
b) your first-name
c) your e-mail-address
d) and the remark < Anmeldung zum DESC-Open 2009 >.
The tournament will start at Oct. 1st 2009.
Reflection-time will be 30 days per 10 moves,
first time-exceed forfeits the game.
Moves will be transmitted by e-mail in the well known pgn-format.
During this pre-tounament, every player will have four to eight
games in groups with five to nine players.
The best three of them will reach the next round.
More informations are shown at DESC's homepage:
http://www.desc-online.de/turniere/open/2009/
Take part, have fun! You and your friends will be welcome!
Best regards, IM Joerg Kracht, Michael Schirmer, and Ralf Mulde
Daniel Parmet (2009-08-19 01:53:58)
Idea: Unr, No Comp, Match
I was wondering if it was possible to setup a new competition option for chess.
Just a 2 game unrated match where both players agree no computer. Each person has W&B.
This is more appealing to me than No engine tournament where the ratings/pairings are from people that have played rated corr w/comps. We can agree to play friends in 2 games.
Thoughts?
Charlie Neil (2009-08-22 11:23:40)
Vacation Time on Ficgs
I am confused about what is the point of booking vacation time, as the "game clock" will keep running. Can someone explain to me please.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-08-22 22:30:34)
Slow moves & chat bar at Poker
Hello everyone,
You may have noticed that the chat bar disappeared during your poker "moves"... In my opinion poker moves are usually played so fast that it is useless to display it but it may be a problem for players who write long messages with their moves and can be disconnected (the small message box keeps players connected as it refreshes automatically). Is it a problem for many players ?
The other question is : Should the "slow moves" process be kept for poker moves as it is (IMHO) not necessary to confirm such moves in most cases ?
Your feedback is welcome, thanks :)
Michel van der Kemp (2009-08-25 19:47:10)
Mistake in ELO calculation?
I got this email from an advanced match.
Game 27857
[Event "FICGS__CHESS__BULLET_BRONZE__000132"]
[Site "FICGS"]
[Date "2009.8.23"]
[Round "1"]
[White "van der Kemp,Michel"]
[Black "Goršek,Gregor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1966"]
[BlackElo "1623"]
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Be2 O-O 6.O-O c6 7.a4 a5 8.h3 Na6 9.Be3 Nb4 10.Qd2 Qc7 11.Rac1 Rd8 12.Rfe1 d5 13.exd5 Nbxd5 14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.Bh6 Be6 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.c4 Nb4 18.Bd3 Nxd3 19.Qxd3 Qd6 20.Re3 Rd7 21.Qe2 Re8 22.Rd1 R7d8 23.Re1 Rd7 24.b3 b6 25.Ng5 Bf5 26.g4 1-0
Move sent : 2009.8.23 - 17:54:11
Move replied : 2009.8.23 - 19:10:44
Player resigned.
WhiteELO : 1966 ... 1961
BlackELO : 1623 ... 1627
This email was generated automatically by http://www.ficgs.com/
My rating went down after winning a game :)
Thibault de Vassal (2009-08-26 19:21:42)
Stan Vaughan vs. Varuzhan Akobian (WCF)
Many of you probably saw this strange banner in a Chessbase news article, with this title :
"THE WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP"
World Chess Federation, Inc.
WCF "WORLD CHESS CHAMPION" Stan Vaughan
vs. WCF official challenger Varuzhan Akobian in WCF TITLE MATCH 2009 (starting on December 1st, 2009 at Riviera Hotel Casino, Las Vegas)
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5717
The Chessbase article says that when FIDE stripped Fischer of the title in 1975, he set up the WCF which sanctioned his "World Championship" rematch with Spassky in 1992 (with a record of five million dollars prize). After winning the event, Fischer was scheduled to play WCF official challenger Stan Vaughan, but he retired.
Well well... I cannot even find a page on Wikipedia on Stan Vaughan, but the article on Chessbase also mentions that Vaughan would have been 29 time US Champion of the American Chess Association, retaining the title at 2008 Robert Fischer Memorial and also, but not least :
* 1988 US Correspondence Chess Champion
* 1989, 1995 Mensa World Correspondence Chess Champion
* 1995-2007 WCCF World Correspondence Chess Champion
* WCF “The World Chess Champion 2001-present 2009
* Retained the title in 2007 with an 11-0 title match victory over Francisco Metz, an International Master from Mexico and former 1975 USCF's US Amateur Chess Champion
To finish, Garry Kasparov would have turned down the opportunity to play him in a match for 5 million dollars in 2008 - not a big surprise.
Does anyone have more information on all this and eventually games played by this un-unknown correspondence chess champion ?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-08-28 01:06:17)
S.C. von Erichsen is FICGS Go champion !
Svante Carl von Erichsen is FICGS Go champion, for the 3rd time... after winning 2 more games in the 5 games final match which looked like in some ways to the previous one with Ke Lu.
Congrats again Svante Carl ! Definitely we need more strong players to try to rivalize :)
Here is the 4th game that just finished :
(
;
FF[1]
GM[1]
SZ[19]
AP[Ficgs]
RU[Chinese]
GN[von Erichsen,Svante Carl-Lu,Ke]
HA[0]
KM[7.5]
WR[2653]
PW[von Erichsen,Svante Carl]
BR[2483]
PB[Lu,Ke]
DT[February 28 3:6:11 CET 2009]
RE[W+T]
;
B[pd]
;
W[dc]
;
B[pp]
;
W[eq]
;
B[pj]
;
W[nq]
;
B[lq]
;
W[no]
;
B[pn]
;
W[kp]
;
B[lp]
;
W[lo]
;
B[kq]
;
W[jp]
;
B[jq]
;
W[ip]
;
B[hq]
;
W[hp]
;
B[gq]
;
W[gp]
;
B[fq]
;
W[fp]
;
B[er]
;
W[dr]
;
B[dq]
;
W[ep]
;
B[fr]
;
W[cq]
;
B[cj]
;
W[ch]
;
B[co]
;
W[cn]
;
B[bn]
;
W[dn]
;
B[cm]
;
W[nc]
;
B[kd]
;
W[ne]
;
B[pf]
;
W[ng]
;
B[gc]
;
W[ic]
;
B[id]
;
W[jd]
;
B[jc]
;
W[je]
;
B[ib]
;
W[kc]
;
B[hc]
;
W[de]
;
B[lc]
;
W[ph]
;
B[oh]
;
W[qe]
;
B[pe]
;
W[pg]
;
B[og]
;
W[of]
;
B[pi]
;
W[qf]
;
B[rh]
;
W[qd]
;
B[pc]
;
W[qc]
;
B[qg]
;
W[pb]
;
B[ob]
;
W[qb]
;
B[nb]
;
W[nh]
;
B[qh]
;
W[pl]
;
B[om]
;
W[qo]
;
B[po]
;
W[qp]
;
B[qn]
;
W[pq]
;
B[oq]
;
W[pr]
;
B[or]
;
W[rq]
;
B[mj]
;
W[mc]
;
B[kb]
;
W[lf]
;
B[lh]
;
W[jg]
;
B[ji]
;
W[mb]
;
B[oc]
;
W[ie]
;
B[he]
;
W[hf]
;
B[gf]
;
W[hg]
;
B[mf]
;
W[me]
;
B[mg]
;
W[ke]
;
B[ld]
;
W[le]
;
B[nf]
;
W[eh]
;
B[hi]
;
W[kh]
;
B[ki]
;
W[rn]
;
B[rm]
;
W[ro]
;
B[ql]
;
W[bk]
;
B[bj]
;
W[cl]
;
B[dm]
;
W[bm]
;
B[bo]
;
W[dl]
;
B[dp]
;
W[br]
;
B[em]
;
W[en]
)
Garvin Gray (2009-08-29 16:05:33)
Issue for 2150 rated players
I am starting to notice an issue with how the rating bands are set for tournaments, both standard and rapid.
Currently I am rated between 2150 and 2200, depending on the rating period. After having been in this rating band for a couple of rating periods, I am noticing it is very difficult to get rated games against players rated above 2200.
This makes it very difficult to improve my rating, or at least have it proven that my playing standard is not deserved of a higher rating, or a lower rating as the case maybe.
I know it is possible to look at my results from players rated similar to myself and try and work out conclusions from there, but to not have the opportunity to play people rated above myself does not afford me the opportunity to see how I go against them, or to record results against higher rated players that might suggest I am underrated.
I suggested awhile ago that each of the tournament bands need to be 200 points apart, with the standard and rapid tournaments operated on odds and evens 200 point rating bands. I still believe this to be the answer to a lot of the sites ills as I still see many tournaments where players just under the rating cut off not entering when the rating band is 400 points.
Robert Mueller (2009-08-29 16:19:46)
WCH 0004 Candidate Final
Thibault,
When will the Candidates Final of WCH 0004 start? I believe that both, the Knockout Final and the Round Robin Final are finished.
Don Groves (2009-08-31 06:56:03)
Poker bug?
Game 34598, move 20: I won the hand on a showdown but was not able to see my opponent's hidden cards. The display only showed my hidden cards and the common cards. Why?
Daniel Parmet (2009-09-02 03:36:36)
Can't Join tournament?
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=entry_tournament&tournament=ficgs_chess_standard_a
The standard Class has the rating band 2000-2400?! Expert to MASTER when its supposed to be class A? On top of that... several 1900s are in the waitinglist .... yet I as a class A player also in the 1900s can't join this because I don't have an X rating for an A tournament? I'm confused...
Thibault de Vassal (2009-09-02 18:00:40)
FIDE chess rating list, september 2009
As Veselin Topalov (former FIDE world champion) & Viswanathan Anand (current FIDE world champion) did not play any game since the july rating list has been published, they remain number 1 & number 2 in the top rankings, but their followers played quite many games : Levon Aronian is now number 3 with 2773 points while Vladimir Kramnik & Magnus Carlsen are number 4 and 5 with 2772 elo points.
Here are the 2700+ players :
1 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2813
2 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2788
3 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2773
4 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2772
5 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2772
6 Leko, Peter g HUN 2762
7 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2757
8 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2756
9 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2756
10 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2750
11 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2742
12 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2741
13 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2741
14 Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2740
15 Wang, Yue g CHN 2736
16 Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2735
17 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2733
18 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2730
19 Alekseev, Evgeny g RUS 2725
20 Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2722
21 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2721
22 Dominguez Perez, Leinier g CUB 2719
23 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime g FRA 2718
24 Eljanov, Pavel g UKR 2717
25 Malakhov, Vladimir g RUS 2715
26 Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2711
27 Motylev, Alexander g RUS 2710
28 Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2709
29 Short, Nigel D g ENG 2706
30 Rublevsky, Sergei g RUS 2703
31 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam g UZB 2702
32 Bu, Xiangzhi g CHN 2702
Don Groves (2009-09-05 00:09:13)
Too much French wine?
CHENNAI, India (Reuters) - A leading French chess player turned up drunk and dozed off after just 11 moves in an international tournament in Kolkata, losing the round on technical grounds, domestic media reported Friday.
Grandmaster Vladislav Tkachiev arrived for Thursday's match against India's Praveen Kumar in such an inebriated state that he could hardly sit in his chair and soon fell asleep, resting his head on the table, Hindustan Times newspaper reported.
Indian papers carried pictures of the world number 58 sleeping and the organizers' futile attempts to wake his up.
The game was awarded to the Indian on the technical ground of Tkachiev being unable to complete his moves within the stipulated time of an hour and 30 minutes, the paper said.
The player was warned and reprimanded by the organizers afterwards but has been allowed to take part in the remainder of the competition, the paper said.
Maurice Ellis (2009-09-07 01:09:38)
HOW TO START PLAY
Newcomer here.Can't get anyone to challenge me in a free game. Can't seem to challenge anyone in a free game.HELP!!
Nick Burrows (2009-09-07 12:03:38)
Carlsen training with Kasparov!
Roll over Anand & Topalov!
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5742
Wayne Lowrance (2009-09-07 23:52:52)
A Big Mouth on Rybka Forum
Howdy Thibault & all.
There is a poster on the Rybka forum who has sort of a big mouth. He claims that Rybka IA feature is not best for CC games, claims it is too time consuming and at any rate he blubbers and brags that those who use IA are not able to defeat him. I am using my own language here in a jist of the conversation of his. He further says that he never spends more that a matter of hours cogitating his move using a 3 tear "long game" approach to working his moves. Timers such at 60' 40 moves @ 1st tier etc (don't remember his 2nd tier timer. In any case he claims he can get to depth 40 in mid game situations using a "long game" three tier mode. and finds moves that are superior to IA running a day or more (he doesn't seem to understand that most CC players use IA in a special Centaur way and the Program is a tool. He gives little respect for 2500 CC rated Centaur players using the feature IA. He beats such players all of the time, he say's with his Rybka usage with his very modest hardware against 2500 players using IA. I am skeptical. I asked where he plays CC (out of courosity) and he will not tell where. a Poster in response to his post believe he plays CC where computers are not allowed, I have no idea in this regard. I told him that I play at FICGS where computers are welcome and a 2500 rating on this server is very high. There are many well known players held in high regard playing at FICGS that would "clean his clock" with him playing as he say's he does. So what is my point. I am wondering if I can invite this guy to join FICGS and that his lofty rating can be accepted. I shall invite him to Join our SM #11 tourney. Wayne
Scott Nichols (2009-09-16 08:58:46)
Quick Corr. Chess
With the recent narrowing of the band in standard tournaments, it occurred to me that there is even less opportunity to get games than before. For those of us (and I think it is many) who check the site many times daily waiting for the next move, there just isn't enough games to feed our tremendous appetite for chess. I propose a new catagory, Quick Corr. chess, I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but here it is. It would have it's own Quick chess rating. Bands would be, Over 2000, 1600-2000, and under 1600. Time limit-10 days per game, increment-8 hours. I truly believe there is a market for this here. Advanced chess requires that you actually be at the comp. for a length of time till game is done, so it is not an option for many. But as you can see there has been quite an increase in advanced games being played. So---if you are one of those players like me, that check for moves first thing in the morning and last thing at night, sneak your laptop into the bathroom at work to see if your opponent took the sacrifice you just offered, etc., and time after time are disappointed at not seeing any new moves, please offer your support and suggestions on this. Thank you, signed "Starving for chess". :)
Martin Challant (2009-09-19 14:58:26)
Deleting an account
Since I'm not playing chess nor have I ever played it here, I want my account to be deleted. Any suggestions on how to do that?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-09-22 17:37:12)
Important issue : Moves taken back
Hello all,
A player (no need to specify the game, at least not yet) asked me as the FICGS admin to take back his opponent's move which is an obvious mistake. In this case both players agree to take back the move to not waste the game, after that the player who made the mistake kindly asked to the other player if it was possible take back the move. At this point, all depended of the other player's fair play, but of course only the FICGS admin can take back a move in any game.
However I just wonder if it is fair in all cases to do this, particularly when a player shows a great fair play in all his games.
I've just read the rules again and nothing is mentioned on this and what should do the FICGS admin (or tournament director). Note, I've already taken back a few moves when both players agreed to do this in the past.
Question, not really a poll but your opinion would be appreciated : Do you think that the FICGS admin should...
1) take back all moves in this case.
2) take back some moves in this case (at his discretion).
3) never take back any move even in this case.
IMO, choice 2) is the best one as more or less complex cases may happen, what do you think ?
Thanks for sharing your views !
Thibault de Vassal (2009-09-24 16:24:02)
Translator for FICGS home page in Hindi?
Hi,
A new FICGS home page will be added in Hebrew in a few minutes, could anyone help to translate it in Hindi ? (also Chinese, Japanese & Korean if possible :))
As about 20% of visitors now come from India, I thought it would be useful :)
Thanks for your help !
Thibault de Vassal (2009-09-27 01:40:59)
Fritz 12, your opinion
From Chessbase news, Fritz 12 will be out on October 7, 2009 (new opening book by Alex Kure)
http://www.chessbase.com/shop/product.asp?pid=467
Did anyone lucky test it already ?
What about the interface & engine ? A serious opponent for Rybka 3 ?
John Smith (2009-09-28 22:32:58)
Human only games/Centaur
Hi all,
Initially when I registered I was under the impression that (e.g. like RHP) engines are not allowed. Then I saw a flag NO_ENGINES, which seems to imply that in other tournaments engines are allowed.
I would like to ask which types of tournaments are for Centaurs and which are human-only. Stepping into a Centaur tournament would not be a good idea as I don't think any amateur stands a chance vs a 2800+ Centaur.
So obviously NO_ENGINES are normal tournamets, are thematic tournaments normal tournaments as well? which ones are for Centaurs?
Garvin Gray (2009-09-29 17:34:56)
Moneybookers warning
I have just received a warning email telling me that my moneybookers account has been suspended and to click on the link provided in the email to confirm my records.
The email does look legit, but from my understanding of these things, a proper site with this information would ask you to go to moneybookers.com and sign in, rather than provide a link. Clicking the link option is what scammers provide to get your information.
Thibault, are you able to confirm anything on this matter?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-09-29 20:17:35)
Carlsen leads the Nanjing tournament
The Nanjing tournament starts quite well for Magnus Carlsen, who won his first game with the scotch opening against Peter Leko (maybe the influence of Garry Kasparov), and won his second game against Veselin Topalov !
Michel van der Kemp (2009-10-04 20:29:38)
IECG stopping
Today IECG announced that they will be stopping per 2010. The LSS Chessserver run by Ortwin Paetzold will more or less take over. Perhaps Thibault should advertise a bit at IECG for this server. :)
Thibault de Vassal (2009-10-05 19:20:02)
Shaking hands with Kasparov
Obviously, there's at least one member of this small lucky club here :)
http://www.ficgs.com/player_767.html
Lucky Pablo ! (see bottom of page)
Thibault de Vassal (2009-10-05 21:13:50)
TCCMB hacked
It looks like the correspondence chess message board (TCCMB) has been hacked for a while... Does anyone have an idea on when it happened ?
http://ancients.correspondencechess.com/index.php
Thibault de Vassal (2009-10-06 20:17:49)
2nd FICGS chess freestyle cup
Hi all,
Finally, I'll have some time to organize the 2nd FICGS chess freestyle cup during the next weeks !
The entry will be free for players rated over 2000, the prize will be 200 Epoints.
Three possibilities (swiss pairing) :
a) 6 rounds (1 hour + 15 sec/move), 2 rounds played each day - monday, tuesday, wednesday
b) 6 rounds (1 hour + 15 sec/move), 2 rounds played each day - friday, saturday, sunday
c) 6 rounds (30 minutes + 15 sec), 6 rounds played in a single day
Case a) could be organized next week or the week after, case b) couldn't be organized before about 1 month, case c) could be organized quite easily.
In cases a) & b), the best time for the daily 2 games remains to be found... IMO 8pm & 11pm server time or 1pm & 4pm server time are good choices, what do you think ?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-10-08 12:47:47)
Message transmission (with slow moves)
Hi all,
Sorry to all players who use the slow moves process, I just realized the problem with 'empty moves (-)' at poker, you had to copy your message, now it is fixed... Please just warn me here if you still encounter any problem.
Thank you.
Nick Burrows (2009-10-09 20:09:13)
Game from today
Daniel Parmet (2009-10-17 00:20:25)
Three Cheers for Thibault
After having had numerous bad experiences on other chess correspondence sites... it occurs to me how lucky we are to have this great one run by Thibault! I would like to thank him!
Thibault de Vassal (2009-10-20 22:14:38)
Shredder 12 vs. Rybka 3
Shredder 12 (the chess engine more than the interface) looks much more promising than Fritz 12, here are the current CEGT rating lists, Naum 4 and Rybka 3 are not so far !
40 / 40 rating list
1 Rybka 3 x64 1CPU 3105 16 16 1293 71.7% 2944 35.0%
2 Rybka 3 w32 1CPU 3053 16 16 1234 68.3% 2919 38.7%
3 Deep Shredder 12 x64 1CPU 3000 27 27 351 55.1% 2964 45.9%
4 Naum 4 w32 1CPU 2988 17 17 831 58.2% 2930 47.9%
5 Naum 4 x64 1CPU 2982 18 18 728 54.2% 2953 48.8%
6 Deep Fritz 11 1CPU 2936 14 14 1298 53.5% 2911 47.3%
7 Fritz 12 2928 18 18 778 47.3% 2947 46.3%
8 Fritz 11 2916 7 7 6292 54.9% 2882 42.3%
9 Zappa Mexico II x64 1CPU 2915 15 15 1134 54.5% 2883 45.1%
10 Shredder WM Edition Bonn 1CPU 2912 13 13 1580 50.7% 2907 41.7%
http://www.husvankempen.de/nunn/40_40%20Rating%20List/40_40%20SingleVersion/rangliste.html
40 / 4 rating list
1 Rybka 3.0 x64 4CPU 3238 11 11 3400 80.4% 2993 27.7%
2 Naum 4.0 x64 4CPU 3126 11 11 2400 64.9% 3020 41.7%
3 Deep Shredder 12 x64 4CPU 3105 15 15 1300 65.8% 2991 35.9%
4 Deep Fritz 11 4CPU 3066 10 10 2500 58.3% 3008 44.5%
5 Stockfish 1.4 JA x64 4CPU 3032 11 11 2400 53.0% 3011 38.8%
6 Zappa Mexico II x64 4CPU 3026 8 8 4050 49.6% 3029 40.1%
7 Thinker 5.4D x64 4CPU Inert 3012 11 11 2200 50.3% 3010 39.5%
8 Hiarcs 12.1 4CPU 2998 11 11 2400 49.7% 3001 39.2%
http://www.husvankempen.de/nunn/40_4_Ratinglist/40_4_BestVersion/rangliste.html
Congrats to the author of Shredder !
Thibault de Vassal (2009-10-22 20:41:56)
Huayong Yang is the new Go WCH finalist
Congrats to Huayong Yang who made it in the Go WCH 4 preliminary tournament with an outstanding 8/8 !
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=tournament&tournament=FICGS__GO__WCH_TOURNAMENT__000004
He will play Svante Carl von Erichsen in the next Go WCH final match...
Huayong started with the minimal authorized rank (10 kyu) without an official rating but obviously he's much much stronger ... His current rating is 2334 (3 dan) already, so the question is : do his opponents have an idea on his real strength ? :)
Hannes Rada (2009-10-22 21:57:22)
Peter Schuster is playing ICCF - final !
All the best to Peter Schuster for his
ICCF - World Championship Final
http://www.iccf-webchess.com/EventCrossTable.aspx?id=18349&order=p
Janeen Walden (2009-10-25 23:16:06)
Crazyhouse
How many would play crazyhouse if it was running here?
Garvin Gray (2009-10-27 14:09:09)
Playchess
I am wondering, how many of our players here are also on playchess. Care to share identities?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-10-29 23:01:27)
Most active players, amazing statistics!
These statistics (updated every 2 days) are available at :
http://www.ficgs.com/about.html
And the overall winner is........ :)
Players most active : General (moves played)
1. Heinz-Georg Lehnhoff : 124234
2. Rolf Staggat : 81806
3. Anderson Barradas : 55829
4. Stephane Legrand : 47936
5. Scott Nichols : 46711
6. Mark Noble : 37387
7. Findlay Murray : 35874
8. Volker Koslowski : 33241
9. Don Groves : 29539
10. Thibault de Vassal : 26104
11. Francisco Gramajo : 25281
12. Sergey Uzdin : 25256
13. Michael Sharland : 24890
14. Josef Riha : 24193
15. Jason Repa : 22765
16. Laurine Ségur : 22577
17. Alexis Bromo : 20198
18. Benjamin Collette : 20112
19. Fernando Vasquez : 19928
20. Laszlo Kis-Kos : 19174
21. Christian Koch : 18450
22. Evgeny Yarkov : 17168
23. Xavier Pichelin : 16559
24. Garvin Gray : 16388
25. Ranganathan Raman : 15750
26. Sebastian Boehme : 15190
27. Zdravko Stoyanov : 15186
28. Nick Ioffe : 15151
29. Phil Cook : 15007
30. Sean McNabb : 14572
31. Daniel Parmet : 13814
32. Ilmars Cirulis : 13118
33. Joaquim Malpalma : 13057
34. Dmitriy Panov : 12733
35. Nelson Bernal Varela : 12119
36. Marco Roncagliolo : 11741
37. Dmytro Romaniuk : 11648
38. Miroslav Rakovic : 11435
39. Nick Burrows : 11242
40. Janeen Walden : 10967
41. Claude Brisson : 10812
42. Sandor Porkolab : 10714
43. Christophe Czekaj : 10678
44. Janusz Kepinski : 10675
45. Peter Willoughby : 10634
46. Benjamin Block : 10633
47. Kate Lubeck : 10155
48. Charlie Neil : 10076
49. Darko Pipac : 10072
50. William Taylor : 10036
Players most active : Go
1. Don Groves : 17026
2. Claude Brisson : 10812
3. Nick Ioffe : 10795
4. Alejandro Suarez-Moreno : 10018
5. Mickaël Simon : 8986
6. Thibault de Vassal : 8870
7. Sean McNabb : 8666
8. Sergey Tarassov : 8236
9. Phil Cook : 8186
10. Tetsuya Kobayashi : 7816
Players most active : Chess
1. Josef Riha : 24119
2. Fernando Vasquez : 19820
3. Zdravko Stoyanov : 14523
4. Anderson Barradas : 12587
5. Ilmars Cirulis : 12200
6. Laszlo Kis-Kos : 12068
7. Janusz Kepinski : 10675
8. Garvin Gray : 10638
9. Scott Nichols : 10211
10. Charlie Neil : 10076
Players most active : Chess 960
1. Christophe Czekaj : 1224
2. Joaquim Malpalma : 916
3. Frederick Estieu : 672
4. Ilmars Cirulis : 605
5. Pavel Háse : 600
6. Sefa Sarihan : 524
7. Sandor Porkolab : 512
8. Jay Melquiades : 495
9. Christian Koch : 470
10. Rick Spangler : 447
Players most active : Big Chess
1. Heinz-Georg Lehnhoff : 5583
2. Peter Willoughby : 4368
3. José Carrizo : 3319
4. Thibault de Vassal : 3199
5. Mark Noble : 2949
6. Sandor Porkolab : 2467
7. Volker Koslowski : 1887
8. Paul König : 1790
9. William Taylor : 1706
10. Ranganathan Raman : 1620
Players most active : Poker Holdem
1. Heinz-Georg Lehnhoff : 111119
2. Rolf Staggat : 75570
3. Stephane Legrand : 41639
4. Anderson Barradas : 38671
5. Scott Nichols : 36500
6. Findlay Murray : 33008
7. Mark Noble : 31172
8. Volker Koslowski : 25829
9. Michael Sharland : 20721
10. Francisco Gramajo : 20431
Congrats Heinz-Georg, definitely you're the most addicted player ;)
Daniel Parmet (2009-10-30 05:42:14)
Coming Thematics?
What are the next thematics? I forgot how to see the list of the ones that are after the current waiting one...
I would like to suggest
1) Alekhine
2) Grunfeld
3) Caro Kann
Thibault de Vassal (2009-11-03 11:40:33)
FIDE november rating list
Finally, Magnus Carlsen crossed the 2800 mark and reaches the 2nd place on the FIDE november rating list, ahead of world champion Viswanathan Anand. The next months will be interesting, at last :)
FIDE November 1st 2009 – Top 20 Players
Rank Name Title Country Rating Games BirthYear
1 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2810 10 1975
2 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2801 10 1990
3 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2788 0 1969
4 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2786 13 1982
5 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2772 0 1975
6 Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2758 11 1986
7 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2758 11 1968
8 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2754 17 1976
9 Leko, Peter g HUN 2752 10 1979
10 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2750 0 1977
11 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2748 10 1987
12 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2739 13 1969
13 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2739 5 1983
14 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2736 13 1983
15 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2736 10 1983
16 Wang, Yue g CHN 2734 27 1987
17 Eljanov, Pavel g UKR 2729 15 1983
18 Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2723 12 1990
19 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2719 25 1985
20 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2719 18 1972
More details in the Chessbase news :
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5879
Thibault de Vassal (2009-11-03 11:58:36)
If anyone could comment any game...
As far as I can remember, in an old discussion we decided that anyone couldn't comment any running game (despite of the fact that rules allow players to use any kind of help)... That's why I made the "public comments" field for the players only.
Do you think that something could be improved ? What about a kind of thread displayed after the public comments ?
Anyone could write and comment any game... Now 3 options, the thread could be created only when the game finishes, it could be created when the game starts, or (thinking about Malkovich games) it could be created when the game starts, but the players can read it & write only when the game finishes !
What do you think ?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-11-03 19:10:11)
FICGS WCH 6 stage 2
I finally built 5 groups of 7 players (=35 players) for the 2nd stage of the 6th chess championship.
As you probably noticed, we had much less players in the 6th championship than in the 7th, also as there was 9 players by group, there was much less groups in the 6th championship.
Finally the choice was to build groups of 5 players playing a double round-robin tournament (wch rules have been updated for this case) with a few players invited, or to invite 10 more players from stage 1 in order to build 5 groups of 7 players. This last choice was best & more natural IMO to limit the number of games by player and to follow the idea to have more chances to see the very best players in the final stages.
Consequently the 3rd stage of WCH 6 (round-robin final) will be most probably a double round-robin tournament including the winners of these 5 tournaments (as there will be no need to invite any player to complete this group)
Thibault de Vassal (2009-11-04 16:58:01)
Advanced games (blitz) : improvements
Hi all,
You probably noticed that there was many forfeits in advanced games as :
1) Many new players try it but do not read the instructions.
2) The system is not efficient enough to warn the players when a game starts.
The facts :
a) When you enter a waiting list for an advanced (blitz, lightning, bullet) game, you HAVE to withdraw before leaving, or the game may start without you - the way to do it may not be clear enough.
b) When you challenge a player, you may leave the computer, the system will not start the game without you (or in rare cases).
The idea of FICGS is to provide a web interface without any software to download, consequently everything is not possible... Now it only opens a pop up (if possible) & sends an email when a game starts, and it updates the page if you are in My Games.
Possible improvements :
1) To add a sound or voice message when a game starts.
2) To close advanced games waiting lists :/
3) ...
Well, it looks like I need some ideas. Anybody help ? :)
John Smith (2009-11-04 19:30:34)
Completed games
Hi all,
How can I see my completed games? at the moment they do not appear under "my games".
Hannes Rada (2009-11-04 22:21:02)
Knockout Final 05
Lacrosse - Riccio
Marc Lacrosse:
Last connection : 2009 August 11
I am afraid, we won't see so many moves here .... :-(
Thibault de Vassal (2009-11-05 11:19:28)
Is Poker holdem a game of chance ?
I'm always surprised when a poker player tells me that (in brief) Poker holdem is a game of chance...
You probably know that quotes (in FICGS file) saying that "Statistics are often overestimated", "98% of statistics are made up", "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics. (Mark Twain)", it is often used as an argument.
So the question : Do you think that Poker holdem is a game of chance (in what measure & why) ?
Hannes Rada (2009-11-05 18:42:10)
Sicilian Najdorf
Candidates Final 04
Riccio - Brunner: 8x Najdorf
Quarter Final 2 06
Noble - Gueci 8x Najdorf
Although the games are really interesting
Guys, isn't it a little bit boring playing 8 times the same opening ?
Maybe I am hypercritical today :-) but are chess openings reduced to Najdorf only ? Is this the only valid opening for cc nowadays ?
Any comments on this development in cc ?
Any comments ?
John Smith (2009-11-13 02:56:53)
Introduction to Centaur Chess
Hi all,
While I have played allot of chess, so far I only used my computer for an occasional analysis and mostly for the database features.
I am assuming it takes to know engines quite well to become good at advanced/centaur chess, so any advice would be really helpful.
1) Which engines are better at what type of positions? Is Deep Junior best at unclear sacrifices?, Rybka best for positional play?, Schredder best for endgames?
2) Which engines understand different pawn structures better, e.g. which is the best engine to study a stonewall-structure game and which is best for a King's Indian Mar de Plata game?
3) How to interpret the engine value for the position? e.g. if I, say as White, sac a pawn and the evaluation is -0.1, that is less that 1 pawn, does this mean I have enough positional compensation for the pawn?
4) Which engines take long-term weaknesses into their evaluations, even if they can't see anything concrete within their horizon?
5) Which free engines are worth consulting? toga? stockfish? Glaurung? thinker? Which of these are good for complex positions, which for quiet ones?
6) Are there any engines which improve their play during time, that is they learn? e.g. if in a position guiding the engine by hand proves that another move than its preferred one is best, will it be able to spot the move again, if the same position is re-entered?
7) Which is the best interface for analysis?
8) Is there a page with statistics of how each engine performs in every opening?
Thanks!
Ahsan Aah (2009-11-16 16:23:21)
Its my first game How can i make a move
I am seeing the game but unable to make the first move.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-11-17 09:05:44)
Bill Gates, chess and Go
Billionaire Bill Gates cites go as one of his personal failures. "When I was young... I wanted to be the world's best chess player and, of course, I didn't succeed. I wanted to be the world's best Go player, too...so I've had plenty of disappointments", Gates said in his 1997 book, Bill Gates Speaks: Insight from the world's greatest entrepreneur (page 227)
http://books.google.com/books?id=Qoho6AIXTksC
Just read in the AGA newsletter.
Did he really try ? Any FIDE or AGA rating ? :)
Thibault de Vassal (2009-11-17 18:35:09)
Shocking news..... Marc Lacrosse is dead
I just discovered the news when searching the web, as I had no answer from Marc by any way.....
http://www.enaos.net/P1230.aspx?IdPer=129725&IdAN=70997
Marc Lacrosse is dead in Profondeville on august 13, 2009. He was aged of 48. I have very few doubts, he is the Marc Lacrosse we played and enjoyed with... The dates & informations match.
My thoughts go to his family of course, that's appalling :(
Thibault de Vassal (2009-11-17 23:27:59)
Wch 7 Group N 01 (chess)
As it was impossible to build one or two new groups in coherence with existing groups with the players who entered the chess wch waiting list lately, I had to build a special group that I called N_01 .. somewhere between M_01 & regular groups. Most probably 3 or 4 players from this group will be qualified for stage 2.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-11-19 11:43:05)
Magnus Carlsen is blitz world champion
Magnus Carlsen confirms he is in course for the chess world champion title ! He wins the blitz world championship in Moscow by 3 points ahead of world champion Viswanathan Anand.
1. Carlsen 31/42
2. Anand 28/42
3. Karjakin 25/42
4. Kramnik 24.5/42
John Smith (2009-11-19 12:28:12)
Chessbase & FICGS
Hi all,
Is it possible to connect to FICGS directly through chessbase 10?
Thanks!
Wayne Lowrance (2009-11-20 21:52:39)
E-mail notifications
Thibault what in the world did I do to get FICS emails daily. I did not used to get any. now it"s bugging me
Wayne
Thibault de Vassal (2009-11-24 12:37:53)
Cards shown at showdown?
A friend of mine just told me that both players cards may/should be shown at showdown (only after the river - the 5th shared card), like in casinos and a few other well known servers, but not all of them.
It would be a well known rule at poker texas holdem that avoids certain ways to cheat. I'm not sure I completely understood the interest in head's up like here, but I would be curious to know your opinion on this point if you have one.
Thanks in advance!
Thibault de Vassal (2009-11-25 14:10:56)
Obama, Hu Jintao and Go
President Barack Obama offered a Go set (a Go board made in US. & a set of jade weiqi stones from China contained in glass bowls made in US.) to Chinese President Hu Jintao when he met him last week.
http://bbs.eweiqi.com/read.php?tid=100070030&fpage=3
Quite symbolic, but what is exactly the symbol... :)
Thibault de Vassal (2009-11-27 19:30:34)
Ivanchuk may quite professional chess
What's wrong with Vassily Ivanchuk ? In his interview in Chessbase news, he says he may quit professional chess because of this match lost to an unknown player... Not only a match, a "crucial" match he said (like any other?), but it seems to me that there are a lot of things hidden behind the words. Maybe it's just time for him to change his life, at least I hope it is so simple.
End of the interview : "I only feel that the world has crashed down around me. Everyone is against me, and I don't see the way out…"
Strange...
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5941
Nick Burrows (2009-11-29 03:19:18)
What would Kasparov's Ficgs rating be?
Just out of curiosity, are there any educated guesses as to what Gary Kasparov's Ficgs rating would be if he played seriously but without any computer analysis?
I noticed GM Nigel Davies played here and his rating was in the 2300's and i suspect without computer assistance, though i'm not at all sure about that.
Kasparov = 2500??
Thibault de Vassal (2009-11-29 17:18:44)
Viktor Korchnoi and castling
Just noticed this funny story in a Wikipedia article :)
"Viktor Korchnoi, in his 1974 Candidates final match with Anatoly Karpov, famously asked the arbiter if castling was legal when the castling rook was under attack. The answer was in the affirmative, and Korchnoi ended up winning the game."
Most probably a psychological attack, like often at this time and particularly during the matches Karpov vs. Korchnoi ;) Everybody knows the yoghourt story...
Pavel Hase (2009-11-30 15:20:51)
Big Chess
I not can find complette rules.
Whitout castling?
And en passant?
Probably change figur value:
My guess, if N=3 (slow for board 16x16), then B=5-6, R=10-12, Q=22-30 ....
Thibault de Vassal (2009-12-01 15:02:11)
Fixed poker bug (rare case)
There may have been a bug in a few poker games, provoking the loss of the game without any "obvious" reason.
As a reminder for myself it happened here :
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=32014&move=1338
This is where PHP is magic, sometimes '1' == '1-0' , sometimes not (the operator === is useful then), according to the way the variables are calculated. I fell into the trap... Now it should be ok. I verified several thousand games without this problem but do not hesitate to warn me if you noticed something strange in one of your games.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-12-02 14:21:48)
Marc Lacrosse memorial
Dear chessfriends, the waiting list for the next chess thematic tournament is open, this thematic #100 will be named the Marc Lacrosse memorial in honor of our lost chessfriend, we will play one of his favorite openings, the Basman Sale sicilian : 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5
Best wishes,
Thibault
Thibault de Vassal (2009-12-02 17:50:27)
Major update : Go openings (joseki)
A major update just occured, finished FICGS Go games (chess & poker as well) are now analyzed by the server that gives the name of each known joseki [the first 2 moves at the moment] played in each corner, sometimes it also gives the way it should be played...
See an example at the bottom of this page :
http://www.ficgs.com/game_2481.html
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=2481
Finished games are not analyzed in real time, but this update opens new perspectives to see one day a function to search games by joseki.
Please do not hesitate to comment this update or to report any bug you may see.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-12-02 18:28:19)
Major update : Chess openings & endgames
A major update just occured, finished FICGS chess games (Go & poker as well) are now analyzed by the server that gives the name of each known opening & classifies the games by endgames, castlings & promotions !
Best, now you can find games by material on the board (like Chessbase) for endgames with less than 10 pieces. Just click "Search games" in the menu, eg. enter KRPP vs. KRP (whatever the order of the letters & colors), and you'll find among others this game (see the description of the game at the bottom of the page) :
http://www.ficgs.com/game_3724.html
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=3724
Note : Finished games are not analyzed in real time, but this update clearly opens new perspectives :)
Please do not hesitate to comment this update or to report any bug you may see.
Scott Nichols (2009-12-03 06:35:24)
E-Points
Hello Thibault, After having been a member here for a few years, I've been fortunate enough to collect a few E-points. There is a small problem, there is nothing to spend them on! Can you come up with ideas to correct this?, e.g., Tournaments with entry fee, books and chess equipment, wild women etc.? :) Any ideas out there...
Scott Nichols (2009-12-06 11:16:37)
Multiple nicknames?
Hello Thib, I have a feeling some people use more than one nickname here, if it is true, is it legal?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-12-06 16:45:22)
Idea to avoid DMD at Poker holdem
Maybe an idea to avoid the "Dead Man Defence" at poker... I feel that this is not employed really often actually (at 2000+ ratings at least) as it is not at the player's advantage after a while but it may be an improvement anyway.
The idea is to keep the same time control but to force players to play a certain pending move before to play a new move in his other games again. In example, I have a pending move in poker games 1,2,5,6 : I play my move in games 1 & 2, my opponents play their moves, then I cannot play in games 1 & 2 again (the symbol in My games wouldn't be "!" but "#") before I played the other moves. Atually it wouldn't be so simple as it may be quite uncomfortable at every move, but something like this if I can detect real DMD.
What do you think about it? BTW did you notice that some of your opponents may use DMD while playing other games?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-12-08 21:58:39)
Magnus Carlsen vs. Pat Cash
Great idea, a chess champion plays with a tennis legend to promote the tourney (and the player).. way to go !
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5969
Too bad, I did not find the result of the tennis match :)
Daniel Parmet (2009-12-10 02:43:45)
Rent Rybka 4 for $1200
So I heard Vas is intending to rent Rybka 4 for $1200... is this true? If so... what meteor fried his brains?
Wayne Lowrance (2009-12-11 21:08:34)
clock implementation
Hello Thibault. In my tournament SM11 my clock increment may not have been added after first 10 moves in all my games. If you have a time stamp would you please examine it. My remaining days left does not suggest that 40 moves have been added at end of the 10 move slot in my games. Knowing my operating habits it sure sound wrong.
Understand this please, unless you can verify with time stamp or whatever I do not want any adjustments. I will play as the remaining time in each game remains. Wayne
Vjacheslav Perevozchikov (2009-12-14 18:18:34)
support for XFCC
Hi Tibault!
Do you plan to implement this great feature - http://www.xfcc.org/ ?
New Aquarium 2010 and «old» CB10 both support it.
Anthony Ibbitson (2009-12-15 20:22:07)
How to join a game?
How do I join a game on here? It would seem that I can only join tournaments?!
Thibault de Vassal (2009-12-16 12:16:51)
Free chess pictures
You may have noticed that some random Go pictures (from 3dGo) now appear next to the chat bar and on the home pages...
Feel free to tell me if you know nice galleries of chess (or even poker) pictures. If I can obtain the permission of the author I'll be glad to publish some here.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-12-16 15:31:55)
Go game 3D
What a headache... :)
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~hq8y-ishm/3dgo/3dgo.html
Did anyone see a variant of Go on a 2d board with triangles, pentagons or hexagons ?
Must be interesting.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-12-20 14:23:36)
Boris Spassky vs. Viktor Korchnoi
Entitled the "Battle of the Giants", a match just started in Elista (Kalmykia) between the 10th World Champion Boris Spassky (aged of 72), and Viktor Korchnoi (now aged of 78, multiple World Championship challenger mainly during the Karpov era, but still active in competitive play).
Korchnoi won the first game, game two ended in a draw. This kind of match is always a pleasure to follow for long time chess fans :)
Here is the first game !
Josef Riha (2009-12-21 10:47:56)
Sorry to all my opponents...
... for the long delay. I was moving and it needs much more time as expected.
Unfortunately takes the internet-connection also much more time until it works again.
Sorry for inconvenience.
With greetings, Josef.
Hannes Rada (2009-12-23 20:35:19)
Merry Christmas !
Merry Christmas !
Feliz Navidad !
Frohe Weihnachten !
to all FICGS members !
Please add season's greetings in a few more languages ..(Italian, French,....)
Thibault de Vassal (2009-12-23 21:08:35)
Curious opening
What do you think about this opening (by Luc Olivier Leclerc in Wikichess) ?
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=wikichess&article=8732
1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 c5 3.c4 d4 4.b4
Complex.. may be a future thematic ;)
Hannes Rada (2009-12-23 22:37:34)
Christmas Thread Bug ?
This topic is closed, as no response has been made for more than 365 days.
I mean the Merry Christmas thread ??!!
Thibault de Vassal (2009-12-24 14:28:18)
USCF / FIDE & other ratings
Hi all,
As you know FIDE / ICCF / IECG ratings can be accepted as provisional or established (in the case of ICCF & IECG) ratings at FICGS. I cannot even remember why USCF ratings weren't accepted so far, it should be the case soon. As far as I can remember, the only point is that USCF_rating ~ FIDE_rating + 100 or the other way.
Do you know other official rating lists (that are not included in FIDE & USCF) available on the internet that should be considered ?
Same question for Go, it seems to me that only AGA & EGF ratings are available on the internet. Do you know if chinese, japanese & korean ratings are available as well ?
Pablo Schmid (2009-12-26 22:21:54)
Rating calculation
Hello Thibault, j'aurais préféré parler en français mais puisque je suis sur le forum...
Could you explain how exactly chess rating's calculation works in ficgs?
And I think games with 10 moves or less should be counted, maybe not every games but sometimes 8 or 9 moves can be sufficient to punish someone (nice miniatures or quick mates are possibles) and it enables the loser to resign (or be mated) without losing points. An example of an abusive situation: imagine I play the Traxler and I resign before 10 moves if I see a good choosed line by my opponent which I don't like to play as Black because I know I might suffer or even lose...
J'espère que je t'aurai convaincu et que mon exemple ne donnera pas de mauvaises idées! Sur ce, bonnes fêtes, Pablo
Thibault de Vassal (2009-12-27 20:20:33)
Bergmann - Schuster
One of these matches we like to watch :) .. many interesting games and many wins, but I'm afraid it is a good advertisement for the sicilian defense once more, Hannes please help ;)
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=tournament&tournament=FICGS__CHESS__WCH_QUARTER_FINAL_3__000007
Wayne Lowrance (2009-12-29 00:56:03)
Rybka demise
Howdy all. I feel like voicing my opinion of Vas and Rybka. I honestly feel his hold on the chess community has weakened to the point of breaking. He has his problems. His source code apparently has been compromized. This has led him to not releasing a Rybka3+ as promised. The release of Rybka4 is very cloudy. Then there is this cloud Rybka internet rentel thing that is supported by no one it seems, me for sure.
Anyways this is just back drop for recent developments in free software engines that are very strong and are pushing R3 in ratings. I am thinking about the following engines, that I have downloaded and find very interesting AND strong :
Stockfish 1.6
Brite 0.4A
Spark 0.3
I have minimal experience with these engines. I just want all my friend here on FICGS to be aware of them and if interested they can download them and be on equal footing. My wish is for better chess and I have no ambition to have secret progams.
The important thing I feel is that the loss of Rybka engine does not put much of dent in play quality. It was gonna happen sooner or later, and now it seems sooner.
My honest evaluation today is that Rybka3 still provides the best insite to best mid game play.
I want to put in a word for Zappa. I fairly often use Zappa as my CC engine partner because of better end game analysis. Rybka has no peer in mid game analysis. Well I share these thought with you all for what it may be worth. Best 2010 Cheers. Wayne
Thibault de Vassal (2009-12-29 19:50:45)
RobboLito vs. Rybka 3
What are RobboLito, Ippolit and Igorrit ? It looks like these names are invading computer chess forums... As you may have read in the discussion mentioned below, the Rybka 3's source code may have been compromised and these engines "may" be clones of Rybka 3 (everyone does not agree on this). Good or really bad news, anyway this open source chess engine may have many consequences on the computer chess world, and correspondence chess as well...
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=forum_read&id=8031
From the wikispace mentioned below :
IPPOLIT : Intellectual Persons Promotion Of Leninist International Tradesunions (!??)
Q. What is RobboLito?
A. RobboLito is the version of IPPOLIT that now contains endgame tablebases, the RobboBases.
A few links on RobboLito 0.085f1a, Ippolit & Igorrit (says it all IMO) :
http://ippolit.wikispaces.com/
http://ippolit.wikispaces.com/RobboLito
http://ippolit.wikispaces.com/Igorrit
http://ippolit.wikispaces.com/FAQ
see also : ippolit.wikispaces.com/Clone+(Question)
http://ippolit.wikispaces.com/News
-> IPPOLIT banned from chessprogramming wiki!
PlayChess banned IPPOLIT from use online also.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r_V_QkmHjo
http://www.chesslogik.com/robbolito.htm
http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/free-chessengine-robbolito-is-1-at-swisstest-rybka-2?lc=1
http://www.cyclonechess.com/rybka3.htm
"RobboLito is an open-source UCI chess engine by: Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin, Igor Igorovich Igoronov, and Roberto Pescatore."
RobboLito does not yet support: multiPV, own book, egbbs, tablebases, multiple CPUs/cores, chess variants
Estimated rating: ~ 3300 ELO
Available versions:
RobboLito 0.085g3 w32 (optimized windows 32-bit executable and source code)
RobboLito_0.085g3_w32_no_SSE2 (optimized windows 32-bit executable - for older CPUs that don't support Intel SSE2 instruction set)
RobboLito 0.085g3_x64 (fast windows 64-bit PGO executable compiled by peterpan)
RobboLito 0.085g3l_x86 (optimized linux 64-bit executable and source code ported to linux by unisky)
http://www.cyclonechess.com/robbolito.htm
http://www.cyclonechess.com/rybka3.htm
http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1261597025/4
http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1258991841
http://queenchess.blogspot.com/2009/11/fritz-12-vs-robbolito-e2-latest-version.html
http://lefounumerique.xooit.com/next?t=663 (french)
Thibault de Vassal (2009-12-31 20:20:07)
Happy new year 2010
Happy new year everyone, my best wishes for 2010, plenty of good games :)
Scott Nichols (2010-01-05 05:06:18)
Poker Software?
This has come up alot recently. I'm sure there are many claims by new programs that tout their analytical ability. Sure they could give you the best statistical move, but could they bluff? I think their play would be predictable and easy to beat. I don't use them and wouldn't trust them. Just one man's opinion, any others?
Wayne Lowrance (2010-01-07 00:40:28)
Fed Up
I am sick and tired of all this forbidden stuff. Hell everyone here knows who the clone is, if it is a clone. Chess for us is a hobby, for Vas it is his income, but he is gonna have to deal with it, as he is with the cloud idea. If he has a legal case with certain developments then he should put up or shut up. This not gonna be popular with all the rybka chess nurds on the Rybka forum, it is just the position I have slowly grown into. Vas has made promises which he cannot/will not honor. So I show him no Honor. I am making reference to all the deleted, hush hush bickering and restrictions of naming suspected Rybka clones.
Wayne
Rodolfo d Ettorre (2010-01-10 10:53:48)
Accept Draw and resign......
Hi Thibault, I have not tried it for obvious reasons, but what happens when I check Resign and Accetpt Draw at the same time?
Thibault de Vassal (2010-01-12 09:28:43)
Problem with auto-refresh in My games ?
Hello all,
Two players reported a problem for the "My games" page when both 'pending' & 'poker games' (click the icon next to "Here are your pending games") are selected and only in this case. The page wouldn't auto-refresh correctly when there's a new move to play.
As it works fine for me, I would like to know if other players experience the same problem.
Thank you!
Paolo Montrasio (2010-01-20 17:41:37)
No newsletter
How do you opt out from receiving newsletters?
Kamesh Nookala (2010-01-24 19:34:39)
Resign before 10th move
Hello HOST,
I didnt know about this forum earlier and posted in the International Chat. I am sorry for that stupid mistake of mine. But the problem which i faced now is this. There is a guy whom i defeated in all 4 meetings where i played vs. him. This poor guy found me yet again and having known by now that he cant beat me, he simply resigned. I have no grievance against him. But in my very first Rapid B tour here at ficgs, i got an advantage of +-1.00 (approx.) vs. a player who simply resigned after my white 10th move. This meant that though I am awarded with a win, yet because my opponent resigned simply instead of playing the 10th move, he denied me earning some elo. That also implies that he saved his elo by simply resigning.
I dont know much above this site as i am pretty new to this. However, i have been already a victim of this sort of activities. For e.g., I could simply resign when i play bad openings and evals dip before 10th move and i can simply save my elo. That means i can simply resign vs. Big Guys as Black and play as Black only vs. weak players.
Just thought to express my views. Rest upto the moderators
Daniel Parmet (2010-01-26 01:01:46)
SuperGMs watch Corr?!
Carlsen mentioned to the media after his game with Shirov that the improvement in the game of 22... Bc3 was taken from a Correspondence game he found. (Carlsen's own old novelty was 22... Be5 where he lost to Shirov). This is at least the third time i've heard Carlsen using correspondence games for his own opening research and I know also Peter Leko does this. How many supergms you think are accessing all the correspondence sites around the world looking at our opening ideas?! Cute thought!
Don Groves (2010-01-26 06:42:48)
Kasparov article on computers in chess
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/23592?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Emailmarketingsoftware&utm_content=854563622&utm_campaign=February112010issue+_+olrukk&utm_term=TheChessMasterandtheComputer
Thibault de Vassal (2010-01-26 16:24:43)
Go chinese rules : should pass count?
A player just told me that in chinese rules for the game of Go, consecutive pass change the score of the game (thus in some cases the winner as well), I just visited a few websites that do not even mention this rule that is taken in account by some Go programs.
In my opinion it does not have any sense to link this to the score of the game, but I may be wrong... Does anyone have an opinion on this and clear examples that show it should be taken (or not) here at FICGS ?
I'll add a word on this in the rules after it is clearer to me.
Thanks in advance!
Thibault de Vassal (2010-01-27 09:18:36)
Wijk aan Zee 2010
Finally, the tournament is now open again in Wijk aan Zee group A, after that Alexei Shirov won consecutively his first 5 games with a comfortable lead, Vladimir Kramnik finally catched him at 6.5/9 after a win over Magnus Carlsen with Black pieces.
Here is the game :
In group B, A. Giri leads by 6.5/9, in group C, Li Chao leads by 6.5/9 as well.
Zholy Zhou (2010-01-29 03:22:40)
make cool 3D flash banners for website
Recently I've been asked by a friend who wants to make a 3D flash banner for his website of wedding business. Many people included me thought that making a 3D flash banner is a very difficult thing for those who don't know flash skills, but I should say it's not like what you think if you have got a 3D flash banner making software Aneesoft 3D Flash Gallery.
This article will show you how to create a cool 3D flash banner without Adobe Flash. A viewer can click on the banner to be transported to your website. You can use it on your own website to present your products or services. Also flash banners can be used to market your website as a banner ad on another website. A flash banner is much more attractive than still images. I bet you'll be agree with me if you see the 3D flash banner.
What you'll need:
1. Digital photos and background music for 3D flash banner
2. Aneesoft 3D Flash Gallery(http://www.aneesoft.com/win-3d-flash-gallery.html)
Step 1: Download & install Aneesoft 3D Flash Gallery
We'll be using a very nice 3D flash banner making software 'Aneesoft 3D Flash Gallery' to making a cool flash banner for wedding websites, head over here and download the free trial version(http://www.aneesoft.com/download/win/aneesoft-3d-flash-gallery.exe). Next step is to install the program.
Step 2: Import wedding photos, add captions, edit photos
You can add up to 500 photos that you want to use in your flash banner, type in caption and arrange the photos here. 3D Flash Gallery supports a wide range of file formats for images, such as .jpg, .bmp, .gif. You're able to add hyperlink for each photo of your flash banner to be transported to your website.
Step 3: Choose from a variety of flash banner templates
3D Flash Gallery offer you an easy way to make a cool flash banner by choosing from variety of flash banner templates. A flash banner template automatically put preset decoration to your flash banners. When you select a preset banner template, you're able to enhance it by customizing some additional settings, such as background, thumbnail effects, playback options and scrolling actions. For the adventurous users, explore the powerful advanced features and tools that gives you total control over how you compose your flash banners.
Step 4: Add some background music files to flash banner
In this step, you can add background music files to play along with your flash banner. To do so, click Add Music button to browse and add your music files. You can add, remove and edit the music files. And you may check the option to control the background music looping or not.
Step 5: Preview and publish your cool 3D flash banners
It is advisable that you preview the 3D flash banner at least once, before your publish it. Click and drag mouse for scrolling and tilting the 3D flash banner. Click on the thumbnail to zoom in and out the photos. You have several options to share and publish your 3D photo gallery. It depends on your needs.
Lazaro Munoz (2010-01-29 06:05:09)
Piece Values in Big Chess
I am amazed at the number of opponents that are still applying piece value from regular chess in big chess.
I made some regression analysis based on what we value in regular chess in terms of mobility and applied to big chess. Using the pawn and knight as the standard since in both games 3 pawns will probably beat a knight (if they are separated far enough). I assigned the pawn the value of 1 and and knight a value of 3 and extrapolated variables that we seem to use in valuing the other pieces such as number of squares it can reach, and penalty for being stuck on the same color.
I got the following values:
Pawn=1
Knight=3
Bishop=7 **
Rook=9
Queen=16
** The bishop value changes by pairs available, for example 4 white square bishops don't even come close to value 2 white squares and 2 black squares bishops so this is best value but it can go down to 6 or even 5 as pairs are lost.
Interesting, just like in chess a rook+bishop almost equals a queen and two rooks beat a queen. And a queen equals the value of the pawns (ok similar).
I still find opponents who exchange bishops for knights with impunity, not knowing the true values of the pieces.
I notice that nobody has ever mentioned this. I hope I did not give out some deep secret.
Of course you mileage may vary.
--laz
Thibault de Vassal (2010-02-05 21:48:48)
Advanced games : Problems & solutions
Hi all,
There's a real problem with the advanced games so far, anyone who tested it lost on time at least once without having played and/or won a game because his opponent forgot to play or to retire from the waiting list.
The challenges partly solves the problem as the program verifies if both players are connected to the server (also I added some warning messages explaining how to use the advanced games) but it seems it is far to be enough.....
Anyway I agree that a web interface is not really designed to such games, particularly when it is hard to find an opponent for these games (which is probably the main problem).
Whatever the way, both opponents should probably be able to discuss just before their game in the chat bar, so one solution would be to verify if the players wrote (or even posted a kind of "start" message) in the chat bar during the last few minutes, it would be a way to be "SURE" that both players are ready to play, even if I'm not sure that it would be enough again.
In my opinion, no more advanced game should start if both opponents did not confirm their presence to the other player in the chat bar.
Any opinion on this ? Any other idea to solve this ?
Thanks in advance and sorry again to all players who experienced this.
Hannes Rada (2010-02-06 10:52:37)
E. Kotlyanskiy new FICGS chess champion
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=tournament&tournament=FICGS__CHESS__WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP__000003
Congratulation to the new champ !
and to a lot of very intersting games !
Henri-Louis Muller (2010-02-08 09:19:50)
temps de reflexion !
j'ai l'impression que certaines pendules de mes adversaires fonctionnent à l'envers. Hier un joueur qui n'a plus répondu depuis plus de 3 semaines, avait encore 3 jours de disponibles . Ce jour, le lendemain donc, sa pendule était remontée à 4 jours ( au lieu de 2 !!) !!! Dröle de décompte. Quelqu'un a-t-il déjà constaté de tels faits ??
Nigel Colter (2010-02-09 11:42:18)
Clock not running
Hi Thibault
I have noticed that the clock is not running in games 37213 and 37316.
Please advise.
Regards
Nigel
Peter Unger (2010-02-18 16:27:33)
implementation of the XFCC protocol
Is FICGS compatible with the XFCC protocol? I ask because Aquarium 2010 update 4.03 has implemented.
see: http://www.chesscafe.com/chessok/chessok.htm
Svante Carl von Erichsen (2010-02-21 02:51:44)
Learning Go
Recently, someone asked how to learn Go, or who would teach Go, on the side bar chat. The question and my answer has been removed from there, so I'll post some hints here.
First, to learn the rules, I would recommend "The Interactive Way to Go" at http://playgo.to/iwtg/en
To learn playing, play as much as possible, first on small boards (9x9), then going to bigger ones (13x13, 19x19) when you feel that you can keep track of the game there. Play with proper handicaps to keep the game even and improve your feeling for the board.
Teaching can take the form of simple game reviews, where the stronger player analyzes a single game and shows the weakest points and how to correct them; the "Go Teaching Ladder" organizes a lot of such reviews (http://gtl.xmp.net). It can also be done in interactive sessions; these require either face to face contact or a "live" server, though (e.g. KGS at http://gokgs.com). It is generally thought that the teacher should be about 5 stones stronger than the pupil.
Especially in the beginning, the advice is to play, play, play, and not be too fixated on ranks or winning percentages.
Daniel Parmet (2010-02-21 23:37:28)
Rating calculation
When you go to calculate a game's rating is it based off the rating of the players when the game started or when it ended since this can be radically different.
Garvin Gray (2010-02-22 08:37:37)
E-point tournament
Been thinking about this for a while. Do you think it would be worthwhile to offer a tournament where there is an e-point entry fee?
For instance, Seven player entry, entry fee is ten e points and the winner receives 65 or so e points. I would like to see it at least tried once.
Teudis Naranjo (2010-02-23 04:03:55)
Go
How to play in the tournaments of in this sites?
Garvin Gray (2010-02-24 11:21:51)
Ficgs clock setting
Hello Thibault,
The ficgs clock seems to be 'out' by ten minutes ie it is always ten minutes in front. If it is 10 past the hour by my clock, the ficgs clock will say it is 20 past. This happens regardless of what time of day it is.
Has anyone else noticed this?
Pablo Schmid (2010-02-24 18:46:11)
Conditional moves
Hello Thibault, I don't know if that proposition has been made in the past, but there are somes servers that use conditionnal moves, it's an useful tool to win time for both players on forced moves. Do you think it would be possible to put that fonction in ficgs?
Je profite au passage pour te demander ce que tu penses finalement du règlement sur 3 fois la même position.
Iouri Basiliev (2010-02-25 10:55:16)
mate in N moves. Game is going on :)
Could someone explain to me the reason to play a game for monthes, when there is mate in 7 moves for example? Any engine will found it in a seconds. Any player above 1200 elo understand immediately...
Lazaro Munoz (2010-02-27 16:46:21)
Hosting tournaments
Would FICGS be able to host a closed group tournament? For instance lets say some chess club, or group wants to have a tournament. Could they, after getting themselves an id on FICGS send you a request to create a tournament for that group?
As an enhancement for the future you might want to create a group(s) concept that can be stored in each users profile, so that one can in the future create group tournaments that are open to that group. Since this site is built in the spirit of openess it need not be enforced but people should understand that some groups many not want to be so open so they should request it from someone, so maybe the group info should have the user and email of the moderator for that group who will give the ok to join the group.
For instance some groups may want specific language so they converse in their native language in the chat box, or geographic area. Or even opening specialist can create thematic openings (although it could get tricky there if someones enters one these thematic groups and decides to play a different opening).
There really isn't anything like it for free anywhere, ICCF will host tournaments however they charge a fee, for instance.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-03-03 14:31:19)
Chess is...
The title says it all (the best anwers may be added to the FICGS quotes file) :
According to you, chess is....
Thibault de Vassal (2010-03-03 14:32:13)
Go (weiqi) is...
The title says it all (the best anwers will be added to the FICGS quotes file) :
According to you, Go (weiqi) is....
Thibault de Vassal (2010-03-03 14:32:47)
Poker is...
The title says it all (the best anwers may be added to the FICGS quotes file) :
According to you, poker is....
Wayne Lowrance (2010-03-06 04:21:56)
Help : Tablebases, Rybka 3
I recently had a power failure that crushed my comp. I re installed vista.
Have trouble with R3 executing tablebases.
In a nut shell here is what I can tell you:
My table bases are located on hard drive D:(My Chess- tablebase).
I am pointing to that location for R3 to look for tablebases.
Here is what happens: Using Infinite analysis my pv's are getting TB hits but are not showing the solution path.
Am I missing some file ? some file misplaced ? MY bases are on D, R3 is on C, dont think that is a problem.
I sure could use some help
Thank you
Wayne
Thibault de Vassal (2010-03-07 20:35:54)
Great day for FICGS (and for me :)) !
Hello all...
As you may know, I built the major part of FICGS with a 33 kbps (actually more looking like a 5 to 8 kbps) broadband which is very very slow, even slower than the prehistorical modems... Internet is definitely not a priority in the french campaign (by the way, looks like nothing is not a priority anymore in the french campaign)
Since today, I've got 2 Mbps anyway (thanks to WiMax and Powerline technologies), which means several things :
- Regular freestyle cups (finally !)
- New improvements more regularly.
- I can play advanced chess :)
After a few days of vacation, I should be more active on the server, definitely :)
Lazaro Munoz (2010-03-10 12:34:40)
Tournament Leaders
I am confused. In my section FICGS_CHESS_CLASS_C_000127 I have a full point lead and have had this lead for several weeks, yet I am listed as co-leader with another player (Panov) [I am not complaining, just confused]. I know that I have completed a game more than Panov. Is this 'leadership' based on total points? If so it has a bug; if it is based on points gained vs points loss then we are tied (just like every player would be at the beginning of the tournament). Btw, my game against Panov was a draw, I don't if that goes into the calculation and we both have a game in progress against the same opponent.
Daniel Parmet (2010-03-11 00:41:07)
Poker Min Bid
I don't think you should be able to bid less than the blind... bidding one when the blind is two seems wrong.
Lazaro Munoz (2010-03-13 16:18:17)
English translation
Not to nitpick, but I have seen a lot of references to "inferior" or "superior" when specify ratings or rate of play. In English "inferior" or "superior" are measures of "quality" not "quantity". In English we do not that a rating or rate of play is inferior to another instead we say that it is "less than" or "greater than" depending on whether the first item is larger than second.
If you told a man that his height was "less than" yours he might be slighted but might accept the truth, if it is true; however if you told him that his height was "inferior" to yours, you better get ready to be punched in the face or more likely, if his height really was "less than" yours, be ready to be kicked in the groin area.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-03-13 21:57:01)
Anatoly Karpov next FIDE president ?
The former chess world champion Anatoly Karpov announced his candidature to become the next FIDE president, surely it would be a first step to change the negative image of FIDE in the world and to attract new sponsors... It may be something more than to change a visage for FIDE. What do you think ?
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6179
Thibault de Vassal (2010-03-16 10:37:01)
Interview with E. Kotlyanskiy
Congrats again to Edward Kotlyanskiy, new FICGS chess champion after beating Xavier Pichelin (2577) in the 12 games final match of the 3rd cycle.
Edward kindly accepted to answer a few questions on his match and correspondence chess in general :
_________________________
> Hi Edward, first of all congratulations for winning this 12 games match against the former FICGS chess champion, Xavier Pichelin. You had to score at least one point more than your opponent, what was your strategy when the games started?
Knowing that I had to score at least +1 against Xavier, I had to try to get the games into complex positions where there are many options to play for both sides. At the point when the games started, I was the underdog to Xavier (mainly due to the face that I was rated about 200 points lower). In part, I think that one of the reasons why Xavier allowed the games to reach such complex positions is due to the fact that his rating was undoubtedly higher than mine and therefore he probably assumed that he could “outplay” me. Although this was simultaneously a brave and admirable choice, I think an option that many other players would have pursued would have been to play “drawish” lines with the hope of having all of the games ending in draws. I have great respect for Xavier due to the fact that he didn't choose such a path and allowed us to put on a hard fought show that was worth watching.
> What could you say on the hot moments of the match?
The first game in which I thought I had very good chances to win was game 34739. In this game (particularly on move 18) Xavier played the move Nb8?? Looking back at the move, I realized that the game was lost for him. I assumed that Xavier probably underestimated the threat of f5. There were no good responses and/or countermeasures for the move f5. For example, if 19) gxf5, I have 20) Nxh5 Nc6 21) Rc3! Bxh4 (Qd8 was also possible) 22) Qf4 Be7 23) g4! His king is just clearly caught in the attack! 19) exf5 also fails to 20) e6 f6 (trying to keep the king safe) 21) Bxh5!! gxh5 22) Nc6 Rc3 and therefore it’s easy to see that it is just a matter of time. Xavier did try something better although even that failed due to some nice moves. I believe that 21) g7 came as a surprise to Xavier (or that at least he hadn't seen this move when playing Nb8). After Nxh5 (another neat move), another line that I thought Xavier would enter (which is also losing) is 22) Qxc2 23) Qxc2 Rxc2 24) Nf6+! Bxf6 25) exf6. Clearly my pawns are just too strong! Knowing that I am winning after the mentioned alternatives, the other games (although I won three others) were just necessary to hold without falling for any tactics/tricks.
A second game I want to briefly comment on is game 34729. I played a very nice (although I am not sure if it is winning just yet) move known as 17.a4! It was a very nice way to open the position on both of our kings. In all honesty, the move that I think was winning in this situation 25) Rd3, I did not even consider too highly until the position reached that very move. After a relatively short analysis, I was indeed pleasantly surprised to see that; overall, it was completely winning for me.
> What could you say on the advantages and inconveniences of this 12 games match format played at a quite fast time control?
From the days when I first starting playing correspondence chess, I have always been accustomed to making moves rather quickly. In fact, when I first started playing, in some games I made moves within 10 minutes of looking at the position. Although I take a lot more time to analyze now-a-days, I still consider the speed of my play to be relatively faster compared to most other correspondence players. Playing 12 games simultaneously can have drawbacks as not having enough time to properly analyze; however, I didn't have such a problem. With the exception of a few games that I was playing on IECG at the start of the FICGS Championship, the 12 game series was my main concern.
> Without revealing your secrets, how would you define modern correspondence chess as a centaur (playing with chess engines)?
These days, it is impossible to play correspondence chess on a high level without consulting the engine. It is also unlikely that one can achieve a lot of success just by following the engine blindly (even after a long analysis). Personally, I know that some of my friends believe that in correspondence chess you are just following the engine but I believe that most “high level” correspondence players know that it just doesn't work that way.
In my opinion, one of the most important skills that a correspondence player should have is having some sense of where the engine he is analyzing with is faulty. To give a well known example, many people know that there are certain endgame positions that an engine alone can't be trusted in (a simple case is the wrong color bishop). In essence, knowing the strengths and weaknesses of whatever engine you are analyzing with is critical to playing correspondence chess at a “high level”.
> Why did you choose to play correspondence chess, do you play OTB (over the board) chess as well?
Before starting correspondence chess, I played OTB chess for quite a few years. When my schedule became busy, I realized that I wouldn't have much time to play OTB in clubs. I came across correspondence chess and got hooked on it very quickly. Also, I began to enjoy more of the subtleties of the game; something that is just lacking in OTB blitz games. I imagine that some people prefer to play practical chess (OTB) in which a move order wouldn't make much of a difference; however, I guess I am a perfectionist and believe the game should be played on as high of a level as possible.
> How many correspondence games do you usually play at the same time (on different chess servers or by email)? Would you say that it is an addiction?
Usually, I played about 5 to 10 games on average on all different sites. I did play via email on IECC but wasn't fond of playing by email therefore I went back to server only sites (IECG, FICGS, Schemingmind).
I can definitely say that correspondence chess is an addiction. All too often, I catch myself analyzing games when I really should be doing something much more time sensitive. Well, at least I can say that this addiction paid off in that I am the new FICGS champion!
> Are you interested in other games?
As far as board games go, chess is primarily the only game I play. At times I do play games like monopoly and scrabble with my friends. Another interest that I have is billiards.
> The next challenger for the FICGS chess champion title is SM Eros Riccio (winner of several PlayChess PAL freestyle tournaments). Do you think that you'll play him? What does this perspective inspire in you?
I can't wait to play Eros! I believe that he would be my toughest opponent yet (although I have played GM Leitão, Rafael (fide elo: 2619) and managed to draw). Eros is like an unstoppable juggernaut in corr chess. That said, I look forward to our games and I am certain that they will simultaneously be challenging and entertaining.
> Thanks and best of luck in your future games!
Garvin Gray (2010-03-19 08:34:38)
Blitz time controls
Hello all,
I was wondering what others thought about this. I have just finished a match with Scott Nichols at blitz time controls ie 40 moves in 2 hours followed by 40 moves in 2 hours etc.
In my opinion, the second time period would be improved if it was 20 moves in 1 hour. The classical time control for the last 100 years or so has been 40 moves in (insert time here) followed by 20 moves in (insert time here).
In my match with Scott, it was quite common for the games to go only 50 moves or so, which meant we had 2 hours available for just ten moves or so.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-03-20 22:24:31)
Firebird, Ivanhoe vs. Rybka
Of course, since the free open source chess engine Ippolit is available, clones have appeared, starting with RobboLito & Igorrit, now Ivanhoe & Firebird, and some may be even stronger...
It seems that we still do not have any clue to know if Ippolit is itself a clone of Rybka or not, anyway it would interesting to compare these new engines.
Does anyone have any informations, tournament results or something for these new engines?
Thibault de Vassal (2010-03-21 01:13:54)
Freestyle Cup: April 2010
Dear chessfriends, the next FICGS chess freestyle cup waiting list is open until april 3. This 6 rounds swiss tournament will start on april 3, 13:00 server time (first three rounds, every 2 hours) and on april 10, 13:00 server time (last three rounds, every 2 hours). Prize is 100% of the entry fees in E-Points + 100 E-Points. FIDE GM & IM, FICGS / ICCF GM, SM & IM are invited to enter the waiting list for free, please just send a message to webmaster through My account page to register.
To enter the waiting list :
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=entry_tournament&tournament=ficgs_chess_cup
Feel free to reply here if you have any suggestions, I hope that this format (2 consecutive saturdays, 3 rounds per day) will be ok for the most !
Thibault de Vassal (2010-03-21 22:52:10)
SSDF rating list (march 2010)
The new SSDF rating list reveals at least one thing : Between an old Athlon 1200 and a modern Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, there is at least a 120 point gap. Unfortunately, Ippolit/Ivanhoe/Igorrit/Firebird are still out of the list.
SSDF RATING LIST 2010-03-21 %120316 games played by 311 computers
Rating + - Games Won Oppo
------ --- --- ----- --- ----
1 Deep Rybka 3 x64 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 3227 27 -25 1005 83% 2962
2 Naum 4 x64 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 3149 25 -23 986 74% 2963
3 Deep Shredder 12 x64 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 3124 26 -24 863 70% 2972
4 Deep Fritz 12 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 3117 37 -36 373 60% 3043
5 Deep Rybka 3 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 3090 39 -38 332 58% 3033
6 Deep Fritz 11 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 3081 22 -21 1142 68% 2946
7 Zappa Mexico II x64 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 3068 27 -26 696 59% 3002
8 Naum 3.1 x64 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 3052 30 -29 572 59% 2990
9 Deep Hiarcs 12 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 3039 22 -21 1087 61% 2958
10 Deep Shredder 11 x64 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 3038 26 -26 726 58% 2981
11 Hiarcs 11.2 MP 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 3010 25 -25 761 54% 2984
12 Glaurung 2.2 x64 MP 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 3007 22 -22 1001 60% 2933
13 Shredder 12 256MB A1200 MHz 3006 39 -39 320 45% 3040
14 Naum 4 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2998 29 -29 574 50% 2996
15 Deep Junior 10.1 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 2975 25 -25 766 48% 2992
16 Rybka 2.3.1 Arena 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2926 22 -22 964 52% 2912
17 Fritz 11 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2915 27 -27 669 47% 2935
18 Deep Fritz 8 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 2912 25 -26 753 39% 2991
19 Shredder 8 MP 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 2908 28 -29 603 39% 2984
20 Deep Shredder 11 256MB Athlon 1200 2907 30 -30 534 45% 2941
21 Hiarcs 11.1 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2879 23 -23 941 49% 2882
22 CM King 3.5 x64 MP 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 2866 31 -32 530 33% 2990
23 Junior 10.1 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2864 19 -20 1271 47% 2882
24 Deep Junior 8 2GB Q6600 2,4 GHz 2859 29 -30 589 36% 2961
25 Fritz 10 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2851 34 -33 458 64% 2749
26 Zap!Chess Z. 256MB Athlon 1200 MH 2842 21 -21 1060 50% 2840
27 Fruit 2.2.1 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2833 19 -19 1385 62% 2750
28 Spike 1.2 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2817 26 -26 714 57% 2766
29 Chess Tiger 2007 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2775 25 -26 748 46% 2805
29 Rybka 1.0 beta 128MB K6-2 450 MHz 2775 64 -69 115 38% 2860
31 Zap!Chess 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2737 30 -29 562 53% 2713
32 Gandalf 6.0 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2735 24 -24 855 56% 2693
33 Pocket Fritz 3 Hiarcs Ipaq 214 624 MHz 2733 64 -58 142 66% 2617
34 Chessmaster 9000 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2720 36 -35 385 56% 2680
35 Pro Deo 1.1 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2714 24 -23 876 57% 2660
36 Pocket Shredder Ipaq 114 624 MHz 2698 83 -70 100 74% 2520
37 Deep Sjeng 1.5a 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2675 31 -31 493 52% 2663
38 CEBoard Fruit 2.3.1 XScale 400 400 MHz 2647 65 -61 129 62% 2564
39 Revelation Rybka 2.2 XScale 500 MHz 2632 47 -45 240 62% 2549
39 Ruffian 2.0.0 256MB Athlon 1200 MHz 2632 49 -49 205 46% 2661
41 Pocket Fritz 3 Glaurung 2.1 Ipaq 614C 2528 69 -74 100 40% 2604
42 Pocket Fritz 2 XScale 400 MHz 2508 48 -46 225 57% 2459
43 Resurrection Rybka 2.2 StrongARM 203 MH 2484 43 -43 260 51% 2477
44 Resurrection Fruit '05 StrongARM 203 MH 2395 67 -63 120 60% 2320
45 Hiarcs 9.5a/9.6 Palm TungstenE OMAP 126 2392 35 -35 400 45% 2426
46 CEBoard Crafty 2004 HP RX4240 400 MHz 2375 52 -54 180 41% 2443
47 R30 v. 2.5 2274 41 -38 343 69% 2136
48 Palm Tiger 2009 Tung C 400 MHz 2229 66 -71 110 38% 2317
49 Chess Genius 1.4 SX1 OMAP 310 120 MHz 2151 50 -48 210 60% 2081
50 Chess Tiger 14.9 Palm m515 16MB 42MHz 2103 69 -74 100 39% 2182
Don Groves (2010-03-25 22:50:03)
Challenges
Thib: Please give us an option in Preferences to remove our name from the challenges lists.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-03-28 04:01:07)
Vasily Smyslov dies at 89
Vasily Vasiliyevich Smyslov (born March 24, 1921) was the 7th chess world champion, he beat Mikhail Botvinnik in the world championship match in 1957 and lost the title one year later.
He died on March 27, 2010.
(I must say I was surprised to learn he was still alive, another proof that chess is good for the health)
Daniel Parmet (2010-03-28 22:01:08)
Remove me from waitinglist
I need to be off the two chess special waiting list (thematic) and (unrated). Thanks.
Josef Riha (2010-03-29 08:53:24)
Immediate start of tournaments
Hello Thibault, is it possible to start a tournament immediately when more then one player has signed in? At playchess.de it works very well.
Benoit Perceval (2010-03-29 14:19:29)
Comment jouer ???
Après de nombreux essais, je n'arrive toujours pas à m'en sortir! impossible de voir ne serait-ce qu'un bout de l'échiquier... Quelqu'un peut-il m'aider à me dire comment on joue une simple partie d'échec ???
Merci à tous pour vos réponses !
Daniel Parmet (2010-03-30 04:11:31)
Affiliate link
I was wondering how you know the person who you referred signed up with your affiliate link.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-03-30 21:17:07)
Playchess PAL tournaments winners
Hi everyone, does anybody know where I can find the list of all winners of Playchess PAL tournaments ?
Thanks ;)
Don Groves (2010-03-31 06:33:34)
Poker dealing algorithm
Hello, Thibault -- It seems to me that unlikely card combinations are dealt here more often than probability would dictate. This may just be a feeling on my part that has no basis, but I'd like to ask which algorithm you use to deal the cards and how well has it been tested.
Don Groves (2010-03-31 06:45:47)
Bug in game 41452
White did not play b15, yet it shows on the goban.
Garvin Gray (2010-03-31 10:14:29)
Computer keeps locking up... assistance
I keep having this issue where my computer keeps locking up when I analyse positions for a while. I believe this problem is caused because the engines are using 100 percent of the available computer memory.
Does anyone know a way around this? ie to have the computer use on ninety percent of its memory, so leaving 10 percent for other stuff.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-03-31 17:06:17)
Touch move option !
Here it is, now you can choose if your moves should be sent as soon as played (without having to push the "Send" button), this works for chess, chess 960 & Go !
This should be a much more convenient option for freestyle/advanced games... at last :)
See your Preferences to change the option.
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=data
As usual, please report any bug... Any suggestion is welcome ! Thanks.
Andres E. Leon (2010-03-31 19:06:50)
Difference between class A / rapid A
FICGS__CHESS__CLASS_A Tournaments admits chess players with 2000-2200 ELO and FICGS__CHESS__RAPID_A is for 1900-2100 ELO players. Why there is this difference?
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-01 00:02:58)
How to check tablebases integrity
A small tip that I just read on rybkaforum.net and that can serve again...
For checking tablebase integrity, one can use md5summer.exe
http://www.md5summer.org/download.html
Tablebases md5 files :
http://kirill-kryukov.com/chess/tablebases-online/
It looks like very useful when trying to install 6 pieces tablebases, particularly when your engine suddenly crashes when trying to access it, by the way how did you get it Wayne? TBgen.exe or download? Does anyone know how much time it takes in both cases?
What kind of computer (processor, ram) is necessary to generated 6 pieces tablebases?
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-01 00:16:00)
Download 6 pieces tablebases
It would probably be a good idea to gather links where to download 3,4,5 & 6 pieces tablebases. Just found this one :
http://tablebase.sesse.net
Do you know any others?
Xavier Pichelin (2010-04-01 14:02:09)
SITE DOWN HACKED???
It's a Publicité?
What Happened?
It's a Hacker to attaque the FICGS?
It's a April Fish??
Today is à 01 April 2010.I think is a April Fish!!
Best regards
Michel van der Kemp (2010-04-03 16:58:45)
Weird technical problem
Thibault, thanks for organising this nice tournament. Lot of fun. I lost my first game against Xavier Pichelin, which I will totally accept, Xavier played excellent. However I do have a weird question.
About the game I receive this email:
[Event "FICGS__CHESS__FREESTYLE_CUP__000002"]
[Site "FICGS"]
[Date "2010.4.3"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Pichelin,Xavier"]
[Black "van der Kemp,Michel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2405"]
[BlackElo "1921"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d4 Bd6 13.Re1 Qh4 14.g3 Qh3 15.Be3 Bg4 16.Qd3 Rae8 17.Nd2 Re6 18.a4 Qh5 19.axb5 axb5 20.Qf1 Bh3 21.Bd1 Qf5 22.Qe2 c5 23.Nf3 Bf4 24.Qd2 Nxe3 25.fxe3 Bh6 26.Qf2 Rfe8 27.Bc2 Qh5 28.e4 Rf6 29.Bd1 Bg4 30.Rf1 g6 31.e5 Rf5 32.Ra5 cxd4 33.cxd4 Rc8 34.Ra3 Rc1 35.Qe2 Rb1 36.d5 Bh3 37.Qe4 Bxf1 38.Qxb1 Qh3 39.Qc2 Bc4 40.Be2 Rxf3 41.Rxf3 Bxd5 42.Bf1 Qg4 43.Rc3 Qd4+ 44.Qf2 Qxe5 45.Bg2 Bc4 46.Kh1 Bg5 47.h3 Kg7 48.Bf1 Bd5+ 49.Kh2 h5 50.Qe2 Qd6 51.Rd3 h4 52.Bg2 hxg3+ 53.Kh1 Bxg2+ 54.Kxg2 Qc6+ 55.Kxg3 Qc7+ 56.Kg2 Qc6+ 57.Rf3 f5 58.b3 Bf6 59.Qd3 1-0
Move sent : 2010.4.3 - 16:34:26
Move replied : 2010.4.3 - 16:34:55
Last move sent : g7-h7
WhiteELO : 2405 ... 2405
BlackELO : 1921 ... 1921
This email was generated automatically by http://www.ficgs.com/
It says last move send g7-h7. How did I actually lose this game if the server still received my move? The result of the game came as a little shock to me, because I thought I had about 10 seconds left when I send the move, and the server did receive it as well, and somehow registered it.
Anyway I should have been faster and accept my loss.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-05 00:58:06)
Advanced chess ratings calculation
For some reasons that I'll explain below, I updated the advanced chess (bullet, lightning, blitz, freestyle) rating calculation rules to the following :
"Performance = Opponent Current Rating if the game is drawn, + 350 if the game is won, -350 if the game is lost.
The following bonus / malus applied to White and to Black makes ratings fair, as it is not possible to force a player to take White or Black before a game :
(White) Performance = Performance - 50
(Black) Performance = Performance + 50
If there's a winner and if his rating is below 2400, his new rating his :
New Rating = ((8 x Current Rating) + (2 x Performance)) / 10
Otherwise :
New Rating = ((9 x Current Rating) + (1 x Performance)) / 10
The rating calculation does not take account of wins obtained by a stronger player when the Elo difference is greater than 350 points, the same with losses by a weaker player.
In case of a draw or loss against a player rated more than 200 points less, the opponent's rating considered in calculation is : Current Rating - 200. A player who wins a game cannot lose Elo points, a player who loses a game cannot win Elo points."
More details :
http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#rating_advanced_chess
The rule that just changed is "If there's a winner and if his rating is below 2400, his new rating his : New Rating = ((8 x Current Rating) + (2 x Performance)) / 10".
This rule will probably be updated again in a few months with a rating limit of 2200 instead of 2400, when advanced chess ratings will be more coherent with correspondence chess ratings.
The reasons are :
1) Advanced/freestyle chess is often neglected partly because players will likely lose some rating points (many strong players using Rybka 3-like engines still have a rating of 1800 or 2000, there are several reasons to this), the main point is probably the interface but I'm fixing it (e.g. the new touch-move option - see Preferences).
2) Chess engines are just stronger and stronger while the ratings do not increase with the previous rules, as a consequence players who just tried advanced chess once years ago shouldn't still top the rating list. It is of course a way for players to find their place quicker in the rating list & to incitate players to play more games as well.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-05 13:52:12)
Chessbase april fool's joke
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6232
Worth to read... among the April 1st three stories, "Fischer’s remains to be exhumed?", "Magnus Carlsen's cousin in America (Matt Damon)" & "LHC goes online – chess grandmasters worried" on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, it looks like the trap worked quite well (I thought it was Fisher's also), what story did you think it was the april fool's joke ? :)
Lazaro Munoz (2010-04-06 12:40:44)
Ratings calculation
I don't quite understand the way that ratings are calculated (for initial ratings).
I entered my first chess tournament with an initial rating of 1785 (my ICCF rating at the time). I won 5 games and drew 1 and got a rating of 1837.
My fellow tournament entry Chris Brooks entered also for the first tournament with an initial rating of 1800. He won 4 games and lost 2 and got a rating of 1906?! No complains to him, only to the rating system.
Is there some draw penalty built in? We played the same set of players(so the tournament average rating is exactly the same) and played the same number of games (and no more, I checked this has so far been our only tournament for both of us), yet with my extra point and half I wound up with a much lower rating.
What's up with that?
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-07 16:42:57)
Replacement in rapid silver 18
Hello all, we're looking for a player interested to replace Wayne in the Chess rapid silver #18, anyone interested ?
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=tournament&tournament=FICGS__CHESS__RAPID_SILVER__000018
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-10 14:20:52)
Freestyle vs. Access providers
It looks like that access providers are a real problem during freestyle tournaments... In 4 rounds, 2 players (at least) lost a game on time because of them and 1 other had to play with his mobile phone card because his access provider was not able to see ficgs.com during a few hours.
It is possible that week-ends are a quite bad choice to play as most internet providers encounter most problems from friday evening to monday (and take much more time to solve it).
I do not see a clear rule that could solve all this, maybe more rounds would attenuate the problem... If you have any idea, let's discuss it!
Thanks.
William Taylor (2010-04-11 01:24:05)
Thib
Hi Thibault!
I, and many others on this website are in the habit of abbreviating your name to Thib. I'm curious to know if this is a shortening which is actually used in France, or if it's just a 'FICGSism'...
Will
Robert Mueller (2010-04-11 09:12:03)
Match Against Rybka Forum
Thibault, I see there is going to be a match Rybka Forum vs FICGS. They are recruiting eight players to play individual games against FICGS members. Who is going to play for FICGS? Do you still need a player? I would be interested in playing, but I will be on vacation from May 8 to May 15.
Wayne Lowrance (2010-04-11 22:01:50)
Blitz Games
They seem to be gaining in popularity. I offer a suggestion. After playing three bullet games I feel an improvement would be to highlight the move made for easier recognition. Other game servers have this feature. Is it difficult to implement Thibault ?
Wayne
Wayne Lowrance (2010-04-12 19:24:23)
NEW # 1
Well here it is:
http://www.computerchess.org.uk/ccrl/404FRC/
Stockfish just topped R3. Thought I would never see this day ! I still don't trust it tho, hehehe:)
Wayne
Xavier Pichelin (2010-04-13 12:59:03)
RYBKA 4 UCI available in May
Forum Rybka :De Vasik Rajlich Date 2010-04-11 07:47 Some information about Rybka 4:
- Rybka 4 will be a normal UCI engine, without copy protection, and will be available in the first part of May.
- There will be separate single-processor and multi-processor versions.
- Full chess analysis packages which include Rybka 4 will be made by ChessBase (www.chessbase.com) and Convekta/ChessOK (www.chessok.com).
- Plain Rybka 4 UCI without GUI for download only will be available from RybkaChess (www.rybkachess.com).
- All of these versions of Rybka 4 will be identical and can be used in any UCI-compliant GUI.
- The Rybka 4 book by Jiří Dufek will be available as a separate item from both ChessBase and Convekta. The two versions of the book will be 'essentially identical', although in different formats.
- Rybka 4 book compatibility will work as follows:
* ChessBase software users will require the ChessBase version of the book.
* Aquarium users can use either version of the book.
* Other software users are encouraged to upgrade their chess software.
Lazaro Munoz (2010-04-13 20:40:15)
More ratings questions
This time one big chess. According to rules for big chess (I actually read it first before posting :), it says that the original rating that is used for calculations is the correspondence rating, which should have been 1785, however it appears that 0 was used instead. In the section that I almost finishing I am now 5 out 5 with 1 game left. The ratings of the other players ranged from 1800 down 1200 (roughly) initially. My current provision rating is 1609 and it seems that all my opponents have lost at least 200 ratings points in the process of playing in this tournament.
If rating system had used a real low rating as the initial for myself it would have been unfair to both myself and all of the other players in my section.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-16 23:18:05)
Poker : touch move + bet button
I've just changed the value of the "Bet" button from half the opponent's pot to twice the opponent's pot. This looks like more logical & may accelerate games... But the min bid rule has not changed yet! The min bid issue is being discussed there :
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=forum_read&id=8254
Please note that the TOUCH MOVE option (see Preferences) now also works with Poker (fold, call, bet, raise & all-in buttons) & Big Chess.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-17 16:35:57)
The 42106 case, strange poker bug
For my personal records (if it happens again), a one time bug happened in game 42106 for a completely unknown reason...
The moves : 1.fold 1 2.check - 3.check 1 4.1 - 5.check 1 6.1 - 7.check 20 8.fold - 9.fold 1 10.check - 11.check 1 12.1 - 13.check - 14.*
Actually player White played more than 4 moves in a row after 13.check, which is impossible in theory.
Even more strange, when I corrected the game & replayed the 13.check, it was Black's turn so everything ok.
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=42106
Wayne Lowrance (2010-04-20 17:58:10)
Final Match details
Thibault would you post the final match conditions ? I do not know for sure game timer, match format etc etc.
Thank you
Wayne
Garvin Gray (2010-04-21 19:06:39)
Wider rating range tournaments
That title reads like I am doing some back-tracking (for those keeping track) and in a way I am.
I have previously asked for the rating bands of the standard and rapid waiting lists to be 200 points apart as rarely does someone join from outside those rating ranges.
Since then I have noticed that I am getting 'stuck' having to play the same people (feels that way at least).
We have only a couple of tournaments a year where players from different rating ranges are paired together and even in the World Champ groups, the 2300's or so are protected from the rest of the membership.
I would like to see some RATED tournaments created which allows more play between players of different rating ranges.
I believe this would also help with rating list accuracy as it gives the potential for players to increase their rating if they perform and would also sort out the over-rated players quite quickly.
Don Groves (2010-04-22 07:14:46)
Speeding up Poker games
Does a Poker player get an extra day on the clock for every move like in Chess or Go? If so, that could be a big reason why the games are so long.
One move in Poker is insignificant compared to one move in other games. Maybe a player's clock should only increase one for each hand completed.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-23 15:47:05)
Anand vs. Topalov, world championship
So it seems that a FIDE world championship match is to start between current FIDE world champion Viswanathan Anand and former world champion Veselin Topalov...
I'm not even sure if this is a kind of "semi-final" or if this is a final match in the cycle... In my memory, Veselin Topalov beat Gata Kamsky and V. Anand beat Vladimir Kramnik, right?
Anyway a first problem occured with Anand asking FIDE to postpon the start of the match by one day because of the lack of airplanes as a consequence of the icelandic volcano (yes, Bobby Fischer stroke again! :)), the psychological war started and Silvio Danailov already threatened to sue FIDE. What do you expect to happen during this match? Who is your favourite?
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-24 00:08:44)
GoDiscussions & LifeIn19x19
FICGS Go players may have read this article in the latest AGA newsletter on the 2 Go forums... So there is a new Go forum called lifein19x19.com , but what happens with GoDiscussions?
Like many other members I experienced some problems regularly for a few months but what is behind the technical problems?
Does anyone have more informations on this?
http://godiscussions.com
http://www.lifein19x19.com
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-24 17:02:39)
Entry fee for higher class tournament
Tano-Urayoán just posted an interesting idea in the following discussion:
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=forum_read&id=8507
I was totally opposed to this idea at a first sight, but after a while I found some real advantages.
The idea : Any player could pay an entry fee to enter a high class chess tournament (e.g. 20 Euros for class M, 40 for class SM, 60 for class GM), whatever his rating.
Of course what we all see first is : Anyone can pay to make increase his rating faster, that is just unfair!
But let's imagine that a player rated 1800 pays an entry fee of 40 Euros to enter the class SM waiting list.
1) The waiting list will be filled faster!
2) If this player is actually stronger than its rating show, he'll find its place faster (the other players will not lose so many points because their ratings are protected - see rating calculation rules).
3) There could be such an extra rule: Players who are already in the waiting list or who will play the tournament may share 50% of the entry fee in Epoints, which would be a kind of compensation for them.
4) These entry fees will help to have more prizes in free tournaments (another compensation) and bigger prizes in e.g. freestyle cups, although I don't have any idea on how many players would be interested in this, so the site will become more popular and so on...
Anyway, please share your views if you have any idea to improve this one, and your opinion is needed here of course!
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-24 17:53:33)
Bullet & lightning time controls
The bullet & lightning games are slowly but surely gaining in popularity, the next freestyle tournaments should help to continue this way...
Now that the touch-move option appeared at FICGS (see Preferences), maybe the bullet & lightning time controls should be faster to make it more different from each other and from blitz.
So far bullet is : 10 min. + 20 sec. / move , lightning : 30 min. + 1 min. / move
Maybe we could envisage this change :
Bullet : 5 min. + 15 seconds / move , lightning : 20 min. + 30 seconds / move
Any opinion?
Wayne Lowrance (2010-04-25 02:00:36)
Careful wht you do with our loved F
Thibault, I have been here since the beginning. I have grown with FICGS. I am very proud to be a member of FICGS in good standing.
I see dangers ahead for you and our FICGS.
You need to be very careful my friend about Changing the overall makeup of FICGS. I think overall the "E" point conditions here is ok, as long as it does not infringe outward from where it is now> This latest proposal (buying into a high classification) is very bad and changes the premise of FICGS, which is: If you are good, diligent and work hard you will advance and be rewarded. Tites should not come easy. Same for rating points. For if they do come easy then they have no meaning.
Players who have earned their stripes do merit certain considerations, that is good and proper.
Another potential problem that I see is that FICGS is headed in a direction down yahoo chess lane. We all like these bullet games, they are fun. I am not at all suggesting their elimination. I am just counseling "be careful". Do not let it become the face of FICGS chess. Yahoo chess is a total disaster. I do not want our site to even look in that direction.
I have been monitoring the chatter on bullet chess and it is great, all are enjoying it. That covers the main points of interest for me. I am not against changes. I do not want changes that change the make up of FICGS as we know it now. Its your server, you may do as you wish of course Wayne
Benjamin Block (2010-04-25 18:02:19)
Ads gone?
Before there where ads everywhere. No i can´t found any... I hope this are not a tecnical bugg or something. Because i know having a site cost money. And the there are a lots of free e-points wining in tournaments. I guess the money need to come from somewhere. Keep up the good work.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-27 10:37:30)
FICGS down, server HACKED!
The server was down for about 1 day, all my apologies. FICGS is still secure and was not in danger or compromised at any time, nothing was lost during the process, but another site on the server was hacked so the server was blocked to avoid to spread the virus. Everything should be ok now.
To be sure that no game will be lost on time because of this, I've added 2 days to any player expected to play and 12 hours more to all players. Thanks for your patience and sorry about all that!
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-29 11:27:48)
Infinitychess.com dead ?
Does anyone know what happened with the website Infinitychess? If I'm correct, this website was owned or run by GM Arno Nickel. It looks like the domain name has been sold or not used anymore.
Adam Clontz (2010-05-01 18:27:28)
chess engines
i'm new on here.... does pretty much everybody use a chess engine? i never have.
Daniel Parmet (2010-05-02 08:29:18)
How many games at once?
How much Chess Corr do most players play at once? I guess in addition do you have any OTB play to it or Go games?
Thibault de Vassal (2010-05-09 23:02:05)
Rybka 4, news, tests & results
It looks like Rybka 4 is to be released, this discussion could gather the news, tests & results in matches of this new version against Rybka 3 and other engines (thinking about Stockfish 1.7.1, Naum 4.2, Fritz 12, Shredder 12, Hiarcs & engines that are "possible" clones of Rybka: Firebird 1.2, Ivanhoe, RobboLito, Ippolit & so on)...
Thibault de Vassal (2010-05-10 12:15:16)
Big chess world championship
The very 1st Big Chess world championship (ever!) waiting list is open, the tournaments will start on july 1st, 2010.
Now it is time to promote again this incredible game where chess players may be quite lost during the first games (the value of the pieces may move quite fast), its complexity is probably somewhere between chess & Go...
Just let your chess engines on your chess games, you only need your brain on the 16x16 board, join the fun! :)
Don Groves (2010-05-11 04:32:49)
A suggestion
Add an indication next to each game on the My Games page when that opponent is logged into FICGS.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-05-11 13:31:14)
Georges Stibal dies on May 1st, 2010
Our well known chessfriend George Stibal (born 1-8-1936) died on May 1st, 2010 after a massive stroke. My thoughts go to his family.
George were involved in the Correspondence Chess scene for more than 30 years, he was a Director of Play & Tournament Director for ICCF (he obtained the IA title as an Arbiter), he was also the CCLA International Secretary from 1992-2001.
He was also one of my very first opponents in a correspondence chess game...
The whole correspondence chess world lost a good friend.
Kamesh Nookala (2010-05-12 19:08:03)
I need a break !
Dear friends,
Day after day, i am getting addicted to playing chess at this forum as well as other servers. I think it is time for me to cater and spend some valuable time with my lovely family. I am damn sure that i am failing to perform the responsibilities of a loved husband and father towards my little daughter and my adorable wife. And here I made the decision.
I am gonna quit playing for present, not sure when i will be back (i may come back). But i need to do a severe restructuring of my entire personal life. Balance things. I can be a good player when i have a good family and for that I need to perform (every individual) needs to perform his or her obligations.
I am honored and highly indebted to you guys who played with me and gave me a chance to showcase my skills.
I render my sincerest thanks to each and every player.. As a beginning, i am resigning all my games here and I wont be in action for indefinite period.
Good Luck all, you guys simply rock !!
Thibault de Vassal (2010-05-13 23:09:38)
Big chess engine
I'm very curious to see if this idea to see a Big Chess engine will give something one day :)
http://talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34284
It could be a new challenge for programmers...
Wayne Lowrance (2010-05-16 21:42:34)
Quick review Chess Engines
Howdy, Rybka 4 Beta 5 is out for beta testing. It is much too early to draw conclusions regarding elo strength. So far it is not looking great.
Many of the bugs from R3 are at present in R5 beta. For example the tablebase bug, bishop under promotion still not fixed, 5.04/5.12 bug tree search is reportedly still there.
In addition It is said to have severe time problem.
This is a summary of what I have been reading. But, these reports are beta remember. So R4 may still be top program after release.
In the mean time Stockfish and fire are 2 programs that are right there with rybka3 and maybe a little stronger. On my computer testing R3 is still tops.
Now, there is a new program, Houdini is available. I downloaded it this morning and have been running eng-eng matches with R3, 2 threads. So far Houdini is holding it's own. You can download the program here.
http://www.cruxis.com/chess/houdini.htm
I think CC players now have many equally strong engines available to help with their Centaur abilities and should be interesting to see the progressions Wayne
Arno Bezemer (2010-05-20 14:57:17)
Late resignation
Normally I don't mind to play out a winning position, but my opponent in game 32535 keeps on playing for ever, with just a pawn vs my rook and 2 pawns. On the lowest level i can maybe understand this but not in a class M 2200+ tournament. Is there anything i can do about it?
Richard Doughty (2010-05-21 08:09:13)
pawn promotions
is there an option to change pawn promotions from automatic queen while in touch move
Peter Marriott (2010-05-26 21:54:45)
Rybka 4!
Rybka 4 is released! Find info on http://www.rybkachess.com/index.php?auswahl=Purchase+Rybka <bf> if you wanna buy it!
Thibault de Vassal (2010-05-27 00:13:35)
Number of rated FIDE players
There would be 116,362 rated FIDE players all over the world within 143 federations (most important ones are Germany, Russia, Spain, France and India.. only 26 of them have more than 1000 rated players, e.g. only 398 rated players in China)
A Chessbase article that is worth to read!
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6364
Ilmars Cirulis (2010-05-29 22:56:36)
Easiest Sudoku Competition :)
http://www.sudokuwiki.org/Easiest_Sudoku_Competition
help with your records :)
Thibault de Vassal (2010-06-02 03:03:10)
Fire 1.31 vs. Rybka 4
It seems that the forthcoming match between the top chess engines will be Rybka 4 (just released) versus Fire 1.31 (a new free engine from the Ippolit/Ivanhoe/Robbolito series that may be a clone of Rybka but we still have no clue about this). By the way does anyone know the differences between Fire 1.31 and Firebird 1.2, it seems to me that only the name changed.
Of course Stockfish & Naum are in the race but it will be interesting to see if the creator of Rybka has found a way to keep its great engine above its supposed clones.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-06-02 16:43:27)
Rybka 4 wins ICT10
Rybka 4 just won the latest edition of the International Computer Chess Tournament (ICT10, 10th edition) ahead of Deep Sjeng (surprise!?) and far from the other Chessbase engines: Hiarcs, Deep Shredder and Deep Junior...
Interesting to see that Rybka (by Vasik Rajlich) only lost to Deep Sjeng (by Gian-Carlo Pascutto) and won all the other games, including against the well known Hiarcs (by Mark Uniacke) and Shredder (by Stefan Meyer-Kahlen).
Rybka 8/9
Deep Sjeng 7/9
Hiarcs 6/9
Deep Shredder 6/9
Deep Junior 5.5/9
Komodo 5/9
The other participants were Pandix, The Baron, Spark, The King, Kallisto, Almond, RedQueen and Joker.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6381
Thibault de Vassal (2010-06-02 18:26:28)
Incredible poker hand
Just look at this strange hand between Jason Repa & Nelson Bernal Varela... the community cards and player's ones are really amazing... Pair of aces, pair of queens and a straight flush appears in the community cards... quite rare. And only 12 chips in the pot.
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=43092&move=1023
Any comment on this one? :)
Wayne Lowrance (2010-06-04 06:58:14)
Rating update
I thought it was the first of this month ?
Ilmars Cirulis (2010-06-04 23:08:46)
post music band of your country here :)
http://www.myspace.com/standart
&
http://draugiem.lv/musicartistid24925
your turn! :)
Thibault de Vassal (2010-06-05 16:20:30)
FICGS chess database
Hello all,
As a reminder the complete FICGS chess database is available here (or see the link in Search Games in the menu) :
http://www.ficgs.com/databases/chess.pgn
Bullet, lightning & blitz games (including freestyle cup games) are no more included in this database to make it more coherent and of a better quality (too many losses on time because of connection problems or without any move played by one player)... This way bullet games are even more just for fun!
Thibault de Vassal (2010-06-06 00:56:52)
New fields in Preferences : Profile
You may now complete your profile by answering a bunch of questions (24 so far) more or less relevant, such as your favorite engines, favorite chess player, favorite chess openings, spoken languages, your personal website and so on... feel free to suggest other questions!
Vincent Dups (2010-06-07 20:42:32)
Problème d'affichage
Bonjour,
Je suis sois Firefox 3.6.3 et sous Vista et lorsque j'ouvre mes parties pour répondre et envoyer mon coup l'échiquier est déformé et certaines pièces n'apparaissent pas, et j'ai à la place ce message : [AD]2) window.location='/user_page.php?page=move_express&game=43811&flip=';">
Merci pour votre aide à ce propos.
Je précise que j'ai le même problème sous IE.
Bien cordialement.
Philip Roe (2010-06-11 17:37:29)
Analysis board in Chess 960
Thibault,
I notice that when playing Chess 960 the analysis board does not come up. Is there a reason for that?
Thibault de Vassal (2010-06-11 19:36:43)
FIFA world cup 2010, predictions
Hi all, I guess that this FIFA world cup 2010 is worth a discussion :)
So there are now 32 teams in the race... Any predictions on who will reach the 1/8 finals, 1/4 finals, 1/2 finals and final match?
Full list of teams:
South Africa, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Cameroon, Algeria, Australia, Japan, Korea Republic, Korea DPR, Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Honduras, Uruguay, England, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Serbia, Italy, Switzerland, Slovakia, Greece, Slovenia, Portugal, France, United States, New Zealand
A way for me to see how many chances you give to France for this one (at least we can do better than in the Eurovision contest :))
By the way, why there are 2 Korean teams this time? I couldn't believe that "Korea DPR" is North Korea !?? Do you know something on this?
Thibault de Vassal (2010-06-14 22:26:02)
10 moves rule for Poker
An interesting case... a Poker holdem game finished after only 6 moves (6 played by each player)! The winner was surprised to see that he didn't win any rating point, indeed there's a rule at FICGS (11.6) that says : "Games are not rated for the winner if less than 10 moves have been played by his opponent (most probably forfeit, silent withdrawal or obvious cheating)"
Another reason for this rule is that any player who lose to another one in less than 10 moves is most probably overrated so he should lose some points but his opponent may not win points, so I think that this rule may be ok for poker as well (and I'm not sure if playing all-in each time deserves to win some points :)), but I'd prefer to read some other opinions anyway.
What do you think?
Garvin Gray (2010-06-16 10:39:01)
Browser password issue
Hello,
Was wondering if anyone is experiencing this issue.
For the last few days or so, my net browser, be it either firefox or google chrome will not keep my password stored.
This means each time I need to keep having to ask for a new password, which gets very frustrating having to do this with each session login.
Does anyone know why this is occurring? I am using the left login option most of the time.
Wayne Lowrance (2010-06-25 21:03:22)
Save/Reload hash in Rybka
Howdy all. I am very excited. I just learned how to use the above option found in Engine folder. All these years I have never used it, never understood it, so saw no need.
I am on Rybka forum all the time and saw this talked about. What a great tool in my opinion. Here is how it works.
How many times have you ran infinite analysis only to have to shut down or reboot etc. If you do it you loose all of Rybka analysis accumulated to that point and a complete loss of time.
For example:
suppose Rybka has been analysing for hours and is a depth 26 current. Before rebooting Rybka go to engine folder and tick "save hash" All of Rybka current positional analysis collected up to 26 is then saved in a file you create.
When you restart Rybka, load your game and go to engine folder in Rybka, tick "load hash" and start. Rybka will begin at depth 26 where it left off from your hash save.
Golly Terrific.
Wayne
Thibault de Vassal (2010-06-28 20:44:06)
Encyclopedia of gambits
I guess that many of you read the interesting Chessbase article by Kavalek :
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6460
The link to the encyclopedia of gambits by Marco Saba was a surprise to me... really interesting, and a huge work!
http://studimonetari.org/edg/
I picked up a few ideas for the next chess thematic tournaments, so there may be the next ones in the future :
Aasum [Van Geet: Hector Gambit] 1.Nc3 d5 2.e4 de4 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.f3
Abonyi-Tennison [Reti: Tennison Gambit Accepted] 1.Nf3 d5 2.e4 de4 3.Ng5
[KGA: Allgaier Gambit] 1.e4 e5 2.f4 ef4 3.Nf3 g5 4.h4 g4 5.Ng5 h6 6.Nf7
"Anti-Stonewall" [Dutch: Alapin] 1.d4 f5 2.Qd3 d5 3.g4
[Budapest: Alekhine, Balogh Gambit] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.de5 Ng4 4.e4 d6
Banzai-Leong [French] 1.e4 e6 2.b4
Batavo [Bird: Batavo Gambit] 1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 c5 3.e4
Beyer c.g. [Blackmar-Diemer: Beyer Countergambit] 1.e4 e5 2.d4 d5
Birmingham [Polish: Birmingham Gambit] 1.b4 c5
Blackburne - I [Scandinavian: 2.exd5] 1.e4 d5 2.ed5 c6
Böhnke [Scandinavian: Böhnke Gambit] 1.e4 d5 2.ed5 e5
Breyer [KGA: Breyer Gambit] 1.e4 e5 2.f4 ef4 3.Qf3
De Smet [Nimzowitsch Defence: 2.d4 e5 3.dxe5] 1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 e5 3.de5 d6
[Diemer-Duhm Gambit (DDG) vs. Slav/Caro-Kann] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.e4
Gaga [King's Gambit Accepted (KGA)] 1.e4 e5 2.f4 ef4 3.g3
Halasz - II [Sicilian: Halasz Gambit] 1.e4 c5 2.d4 cd4 3.f4
Hickmann [English: Anglo-Dutch] 1.c4 f5 2.e4 fe4 3.d3
Hjoerring c.g. [Benko Gambit] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.e4
Jerome [Giuoco Piano: Jerome Gambit] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bf7
Krejcik [Dutch: Krejcik Gambit] 1.d4 f5 2.g4
Lasa [Open Game: Lopez/Mcleod, Lasa Gambit] 1.e4 e5 2.c3 f5
Lasker - III [Bird: From Gambit Accepted] 1.f4 e5 2.fe5 f6
Omega [Indian: Omega Gambit] 1.d4 Nf6 2.e4
Vector [English: Vector] 1.c4 d5 2.cd5 c6
Wheeler [Nimzowitsch Defence: Wheeler Gambit] 1.e4 Nc6 2.b4
Zilbermints - III [Queen's Gambit] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 b5
"Zurigo" [Queen's Pawn Game] 1.d4 d5 2.g4
If you notice more interesting openings, do not hesitate to suggest it here...
Thibault de Vassal (2010-06-30 22:51:38)
FIDE elections: Karpov vs. Ilyumzhinov
Hi all,
I'm not so aware of the FIDE elections but if I remember well Anatoly Karpov was a supporter of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov during the previous elections... Do you think that all this is just to say "yes this is an election, as you can see there is an opposition" ?
Why there is no other candidates? Too "expensive" ?
Thibault de Vassal (2010-07-03 13:03:04)
FIDE ratings july 2010
Once again, Magnus Carlsen makes the news with the 2nd highest rating ever reached (2826)...
Rank Name Title Nation Rating
1 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2826
2 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2803
3 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2800
4 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2790
5 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2783
6 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2761
7 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2760
8 Eljanov, Pavel g UKR 2755
9 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2749
10 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2748
11 Karjakin, Sergey g RUS 2747
12 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2739
13 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2739
14 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2734
15 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2734
16 Leko, Peter g HUN 2734
17 Malakhov, Vladimir g RUS 2732
18 Navara, David g CZE 2731
19 Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2729
20 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2726
21 Wang, Hao g CHN 2724
22 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime g FRA 2723
23 Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2723
24 Vitiugov, Nikita g RUS 2722
25 Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2720
26 Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2719
27 Almasi, Zoltan g HUN 2717
28 Wang, Yue g CHN 2716
29 Dominguez Perez, Leinier g CUB 2716
30 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2715
31 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2713
32 Jobava, Baadur g GEO 2710
33 Tomashevsky, Evgeny g RUS 2708
34 Nepomniachtchi, Ian g RUS 2706
35 Adams, Michael g ENG 2706
36 Onischuk, Alexander g USA 2701
37 Nielsen, Peter Heine g DEN 2700
38 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam g UZB 2699
39 Caruana, Fabiano g ITA 2697
40 Fressinet, Laurent g FRA 2697
41 Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2697
42 Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2695
43 Alekseev, Evgeny g RUS 2691
44 Akopian, Vladimir g ARM 2691
45 Timofeev, Artyom g RUS 2690
46 Short, Nigel D g ENG 2690
47 Efimenko, Zahar g UKR 2689
48 Rublevsky, Sergei g RUS 2688
49 Miroshnichenko, Evgenij g UKR 2686
50 Motylev, Alexander g RUS 2685
Peter Schuster (2010-07-05 21:06:06)
CHESS__WCH_KNOCKOUT_FINAL__000006
Hello Thibault,
when does the following tournament start:
FICGS__CHESS__WCH_KNOCKOUT_FINAL__000006
Best wishes, Peter
Don Groves (2010-07-05 22:44:28)
Fischer's not dead yet!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/05/bobby-fischer-body-exhumed-paternity
Peter Unger (2010-07-06 17:40:19)
XFCC Play
In Aquarium 4 you can play corr-games with the XFCC-protocoll.
Will it be on FICGS-server in the near future?
Thibault de Vassal (2010-07-07 12:07:52)
Class GM 2 : Rating average 2496
It seems to me that the strongest FICGS chess tournament (7 players or more) so far just started, I would like to apologize to my opponents, if I didn't lose so many points, it would have been a category 11 tournament for sure... :/
https://ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=tournament&tournament=FICGS__CHESS__CLASS_GM__000002
Good luck everyone!
Thibault de Vassal (2010-07-07 13:33:08)
Round-robin stages in the chess WCH
Just a word on stage 1 & stage 2 for the chess WCH round-robin tournaments: I understand the disappointment of players who share 1st place but do not qualify while some others do... Sometimes we need a few more players to build 7 players tournaments, in this case most often players who share 1st place are ordered by place in the tournament, then by current rating. As there are many special & complex cases though, the official rule is "Players may be invited to complete a group or to replace a forfeiting player".
I know that the round-robin system may be quite frustrating (that's why I wanted the knockout in parallel that I'm sure now it's more interesting & fair) for the players who share 1st place, particularly in the round-robin final (Alberto Gueci knows that..... he shared many first places before to play the knockout matches), but the round-robin is the only way so that everyone can play and once again the idea is: "if you share first place but you didn't qualify, at least you won rating points for the next cycle". I have no idea of a better system...
Svante Carl von Erichsen (2010-07-15 14:39:03)
How to link?
How would I link to a FICGS game or tournament from the outside? It seems that nothing works without login.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-07-25 18:56:22)
Layout improvement
I'm now trying a few improvements for the layout (mainly for the fast moves process), please report if something displays badly because of a long name, tournament's name, anything... Feedback is welcome :)
Kamesh Nookala (2010-07-28 15:38:18)
Match vs. ICCF
Dear Friends,
Why not we have a match vs. ICCF. I think, we have players who can shake the hell out of any opponent on board and highly qualified corr. chess players.
Thib, let's do it. Try and induce them for a battle to take REVENGE (if at all FICGS lost previously).
What you guys say?
Ruben Comes (2010-07-30 18:40:57)
Invitation visit my Blog
Hi all!
In it blog we have links for download games, tutorials, articles and more.
http://www.computerschess.blogspot.com/
George Clement (2010-08-08 00:19:40)
PGN files
Is it possible to put your games into a pgn file and download it to your computer, if so how do you do it?
Phil Cook (2010-08-08 08:46:56)
Stay on Same Board
Is it possible,to have an option : Stay on the game board?
Andres E. Leon (2010-08-09 15:15:52)
Future Rating Question
From the last rating actualization, I finished five games. However, my future rating is now computed with only one game. I believed that in the past when I finished a game, my future rating was instantly actualized. How this issue works in FICGS?. Thank you very much, in advance.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-08-12 22:46:32)
Replacement in Class GM 2 & rapid SM 6
Hello all, 2 players are needed for a replacement in the tournaments CHESS CLASS GM #2 (average 2496) and CHESS RAPID SM #6 (average 2408).
Please send me a private message (or email info*ficgs.com) if you're interested, thanks in advance.
Note: There's no specific rule when choosing players for replacements so the fastest players with the strongest ELO will play.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-08-15 00:27:46)
ICCF games database
Hi all,
Does anyone know if it is possible (& where) to download a database of all or quite recent games played at ICCF?
Thanks in advance!
Philip Roe (2010-08-16 00:55:23)
Tournament entry conditions
Thibault,
Is it reasonable for someone to enter a new tournament when they have twenty four existing games and have not played a single move in any one of them?
This situation makes me hesitate to enter either B 00120 or Rapid B 00158.
Garvin Gray (2010-08-18 17:21:58)
Newest/oldest posts first
In forum, I would like to have the option to be able to see the newer posts at the top of each topic, rather than having to scroll down through 50 older posts to get to the most recent postings.
There does not seem to be a feature to show new posts first.
Please add :)
Robert Mueller (2010-08-21 06:23:05)
Waiting for CLASS_SM_000013
Hello Thibault,
On May 1, I signed up for the CLASS_SM_000013. It has been almost four months now and there are still only two players signed up for this event (including myself).
Wouldn't it make sense to merge the SM (Elo 2400 to 2600) and GM (Elo 2500+) classes?
Sebastian Boehme (2010-08-31 16:23:08)
Latest deletions of chat
Hi everyone,
is it just a feeling or does it so happen that more and more chat is simply being deleted?
I thought the idea of deleting chat was to get rid of very abusing chat only.
It seems this option is being abused though and now even used on rather neutral or friendly chat. What can there be done?
Thibault de Vassal (2010-09-08 00:58:52)
Ilyumzhinov leaves Kalmykia presidency
FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov would fully rely on his reelection at the FIDE presidency (15 years already), "leaving" the presidency of the Kalmykia republic after 17 years...
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6659
To be continued.
Josef Riha (2010-09-08 18:03:34)
Magnus Carlsen vs. The World
At rwcc.g-star.com you can sign in and play as a member of the worldteam against Magnus Carlsen. Startdate is September 10th.
The team is supported by GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, GM Hikaru Nakamura and GM Judit Polgar.
Garvin Gray (2010-09-11 19:03:18)
Next freestyle tournament
Hello all,
From just seeing a couple of comments in the chat section, I am very concerned regarding plans for the next freestyle tournament.
It seems like it is going to be organised at short notice ie just one or two weeks notice.
I think this is a major mistake and would result only in those who happen to be available by coincidence being able to play.
I really do hope I have wrong. I think the next freestyle tournament needs at least one months notice so it can be properly promoted.
Hannes Rada (2010-09-14 19:30:55)
Time control in GM 2 Tournament
Thibault, what happened with the time control in this tournament ?
Since the replacement there, we have only 30 days i.o. 40 days per 10 moves against Michael Aigner ??
Is this correct ?
Thibault de Vassal (2010-09-16 13:01:23)
Chess WCH knockout final #6
Alberto Gueci beats Peter Schuster 7.5-0.5 in their match in FICGS__CHESS__WCH_KNOCKOUT_FINAL__000006
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=tournament&tournament=FICGS__CHESS__WCH_KNOCKOUT_FINAL__000006
As this is a general forfeit at the end, according to the rule 11.6 it seems to me that all games should be rated for the winner except Game 45571 where the advantage is not obvious.
The score looks severe but Peter's play is always interesting & risky (look at game 45574)...
Alberto's future rating is now 2620, congrats you're the man to catch now :)
Scott Nichols (2010-09-16 22:44:58)
Corr. Chess Maxims
We should start a list of Corr. chess maxims (rules of conduct). Some suggestions...#1. There is more honor in resigning than to just quit playing and leave. #2. Generally one offer of a draw is enough for at least 10 moves. #3. The player with the most to lose, e.g. rating points, should be the first to offer a draw.
I'm sure others have suggestions, :)
Thibault de Vassal (2010-09-17 00:29:38)
Svante Carl von Erichsen on Go WCH #4
As you probably read in the news, Svante Carl von Erichsen won the 4th FICGS Go WCH, beating his challenger Huayong Yang 3-2, Svante Carl wins the Go championship for the 4th time in a row!
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=tournament&tournament=FICGS__GO__WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP__000004
Svante Carl kindly accepted to answer a few questions on his match & computer Go:
FICGS - Hello Svante Carl, congratulations once again for winning this match against a surprising challenger who started here a few months ago with a 10 kyu rank, Huayong Yang, now rated 2438 after scoring 2 points in your 5 games match (which is a great achievement for sure). What did you think about his play & yours in these games?
Svante Carl - I think that he greatly underestimated his rank initially. As far as I know, he had not played for a long time and believed that his ability had therefore deteriorated. I do not think that you can drop more than one or at most two stones, though -- it is like cycling or swimming, you never unlearn it. I had the impression that we were quite evenly matched in summa, but our strengths are in different aspects of the game; I cannot really put my finger on the difference, though.
FICGS - After a previous win, you said that you spend a quite long time to analyze, which probably helps you to reach a higher level than 2 dan (your EGF rating) compared to OTB play... It looks obvious to me that correspondence chess moves generally ask for much more time than Go moves at a high level but I may be wrong, how much time did you spend on your longest analysis during the match? Do you remember for which move?
Svante Carl - I usually spend at least a few minutes on each move, except when the continuation is obvious. I often use more, and if I do not find a satisfactory move then, I will even postpone the move to another day, so that I can sleep over it and let my subconcious work on it.
FICGS - Do you watch other games played by your future opponent before starting your match? Do you think that this is really important in preparation like it can be in Correspondence chess?
Svante Carl - I sometimes glance over the games in the championship qualification tournament, but I do not try to prepare this way. I do not think that such preparation has any value in Go, especially in correspondence Go, since you have time during the game to do deep analysis. I usually try to take each game out of standard fuseki patterns pretty quickly, anyway. Of course, I know that my opponents in these title matches are always very tough and demand my utmost respect.
FICGS - Do you still follow the recent developments in computer Go? What do you think about the latest Go engines? How much time do we have yet before the best Go players are caught by computers according to you?
Svante Carl - I have the impression that the currently most promising technology (Monte Carlo/UCT) has the potential to achieve a rank of about 2 or 3 dan (EGF/KGS). I think that the next fundamentally new idea or breakthrough might add 2 stones, to get to 4 or 5 dan. I do not have any idea where it might go from that, but I think that it gets always harder.
What I would find interesting is having more intermediate board sizes. The best bots are almost on par with the best professionals on 9x9 now. I would propose to try to achieve a similar level on 11x11, then 13x13, then 15x15 etc.. Regarding 9x9, I think that the currently predominant komi of 7.5 points is too big, and that this has a negative impact on the experiments because the bots do not play in a balanced environment. It might be worthwhile to introduce the Taiwan rule (last move compensation) to get more fine-grained scores.
FICGS - What programs did you use this year to analyze? (just trying, of course it may be part of your secrets ;))
Svante Carl - It is not a secret. I just use an editor, usually EidoGo or CGoban3, to visualize the variations I imagine.
FICGS - Finally, what thoughts would you like to share on your 5 games, that could help us not to miss the best times or to help us to understand the most complex moves...
Svante Carl - I cannot give a detailed commentary, but I can try to summarize my impressions.
I think that Game 5 was quite balanced until move 21, but I think that the white invasion was a bit ambitious then. Of course, White did not need to die there, but after moves 32-33 I think that Black had a good result anyway (move 32 should go out faster in my opinion; note how E14 helps Black in enclosing White).
In Game 3, I think things got quite difficult for White in the lower left, but I let him take the initiative by backing off at move 35 (I should have simply closed off F10 then). White gained control of the centre as a result, and in the large endgame, I lost too many points there.
In Game 4, I fell behind in the opening through some slow moves (there was some discussion on the Life-in-19x19 forum about this, see the link in the comments of that game). In the endgame, Black then lost some points in the centre, so that I was a bit ahead when the game timed out.
In Game 1, I made some bad decisions on the left side, and never managed to turn things around. I think I was behind by about 5 points in the end.
In Game 2, I think that Black should not have ignored move 24. After I got quite some territory from my moyo and also reduced his top side, I could play it safe.
I look forward to the games with Olivier Drouot that recently started, but I also hope that Yang Huayong will re-enter the championship cycle.
Scott Nichols (2010-09-22 23:00:20)
Best Games
I wonder if we could raise the limit of votes we get for best games. I think that would enhance the best game dept. At present the top game has 3 votes. I like to look at the games of opponents, not even counting my games, and give credit where due. I saw some comments on game #44774, I looked at it and tried to vote best game and it said I can't vote anymore. Thib, can you think about this?
William Taylor (2010-09-23 01:42:30)
Road to Grandmaster
Hello FICGS friends,
On the 1st of September I started a chess website - http://roadtograndmaster.com - which documents my attempt to become a GM (otb). The first post and 'mission statement' can be read here: http://roadtograndmaster.com/?p=11
Of course I realise the goal is extremely ambitious, but I'm going to give it a shot. :) I probably won't be playing much serious correspondence chess for a while, as I'll be focusing on OTB games, but I'll still be keeping a few games of one sort or another running here. Comments/suggestions about the site or the goal are welcome.
Will
Wayne Lowrance (2010-09-24 03:54:46)
whole database transfers made simple
This has always been a sore spot for me on FICGS. I want to be able to copy my ficgs database of games to Rybka. I have gotten help from nice folks here, but I am unable to do it. There just does not seem to be the right tools at each step or understanding to do it.
I would be satisfied if a step by step procedure is posted that entails each click of the mouse with out vague procedure statements.
Daniel Parmet (2010-09-29 23:39:50)
WCH Stage 1 Tiebreaks
If I understand the tiebreaks correctly the higher rated based on entry rating goes on. If this is tied it goes to their current rating at the time the tie is concluded.
First question, is this correct?
2nd question, why are ratings the tiebreaker?
Final question, why is entry rating first over rating at the time concluded? Is this because someone could drag out a game knowing their rating will become higher in the next period? If that is the reason, it would seem to me you couldn't use current rating even if the entry ratings were tied.
It just seems a tad silly to use rating as a tiebreaker when there might be a 1-20 point difference. If its a large difference it makes some sense but even then little.
Garvin Gray (2010-09-30 20:37:21)
WCH Stage 1 groups (new players)
I wish to propose that the stage one groups starting from the next WCH tournament be paired differently.
Currently, from my understanding, all the players who have not qualified for the high rated round robins or elimination matches are paired into separate round robins of about seven players in each group.
Seed number 1 is in group 1 and so forth until all groups have been allocated.
The idea of this being to try and ensure that each of the groups is of equal strength.
Where I think this falls down is the issue of players with provisional ratings ie players with new ratings of 1800, 1500.
I have had the experience of having one or more of these 1800's in my group and after the group is finished, it is clear that the 1800 player has achieved a rating of 2100 plus, meaning that my group had three players with playing ability over 2100, meaning my qual group was unfairly disadvantaged.
How I would like the stage one qualifying to work from now is:
1) All players with recognised ratings are paired as per normal.
2) All the provisional rated players are put into groups by themselves.
Then normal qualification rules apply for getting to stage 2.
It is highly unlikely that a low rated player will qualify from the provisional rated groups as someone from each of those groups will be about 2100 or so by the end of the first qualifying stage.
I do ask for this to be endorsed for the next WCH.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-10-04 19:17:37)
Private messages to the webmaster
Hi all, it looks like one of my email providers blocks FICGS emails these days so I may have missed a few messages if you sent it to me via the "My messages" form (to "Thibault de Vassal"), that's now fixed, if you noticed I did not reply to your message, please resend it to me.
Sorry about that.
Garvin Gray (2010-10-06 01:37:29)
Colour allocation change in WCH round robins
Currently in the WCH Stage 1 groups (new players) thread, there has been a side discussion occurring about allocation of colours in round robins on this site.
Since Thib has said that he is open to discussing it in a new thread, this is a new thread.
I have made mention of the berger pairing tables, which is the accepted format in otb round robins for how to pair round robins fairly.
The Berger pairing table for seven and eight player round robin is now provided:
Round
1 1:8 2:7 3:6 4:5
2 8:5 6:4 7:3 1:2
3 2:8 3:1 4:7 5:6
4 8:6 7:5 1:4 2:3
5 3:8 4:2 5:1 6:7
6 8:7 1:6 2:5 3:4
7 4:8 5:3 6:2 7:1
Thibault de Vassal (2010-10-07 14:09:49)
Paul König is dead
After that Ingo announced it in the chat, I was waiting for an online source to publish the sad news in the forum... Paul officially left us during the month of september 2010.
www.bien.de/sauerland/index.php?view=article&id=209:schachbezirk-trauert-um-paul-koenig
Many of us played him here at FICGS, at other chess servers or over the board.
My condolences to his family.
Garvin Gray (2010-10-13 15:20:35)
Lightning time control
Hello Thib,
With the freestyle tournaments having a time control of 30 minutes with 15 second increment, could you change the lightning time control also to 30 + 15 so we can practice at that time control.
Would be appreciated and I think a good practical change.
Brian Williams (2010-10-15 18:45:21)
Connected players :
hi - is it possible to have an icon next to the names of my opponents that are currently online? or a separate list of my opponents that are connected? - cheers
Wayne Lowrance (2010-10-15 23:37:53)
Serious new Virus
Subj: Confirmed by SNOPES: Important - read immediately
VERY IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ THIS - These e-mails are floating around currently in HP
Anyone-using Internet mail such as Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL and so on. This information arrived this morning, Direct from both Microsoft and Norton Please send it to everybody you know who has Access to the Internet. You may receive an apparently harmless e-mail titled "Here you have it" If you open either file, a message will appear on your screen saying: 'It is too late now, your life is no longer beautiful....'
Subsequently you will LOSE EVERYTHING IN YOUR PC, And the person who originated it will gain access to your Name, e-mail and password. This is a new virus which started to circulate on Saturday afternoon.
AOL has already confirmed the severity, and the anti virus softwares are not capable of destroying it.
The virus has been created by a hacker who calls himself 'life owner'.
PLEASE SEND A COPY OF THIS E-MAIL TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS, And ask them to PASS IT ON IMMEDIATELY!
THIS HAS BEEN CONFIRMED BY SNOPES.
http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/hereyouhave.asp
Daniel Parmet (2010-10-16 04:16:12)
It is NOT Chess
http://www.notchess.com/rules.php
check it out looks a big chess variation of Yasser Seirawan's idea with a few other quirks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nht2TqabPr0
Scott Nichols (2010-10-20 20:06:33)
Freestyle Fun
Freestyle tournament is only 11 days away and already it promises to be an exciting event. Hopefully more will join, especially our friend from India, :)
We have an exciting array of players already though...,
Yuriy Perikov-a new player from Russia who has raised his rating almost 100 points in just two games.
David Evans-Last years winner. I am sure he will be looking to repeat. A definite threat.
Uh-Me-I'll be trying, :)
Marcel Jacon-I don't know anything about Marcel, but I'm sure he will be a tough opponent!
Garvin Gray-A longtime player with much experience. He seemed to improve dramatically after his computer went into the "shop" for a week towards the end of our 24 game drawn match. He will have to be watched out for.
Ruben Comes-What can I say? He is a definite favorite in this event. With his powerful openings, middlegame and unerring endings, he will be hard to beat.
Robert Mueller-I don't know Robert, but I hope to one day if I can ever get up to his level. Another strong favorite here. With an 80% win rate against top level competition, how could anybody bet against him!
Jose Moreira-Another strong unknown to me. Very experienced and I am sure a threat.
Thibault de Vassal-Our glorious leader! If his connection can hold out, we all know Thib is as strong as anybody. It would be nice to see him pull this off.
Sebastion Boehme-Don't be fooled by Sebi's relatively low Advanced rating. He is very strong, experienced Freestyle player. Another shaky connection cost him last year. I consider him to be right in with the favorites of this event.
So there it is "so far". Exciting huh?
Hannes Rada (2010-10-21 22:27:32)
ICCF forum closed
ICCF seems to have some (major ?) problems. At least it's not very democratic to forbid their customer the free speech ....
Jimmy Huggins (2010-10-22 10:25:55)
Strong Tournament at Rybka Forum
Hi to all the FICGS players! In the last few days there has been in the works a strong tournament on the Rybka Forum. I know that most of you play a lot of games not only here but on others sites. I have been looking into the interest of having a type of World Chess Corr Blitz Championship. With the time controls being 2 to 3 days per move. There will be a time out or some kind of extra time system in place to get you a chance to AN critical positions. As of now there are discussions on the Rybka Forum for a Tournament Format that would be comfort to most of the players who play. I have been talking to the person who does the web design there and would are working out a new sub forum to keep this tournament organized and working a clock system so everyone can keep track of there time. I'm also having a prize fund organized to the top 10 finishers. Not so much for give money to the players, but as more a means to keep all the players interested and not have any problems with aborted games. This tournament will have 3 TD's to help with any problems that may come up. We are planing on having the tournament just after the new year. I have the interested of Wayne Lowrance and Ruben Comes has said he will play. If any are interested in playing in a World Chess Corr. Blitz Championship or if you have any questions or comments. Let know on here or your can leave a message on the rybka forum my user name is "thehug"
Thibault de Vassal (2010-10-30 17:19:19)
Freestyle round 4, careful winter clock!
To all players involved in the Freestyle tournament, important : Tomorrow it will be 1pm. 1 hour before !!!
So do not miss the start of Round 4 at 1 pm. while taking account that France (like most countries) goes to winter clock...
Garvin Gray (2010-10-31 14:41:18)
Creating an opening book
No, I do not except people to give away their opening secrets, but I was wondering.
How does one create an opening book? I have just been changing options in the fritz or rybka books from green to red and vice versa, but I assume that quite a lot of the decent players on here have proper opening books.
What process did you go through to create these books?
Thibault de Vassal (2010-10-31 19:00:19)
Eros Riccio wins the 3rd Freestyle Cup !
Congratulations to Eros Riccio who convincingly won this 3rd Freestyle Cup !!
As for me I'm really happy with this result... I could have lost the last game on time (connection lost just after the draw), and time pressure decided in a lost position vs. Sebi... :/
- The standings :
Place Name Score Berg.
1 Eros Riccio 4.5 - 15.25
2 Thibault de Vassal 4.5 - 14.25
3 Kamesh Nookala 3.5 - 11.5
4 Robert Mueller 3.5 - 10.75
5 Gino Figlio 3.5 - 10.5
6-7 Ruben Comes 3.5 - 8.75
6-7 Yuriy Perikov 3.5 - 8.75
8-9 David Evans 3 - 6.75
8-9 Sebastian Boehme 3 - 6.75
10-11 Richard Bitoon 2.5 - 5.5
10-11 Jai Prakash Singh 2.5 - 5.5
12 Scott Nichols 2.5 - 5.25
13 Garvin Gray 2.5 - 3.5
14 Marcel Jacon 2 - 2.5
15 Xavier Pichelin 1.5 - 3
16 Jose Moreira 1 - 2
(the score is the one shown in the software, it may be not the same in the FICGS tournament page)
Finally we avoided the connection problems (really lucky), this was a really nice event, I would like to thank all players & especially Garvin who was up very late to play!
Lots of fun, definitely... I'll try to organize the 4th edition in about 3 months!
Thibault de Vassal (2010-11-05 23:12:32)
Magnus Carlsen drops out of FIDE WCH
An interesting interview of Magnus Carlsen on the FIDE World Championship cycle and privileges of the world champion.
Always the same question: Should the reigning world champion play the next cycle in the same conditions than the other players... (no IMO, by the way the 16, 32 {whatever} who would play this tournament do have privileges the same way)
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6789
Xavier Pichelin (2010-11-06 11:41:08)
FREESTYLE CUP POKER
Who would like play the Freestyle Poker in the Futur?
Garvin Gray (2010-11-07 11:23:10)
rybka 4 opening book
Hello all,
I downloaded the Rybka 4 opening book and have had no end of problems trying to make it work.
I have read the rybka forums on adaptors and how to install, but they make about as much sense to me as a foreign language does.
I have contacted chessok and now am in back and forth emails about this topic and my dis-satisfaction with the products.
Is someone able to explain how to get the rybka 4 opening book to work in aquarium and Fritz 12 in really simple language. No coding please.
Robert Mueller (2010-11-10 19:31:47)
Email notification does not work
Since yesterday I am not receiving Email notifications for my opponent's moves any more. Does anybody else have the same problem?
Paul Valle (2010-11-12 23:08:30)
Harding's Database
I was very disappointed when recently learned that Harding has discontinued his Corr-Database... just when i planed to buy one....
I was therefore wondering if any one with this database could do a search for me on a unorthodox opening. I need it for an article.
Paul
Jimmy Huggins (2010-11-16 00:19:46)
If you plan on playing in the WBCCC
I've posted an official post for things on the Rykba Forum. Look under the WBCCC Forum there look at the Rules and Sign In's Thread. If you plan on playing drop your name there or here. It will also all the official info on it as it is 100% decide.
Peter Marriott (2010-11-19 17:43:42)
Arena 2.5 Beta
Arena 2.5 Beta released!
http://www.playwitharena.de
Thibault de Vassal (2010-11-30 22:32:53)
Improvements to score Go games
To all Go players,
I just made some significant improvements in the Go scorer (the option that enables to score Go games - see symbol "$" below the board in the fast moves mode)
Now the scorer recognizes many unfinished shapes & counts empty lines on the board correctly.
Still it shouldn't be totally trusted in all cases, particularly when some shapes in the center have no clear limits.
Any feedback is welcome. Note: you still have to remove dead groups by yourself.
Ilmars Cirulis (2010-12-02 08:30:24)
New Swedish Constitution
Any comments from swedes?
I am dreaming about this: the previous version, the current version and track of all made changes with some explanations and discussions about possible consequences. Just in case - if someone has a link to smth like it.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-12-06 20:53:07)
Eros Riccio vs Eros Riccio in WCH 5 ?
He did it... Eros Riccio qualifies for the 5th chess WCH final match (all games drawn against Alberto Gueci in the candidates final, knockout/round-robin rule decides, not TER here), and obviously he has "some chances" to meet himself at the top !! (of course he will not have to play the 12 games match in this case)
The crown will be probably very... very hard to take these next years, but I can predict that the winner, whoever he is, will have very tough matches to play to defend the title in the 6th (Alberto's revenge?), 7th and 8th edition... so many exciting games :)
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=tournament&tournament=FICGS__CHESS__WCH_CANDIDATES_FINAL__000005
Congrats Eros!
Jimmy Huggins (2010-12-07 19:16:41)
Who's the favorite in the WBCCC?
This is just a poll to see what others think. I had do I similar on the Rybka Forum, but seeing there would have be bias base on each forum I decide to do one on each one.
So the question is simple.
Who do you think among the FICGS side will have the best finish? choices--->
Wayne Lowrance
Gino Figlio
Sebastian Boehme
David Evans
Ruben Comes
Scott Nichols
Daniel Parmet
Kevin Plant
Ramil Germanes
Peter Marriott
Daniel Parmet
Hrubaru Mircea
To my knowledge that is everyone on this side. Since there is no poll option just post a name and if you want give an answer. Pairing will be posted in less than 3 weeks. Good Luck to everyone playing! and I'll try to keep the forum posted on updates as the tourney goes a long.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-12-13 23:14:40)
Chess positions too complex for engines
This topic may last a while but it could be interesting after all.
Why not trying to gather (and discuss) as many chess positions as possible that computers are still unable to solve with the best engines even working during days... It may help us to detect more weak points in the most recent engines.
Okay, I start with these ones:
Schuster-de Vassal : 1-0
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=36895&move=96
Peter played very well in this one but as far as I can remember this position was an easy draw... The plan was to keep the rook on the e column and White cannot progress. I knew that but at this moment, I had to play this move quickly and I made a stupid mistake: I trusted the engine... Rb8+?? 1-0 .. my comp was really a prehistoric one there but I wouldn't be surprised if the recent ones were still not able to avoid to play this Rb8+
The next position is less interesting but quite funny, and it looks like that the newest engines STILL do not understand it... Actually it shows +5.00 or even more while it is an EASY draw for any human player...
Utesch-de Vassal : 1/2-1/2
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=11345
Amazing, what do you think? :)
Thibault de Vassal (2010-12-17 17:36:47)
7 players tournament with fee & prize
Hi, 2 players recently asked for a 7 players tournament with entry fee & prize... Initially there were one in waiting lists but no players enough to play it, but it was years ago.
Would you be interested to play it? (just trying to see how many interested players one can find)
Thibault de Vassal (2010-12-18 20:23:28)
Server change (19th, december 2010)
Dear chessfriends, there will be a server change (we'll have a quadcore, so pages will load much faster!) on monday 19th, december.
You may not be able to connect before tuesday 20th, 21th in some cases, depending on DNS servers, so 2 days will be added to all clocks. Thanks for your patience :)
Thibault de Vassal (2010-12-21 17:31:39)
Junior 12, Deep Junior 12
The new engines by Amir Ban and Shay Bushinsky (who where World Computer Chess Champions) Junior 12 & Deep Junior 12 are available... It probably evolved quite a lot since the amazing Junior 7, anyone tested it already?
William Taylor (2010-12-24 17:46:51)
Chess Christmas song
Hello everyone,
I have recorded a chess-themed Christmas song about the FIDE President, called 'Kirsan Baby', which you can listen to here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_xYiUEDRPU
I'm not a very good singer, but perhaps it'll make you laugh. Let me know what you think. :)
Will
Thibault de Vassal (2010-12-25 03:01:57)
Paypal box in My messages page
A small question, what would you say about the Paypal box in the My messages page?
1) It is useless
2) It is annoying
3) It is not clear that the site is free
4) It is not important, so why not
5) It is just ok
6) Something else
I hesitate between 3 & 4 actually...
Thanks for your help :)
Jai Prakash Singh (2010-12-28 16:11:11)
Chess Course by GM Igor Smirnov
Hi Chessfriends,
Can someone visit the link
http://chess-teacher.com/home#oid=1014_5
and please review if I shall buy this course to improve my endgame.
Jimmy Huggins (2010-12-29 11:37:07)
WBCCC news
I just got great word form Dadi Jonsson are Tech guy at Rybka. That are playing arena is in beta testing as we speak! And there is an 80% of be successful!
Tano-Urayoan Russi Roman (2010-12-31 03:11:28)
Cluster Rybka
Anyone here interested?
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20058
Wayne Lowrance (2011-01-01 00:56:19)
Rybka forum options box
Any one know how to do it. Or could some one pm either Dadi or Felix to reload my Rybka account defaults/ I am unable to do it
Thank you
Wayne
Jai Prakash Singh (2011-01-04 08:00:30)
New site on Chess Thinking Systems
Hi Chess Friends,
Now you can visit my new chess site
http://chessthinkingsystems.blogspot.com/
and suggest me some improvements.
Jimmy Huggins (2011-01-04 22:01:10)
WBCCC Pairings for Round 1 will be here
Hello to everyone, With in the next 12 to 24 hours the pairings for round 1 of the WBCCC will be known. I have a couple of other things to post here as well. 1.I will be running a commentary page here.
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=19300
I invite all the FICGS players to follow. There fellow FICGS combatants in play and I and a couple of others will be doing live commentary as the games go on. I hope to see you ya there! (Thib, I know you will let your presents be know when you can ;)
The 2nd thing to be noted is the info the new software that is being used. All the info for that is here. Look below on the page and you will see my name with the info on it.
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20068;pg=2
Good luck to everyone.
P.S. I will try to remember to use your real name on here. When I post to make it easier to follow for everyone else. I'll try to have an update as games finish to let everyone know what going on.
Thibault de Vassal (2011-01-12 21:01:31)
Eros Riccio is the new FICGS chess champ
Congratulations to SM Eros Riccio who made it in the 4th FICGS correspondence chess championship, beating FICGS WCH Edward Kotlyanskiy 6.5-5.5
As he already won the candidates final match in the 5th FICGS chess WCH, we'll have the next final match "Eros Riccio vs. Eros Riccio" :) .. just joking, means that Eros just won the 5th FICGS championship as well... 2 titles at once, an amazing performance!
Sure that we'll need veeeery strong players to try to move the new FICGS king (who also won 2 FICGS freestyle cups) in the next WCH cycles! :)
Congrats also to Edward who was really near in this match, maybe the players will explain what happened in the only game that didn't finish into a draw... Finally many thanks to both players for a nice show!
Thibault de Vassal (2011-01-18 12:17:25)
Go in a french movie : Le hérisson
Few days ago I watched a nice french movie "Le hérisson" (with Josiane Balasko & Togo Igawa) where the game of Go appears, with what it seems to be a real game (taken from where, I have no idea). Nice ad for the game :)
Thibault de Vassal (2011-01-18 15:24:39)
Houdini 1.5 leads TCEC comp. chess tourn
Advanced chess "centaur" players should be interested by the following:
A "super" tournament for computers, named TCEC, just started. Premier Division finals started with the participation of the world's top engines.
Tournament format: double round robin
The participants:
1 Houdini 1.5
2 Rybka 4.0
3 Shredder 12.0
4 Stockfish 2.0.1
5 Naum 4.2
6 Ivanhoe B47cB
7 Hiarcs 13.2
8 Critter 0.9
I don't know much on this tournament, actually it may be a CCRL/SSDF system-like but as a tournament (and without rating list?), anyway thus it was able to reach the chess news in Chessdom & Susan Polgar blogspot.
The point is that the supposed "possible" Rybka-clones Ivanhoe & Houdini (both based on Ippolit, just like Firebird) entered the race... and Houdini is leading already, ahead of Rybka.
It is announced that Rybka 4 is playing, does anyone know who's behind this version of Rybka and what is the hardware? Does Vasik Rajlich know about that?
http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2011/01/houdini-15-leads-tcec-computer-super.html
http://www.chessdom.com/news-2011/computer-chess-live-2011
http://www.tcec-chess.org/
Jimmy Huggins (2011-01-18 21:11:52)
Following the WBCCC games Round 1
With less than 3 hours to go for the WBCCC Round 1 to begin. I will help everyone out here to follow what games they want to follow. Here are all the links for games.
B=Board, this is so you know who is at the top table and so on.
()=There real name on here if its needed.
B1-Wayne Lowerance vs ralunger(Ramil Germanes)
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20187
B2-Uly(Vytron) vs Loboestepario(Gino Figlio)
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20188
B3-Moz vs deka
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20191
B4-parmetd (Daniel Parmet) vs Sebastian Boehme
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20192
B5-National12 vs SpiderG (Peter Marriott)
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20193
B6-Schachmatt (Matt O'Brein) vs Omprakash
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20194
B7-Mark Eldridge vs Weirwindle
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20195
B8-stepanie vs Ruben Comes
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20196
B9-Balabachi vs jitan
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20197
B10-Natmaku vs CumnorChessClub (Kevin E. Plant)
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20198
B11-Keoki010 (George Clement) vs Tomski1981
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20199
B12-CumnorChessClub(Kevin E.Plant) vs wight054
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20215
B13-Scott Nichols vs indrajit_sg
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20201
B14-donkasand vs David Evans
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20202
B15-ppipper vs Fulcrm2000
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20203
B16-Anne-Marge vs SchachProfi (Alex)
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20204
B17-Kamesh(Kamesh Nookala) vs TheHug(Jimmy Huggins)
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20225
Everyone plays 2 games in our Swiss style format per round. This is everyone's 2nd game.
B1-deka vs Wayne Lowrance
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20206
B2-Loboestepario(Gino Figilo) vs parmetd(Daniel Parmet)
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20207
B3-ralunger(Ramil Germanes) vs Moz
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20208
B4-Sebastian Boehme vs Uly(Vytron)
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20209
B5-Weirwindle vs National12
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20210
B6-Omprakash vs stephanie
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20211
B7-SpiderG(Peter Marriott) vs Mark Eldridge
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20212
B8-Ruben Comes vs Schachmatt(Matthew O'Berin)
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20213
B9-Tomski1981 vs Balabachi
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20214
B10-CumnorChessClub(Kevin E.Plant) vs wight054
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20215
B11-jatin vs keoki010(George Clement)
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20217
B12-Sekos vs natmaku
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20219
B13-Fulcrum2000 vs Scott Nichols
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20220
B14-David Evans vs Anne-Marge
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20221
B15-TheHug(Jimmy Huggins) vs ppipper
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20222
B16-SchachProfi (Alex) vs donkasand
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20223
B17-indrajit_sg vs Kamesh(Kamesh Nookala)
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20224
This should make it easier for everyone to follow the games. Please leave comments for the players. They will would very much like it. I will try to update the forum as games go on and finish.
Mitha Sweet (2011-01-22 21:57:16)
How to play in here..
Hello all, My name Mitha I am new here, Please explain how to play chess here.thanks.
Gregory Kohut (2011-01-26 20:25:33)
Super Bowl
I think the Steelers will win the Super Bowl. Go Steelers! Beat the Packers!
Thibault de Vassal (2011-01-30 21:07:31)
Eros on his win in the 4th chess WCH
Eros Riccio kindly accepted to answer a few questions on his win in the 4th FICGS chess WCH, and explained how one particular game influenced another one that he finally won:
- Hi Eros, first of all congratulations for your latest outstanding results at FICGS, you won the Freestyle tournament, now two chess championships in a row... When the privilege of the champion is to defend his title without playing the preliminary tournaments, you are involved in all championship cycles & a few regular tournaments, do you plan to avoid that anyone can even reach the championship final in the future? :-)
Thanks! I must admit that this is really a magic moment for me in chess... if you consider that despite my recent ICCF Grand Master Title, probably I will also soon win my third italian Correspondence Champion Title out of three participations in the Italian Final Tournaments. And now also this huge satisfaction of being the FICGS Champion! I look forward to seeing a new challenger soon, I wonder who he will be, but let me enjoy the next few months for now ;-)
- What are your impressions on the games? Did you have any strategy from the beginning to the end? Finally did it work or was there another factor? (without revealing your secrets, of course :))
The games in the opening were as I expected, all Najdorf Sicilians except one game where I played 1.d4. My goal was to win at least one game, so I tried different aggressive variations as White (6.Bg5, 6.f3, 6.Be3 and 6.h3) with the hope of catching Edward unprepared on at least one of these, but uff, he was very well prepared on each one of them! A curious thing is that my biggest chance of winning happened in a game where I had the Black pieces! So Edward had to take some risks in one of his games where he had Black (the games where he had White were already finished or all very drawish) he was forced to avoid an easy draw he had (the 6.h3 game) and eventually he lost that game. Happy of having reached my goal of winning at least one game, I accepted his draw offer in that other game (6.f3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Be3 Be7 9.Be2) where I had good winning chances.
- You probably noticed, like many correspondence chess players, that the hardware still fastly improves while chess engines are continuously getting stronger, particularly since that "supposed" clones of Rybka (some may be even stronger than Rybka herself) appeared in the race. Do you think that the rate of draws will be so high soon that it may definitely kill correspondence chess? Do you have any opinion on these new engines?
I think that despite the big improvement of Hardwares and engines, we are still very far (and we will still be in the next 5 years, hopefully) from a situation where all the games will most probably end in a draw. So I think we can enjoy correspondence chess for many more years in the future, even if of course the Draw percentage at the highest levels will be higher and higher.
- I remember that you were surprised to win your match against Alberto in the Candidates Final of the 5th cycle (the reason why you do not even have to defend your title this time), the WCH rules (particularly the co-existence of the round-robin tournament & knockout tournament) are obviously not well understood by all players, what do you think about this system and the tie in 8 games matches? Are there changes you'd like to see in the future?
Yes, I really was! We were both convinced that with all draws, the higher rated player would have won (Alberto was higher rated than me in that match). Anyway it was our fault, as we didn't read the rules carefully. I am not sure what changes could be done in the future... maybe this is anyway the best setup, no new ideas are coming to my mind right now.
- Do you have a few more words for Edward after these nice games? Maybe also for your future opponents? :)
It was a real pleasure for me to play him, not only for the interesting games we played, but also for the friendly chats we had during the exchanges of the moves. I hope to play him again in the future for a rematch.
- Thanks for your answers and congratulations again!
Welcome, and thanks ;-)
_________
It is very interesting to see that a even a player like Eros prefered to minimize the risks (avoiding mouse drops or whatever) as much as possible by accepting a draw in a game where he had winning chances. Correspondence chess is definitely not all about chess, that's probably the lesson.
Also it is reassuring to read that correspondence chess is NOT dead yet, nor soon :)
Thibault de Vassal (2011-02-02 19:50:00)
Update for BigChess & Poker rating rules
Hi all, it was a long time there wasn't any update in rating rules.
First of all, as the number of results at Poker Holdem is quite high, I feel that a change should be tried so that ratings move less fast.
Case of a win (rating > 1999) : New Rating = ((39 x Current Rating) + (1 x Performance)) / 40
Case of a win (rating < 2000) : New Rating = ((38 x Current Rating) + (2 x Performance)) / 40
Case of a loss : New Rating = ((39 x Current Rating) + (1 x Performance)) / 40
As for Big Chess, the ratings deflate because there isn't the same rule than in Poker or Advanced Chess, this is now fixed :
If there's a winner and if his rating is below 2000, his new rating his :
New Rating = ((18 x Current Rating) + (2 x Performance)) / 20
Otherwise :
New Rating = ((19 x Current Rating) + (1 x Performance)) / 20
This rule may look strange from a mathematical point of view, but combined to the other rules that provoke deflation, it gives really good results IMHO. Let's see how it works here.
Paul Valle (2011-02-03 01:27:33)
Creating an Opening book
Hi guys,
a couple of chessbase/rybka questions that I hope you can help me with:
-how do you create a completely new opening book?
-How do you start en engine tournament from a set opening position?
Paul
Kamesh Nookala (2011-02-05 13:21:55)
Segregation of Games on this Server
Dear all,
In my opinion, it would be really useful to get the games segregated month-wise or two months-wise (as the ratings and database gets updated once in two months). As of today, whenever we try to download games and update the database, we happen to download all the previously downloaded games, as it has a collective bunch, and then delete the already downloaded games by doubles check.
Regards,
Kam
Dmitri Mamrukov (2011-02-10 08:45:13)
playchess.com
Anybody plays Advanced Chess on playchess.com? I use the standard interface that comes with my paid membership. But in the Engine Room I can't play such chess because I'm told that I can't taskswitch (otherwise, their anti-cheating mechanism would be triggered, even though it's not human chess at all). For that, I need to buy some ChessBase product like the Fritz interface or ChessBase. Is there any way to legally play Centaur games? Anybody tried doing it on 2 computers: on one to make moves (in the standard playchess.com interface) and on the other to analyze with your favorite engine? Thanks.
Jimmy Huggins (2011-02-12 04:18:32)
WBCCC Round 1 Update
This is the first update for the WBCCC, I guess some of you have been following some of the games there. There have been a lot of interesting games and some surprises a lot the way. As I'm reporting on the FICGS forum I will make most of this about the FICGS side. Here are some results so far and starting at the top boards.
B2 Uly(Vytron) vs Gino Figlio- Gino does a good job of defending a ..2.e6 line of the Sicilian. And both players agree to a draw after 34 moves.
B4 Daniel Parmet vs Sebastian Boehme- This was a Poison Pawn line of the Sicilian. The game ended before it even got out of book. A short draw, I think both people agreed that it was a good result for each player.
B6- Matt O'Brein vs Omprakash- A surprise if only for how short the game was. Matt shows his tactual muscles when his higher rated opponent much of had and oversight in this defense. As 23.g6! h6 24.Bxh6! and it looks like black has burned his bridges in this game.
B8-Stephanie vs Ruben Comes- This maybe the biggest surprise in round at least in terms of the bigger name on the FICGS side. Stephanie what looks to be a prefect opening all of the B90 lines and everyone agrees 32.Bc3! to be a new novelty and a very good one at that. Stephanie went on to grind Ruben down to a lost endgame. I very interesting game that has be to be seen to believe, I guess this going to show, that not all B90 lines lend to draws.
B13-Scott Nichols vs indrajit_sg- This was a long fought draw. When looking at the game early I thought white may have some chance to take advantage of his open g-file. But not a lot materialize later in the endgame(form the engines point of view).
B14-donkasand vs David Evans- David enter into dangerous territory with this B90 line. At move 19 he played ..Rb8 which looks to be a move to get out of book, because the other moves didn't look so good. Credit to David for finding a draw line in this game. Its another game with a look.
Kamesh Nookala vs Jimmy Huggins- What can I say I played an experimental opening and it backfired :) A well played game by Kamesh. Thanks for the chance to have a good fight with you.
Now on the 2nd set of games(Each player has 2 games in each round)
B3 Ramil Germanes vs Moz- Ramil here played a safe line in the B90 form the white side. So this looked like and easy draw.
B4 Sebastian Boehme vs Uly(Vytron)- Vytron plays and interesting side line of the Crao-Kann and play was very shape, but I got the feeling black played to ambitiously and had the worse of the position. He found a good defensive sacrifice and the good was hold to a draw. I think Sebi had winning chances, but I will have to look over the game to come up with an idea on that one. Anyway a great game to look over.
Ruben Comes vs Matthew O'Berin- Maybe the sharpest and most ambitious game in round 1. This goes in the the B97 lines, but Ruben goes for the Qf3 side line and produces a complex position after Rd3. I love this game so much I want to post the link again for everyone to please watch this game and post a comment about it.
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=20213
B13 Fulcrum2000 vs Scott Nichols- Scott tries his luck to be ambitious and backfires with his Bh4 idea. Even when looking at the game. I was thinking it to be a good idea, but as it turns out. It goes as just losing a tempo. I thought this was one of the more instructive games of the round. I liked the way white played the endgame.
And the last result I have for the round for the FICGS players is
B17-indrajit_sg vs Kamesh Nookala- This was an interesting draw were white plays and early sideline in the Sicilian that tends to be drawish unless black forces the play. Another well played game by both sides.
I just want to say there are a lot of games one should look at. As more results come in on the FICGS side I will posted. In my opinion one should follow Wayne's games I have enjoyed his play so far. He had to comeback some in his wild game with black vs deka, but I get the feeling this game will ended in a draw. I would also follow the underrated Matt O'Berin in games to come. He has proven to be a great player so far.
Scott Nichols (2011-02-17 00:38:10)
request again tour
Hi Thib, I thought I'd take another stab at this. I would like to request a new tournament format. It would be UNRATED WITH entry fee using E-points. Time control a total of 10 days with NO INCREMENT. Winner gets all the points.
This is working very well at the WBCCC. People use their time more wisely with no increment, instead of always waiting till the end and playing fast using just the increment.
And since it is unrated WITH entry fee, your argument about time losses from before seem irrevelant.
Thanks, Scott.
Thibault de Vassal (2011-02-17 16:46:15)
Silver chess games, W/B balance
Just an idea... as the Epoints balance for White and Black may be not fair enough (as a reminder the current rule for e.g. bullet/lightning/blitz is: "1 game match (regular) - In case of a draw, the prize is divided, however player Black will fully get back his E-Points whereas player White will get the rest."), what would be a better system according to you?
On the basis of 19.8 Epoints at the end of the game, maybe we could try:
If result is 1-0, W+ 19.0 / B+ 0.8
If result is 1/2-1/2, W+ 9 / B+ 10.8
If result is 0-1, W+ 0 / B+ 19.8
or...
If result is 1-0, W+ 18.0 / B+ 1.8
If result is 1/2-1/2, W+ 8 / B+ 11.8
If result is 0-1, W+ 0 / B+ 19.8
Any idea?
Kamesh Nookala (2011-02-17 19:13:14)
Friends, let's revolutionaize FICGS!!!!
Hi Guys,
FICGS is a great place. Atleast for me. I am very much attracted to the style of play. For more competitive play and attracting more correspondence chess players, while maintaining the purpose of correspondence chess, I think we all can help contribute in making FICGS the greatest server of all times to come.
I know what matters is real stuff, like the ICCF, but why not strengthen the identity of FICGS itself. We can have some games with various other servers (for e.g. the Rybkaforum match we had)
This way, in a calendar year we can have our tours fixed with each server, be it German or anything else.
As far as Thib is concerned, he is too much preoccupied maintaining the server. So, I request each and every member of this Server to throw some of their valuable inputs.
Warm Regards,
Kam
Jai Prakash Singh (2011-02-21 07:26:38)
Tal System of accurate attack
Now, go through "Tal system of accurate attack" at
http://chessthinkingsystems2.blogspot.com/p/tal-system.html
and offer your comments here.
Daniel Parmet (2011-02-22 20:17:12)
Conditional Moves
I'm not asking Thib to program this. I am wondering if it is possible that someone else could have programmed such a thing already to work with the browser as an addon/plugin. I several opponents who move instantly (without a millisecond) inbetween the move is returned to me. It is such a fast move return that my browser instead of loading a new game comes back to the same one!
David Ang (2011-02-23 15:55:23)
How long does it take?
A friend of my sign up for FICGS a couple of days ago. How long does it take to get signed up?
Garvin Gray (2011-02-23 17:22:21)
FICGS chess World Championship #9
Topic is about the upcoming WCH.
I am wondering, are there any format changes in general?
And specifically in how provisionally rated and new players are handled in the group stages?
Garvin Gray (2011-02-27 09:28:07)
Plea for classical rating help
I do not have a solution for what I am about to whinge about, but it is a situation I am getting a little tired of on this site and I see the situation as rather terminal to my participation here.
For the last 12 rating periods, I have had a rating between 2100 and 2200. In the one tournament where I got to play a field with consistent 2200's, I scored 50% or better.
What I am noticing more and more is that for me it is impossible to get opportunities to find out what my true standard is on here.
I am continually having to play people rated around myself or below and these includes those who are provisionally rated 1800 or 2100. When these games are drawn or lost, my rating is dragged down quite a bit.
I do not ever get the opportunity get those points back by playing people above 2200.
It is an issue that I am so sick of and I feel that my progress is being stunted because of it. My rating progress is certainly being stunted.
We do have the higher ticket idea, but that still takes six months to win one and that does NOT help a persons rating all that much.
With the WCH cycle as it is, I also do not have an opportunity to qualify straight through to group 2, like those with higher ratings do.
As I said, this is a bit of a whinge, but I really am sick of this issue and would like some more opportunities to try and find out what I am like against higher rated opponents.
It is part of the reason why I have also asked that the top rateds in the WCH are not segregated from the lower rated as they are atm. I think they should be made to start from stage 1.
Only the defending champion and possibly the defeated previous finalist should receive preferential treatment.
Jai Prakash Singh (2011-02-28 02:24:35)
The most common mistake in chess
Now watch this useful chess video by GM Igor Smirnov for free at
http://chessthinkingsystems2.blogspot.com/
Lucas McCain (2011-03-04 08:19:14)
Wallpaper
Is there anyway to have one wallpaper you want to stay? Some of the backgrounds are cool. I just wondering.
Jimmy Huggins (2011-03-05 06:14:08)
Poll for best game of round 1
If you have been following some of the games I would like for you to cast a vote for the best game of Round 1. Look here for the poll and read the directions because I was unable to put up all the games for vote.
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21096
Alexander Blinchevsky (2011-03-05 14:40:26)
Strange game
I wonder to see that at such level someone will continue playing in that position: http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=41015
The game was completely decided over 1 year ago, for now it's even force mate shown by any engine.
The only reason to continue playing that I see for the black is waiting for the opponent's (me) death. Sorry, Mariusz, I am not planning to do that in nearest future. :)
Jimmy Huggins (2011-03-10 11:02:48)
Notes for WBCCC Round 2
With the last game about to come to a close. I wanted to remember everyone that the next round is going to be starting sometime next week. At some point today Garvin will talk about the next pairings. When they are official released. I will start making the next game links available. Directly for what games you want to see.
Players please give some input about the starting time for Round 2 if you have an opinion :)
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21156
Jimmy Huggins (2011-03-11 21:49:16)
WBCCC Round 2 Pairings
Time has finally come for Round 2 to come and the long a waited pairings are out. Just for notes B=Board #
B1-Loboestepario (Gino Figilo) vs CumnorChessClub (Kevin E.Plant)
B2-Moz vs Sekos
B3-Mark Eldridge vs David Evans
B4-Stephanie vs Fulcrum2000
B5-NATIONAL12 vs Kamesh
B6-ppipper vs jitan
B7-Wayne Lowrance vs tomski1981
B8-Uly vs indrajit_sg
B9-Balabachi vs Sebastian Boehme
B10-Schachmatt (Matt O'Brein) vs Weirwindle
B11-donkasand vs Ruben Comes
B12-natmaku vs ralunger (Ramil Germanes)
B13-Scott Nichols vs Omprakash
B14-Keoki010 (George Clement) vs deka
B15-parmetd (Daniel Parmet)vs SpiderG (Peter Marriott)
B16-Banned for Life vs TheHug(Jimmy Huggins)
2nd game of Round 2
B1-CumnorChessClub (Kevin E.Plant) vs Moz
B2-jitan vs Loboestepario (Gino Figilo)
B3-Fulcrum2000 vs Mark Eldridge
B4-Kamesh vs Stephanie
B5-David Evans vs National12
B6-Sekos vs ppipper
B7-indrajit_sg vs Wayne Lowrance
B8-tomski1981 vs Uly
B9-Sebastian Boehme vs Schachmatt (Matt O'Brein)
B10-Weirwindle vs donkasand
B11-Ruben Comes vs Balabachi
B12-ralunger (Ramil Germanes) vs keoki010 (George Clement)
B13-Omparakash vs natmaku
B14-deka vs Scott Nichols
B15-TheHug (Jimmy Huggins) vs parmentd (Daniel Parmet)
B16-SpiderG (Peter Marriott) vs Banned for Life
I will post links in the next post. I still have to move the game threads over to the WBCCC Forum. Good Luck to everyone in Round 2! :)
Jimmy Huggins (2011-03-14 17:39:50)
WBCCC Round 2 to be a short delay
I'm sorry about this, but the tournament will be delayed by a day or 2, because of a withdrawal at the top of the pairings. If it was a lower point group, we could have probably winged it. For more details players please read this.
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21227
Me and Garvin will work hard to get this fixed as soon as possible, follow this thread or here and I will get it corrected. When we have things fixed pairings wise I will post ASAP.
Thibault de Vassal (2011-03-15 14:08:19)
ChessVibes openings (get 10 issues free)
For correspondence chess fans who like to follow the openings theory, I just received an interesting offer from ChessVibes that I copy/paste here:
__________
Dear correspondence chess lovers,
First, we'd like to thank the administrator of this forum for giving us the opportunity to showcase our product which is especially interesting for this audience, we think. So, here we go:
Subscribe to ChessVibes Openings and get ten issues for free!
Which openings are hot in top level chess? Which are not? Receive the latest opening novelties right in your mailbox with ChessVibes Openings, a weekly PDF magazine (+ PGN!) covering the latest openings news, co-authored by International Masters Merijn van Delft and Robert Ris and published by ChessVibes since January 2009. If you subscribe and mention 'ficgs' in an email to us, you'll receive the last ten issues for free!
What is it?
Every issue consists of a PDF Magazine and the accompanying PGN file. The PDF consists of four pages (A4 size) with the following contents:
- What’s hot? A round-up of this week’s important opening developments, with statistics about the frequence and score of the week’s most important opening novelty (page 1)
- What’s not? Which openings are not recommended at the moment, according to the top players? And why not? (page 1)
Game of the week Each week you’ll find the theoretically most important game analysed by our two IMs, with a detailed survey of the opening phase (page 2).
- This week’s harvest Four more new important opening ideas from this week (page 3) revealed and described with explanation of the opening and early middlegame (page 3).
- It’s Your Move An interactive element: every week two exercises, of which the solutions/explanations will follow one week later. This will improve your understanding of certain opening, middlegame or even endgame themes even further.
Which opening variations have been discussed so far?
You can download an index in PDF here.
http://www.chessvibes.com/plaatjes/cvo/CVO_index_114.pdf
More info & subscribe: You can find more information about ChessVibes Openings, and subscribe, at:
http://www.chessvibes.com/openings/
By subscribing you would join several GMs and IMs, who have responded very positively to our relatively new chess magazine!
Best regards,
Peter Doggers
Editor-in-chief,
ChessVibes
P.S.
If you subscribe and mention 'ficgs' in an email to us at info {at} chessvibes.com, you'll receive the last ten issues for free!
Thibault de Vassal (2011-03-24 15:36:57)
5th Go WCH, analysis by SC. von Erichsen
Svante Carl von Erichsen is FICGS Go champion... for the 5th time! After his win in the match that opposed him to Olivier Drouot, here are his analysis on the games:
_______________________
- Congratulations for this 5th win in the FICGS Go championship! By seeing the score you give less and less chances to your opponents who seem stronger each time though... Several games may look quite mysterious to weaker players. What happened during these games?
- Svante Carl von Erichsen:
Hi!
I do not have the impression that my opponents have less and less
chances. I also make many mistakes, and was in a clearly bad position
in at least one game. Olivier made many very unusual moves in the
opening, which were difficult to handle in a calm manner.
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=47578
In game 3 (47578), this is apparent at move 18. White has gone for a
very centre-oriented game, while Black has made more direct profit.
It is difficult to say who got the better deal. Move 18 itself is
very unusual, and I am not sure whether the result was satisfactory
for me. I think that moves 41 and 43 were important, as stabilizing
the group in the centre takes priority when the centre is dominated by
White like this. At move 53, it is clear that Black needs to stabilize
the top group, but D18 seems more important in retrospect. Move 62 is
a bit odd---I think that living with S16 instead would be better. I
think that Black got a territorial advantage here. Since White got
additional central strength, Black turned to make his central group
safe again, which should be enough to win now. White 94 tries to
shake up things again, but getting separated on the lower side makes
it very hard for him.
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=47580
In game 5 (47580), Olivier chose a very unusual move again at move 8.
I think that the outcome until move 17 favours Black, however. At
move 36, it looks like Black will have to live in the corner, but the
white enclosure does have its holes. Alas, White's response to the
forcing move at P10 was a severe blunder, as Black can take back the
right side. Move 55 was big, but I had not anticipated that the fight
after move 56 would be so hard for me. I think that after move 93,
White put too much emphasis on hollowing out what once seemed like
prospective black territory. The ponnuki in the centre was worth much
more than what White made on the second line. With that strength,
reducing the white framework on the left was no question. I think
that White then tried too hard in the centre.
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=47576
Game 1 (47576) was characterized by a big fight starting from the
joseki in the lower right corner. I guess that a stronger player
could point out several mistakes by both sides. It resulted in a big
exchange, where quite some aji remained in both positions. Move 90 is
an unusual idea, it would be more normal to extend on the side. 91
and 95 were intended as forcing moves to give some support to the top
side. I think that Black has good prospects after move 99 and
especially after 113. White started an interesting invasion on the
left then, which was however stopped by the blunder at 138.
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=47579
Game 4 (47579) again featured some unusual moves in the opening,
namely moves 7 and 9. I think that immediately plunging through at 10
was not good. It was quite difficult for me to keep territorial
balance afterwards. I think that my invasion at the top was
premature, but it seemed like I could not keep up without it. The
attack at L13 was severe. I got lucky that Black kept back a bit, so
that I could get the cut at E7, which was more important than the six
stones around N13. It would have been possible to save them at move
98, but at the cost of letting Black break through L10. Sacrificing
them allowed me to cement the centre to put me comfortably ahead. L9
was then the start of a desperate attempt to reduce the centre. I was
quite sure that I could capture it, even though simply connecting
would most likely have been enough. I then made a big blunder again
with move 130 (I had to double hane), allowing a game-deciding ko.
Black had a lot of threats against the lower right corner, and I think
that this exchange would have put him ahead. However, he thought he
had an internal threat at D10, which I think was not one, as there was
no additional eye in the centre yet.
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=47577
In game 2 (47577), he got me in the opening with another of his
experiments (move 7). I think that I could have been satisfied if I
simply played the keima to P2 at move 14. However, I activated the
central stone instead, which led to Black getting solid positions on
both sides, while I lived small in the corner and struggled in the
centre. I then succeeded in making him overconcentrated on the lower
side, but at the expense of a quite large corner and not making many
points myself. Move 80 tries to stir things up more. I think that if
Black had secured O13 with move 97, the game would have been over.
However, things only began to look good for White after move 127,
which had to be played at R8 (it is sente against the middle group
then, so Black can live with S5). It is still not over, however, as
White has two weak groups to take care of. The lower side group can
live locally with a ko at G1, but the other group has to struggle---it
would be nice to find a clean sacrifice plan here, because it is hard
for the two groups not to compete for eye space. This was the last
game to end, and my opponent seems to have chosen to resign all when
he did not see a way to win the overall match anymore.
All in all, these were very interesting games where I think I learnt a
lot. I wish to thank my opponent, who played very well.
Thanks!
Svante
Daniel Parmet (2011-03-27 09:22:53)
FICGS Quote file
Tell me this whopper isn't worthy!
"If you are not prepared to be wrong then you will never come up with anything original" - Sir Ken Robinson
!!
William Taylor (2011-03-30 19:04:59)
Active rating lists
Hi Thib,
The 'Active' rating lists currently filter out people who haven't connected to the server for 2 months. I think it would make more sense to filter people who haven't made a move in a game of that type for 2 months, as currently the lists contain people who are not active in that game type at all. For example, the poker list contains lots of people who have never played a game of poker on this site.
Will
Don Groves (2011-03-31 22:53:24)
FICGS Birthday?
Thib -- you wrote that FICGS would soon be four years old but I joined in August 2006 and there were 350 members already. Maybe FICGS will be five years old soon?
Garvin Gray (2011-04-02 19:56:04)
Conditional moves
I know this topic comes up infrequently, but I am wondering what are the arguments against conditional moves. On a few occasions recently I wish I could have used a conditional move, so I was wondering what are the cons for conditional moves.
I can think of a few cons, as well as pros.
Thibault de Vassal (2011-04-05 23:34:02)
Major update : Wikichess / hashtables
Finally....
Wikichess now supports hashtables, with some advantages :
- The program detects & manages transpositions by itself.
- If both players are rated over 2000, their moves will be automatically added in Wikichess if the move before is already in the database and if the line is not a transposition (still some work).
- By clicking "W" in the fast interface, the search is done by hashtable and no more by line, which returns better results.
So in a few months Wikichess should be much more useful than now :)
Please report any bug if you find ones... Thanks!
Ilmars Cirulis (2011-04-07 14:35:52)
spam with music
http://settingworldrecords.com/todayifoundhappy.php
Thibault de Vassal (2011-04-07 17:29:11)
Recent problems at FICGS (DNS, emails)
Hi all,
You've probably noticed that the server was unreachable during hours yesterday & today, and that some emails arrived late, the reason is that I'm trying to solve an old DNS issue.
12 hours have been added to all players in running games, I hope that everything will work fine soon.
Sorry about that.
Peter Schuster (2011-04-13 13:29:38)
CHESS__WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP__000009
When will be the waiting list closed?
Peter Unger (2011-04-19 23:34:25)
You can't enter this tournament
Why? There are players with 2145etc. in the waiting list?
See the following?
FICGS__CHESS__RAPID_SM__000008
(type : rated round-robin, time : 30 days, increment : 1 day / move)
7 players, 6 game (1 game against each opponent)
entry fee : 0 , prize : 20 (E-Points)
elo : 2300+
You can't enter this tournament :
Your chess rating : 2166 , is out of the restrictions.
Waiting list :
POL Broniek, Mariusz Maciej 2152
SVK Gazi, Miroslav 2272
USA Nichols, Scott 2184
DEU Wosch, Arkadiusz 2145
KAZ Alaguzov, Maxat 2415
PRT Pessoa, Francisco 2528
Kevin D. Plant (2011-04-20 12:18:31)
FICGS__CHESS__CLASS_M__000041
Why does it show the following
FICGS__CHESS__CLASS_M__000041
Leaders : George Clement Mark Eldridge
who have 2/4 and I have 2.5/4
Jimmy Huggins (2011-04-29 11:23:50)
WBCCC-New stuff and Round 2 Update
Hello everyone! Its been a while since the last time I have updated. I would like to talk about recent happening. Then I will give an update on the games for this round.
I have had some talks with a few players. And I would like to announce that starting next year there will be more prizes. Besides the money prize next year. I haven't decide yet how many of these I will have yet. And its possible there could be more ideas to come by. Please also know that there will be money prizes still this is just something on also to add to the interests.
1.Subscriptions to annotated games. For example Chess Today, Chessvibes, chesspublishing.com and Opening Master. There can be others, these are just examples. If you have other good ideas here please post. Most likely this will be a combined prize here.
2.Rental time on the new Rybka Cluster- Not sure how exactly this one would work. It could be a lot different in a years time for the Rybka Cluster. But I think this would have some interests.
3.Hardware- Again not sure how I would do this. But I would probably have it as a middle to high end setup for a prize. Hardware is always a every changing process its hard to know what is good at that time.
Any other suggests are welcome. Probably the best realistic prize is the first one. If I have multiple prizes like this. The way it would probably play out is like a lottery system. Start with the winner and work your way down. On what they want and go 2nd, 3rd etc...
The last prize to talk about.(And maybe the best) I have had talks with the people of chesspublishing.com and next year. Whatever game is voted for "best game of the round". Will have there game analyzed, by one of the titled players on that site and have the game published. I will try and have it open to everyone that follows the games for the WBCCC.
The next thing of interest for next year. Is that we will have a conditional move system in place. It was thought in a blitz setting to be a great asset to have. For example if your opponent is in a different time zone than you and the next move to you would be a force move. It would be nice to have this option to make the forced play. Without having to say up late at night to make this obvious move. This is all the new stuff. Round 2 Update to come.
Thibault de Vassal (2011-04-30 01:28:03)
Amateur player beats Rybka 4 !?
What do you think??
http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2011/04/amateur-player-defeats-rybka-in-match.html
Last but not least: "He knows by heart 20,000 books and 30 million digits of the pi number."
April 28, is this april fool joke in another country?
Jai Prakash Singh (2011-05-02 01:32:46)
Breaking Stereotypes
Hi Chess Friends,
Now watch GM Igor Smirnov's latest excellent chess video lesson "Breaking Stereotypes" [about exploiting White's Bg5 or Bb5 or Black's Bg4 or Bb4 moves] free (no registration required) only at
http://chessthinkingsystems.blogspot.com/
Thibault de Vassal (2011-05-10 12:09:36)
Big Chess championships 1 & 2
Hello all,
Finally the 2nd Big Chess championship started, with 3 players who should replace forfeiting players within 15 days. You still can enter the waiting list for replacements. Sorry for this month late :/
The final tournament of the 1st championship started as well... There was kind of a dilemma as I'm not comfortable with the idea of inviting myself to complete a tournament, but best was IMO to follow the current rules (tournaments of at least 7 players) so I had to invite 2 players. For the 2nd one, with 4 groups only I'll have to invite 3 players (most probably 2 players with 5 points out of 6 and the highest Big Chess rating when the tournament starts).
Jimmy Huggins (2011-05-15 13:08:49)
WBCCC Round 3 links and more
Here are the links for Round 3. Plus I have a quick announcement. I have talked to Garvin and I'm in the running to consider adding a 2nd tournament to the WBCCC. Probably called the WBCCC Inv. -> Invitational. This will be more of the standard style of blitz tournament. Something like 14d+1d per move, I don't want to set exact time control yet, I will probably open this discussion up after WBCCC 1 is over. What details I will give is this. What over the prize is next year will split with the other tournament plus a plaque to the winner. My hope is to have another drawing card for the WBCCC and I know this will probably bring more top players in.
Anyway here are the links for you to follow the games you wish to watch this round.
As always we will start at the top boards and work are way down. This time I will just do both of each board at the same time.
B=Board
B1- CumnorChessClub (Kevin D. Plant) vs Fulcrum2000- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21828
B1- ppipper vs CumnorChessClub (Kevin D. Plant)- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21814
B2- Kamesh vs ppipper- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21829
B2- Fulcrum2000 vs Kamesh- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21815
B3- jitan vs Sebastian Boehme- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21830
B3- National12 vs jitan- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21816
B4- Loboestepario (Gino Figilo) vs WeirwindleX- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21817
B4- David Evans vs Loboestepario (Gino Figilo)- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21831
B5- Sebastian Boehme vs David Evans- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21818
B5- Weirwindle vs Banned for Life- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21832
B6- ralunger (Ramil Germanes) vs National12- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21833
B6- donkasand vs ralunger (Ramil Germanes)- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21819
B7- tomski1981 vs donkasand- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21834
B7- parmetd (Daniel Parmet) vs tomski1981- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21820
B8- Banned for Life vs Ruben Comes- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21821
B8- indrajit_sg vs parmetd (Daniel Parmet)- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21835
B9- Keoki010 (George Clement) vs Indrajit- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21822
B9- Mark Eldridge vs Balabachi- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21837
B10- Wayne Lowrance vs Stephanie- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21838
B10- Balabachi vs Wayne Lowrance- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21823
B11- StephanieX vs Mark_Eldridge- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21824
B11- Omprakash vs Keoki010 (George Clement)- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21839
B12- natmaku vs Scott Nichols- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21825
B12- Ruben Comes vs deka- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21840
B13- deka vs Omprakash- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21826
B13- Scott Nichols vs Schachmatt (Matt O'Brien)- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21841
B14- Schachmatt (Matt O'Brien) vs TheHug (Jimmy Huggins)- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21827
B14- TheHug (Jimmy Huggins) vs natmaku http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21842
Before I get off, I would like to thank Thib for letting me ask his great players to play in my tournament. Best wishes to all and enjoy this next year!
Jimmy
Garvin Gray (2011-05-20 12:23:33)
E point encouragement
I think to encourage people to buy more epoints, there should be a bonus system in place.
So it would work something like this:
Buy 10 epoints, receive 10 epoints
Buy 20 epoints, receive 22 epoints
Buy 50 epoints, receive 55 epoints.
And so forth.
Wayne Lowrance (2011-05-26 01:23:39)
I am exhausted
Thibault Eros & friends.
I am exhausted. At 81 years I cannot play chess to my standards. Recent events have drained me and I do not know what to do. I dearly love this site, it has been good to me, I met a lot of friends but I cannot any longer function at the level I expect of myself. Please forgive me. May I drop out of current WBCCC matches with Eros.
Thanks to all for being my friend
Wayne
Jai Prakash Singh (2011-05-26 21:28:42)
Winning Blitz chess
Hi friends,
GM Igor Smirnov, present ICC Blitz Rating 3091 (best 3212) with ID Charodej shares his blitz chess secrets in video lesson "How to break 3000 blitz rating" free at
http://chessthinkingsystems.blogspot.com/
Sebastian Boehme (2011-06-08 02:45:02)
Improving visibility of draw offers
Hi guys,
have posted it in chat and thought I give it another shot here in forum too.
Sometimes players can maybe not see the draw offer, due to stress, playing the move quickly...
I know there is the little message box, like a letter below the game board that says "Draw has been offered".
But maybe there can be an improvement,i.e. a sort of colour....have seen it from other chess sites and there for example a red button
above the board has been implemented.
Or maybe some sort of red frame around the board in design could work it out. So in case of draw offerit gets visible.
I do not want to say players are too stupid to see a draw offer or anything like this, but maybe see it as a simplification for your eyes.
Just a wild idea, looking for comments, or not. ;)
Cheers,
Sebastian
Thibault de Vassal (2011-06-13 18:44:21)
Unable to login for several days?
Hi all,
It looks like a few players are still unable to login (actually to access the whole website) during several days from time to time.
I thought I solved the problem a few months ago and I did not encounter this problem since that time, so I'm not sure about what happens for these players.
A trick may be to enter https://ficgs.com instead of http://www.ficgs.com in your navigator, it does not work every time but it may help sometimes.
If this issue happens to you, please describe what you can do and cannot do here... Let's try to figure it out.
Thanks for your help!
Jimmy Huggins (2011-06-22 06:54:36)
The rise of freestyle chess again.
Hello to all my FICGS friends! I was wanting to post here to let people know about a live broadcast later today. Me and ICCF GM Arno Nickel will be having a match later to help promote freestyle chess. In truth this is another practice match to try and test a server for freestyle chess. He had own 1st match yesterday. And it was nice to see it being followed. I hope some of you come watch the event. Comments are welcome! :) The match will be at 6:30am Central Standard Time/7:30am Eastern Standard Time/12:30 GMT/ 11:30 Rybka Forum time. Look for a thread in the Rybka Forum/ Computer Chess subforum. The thread will be up several minutes before the match. The time control will be 60min+15sec, which is a common time control for freestyle chess.
For those of you who don't know ICCF GM Arno Nickel. He is in the top 10 in the ICCF and is one of the leading people to promote and bring freestyle chess to the fore front.
I hope to see you today and I'm sure there will be other matches to follow in the future. This will all lead up to a great tournament later on this year. :)
Mariusz Maciej Broniek (2011-06-22 16:49:31)
Thank you!
Dear FICGS Friends, Because of very bad health condition I have to take a break of playing chess. I am so sorry. I want to thank you, my Friends, for all good games and friendship. All the best to you! Kind regards, Mariusz M. Broniek
Lalit Kapoor (2011-06-28 10:39:04)
When a player declared winner?
The following tournaments are finished with no unfinished games but site does not declared the winner so far:
1. FICGS__CHESS__RAPID_A__000093 (last game finished on June 16, 2011
2. FICGS__POKER_HOLDEM__TOURNAMENT_C__000049 (last game finished on May 24, 2011.)
Please let the players know about the rules upon this issue.
Jimmy Huggins (2011-07-05 11:20:45)
WBCCC Round 4
Just wanted to let everyone know that the next round of tournament will start on July 9th 11:00am GMT. Game links will follow.
Robert Mueller (2011-07-10 07:29:08)
How come ...
... that in the established rating list there are players who have never played a single game here?
E.g. the current #1, Rene-Reiner Starke has not played any games and has no games in progress. He has not even logged on for almost a year.
The same goes for the current #7, Ryszard Kasperek. No games played or in progress and not logged on for almost two years.
Are these players just window-dressing?
Pablo Schmid (2011-07-12 14:47:32)
Shogi in ficgs?
Hello Thibault and everybody, there is poker, and go, an asian strategic game in ficgs already. I think Shogi, (japanese chess) might be very fun here, this is rather misknown for occidental people and there is not many place where we can play that game. The game is very fun to play and complicated as well! Usually Kanji, japanese symbols are used instead of "pieces" but it exists "occidental symbols" that represents pieces, maybe we could try it with 2 interface possible, with pieces or with kanji like in playok.com
What do you think?
Thibault de Vassal (2011-07-13 22:03:40)
Interviews with Vasik Rajlich
Just copying the link posted by Paul in the chat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQshTNJ4pSM
I couldn't summarize it, but if someone is able to do it, he's welcome :)
I guess it is also about the supposed Rybka clones (Ippolit, Robbolito, Ivanhoe, Firebird, Houdini...)
Thibault de Vassal (2011-07-13 22:42:29)
More statistics for every player
I've just added a new feature to see more statistics on every player, see in Preferences >> (statistics)
You can see such informations for every player by typing in example this link:
http://www.ficgs.com/players/devassal_thibault#stats
(wow, that's really not glorious :))
Any suggestion is welcome...
Thibault de Vassal (2011-07-14 23:54:45)
Case of resignation in WCH tournament
Hello all,
I'd like your opinion on this special case in a WCH tournament (that did not happen yet, as far as I know). Currently rules do not allow to change anything there but I'm not even sure that something should be changed. Please note that I consider that correspondence chess is not all about chess, so resignations in equal positions are most often wins like other wins.
The case: Player A draws or wins a game in a round-robin WCH tournament, then resigns all his other games in equal positions.
Of course this is not good and maybe unfair for the player who offered/accepted the draw or lost the game against him. If player A resigned some other games in equal positions before, the rules allow the referee to adjudicate the game for the other player, but not here.
While I'm writing these lines, I feel and realize that the referee shouldn't be able to change such a result as the limit is unclear (what about 2 games, 3 games, 4 games or 5 games before those resignations in equal positions), but this may be worth to discuss anyway.
Thibault de Vassal (2011-07-23 01:45:13)
No more draws (over the board)
An interesting idea by Rustam Kasimdzhanov to avoid draws in classical chess tournaments...
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7387
Jai Prakash Singh (2011-08-02 05:12:20)
A strong Opening Surprise
hi friends,
now watch an original new video analysis by GM Igor Smirnov
A Strong Opening Surprise by White 1.b3 (Part 2-All Black replies except e5)
at http://chessthinkingsystems.blogspot.com/
Thibault de Vassal (2011-08-02 20:15:54)
Gaetano Laghetti wins IECG Cup 2006
Italia strikes again, congratulations Gaetano for winning this IECG Cup started 5 years ago! It is funny to see how correspondence chess has evolved during this only tournament...
The crosstable:
http://lss.chess-server.net/tournaments/crosstable/tourid/19644
Paul Valle (2011-08-08 03:23:41)
My favorite chess sets:
Bauhaus:
http://www.retrotogo.com/2010/07/naef-bauhaus-chess-set-by-josef-hartwig.html
Edible:
http://www.biggles.uk.com/wow/edble_chess.html
Empire:
http://www.houseofstaunton.com/product_p/menwemp44.htm
Mechanics:
http://www.houseofstaunton.com/product_p/menwmch425.htm
Platonic:
http://www.yankodesign.com/2005/07/20/platonic-chess-by-patricia-tower/
Tesla:
http://design.fr/product-design/chess-set-for-tesla-vacuum-tube-chess-set-to-attract-young-followers/
Wobble:
http://walyou.com/luxurious-wooden-chess-set-wobbly-pieces/
Jimmy Huggins (2011-08-10 03:42:40)
Ideas for a Freestyle tournament
I have been pretty busy lately, and have been thinking about a lot of different things chess related. Some of you know that I have talked about and planed for a freestyle chess tournament in the near future. Here is a few notes for it and I would like to pass on some ideas and get some opinions. I can safely say that we can have a freestyle event between Nov-Dec and the 2nd part of it is that it won't be around Christmas. Oh ok here is what I would like to get an opinion on. 2 questions
1) What tournament timeline sounds better? (a) A Saturday-Sunday tournament or (b) Saturday-Next Saturday. I would say that 5 or 6 rounds is what we would go with. That should be plenty for a 20-30 person first tournament. That is what I'm predicting I don't know for sure.
2nd Question- What is a reason time control?
Oh ok the leading time control idea for me is 60min+30sec per move. Anyone see a problem with this one? I like this because its not a huge time spent and there is still room for the human element in the freestyle game.
All comments are welcome thanks for any input! :)
Jimmy
Thibault de Vassal (2011-08-19 11:43:45)
Rybka banned from ICGA
Clone or not clone, I'm not sure if this question is worth something in computer chess but ICGA did it: Rybka was banned and stripped of titles...
I just partly read RybkaInvestigation document, a few points are particularly ridiculous (like 2.2 "Sudden Strength Increase"), I have no idea on the other ones and I'm not sure if this is really important in the real world.
Finally, the punishment:
- to strip Rajlich of all ICGA Tournament Titles and,
- force the return of trophies and prize funds to the ICGA and,
- ban his programs from future competitions until he can satisfy the ICGA that they are no longer derivatives and that he has satisfied the conditions of any other penalties the ICGA imposes.
- encourage other tournaments (Leiden, Paderborn, CCT, TACCL, etc.) to disallow the entry of Rybka until it is proven “clean”.
ICGA Panel Members
The Secretariat members:
Robert Hyatt - (Crafty, Cray Blitz, World Computer Chess Champion in 1983 and 1986)
Mark Lefler (author of Now)
Harvey Williamson (part of Hiarcs Team)
Panel members:
Albert Silver (software designer for Chess Assistant (1999-2002); currently editor of
Chessbase News (2010-present))
Amir Ban (author of Junior: World Champion 2002, 2004, 2006, World microcomputer
Champion 1997, 2001)
Charles Roberson (author of NoonianChess)
Christophe Theron (author of Chess Tiger)
Dariusz Czechowski (author of Darmenios)
Don Dailey (author of Cilkchess, Star Socrates, Rex, Komodo)
Eric Hallsworth (part of Hiarcs Team, Publisher of Selective Search magazine)
Fabien Letousky (author of Fruit)
Frederic Friedel (Chessbase.com)
Gerd Isenberg (author of IsiChess)
Gyula Horvath (author of Pandix, Brainstorm)
Ingo Bauer (Shredder team)
Jan Krabbenbos (Tournament Director of Leiden tournaments)
Kai Himstedt (author of Gridchess and Cluster Toga)
Ken Thompson (creator of Belle Chess Machine, World Computer Chess Champion
1980, Turing Award winner 1983, creator of B and C programming languages,
Unix and Plan 9 developer).
Marcel van Kervinck (author of Rookie)
Maciej Szmit (assistant professor at Technical University of Lodz)
Mark Watkins (MAGMA Computer Algebra Group, School of Mathematics and
Statistics, University of Sydney)
Mark Uniacke (Hiarcs, World Microcomputer Champion 1993)
Mincho Georgiev (Pawny)
Olivier Deville (Tournament Director of ChessWars)
Omid David (author of Falcon)
Peter Skinner (Tournament Director of CCT--the major annual online computer chess
tournament)
Ralf Schäfer (author of Spike)
Richard Vida (author of Critter)
Richard Pijl (author of The Baron)
Stefan Meyer-Kahlen (author of Shredder, multiple world champions from 1996-2007)
Thomas Mayer (author of Quark)
Tord Romstad (author of Stockfish, Glaurung)
Tom Pronk (ProChess, Much)
Vladan Vuckovic (Axon, Achilles)
Wylie Garvin (game Programmer at Ubisoft Montreal)
Yngvi Björnsson (The Turk)
Zach Wegner (author of ZCT and Rondo, an upgraded version of Anthony Cozzie’s
Zappa program, which was world champion in 2005)
ICGA Board
President - David N.L. Levy
Vice-President: Yngvi Björnsson
Secretary-Treasurer: Hiroyuki Iida
Programmers Representative: Rémi Coulom
WCCC Tournament Director
Jaap van den Herik
http://www.chessvibes.com/plaatjes/rybkaevidence/RybkaInvestigation.pdf
http://www.chess.com/news/rybka-banned-and-stripped-of-titles-3798
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQshTNJ4pSM
Scott Nichols (2011-08-22 22:39:35)
Comments anyone?
Hi Thib, I was wondering two things about the comments. First, can you please refresh them with each page refresh? Unless we refresh manually, we can't see if someone wants our attention or a game. Second, can you make it so only you or the person who wrote a specific comment can erase them? There is someone who gets perverse enjoyment out of erasing comments here, sheesh, :)
Garvin Gray (2011-09-02 13:22:52)
Houdini 2.0 is out
Houdini 2.0 is now out.
The only question I have is, is it any faster than the previous versions?
Jimmy Huggins (2011-09-07 00:44:59)
Freestyle Cup 1 update
Here is a couple of threads over at the Rybka forum one is about time control, one is an overall thread and the last is the start time.
Time Control- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=22927
Start Time- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=22926
Overall- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=22925
Please give input and vote. Please and thank you.
Philip Roe (2011-09-18 05:19:36)
Phantom ficgs
When I am in the ficgs site, a second tab opens spontaneously in the ficgs format, and bearing some random message from the real site. The message scrolls across the page from right to left. I kill this tab and it returns after about a minute. It carries a label in the tab box "Message box 1"
Does this happen to anyone else? how do you get rid of it?
Viktor Shishkin (2011-09-23 21:21:00)
Find a game!
Find a game which started by 1.e4 Nf6 2.f3 and ended by 5...N:h1#
It is a famous puzzle.
William Taylor (2011-09-26 01:18:37)
Au revoir
When my current games are finished I'll be leaving FICGS for a while to focus on other things (mainly the last year of my degree and OTB chess). Thanks for all the games, and I'll be back for some more in the future. :)
Thibault de Vassal (2011-09-26 18:03:55)
Italia & Eros strike at ICCF team champ
Italia made it very well (so Eros Riccio 1st at 1st board, and Mauro Petrolo 2nd at 6th board) against a very strong field in the ICCF european team championship!!
Italia finish second, Slovakia wins...
http://auryn.obolog.com/scacchi-l-italia-guidata-da-riccio-seconda-agli-europei-1282242
http://www.iccf-webchess.com/EventCrossTable.aspx?id=17521
http://www.iccf-webchess.com/EventCrossTable.aspx?id=17522
Congrats guys :)
Thibault de Vassal (2011-09-27 11:43:12)
About lag (timestamp system) for bullet
Just answering a question I just saw in the chat: no, there is no timestamp system at FICGS. Actually I made those bullet/lightning/blitz time controls while I had the worst (!) broadband in the world (until last year), according to me it was long enough even for a few seconds lag. The other reason is that I experienced the timestamp systems on ICS and other sites at this time and it didn't work so well. Anyway, we should probably use a software to use this system, and cheating would probably be possible then.
Garvin Gray (2011-09-29 03:38:37)
Next game feature
Hello Thib and all,
I have been using the next game feature for a while and I would like to see a change to it.
Would it be possible that this feature auto defaults to the game with the shortest amount of time remaining?
I am not sure what the current setting is, but it seems a bit random which game it moves to next.
I think changing this feature so that it moves to the game with the least amount of time remaining would be a helpful and useful change.
Cheers,
Garvin
Don Groves (2011-09-30 09:56:18)
Feature request
Thib: In your spare time (ha ha) could you highlight the names on the "My games" page of opponents who are currently online. Then we would know which games to look at next. It can speed up games quite a bit to make moves in those games ahead of games in which the opponent may not be at his/her computer.
Vjacheslav Perevozchikov (2011-10-03 06:00:05)
my IP banned?
Hi! I can't enter the site for some time, the pages not loaded at all. But when using proxy I can be here.
What's the reason for banning my IP or IP network from Ukraine?
Garvin Gray (2011-10-05 14:56:35)
Chess world championship #10
Hello Thib,
Instead of the site showing the list of names in order of entry, would it be possible to show them in rating order?
Or to provide both lists?
Jimmy Huggins (2011-10-05 19:44:45)
Official WBCCC freestyle cup 1 to begin
I'm ready to announce, that the first tournament for the freestyle cup will begin 10 days form today on Oct 15th. The first tournament will be 20m+30s. Since right now we have a large number of American players we will probably start in the early morning in the Americans. I figure this to be the best. So 5-7am Central standard time Or 6-8am Eastern Standard time. I would like to get in at least 3 rounds in on Saturday and see how everyone is. We may do one, but 3 is a safe bet. Then we will finish the tournament next Saturday at the same time. There will be some time between for a break probably 20 to 30 minutes. In the next post I will explain what you need to do to get the the free server and what to do once you get it. A lot of you have a user name and password already (WBCCC) but if you don't I will help you with that. One thing I will say is important is to make sure you leave open a chat window with me. In case you run into any problems. I can answer most problems, if not there will be someone there to help assist me. If I need it.
Guillaume Schub (2011-10-10 16:30:38)
Change country settings
I created my account a while ago, when I was still leaving in the UK. Back then, I found it totally natural to set up my account as a british one.
I now moved back to France, and wanted to change my account accordingly. But I coundln't find any way to do it. Is there any reason for this (beside "didn't think it would be useful/needed") ?
George Clement (2011-10-10 17:27:48)
Opponents time
Tibault would it be possible on the "My games" page to post the opponents time left to make a move. You already have the time for the game owner.
Thibault de Vassal (2011-10-11 11:37:09)
Go Komi 7.5, advantage for Black/White?
A topic on the game of Go.
Someone suggested that the current FICGS Go champion should be able to decide the color of the 1st game (the WCH final match is played in 5 games) because the komi may be an advantage for White.
I'm not favourable to this idea because IMO the komi "may be" an advantage for White or Black according to the players level, and it should be about equal for top players (9p, theorically). Anyway, I guess that the champion has quite an advantage already by playing the final match only.
Any opinion on this?
Don Groves (2011-10-17 00:47:50)
One more request
Salut, Thib:
At the bottom of a tournament page is a "download all games" button. Could you add a "download my games" button which would download only one person's games from the tournament?
Thibault de Vassal (2011-10-28 22:16:09)
4th FICGS freestyle cup
Hi all,
The 4th FICGS freestyle tournament may happen on december 3 & 4 (2011) - three rounds each day at 13:00, 15:00, 17:00 server time. The format should be the same (30 minutes + 15 seconds per move) than the previous one.
That's quite a good moment IMO, just before the start of the next championship cycle.
What do you think? Any suggestions?
Thank you,
Thibault
Thibault de Vassal (2011-11-01 21:30:37)
Best poker hands (nov. 1st, 2011)
So far, we've had 2 royal straight flush...
Here is the top 50 of the best hands:
1. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=48259&move=509
2. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=46937&move=771
3. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=49350&move=623
4. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=46624&move=637
5. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=56107&move=440
6. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=50644&move=1331
7. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=26299&move=1092
8. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=55390&move=490
9. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=52098&move=241
10. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=51966&move=672
11. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=50555&move=652
12. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=51963&move=532
13. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=44014&move=1035
14. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=50685&move=782
15. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=50389&move=764
16. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=47962&move=896
17. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=51259&move=104
18. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=55175&move=34
19. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=51458&move=492
20. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=57131&move=128
21. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=43081&move=393
22. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=56765&move=87
23. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=46758&move=66
24. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=53084&move=746
25. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=59372&move=35
26. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=52398&move=1033
27. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=52269&move=324
28. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=52254&move=13
29. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=49334&move=261
30. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=57873&move=759
31. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=51962&move=586
32. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=42889&move=561
33. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=49503&move=64
34. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=47224&move=223
35. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=59395&move=222
36. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=48277&move=489
37. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=57879&move=1018
38. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=51638&move=284
39. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=49335&move=53
40. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=55529&move=513
41. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=52389&move=584
42. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=37460&move=1118
43. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=56261&move=260
44. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=54006&move=308
45. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=58252&move=1662
46. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=46860&move=457
47. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=55442&move=353
48. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=55426&move=83
49. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=51469&move=326
50. http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=51037&move=2034
Timothy Cookson (2011-11-02 14:42:47)
Vacation Question
"-Timothy
A question for you Thibault, I have just started a 5 day vacation but my clocks are still going down.
--Garvin
Tim, questions like yours should be asked in the forum we can give more complete answers there.
--- Thibault
time per move clock is still running during vacation so that no move exceed 60 days..."
And what if I lose on time during a 5 day vacation?
Andres E. Leon (2011-11-03 22:08:51)
Chess world championship #8 Question
Hello Thibault, I was playing the FICGS__CHESS__WCH_STAGE_2_GROUP_04__000008, which recently finishes. I would like to ask you, if I still have possibility to qualify to the next stage. Thanks you very much.
http://www.ficgs.com/tournament_FICGS__CHESS__WCH_STAGE_2_GROUP_04__000008.html
Garvin Gray (2011-11-11 18:29:27)
ficgs Server time
Server time is now five minutes ahead again and gaining more time.
Des Jefferis (2011-11-12 13:56:54)
World Championship
The whole process seems a bit weird. Why not just put everyone in groups and let the winners go through to the next stage, or maybe the top 2 (or 3 or 4).
Des Jefferis (2011-11-12 13:59:17)
Country
Can I choose England has my country rather than Great Britain?
Thanks.
Garvin Gray (2011-11-14 10:16:07)
New Blitz Silver Match
I am now looking for a new player to have a blitz silver match with.
If you are interested, just reply to this post and then we can discuss further.
Robert Mueller (2011-11-15 19:03:39)
WCH_SEMI_FINAL_000009
Hello Thibault,
When will the WCH 000009 KO semifinals start? I believe all quarterfinals games are finished.
Jimmy Huggins (2011-11-28 10:38:22)
WBCCC 2 sign up and WBCCC 1 review
After an exciting WBCCC 1, Own Champion ppipper (José Sanz) wins with a finally score of 7.5 out 10. FICGS top players were in a tied for 2nd with Timothy Cookson, Sebastian Boehme, and Ruben Comes. Credit also has to go to David Evans who had ppipper as White in the last game. And went all out to beat him. In the end Jose pulled out the win with black. For those interested I highly recommend you read this article. About the champion talked about his tournament games.
http://www.chesscafe.com/chessok/chessok.htm
Now I wanted to go a head and open up the sign up for the 2nd edition of WBCCC and tell everyone about the improvements and add ons.
The first major improvement on WBCCC is that it will have a simple to use conditional move system. With our easy downloadable client we use. There is also going to be a 2nd tournament for those who prefer a little more time than own standard tournament of 30days per side. In the 2nd tournament that is going to be called Rybka Forum Grand Prix. Is going to be 30day for the first 40 moves and 30 days Sudden Death after that. So basically you get 30 more days for 40 moves on your clock. Now here is a few more things to know about the tournament. After each move, if you request it. You can have your move noticed to you by email. This is good for the busy person who doesn't check the game forums all the time. The other thing added to the tournament is that there will be a file on hand for everyone to check to see what sites everyone plays on it a head of time. This is good for guys who like to prepare for there opponent. As for other fun things offered. I finalize with chesspublishing.com that they will help for own best game per round and the winners will get there games analyzed by the top players there and will publish them on the forum. Which I can expand to here and the other forums I promote at. For some were scared of the time control, but in truth we only had 2 games time out, but this was because they left there games. Which was a disappointment, but 2 games over a whole tournament was very good! If you maybe interested, but are unsure about the time. I recommend talking to me and when can have a test game to see if you can handle it. Most know with in a week or 2 if they can do it or not. Thanks for the support of Thib and everyone that played this year and anyone that will try this next year!
Jimmy
Thibault de Vassal (2011-11-28 15:10:21)
New feature to block messages
Hi all,
I just added a new feature that enables players to block/ignore all future messages from any other player.
Please note that there is NO WAY to take it back. (abuses would be easy otherwise)
The way to proceed: If a player sends abusing or provocative messages (according to the rules you have to avoid to reply it, the option appears at this condition only), just click the "report message" link THEN you'll see the "ignore future messages from this player" link. Just click it and you're done.
Thanks in advance for your feedback.
Jordi Domingo (2011-12-03 09:51:42)
Latvian gambit World Champion chess
Next year, in January, it will start the e-mail 7th. Latvian gambit World Champion chess. If you want to play it or you need more information, please send an e-mail to Alejandro Melchor.
amelchormunoz@gmail.com.
Kind regards
Jordi
Thibault de Vassal (2011-12-05 16:31:24)
Who wants a Freestyle GO tournament soon?
Hi all, this discussion to see if we would have players enough to organize a first Freestyle GO tournament...
You can see the rules in "Waiting lists" > "Go freestyle cup"
Any players interested to play such a tournament for example in january? (I'm one of them of course :))
Thibault de Vassal (2011-12-07 13:42:51)
Bobby fischer against the world
Did anyone see this recent documentary? "Bobby fischer against the world" or in french "Bobby Fischer: 64 cases pour un génie".
It just has been broadcasted in France on Arte TV. What did you think about this one?
Garvin Gray (2011-12-13 10:09:29)
From Gambit Thematic Tournament
Thib,
Do you really mean f6 or d6 as black's second move?
Cheers,
Garvin
Garvin Gray (2011-12-14 08:57:09)
5 player double round robins
I am wondering if tournaments would be easier to start if instead of needing 7 players to enter to get a tournament going, this could be reduced to 5 players and be offered as a double round robin.
This would mean that everyone would have to play 8 games instead of 6, but I think that would be ok in return for getting tournaments started more often.
This change would also mean that colours are now irrelevant, so your starting position in the field does not matter.
Entries do slow up across Christmas, as I am noticing by being the only person to enter the Standard M tournament for over a fortnight now.
Peter W. Anderson (2011-12-15 17:16:25)
Holiday
It seems to be within the rules for people to take lots of small holidays in quick succession. At the end of the year, this can be used as extra time on the clock - work out all your replies whilst you are on vacation, wait for your holiday to finish, play your moves, and put yourself on holiday for another day or two.... and just keep doing this over and over again and your clock will go up rather than down!
I would like to suggest a rule change for the Rapid games: every time you put yourself on vacation you lose a day on your clock for all your games. It does not completely solve the problem but it helps.
It has the downside of people who really are about to go on must make sure that they have at least a day on each clock. However, in my opinion the benefit outweighs the disadvantage.
Thibault de Vassal (2011-12-15 21:01:47)
Big chess art :)
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=55952&move=301&flip=1
Any other cool drawing?
Alexis Duenas (2011-12-24 03:00:03)
money prize tournaments
by paying 30 euros entry fee a tournament should be created with 11 players and 2 prizes,ficgs could take a % and earn money
Garvin Gray (2011-12-25 15:42:00)
Achieving playing norms
I have just started playing in tournaments on here that are able to earn norms and looking at the score for getting a norm, they seem rather high.
For getting a FEM norm, with a field of 2200+, the score is 4.5/6. Considering how many games are actually won between players over 2200, achieving a score of 4.5/6 seems very difficult indeed, unless someone forfeits all their games, or some games are somehow otherwise affected.
I am wondering, do others think that score is too high and 4/6 might be more realistic for one norm.
Garvin Gray (2011-12-29 10:30:09)
WBCCC 2012 Binding Poll:
Over at www.rybkaforum.net, World Blitz Correspondence Chess Championship begins in a couple of weeks.
There is now a poll out at http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=23854 which is to decide how many rounds will be played (10 or 12) and also when round times will be announced (start of tournament or near end of a round).
For those players who are thinking of entering, played last year or are interested and knowledgeable spectators, you can vote as per the instructions below.
The four options are:
1) 10 games, 30 days initial time plus 1 hr increment AND all scheduled round times are confirmed before the start of the tournament
2) 10 games, 30 days initial time plus 1 hr increment AND all scheduled round times are confirmed a few days before the end of a round
3) 12 games, 30 days initial time plus 1 hr increment AND all scheduled round times are confirmed before the start of the tournament
4) 12 games, 30 days initial time plus 1 hr increment AND all scheduled round times are confirmed a few days before the end of a round
As this preferential poll covers both options and will be binding, as in the final vote will be what format we will be using for WBCCC 2012, I am going to ask all voters to write in their votes.
As a write in system is be used, everyone has the option of choosing only one option if they want, or can allocate as many preferences as they want, up to 4 numbers in total.
So if a person only wants to vote for one number and does not want to allocate a preference, that is acceptable.
The reason for using write-in votes is three-fold:
1) All twenty four different options are evenly allocated
2) A voter can choose to allocate only one preference
3) It gives me the opportunity to see if all votes are genuine, rather than possibly the results being skewed by people who have no interest in playing in the tournament.
If a person does not feel comfortable posting their vote in public, but does want to record a vote, they can send me a private message, which will be counted in the total votes.
Voting will close Thursday January 5.
Garvin Gray (2011-12-29 16:11:44)
Different tournament format
Thibault has touched on an issue that I have thought about for a while, so time for a new thread.
Regularly it is discussed about the issues regarding the rating bands, getting to play different players and all sundry similiar issues.
In my opinion I think what this site really needs is more events run under the correspondence style format (not freestyle cup style), where players of significantly different ratings are playing against each other.
Here is what I envisage:
Qualification Stage:
All players of all ratings enter. Groups are divided up similar to Ficgs, except that no players are segregated, so the highest rated player is in Group A, second highest rated player in Group B and so forth.
Even numbers in each group, with a maximum of nine players in a group. There are no substitutes after a group begins.
There are no special groups for the highest rated players or knockout matches. (this is most important to distinguish this event from the WCH)
Final Stage(s):
The winners of each qualification group advance to the final stages, everyone else is eliminated. If there is a tie for first, then all tied players advance. If only one group is required, then this is the final.
If two groups are required, then it would be semi finals and normal round robin pairings would be used and the cycle repeats to get a final group of .... players.
To encourage the highest rated players to enter and to give everyone else a chance to win something substantial, e point entry fee would be 10 epoints.
Steve Lim (2012-01-01 03:02:55)
Unable to stay connected to FICGS
After logging in to FICGS, if I stay on any page for more than a few secs. I will not be able to click on any links (eg. submitting a move). If I click on anything, I will get the following error..
No data received
Unable to load the webpage because the server sent no data.
Can anyone shed some light on this problem? Thanks.
Thibault de Vassal (2012-01-01 20:12:07)
On rules & players who lost 300 pts
Hi,
I've been told about a recurrent problem: is it fair to play against a stronger player who just lost 200 or 300 elo points because of many games lost on time (or whatever)?
IMO it is. Because as usual correspondence chess is not a matter of chess only. Of course such games may be harder for his opponents but there are good chances to see those games lost on time again (by experience).
Losing points is the only way to keep those games serious and protect players against this repeated again and again. So I don't think that rules should be changed, but any opinions & arguments are welcome here.
Thibault de Vassal (2012-01-03 13:57:46)
Houdini and draw rate evolution at ICCF
No, chess engines are not to solve chess yet :) But this blog (link posted by Wolff Morrow in the chat) is quite interesting anyway!
http://blog.chess.com/FirebrandX/are-computers-closing-in-on-solving-chess
There you'll find the draw rate evolution at ICCF these last years, a clear influence of the strongest chess engines (Rybka, Houdini, Fire, IvanHoe, Stockfish & so on...)
Don Groves (2012-01-05 08:39:42)
Next Check box in browser
Salut, Thib -- When you implemented this feature, the My Games was updated every 30 seconds. But now, the My Games page updates whenever there is a move to make. So, is the Next Check box no longer useful, or is there another reason for keeping it?
George Clement (2012-01-09 18:46:39)
Ratings UpDates
Why not update the ratings each month?
When you lose a few rating points and drop just below the minumum for the next class a player wouldn't have to wait for 2 months to get back into the class.
Thibault de Vassal (2012-01-12 21:04:58)
Standard open : DRR with entry fee/prize
Finally, this discussion to replace the two following discussions that ended on about the same conclusion and to have opinions on this new chess tournament : CHESS STANDARD OPEN (rated double round robin for 5 players, with entry fee 30 epoints & prize 145 epoints, no elo restriction)
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=forum_read&id=10165
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=forum_read&id=10127
Thibault de Vassal (2012-01-16 11:40:38)
Time control for lightning games
Hi all,
I've been told that 1h + 15 sec./move (freestyle cup time control) would be better for lightning games than 20 min + 30 sec./move
As I don't want to create another advanced chess category (no good name, not useful), I'd like to know how many people among players who tried it think that such a change would be a good thing.
As for me, I'm not so favourable to such a change, my point is: 1h + 15 sec. means that you'll have to wait for your opponent 1 hour before he plays his next move! That is quite long, particularly to win no point, and you could even lose the game if your opponent comes back just before the end... That's why I prefer 20 min + 30 sec. per move, that is in average as long as the freestyle time control.
Any opinion?
Don Groves (2012-01-31 07:35:34)
Server overload?
Lately I'm receiving email notifications of opponents moves several days after the move was made. Might as well turn them off...
Jimmy Huggins (2012-02-02 19:05:14)
WBCCC 2012 started
Just wanted to wish everyone on the FICGS good luck! :) If anyone is interested I'll post the game threads over here.
Costantino Proietti (2012-02-08 08:43:47)
annotated games
It could be useful to create a section in the site where to post our annotated games.
Scott Nichols (2012-02-16 16:16:24)
Folding in Poker
We never we able to fold if we just didn't want to play out a 2-7 for instance and get on with the next hand. Then you changed it for the better. I got out of poker for a while, and now when I got back in, it was back the old way. Plus sometimes towards the end of the hand, I would rather not show what I was staying in with even if the bets were all checks, so I would rather just fold. Now that button is "whited out" again and I was wondering why?
Thibault de Vassal (2012-03-04 22:08:50)
FICGS poker ratings
Let's continue the debate that started in this discussion:
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=forum_read&id=10306
I'm still not sure of what is best but our top ranked poker player for a while (Nelson Bernal Varela) obviously participated to the discussion his way by resigning all his poker games to show us how much time it will take to regain his points.
His rating was about 2200, now 1924 and the date is march 4th, 2012.
As we're playing single round-robin tournaments only, the rating list was not so distorted but this is not at the advantage of class B players. Of course I do not encourage this behaviour in any way!
However, following the current rules on general forfeits I think that Nelson should continue his experiment so that we can learn from all this. In my opinion he'll reach the top rankings within a few months (particularly if he plays bullet games) which is quite short compared to correspondence chess.
This would actually justify - in my point of view (maybe Nelson's one too but I'm still not sure of what he's thinking about that) - the current poker rating system, so let's wait 1 month or 2 before to decide to make this change or not.
As a reminder, the initial proposal was: "should we change the poker rating rules so that we win or lose twice points after each game compared to now ?"
Paul Campanella (2012-03-05 20:37:13)
50+ Poker Games
Personally, I think that a person should be allowed to have more than 50 poker games running at once.
I think it's unfair for people to be banned from playing in new tournaments just because they have too many old games running due to the fact that some people take forever to make a move and others purposely will delay to make any more at all in a losing game.
What does everyone else think?
Don Groves (2012-03-10 05:43:05)
Replaying games
Thib: In both Chess and Go, we can replay any game move by move. This is a very nice feature. However, if I try to replay a game of Poker, all I see are bets, checks, or folds, but not cards. Is it possible to add the cards that were dealt in each hand to the XML for Poker games?
Thibault de Vassal (2012-03-11 13:25:46)
Riccio & Evans win Infinity freestyle
Eros Riccio & David Evans win the 1st Infinity chess freestyle tournament 2012!
Congrats guys, you win every tournament :)
http://scacchi.ilcannocchiale.it/2012/03/10/1st_freestyle_chess_tournament.html
More details on this tournament?
George Clement (2012-03-14 16:11:57)
Slow tournament entries
It sure looks like the tournament entries are going down in almost all classes.
Thibault de Vassal (2012-03-21 11:59:35)
Go : Zen engine 4 stones away from 9p?
How do you understand this defeat of the 9p player Takemiya Masaki against Zen program at Go a few days ago?
http://www.usgo.org/news/2012/03/zen-computer-go-program-beats-takemiya-with-just-4-stones/
Computers become more & more dangerous even at Go, obviously.
Garvin Gray (2012-03-30 08:30:05)
Thematic request- Sicilian Dragon
I would like to request a SD Yugoslav Attack thematic.
I have found that this opening is rarely played on here, especially compared to its Najdorf and Schev cousins.
The starting position would be:
r1bq1rk1/pp2ppbp/2np1np1/8/3NP3/2N1BP2/PPPQ2PP/R3KB1R w KQ
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6
Thibault de Vassal (2012-03-31 23:54:49)
Vladimir Kramnik interview by Tkachiev
A very interesting interview of Vladimir Kramnik by Vladislav Tkachiev, on chess, Anand, politics (russia, france), himself and so on... His views on Russia's politics may be not shared by the most but look like very mature in some ways.
http://www.whychess.org/node/1605
Don Groves (2012-04-03 14:16:41)
Go Dan tournaments
It seems time to make 2000 the cutoff point for Dan tournaments. Otherwise all 7 Dan level players must sign up to have the next group. This is an unlikely occurrence.
Pablo Schmid (2012-04-07 15:57:22)
Longest ficgs game of chess
Hello, just for curiosity, is it possible to know what is the longest ficgs game of chess in terms of moves numbers? What is the result?
Garvin Gray (2012-04-11 05:08:52)
poker tournaments
I was wondering, to decide placings in tournaments on here, are tie breaks used?
Would seem obvious to use the game score to split ties, as everyone is playing best of 5.
Paul Valle (2012-04-12 11:36:49)
King's Gambit solved!
I've been absent from the chess for a while. But suddenly felt the urge to waste some time at work browsing through old chess-articles. Being a huge fan of gambit-play, I thought I’d share the following: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8047
Against the King’s Gambit accepted, apparently the only way to hold a theoretical draw is by 3.Be2 …
Thibault de Vassal (2012-04-15 13:53:20)
About Pinformant
Dear chessfriends,
Please receive my apologies for a stupid bug that happened yesterday (my entire fault). Some of you may have received an invitation twice for a new social network (pinformant.com) that is dedicated to help to promote FICGS on the internet [technically Pinformant is actually a part of FICGS]. That will not happen again!
A few words on this new website: Pinformant is a kind of "social browser" where it is possible to share and discuss full web pages (soon applications and games) displayed into a single page. It quite looks like a basic social network, but the display is quite new as far as I know - It is also a way to boost shared websites traffic instead of simply "stealing" their content.
Why this new website: I needed a website able to gather more people to have the means (thanks to advertisement) to make a better promotion for FICGS. So your help & participation is warmly welcomed anyway.
Any feedback is welcome as well! Thanks in advance.
Daniel Parmet (2012-04-21 16:48:24)
LSS is the worst Corr server
I previously erroneously had this as a sidebar chat.
I will post the story here.
I had 22 games running on LSS. All of a sudden a game disappeared. I checked and found the administrator had decided to resign for me in a game where I had a cleanly winning position and 43 days on my clock. I contacted the administrator politely to inquire why he had done this. He answered rudely explaining that he did not care about my problem. After his uncalled for rudeness, I explained to him I was no longer interested in playing further games on this "joke of a server" so please remove me from a tournament that was about to start. He responded with pure insults and a memberships suspension but *did not* remove me from that tournament. When the new tournament started, I explained to him again that he was supposed to have removed me. I was only interested in finishing my current games out of respect for my opponents. The administrator then went and forfeited all currently running 19 games and placed a ban on me playing there again until 2013. I told him that was disrespectful not just to me but to my opponents as well. He then deleted my account entirely (which doesn't bother me as I would have asked for this after my 19 games finished). There you have it... Ortwin Paetzold - the bat shit crazy administrator.
Scott Nichols (2012-04-24 04:32:03)
Do the cards really matter?
I hope this doesn't sound to dumb, but I was thinking about this. I've played poker for about 40 years from penny ante with the family to no limit games where if you don't win, the rent don't get paid.
Some people try to calculate the odds, the number of "outs" etc. Play the game scientifically, others play by the feel of the game. I've seen and believe that when the stakes are up there, the cards don't really matter.
Imagine like in a movie, you were put in a position that you had no choice but to play a game of hold-em for your life. A lot of people dream to play in the million dollar tourney's in Vegas, but for 99% of them, the dream shatters, and it ends up being their life for a great many of them. So the question is, could you call his "all-in" knowing what happens if you lose?
Garvin Gray (2012-04-24 15:01:32)
Ficgs World Cup
Following discussions about slow tournament entries, bracket and band rating issues and many other topics, a common item that came out of those discussions is that trying a modified version of the ficgs world championship is worth a trial.
So Ficgs World Cup sounds like a good name.
Format:
In the Ficgs world championship, there are many different qualifying stages, depending on your finishing position from the last cycle, your rating at the time of entry and the strength and total number of the other entrants.
While this format is very good for the concept envisaged when it was created, I think a ficgs world cup, with a format that will be explained below is required to cover a few gaps that are in the ficgs world championship.
The ficgs world cup will work as follows.
1) Everyone enters before a certain date, say June 1st 2012.
2) As soon as entries close, that is it. Entries are not taken after this date and there are NO replacements. The groups are meant to be of equal strength. Adding a new player can distort this.
3) Entrants are then divided into groups of roughly equal strength. Highest rated person is seed 1 in Group A, 2nd highest rated person is seed 1 in Group B. Serpentine pairings are used to allocate all players to each group.
4) How many players and how many groups is determined after the entries have closed. I would think that there will be probably 11 groups of 11 players (121 entries in total). It might be likely that we have to have three stages, depending on total number of entries.
5) 1 person from each group qualifies for the final stage. This is determined by total score, total wins and then TER. This does differ from the tie break formula of the FicgsWCH.
Pros:
1) Everyone gets a game against players of different ratings, no segregated groups or players
2) Everyone starts from stage one
3) The format is clear to understand
Cons:
1) May not be as tempting to the highest rated players (fear of loss of rating points)
2) Might take longer to finish
In my opinion, this is a format that deserves a couple of trial events to see if it is successful
Thibault de Vassal (2012-04-25 17:29:59)
Anand-Gelfand, FIDE World Championship
The next FIDE World Championship will be held in Moscow from May 10 to May 30, 2012.
Looks like reigning World Champion Viswanathan Anand is ultra-favourite... what do you think about Boris Gelfand's chances in this match?
Thibault de Vassal (2012-04-29 23:39:50)
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in Chessbase news
Sometimes strange things happen...
http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8108
Thibault de Vassal (2012-05-09 01:46:02)
Xiao Tong on his win in 6th FICGS Go WCH
Xiao Tong, winner of the 6th FICGS Go championship, kindly accepted to answer a few questions, here is the first part:
FICGS - Hello Xiao, congratulations once again for winning this nice match. Svante Carl von Erichsen was FICGS champion from the start of the site, after winning 5 championships. What did you think about his play & yours in these games?
Xiao Tong - Mr. Svante Carl von Erichsen is the strongest player I have met on this site. The games are so tough. In the middle of this match I thought I would lose in at least two games. At last I am lucky to have a 4-1 winning.
FICGS - Would you like to tell us a few words about you (where you live, other games you play, Go servers you play on...) so that we know you better?
Xiao Tong - I live in China but when I started to play Go on this site I was visiting France. In China when we play Go face to face, generally it takes 2 or 3 hours. But when we play on the ineternet, we always choose 30sec/move. I always play on TYGEM site, which is a China/Korea cooperated site. Before playing we need to install a client software. You can visit this address http://www.tygembaduk.com
FICGS - Unfortunately you are one of the rare chinese players at FICGS, but obviously they do very well. We all know many chinese Go champions names, could you tell us your opinion on the state of Go in China and in the world nowadays?
Xiao Tong - The past 10 years can be called Korea decade. They won more world championships than Chinese players, because before 1990 few Chinese children studied Go. But when China won several matches between China and Japan in late 1980s, more and more children started to study and play go. And then these millions of Go children grew up. Now Chinese players can get more world champions than Korea. I think besides the several world champions there are 30 young players in China who may win world championships in the future. They aged from 16-25.
FICGS - The best Go engines would now reach a level of 4 or 5 dan, is computer Go something that helps in such a correspondence Go championship according to you (and without revealing your secrets of course)? Do you think it is becoming a danger as it is for chess?
Xiao Tong - I don’t think computer Go engines can do anything. They are too weak.
FICGS - Do you watch other games played by your opponents before starting your games? Do you think that preparation is really important like it is in Correspondence chess?
Xiao Tong - I don’t take much time to analyze my opponents. But I will watch their games to get a first evaluation. World champions need to prepare before the game, because preparation can save their time in game. For me, preparation mean nothing.
FICGS - This FICGS Go championship is still young, what did you think about it? Would you change something, any rule, to improve it?
Xiao Tong - 1, Encourage players to play live games. One game can be finished in 2 hours when they play at 30sec/move. The more they play, the higher the site level will be. 2, when the world champion match is live on net, encourage player watch the games through your site. Let the watcher can bet on the live games. It will be more funny.
Many thanks to Xiao for these instructive answers, to be continued...
Paul Campanella (2012-05-11 04:57:14)
Playing poker for e-points
Members of FICGS are able to play chess for e-points but poker challenges are only allowed in "bronze".
Why are members of FICGS not allowed to challenge other members to either "silver" or "gold" poker games?
Thibault de Vassal (2012-05-12 13:35:05)
Top 20 Pro Go players
Here is a very nice series of articles/bios on current top Pro Go players by Gogameguru...
http://gogameguru.com/top-20-pro-go-2010/
Featuring Lee Sedol, Kong Jie, Park Junghwan, Choi Cheolhan, Kang Dongyun, Heo Youngho, Gu Li, Xie He, Won Seongjin, Li Zhe, Zhou Ruiyang, Tuo Jiaxi, Lee Changho, Qiu Jun, Kim Jiseok, Wang Xi, Cho Hanseung, Chen Yaoye, Park Younghun & Lee Younggu.
Paul Campanella (2012-05-14 17:01:35)
Faster Refresh Time
Is it possible to change the time that it takes to refresh everything to 15 seconds instead of 30 seconds?
It would certainly make playing fast games easier!
What does everyone else think?
Scott Nichols (2012-05-18 16:44:21)
Private chat?
Maybe this has been discussed before, I don't know. Sometimes we just want to have a small chat with a particular person. Here there are three options, chat in public for all to see, go thru a series of e-mails (yuk), or leave the site to go somewhere this is possible. e.g. Thib, come to FB, Scott come to Playchess. Is it possible to do something like this?
Garvin Gray (2012-05-19 15:24:06)
Second match v Rybka Forum
Hello all,
I have been thinking about this for a while, but I was wondering how many ficgs players would be interested in participating in a match vs Rybka Forum.
We tried this concept once before with limited success from an organisational point of view. From a playing pov, ficgs had little success :o
I am thinking something like this for a format:
1) Time control 30 moves initial plus 1 day increment
2) All individual matches are two games
3) Players are to play in rating order. - RF now does have some kind of rating system, at least for WBCCC participants. I think more of their players have also come over to here, so have ratings here.
4) We possibly could use xfcc play, which would allow conditionals to be used, but might mean all the games are played and shown at RF. - Might be possible to have them shown here somehow 'live'.
So, time to get some interest. Who would be willing to participate?
I am going to post this over at RF as well.
Garvin Gray (2012-05-19 15:31:54)
Advanced challenges, time out expiry
I think time has come to implement a time out expiry on advanced games challenges.
If an advanced game challenge has not been accepted by someone with 1 hour of its posting, that challenge expires and is automatically removed from the system.
The challenge would then need to be re-issued.
This would help prevent the issue of players accepting challenges many hours after it was posted and then waiting around for a time out.
It would also help to ensure that the challenger was around to accept their own challenge.
Don Groves (2012-05-23 07:08:22)
Members who never played
The rating lists are full of people who joined FICGS, then left after not playing even one game. What purpose does it serve to have these people in the rating lists? The lists would be more informative if these names were dropped.
Garvin Gray (2012-05-29 11:54:54)
Ficgs: Number 1 freestyle chess site??
Title is deliberately provocative :)
Was looking to see how many other freestyle chess sites there are and came across this wiki article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Chess
The trend might be changing as Advanced Chess is offered on the correspondence chess server at FICGS as the default mode of play, with special, unrated, "no engines" tournaments being the exception, rather than the rule. http://www.ficgs.com/
Garvin Gray (2012-05-30 09:36:40)
No access for me to Rybka Forum
Can you please contact Dadi Jonsson immediately at Rybka Forum?
I can not access the forum, nor see any of the posts and due to the server upgrade, a lot of the back ground links are broken.
I can not send him a private message, nor reset my password as those options are also link broken.
Unless Dadi, or someone from Rybka Forum can sort out this issue, I have no access to RF at all.
Michael Aigner (2012-06-11 08:58:16)
Chess WCH Schedule ?
Does somebody know when the next stage of the chess WCH tournament is planned to be started.
Have a nice day, Michael
Thibault de Vassal (2012-07-28 00:10:21)
FICGS IS BACK !!!!!!!!!
Finally............. Oh I missed it so much, so much.
I'll write the whole story below. I hope it's now all ok, about one hour of moves should be missing, the hour just before the hard drive crash.
Thanks for your feedback and again, my apologies to all for this long, too long, really too long delay........
Robert Mueller (2012-07-28 11:18:35)
Rating List
Number 1 in the established rating list (Rene-Reiner Starke) has (a) never played a single game on FICGS, (b) is not currently playing any games at FICGS and (c) has not even logged on since 2010. Why is he the number 1?
Neel Basant (2012-07-29 08:29:22)
Suggestion.
Dear Thib
As light is faster than bullet so my suggestion is to change match titled silver ( 30 sec ) to Bullet and Bullet ( 15 sec) to Silver.
Thanks
Neel
Garvin Gray (2012-07-29 10:12:48)
Reset tournament waiting lists
I think it might be a good idea to reset the tournament waiting lists, rather than keeping the ones we have now.
The reason being that with it being so long between when they entered and now that it is highly likely that a lot of the players are going to forfeit games.
Scott Nichols (2012-08-10 22:53:49)
Premium site?
I usually agree with most everything, but I have to say... On the internet there are many, many free chess sites to go to, some better than others. Then there are the paid sites for people who are willing to spend a little to getting a better site and service.
This site is free to look around and very adequate for that. But some of us pay to play the premium features. The amount of down time is becoming a major issue. The first one, hard drive fried, who's hasn't, but since then, 2 more outages that I know of. For a premium site, this is disheartening.
Robert Kaspar (2012-08-12 16:20:43)
Starting an untimed correspondence game
How do I do it? Sorry -- new to the server!
Mikhail Ruzin (2012-08-17 19:55:09)
This is Russia :(
http://www.echo.msk.ru/files/809862.jpg?1345219906
Thibault de Vassal (2012-08-18 13:16:50)
FICGS backup is now ok!
Well, simple things are quite complicated sometimes (so many limitations on Linux) but finally the backup [site + database] works fine now...
Now the server can bug, crash, explode, whatever... I can completely reinstall FICGS in a few hours from most situations. There should not be more than 59 minutes of moves lost in the process.
- Complete backup every hour on a distant storage space.
- Complete backup every week on another distant storage space.
- Multiple database backup on the server (case of other problems)
- Moves incrementally sent to my email every 12 hours.
So, definitely the recent break shouldn't happen again... I hope so.
Thibault de Vassal (2012-08-19 14:07:45)
What happened to Boris Spassky?
After Kasparov vs. Putin, now Spassky vs. ??
A strange story... maybe we'll learn more soon on his last 2 years in french hospitals. Quite hard to conclude anything right now.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8417
Robert Csoma (2012-09-11 11:48:15)
Free lessons from a GM!
http://chess-teacher.com/home#oid=1365_5
Don Groves (2012-09-15 01:11:19)
From the quote file
"Beta. Software undergoes beta testing shortly before it's released. Beta is latin for still doesn't work. (Anonymous)"
This is funny but shouldn't it be "Beta is Greek for still doesn't work?"
Thibault de Vassal (2012-09-19 13:39:54)
Limit number of poker games
Hi all, I'd like to have opinions about a possible change of the limit number of running poker holdem games per player from 50 to 100, for more fun. This is just poker after all :)
Personally I don't need more than 50 games but I know that certain players do, what about you?
The problem is still the impact of general forfeits and not to provoke a few ones more. I guess that certain players may go easily to 100 games then realize it is too much...
What do you think?
Thibault de Vassal (2012-09-20 17:17:14)
5th Kolkata Open Grandmasters Tourney
Just forwarding an announcement...
"Alekhine Chess Club under the aegis of All India Chess Federation is organizing 5th Kolkata Open Grandmasters Chess Tournament, recognized by FIDE and Government of India, from 3rd to 13th December 2012 at Gorky Sadan, Kolkata, India.
The details of the meet are available at : http://www.alekhinechessclub.com/5kolkata/detailsfinal.pdf and the details of the last meet of this edition are also available at : http://www.alekhinechessclub.com/4kolkata/index.html (we attache a few picture from that meet)."
Don Groves (2012-09-21 05:06:44)
A radical idea?
Since not all Chess players seem to agree on the best set of "advanced" games, why not allow the players in a game to decide on their own game parameters? If Scott and Alvin want to play a 15 minute game with 5 seconds added per move, let them do that.
Only the ratings of the two players involved are affected, so it seems this idea would not interfere with ratings and could be popular.
Thibault de Vassal (2012-09-27 23:39:12)
Eros Riccio wins 6th and 7th chess WCH
By beating Alberto Gueci in the final match of the 6th chess championship & Ostap Hladky in the candidates final of the 7th chess championship, Eros Riccio will remain FICGS chess champion for at least 16 months! After this huge performance, Eros accepted to answer a few questions:
----------------------------------
- Hello Eros and congratulations again for winning your 3rd and 4th (respectively 6th and 7th cycles) FICGS chess championships in a row, beating Alerto Gueci in the 12 games match of the final match and Ostap Hladky in the 8 games match of the candidates final so that you meet yourself in the last round that thus will not happen for the 3rd time of the championship (first time was during the first cycle because there was no champion yet). All games of the two matches were drawn, but it does not say much on the intensity of the match as we all know your strategy since your win in your first final match vs. Edward Kotlyanskiy when you explained that your preferred a draw that guarantees the victory than a possible win where a mouse slip is still possible. Obviously your strategy works very well but one can add that you had an impressive number of running games at the rapid time control, so very much pressure... How did you live these last months of correspondence chess and these two matches?
Hi Thib! And thanks once again for the congratulations. These 28 games (let's not forget also the 8 games match against Gino Figlio) probably started in the worst moment for me, just a few months after the very important European Team Championship on ICCF had started. When I told my captain that I was starting another 28 games... he was very disappointed and worried, as he had repeated a lot of times to every player of our team not to start new tournaments and to focus only on this tournament. Also for this reason I had decided not to join the new Italian Championship and other tournaments and to withdraw from the Champions League, but unfortunately I had no control on when to start my FICGS games. So... my priority was for my ICCF games, and fortunately for me all I needed to do in my FICGS Matches to win was to make draws, and that's what I tried to do in most of my games as fast as possible, and to my surprise my opponents accepted to draw many games quite quickly, not trying to fight each game "to death" like I would have done if I would have been them. This of course only created quick boring games, but I didn't see the point in putting energy in trying to win games myself.... I think my opponents should have done that!
- We all know that you and Alberto are good friends from long time, did it influence your match in the 6th WCH in any way according to you?
Well, it's a good think knowing your opponent's habits... you can send your moves as soon as you know he goes to bed :-)
- Ostap Hladky is undoubtly one of the strongest players at FICGS, was this match (7th WCH candidates final) very different from the other one?
Hladky was the strongest player I had ever played on FICGS, he is very unpredictable, he simply plays unexpected moves that engines don't suggest, but if you show them those moves, they slowly realize those are very good moves. I risked to lose more than one game vs him, even as White. Luckily I still managed to draw, and in my opinion he also accepted some draws too quickly.
- With the last evolutions of chess engines, playing better & better chess, would you say that you now spend less time on each game or not at all?
I don't spend less time on my games, I still try to use (almost) all the time on my "clock". Trying to analyze as many variations as possible with the time you are given has little to do with engines improvement, who still are far from being able to always suggesting the best move by simply letting them run for hours on a static position. You need to analyze going "forward" in the position in order to be able to find the best moves.
- By the way, it is said sometimes (again) that correspondence chess will not survive the decade, what do you think? Do you envisage to change for Go or poker like many players? :)
Wins and Losses still happen even at the highest levels at the present time. I think that many years still have to pass before having all draws in high level tournaments. When that happens... and it will probably happen sooner or later as chess in my opinion is a draw with perfect play... then probably new rules will be introduced, maybe the board will be enlarged and even new pieces with new movements might be invented.
- You now are ICCF GM with an impressive 2624 rating, how are going your other correspondence chess competitions? Do you have any goal to reach yet?
All my ICCF tournaments are going good, and very soon I will be Italian Champion once again (just waiting my last opponent to resign a lost position). I still haven't reached the first place in the italian elo rating list though. That would be a goal I would surely have pleasure in reaching, and of course I would like to win the ICCF's World Championship at least once. After that I can retire :-)
- Thank you Eros, also for this great correspondence chess lesson.
Welcome Thib! A pleasure for me.
Garvin Gray (2012-10-06 17:21:33)
WCH Final match
After having read Eros Riccio's answers to the interview questions on his defending his title twice, I am proposing a few changes to the final match.
I wish to make it clear that this is not in any way an attack on any person. They can only play to the rules set and try to use those rules to their advantage.
My issue is with the rules themselves.
I would like to propose a new format for the final match, because I think it is ridiculous that any player can defend their title with short draws and make no real attempt to prove that they are superior than their opponent.
Of course if the challenger is happy to draw all eight or twelve games, then that is their 'fault' as well.
My proposal is the following:
After eight games, if neither player has won a game, then the match continues for another four games.
In the first eight games, if both sides have won at least one game each, then the result is a drawn match and the champion keeps their title.
In the tie breaking four games, as soon as one player wins a game, the match is over.
I think the current rules are weighted way too much in favour of the champion, which as we have seen from these two games, the champion does not even have to try to prove that he is better than the challenger, but can just draw all eight/twelve games and retain the title.
Thib, please change the rules for this upcoming cycle.
Thibault de Vassal (2012-10-09 13:44:04)
Go Gangnam Style :-)
Who still doesn't know this korean hit by Psy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0
It seems that the game of Go appears in the video (didn't notice when I saw it last week) seen more than 400.000.000 times already on Youtube, which is huuuuuge! Good for the game...
Anyway, that cr*p is quite funny :)
Jay Melquiades (2012-10-11 06:39:37)
for 2013 poker tourneys
that after 50 hands in a poker match deduct 10 hours from both players
after 60 hands deduct 20 hours from both players
after 70 hands deduct 30 hours from both players
and so on
imo it will cut down on those 100 plus poker handed matches i see when i check out poker tourneys
Roy Shapland (2012-10-24 14:00:23)
How to amend rating?
Signed up in last 24 hours. Just noticed now that I'm 56 fide points higher then I remembered. The rating is used in tournament pairing so feel that making it correct is helpful to all. How do I get this fixed?
Jay Melquiades (2012-10-28 01:51:02)
online place to play shogi
shogi???
Michael Aigner (2012-11-06 15:34:52)
The very unofficial World Championship
Hello everybody,
the computer chess enthusiast of the CSS forum are trying to organise a match "Houdini 3 versus Rybka Cluster".
The initiative came from the maintainer of the renowned IPON rating list. His estimation for two long games is 864 ducats. There more the better. I didn't observe how much was donated already, but quite a lot, and there is big enthusiasm about it. It seems that very good hardware for the Houdini side, and a way to collect the ducats at Playchess, have already been organized.
For details, see http://forum.computerschach.de/cgi-bin/mwf/topic_show.pl?tid=5093
(I guess Google translation can help if required, with the usual quirks.)
If somebody likes the idea it would be easy to participate there too.
All the best, Michael
Nick Burrows (2012-11-25 11:50:37)
How do I stop the pop-up message boxes?
Hi, I find these very distracting. I can't see an option to remove them in preferences.
Thanks, Nick.
Thibault de Vassal (2012-12-01 23:09:11)
Houdini 3.0
It seems that Houdini 3.0 is available as a commercial program for a few weeks at Cruxis website.
The 64-bit 4CPU would have reached a 3334 elo rating on the CCRL 40/4 list. This is about 90 points more than the free version Houdini 1.5a which seems to be a great improvement!
I just read on Wikipedia that Houdini was used by Viswanathan Anand [FIDE world champion]... It seems that it beats Rybka 4 in every match. In brief, Houdini is by far the best chess engine nowadays...
Thibault de Vassal (2012-12-02 00:50:54)
Problem with new groups for the chess WC
Hello all,
As I mentioned in the chat bar, there is a problem to build new groups as I usually do a few weeks after the start of the chess championship...
Players who entered the waiting list for replacements are:
AUT Rada, Hannes 2465
ISR Blinchevsky, Alexander 2206
ITA Bonoldi, Fabio 2049
DEU Wolf, Bernd 2113
ARG Reboredo, Daniel 1941
ITA Fabris, Alberto 1995
ITA Piantadosi, Angelo 1319
UKR Simashkevitch, Mykola 1987
DEU Lommler, Jan Peter 1860
BEL Pepermans, Toon 2000
USA Batal, Jean 1960
GBR Hancock, Sarah 1614
USA Johnson, Bobby 2412
GBR Burrows, Nick 1935
UKR Malish, Dmitriy 1146
COL Rey, Eduardo 1800
FRA Satonnet, Patrick 1351
GBR Soszynski, Marek 2143
POL Nig, Piotr 2028
USA Davis, Mark 1192
FRA Estieu, Frederick 1383
USA Lovelace, Randy 1504
CAN Deline, Ralph 2179
UKR Bromo, Alexis 1129
BIH Dautovic, Dzenan 1653
USA Knighton, Robert 1950
4 players rated 1500-1800 already replaced those who were to lose their games on time... As a result, we have many players rated 1900-2100 and too few with low ratings. Of course players rated 2400+ will not like to play in regular groups.
Right now I could create only one group with a similar rating average, nothing more but I would have to choose a few players only, which is not a great solution. I tried several combinations, M groups and so on.
I know that a few players would prefer not to see these new groups created and right now I see no solution good enough to create it.
If I cannot find any idea, I think there won't be new groups this time.
Any suggestion?
Thibault de Vassal (2012-12-05 15:16:00)
Server change on dec. 9, 2012
Hello all,
As I just mentioned it in the newsletter, there will be a server change within 7 days, most probably on december 9, 2012.
I'll have to add 7 days to all clocks to avoid losses on time due to a possible slow DNS update by internet providers.
Garvin Gray (2012-12-13 16:52:12)
WBCCC 2013
This information is in regards to the World Blitz Correspondence Chess Championship for the year 2013.
It is held on Rybka Forum www.rybkaforum.net.
There is a full sub forum located on that forum that explains a lot of the rules, current list of players and specifics of information.
For a general run down, read on:
My name is Garvin Gray and I am the organiser and arbiter for this event. This event attempts to bring as many strong correspondence and freestyle players together from all the different playing sites, such as iccf, ficgs, playchess, lss and many other sites.
As the title says, this is a blitz event, meaning the time controls are short compared to normal correspondence play. This requires players to devote a greater share of their focus to these games than would normal correspondence play.
This event has been held for two years now, with the 2012 version still in progress. Feel free to browse the 2012 sub forum to see the games and how the structure works.
In the two years of this event, I feel that many new discoveries have been made and advanced freestyle chess knowledge has certainly been increased, to the benefit of all. Those who have participated in both events have gained a lot from their participation and I want to see this continue.
To allow this event to start and finish in one calendar year, we start in mid January and for 2013, it will finish in mid December. The format requires that you will play one game as white and one game as black in each round. There are 10 games in total.
Each round is paired as an individual swiss using the dutch pairing rules, but accommodations are made because each person must have one white and one black game per round.
Kibitizing is allowed and encouraged, but discussions about future positions, game analysis or anything else that could affect the result of the game is not allowed. Feel free to read the thread on game commentary.
There will also be a thread for each round that allows discussion of events during the round, general discussion about games or other general chit chat.
We do seek to provide a friendly, but competitive environment for those who want to advance their freestyle skills, or test themselves against other players from the different sites. This event will take up quite a bit of your time as the time control is fast, the play is difficult and the enjoyment factor high.
This is not meant to be a deterrent, but I feel I should make it clear that you need to be dedicated and willing to play each and every game/round.
Withdrawing or timing out mid game is not acceptable and will see you removed from the event. If you think you can not complete a particular round, it is better to contact me and have you withdrawn from that round. You are free to rejoin the event in these circumstances, but will receive zero points for those two missed games.
I hope to see more entries and good freestyling to everyone.
Cheers,
Garvin Gray
WBCCC 2013 Organiser
Thibault de Vassal (2012-12-16 01:40:17)
Go position in American Horror Story
Did you notice this nice Go position in Episode 4 / Season 2 of "American Horror Story" ?
Does anyone know something on this position? Seems that it's taken from a finished game.
Thibault de Vassal (2012-12-21 00:56:41)
Chess Server Team Tournament
Dear chessfriends,
I just received this proposition to play a "Chess Server Team Tournament" that would be played on ICCF web server:
Any opinion? Who would be interested to play such a tournament?
____________________________
Dear Thibault!
In recent years many friendly matches between different chess servers have been played. It has become a good tradition to organize such matches. A very good idea is to organize a round-robin tournament to find out the strongest team of a chess server.
We invite a team of your server to take part in the first unofficial correspondence chess championship for chess servers.
The championship is unofficial, because ICCF Officials do not head it.
The Organizer and Tournament Director is Pavlikov Andrey Nikolaevich who is experienced in organizing and directing both domestic (Russian) and international correspondence chess tournaments.
Invitations have been sent to administrators of the following chess servers:
Bestlogic – http://www.bestlogic.ru/
Chesshere – http://www.chesshere.com/
FICGS – http://www.ficgs.com/
GameKnot – http://gameknot.com/
LSS – http://www.chess-server.net/
SchemingMind – http://www.schemingmind.com/
Chess Planet – http://chessplanet.ru/pages/game-zone (to play chess on this server one must have a client program which is free to download at main page of the site)
If you have a proposal to add any chess server, it will be taken in consideration.
Regulations of the event
http://www.mocorrchess.narod.ru/wccstc/en/regen.html
Information on the event may be seen at http://www.mocorrchess.narod.ru/wccstc/wccstc.html
Best wishes, Andrey Pavlikov,
Russian Correspondence Chess Association Vice-President,
The Organizer of the event
Don Groves (2012-12-21 07:31:38)
Mayan apocalypse is here !
// A programmer's farewell
main()
{
print ("Goodbye World !);
end;
}
Garvin Gray (2012-12-22 03:31:31)
Show opponents time
Hello Thibault,
I would like to see a display change.
Currently in my games, either in pending or running games setting, the amount of time I have remaining is showing. I would like to see a column which shows how much time my opponents have remaining.
I think this would be quite useful.
Please make this change :)
Cheers,
Garvin
Don Groves (2012-12-27 01:50:48)
A gift for your favorite Go player
http://shop.gogameguru.com/lee-changho-kaya-go-board-83/
They are in stock at only $49,500 !
Mark Josse (2013-01-03 21:05:10)
winning on time
Hi All
I have won some games on time but they dont seem to show up in my future rating performance. Do you get rating points for time wins or do they become unrated games ?
Please Advise
Thanks
Mark
Dmitriy Malish (2013-01-12 16:17:34)
Progressive Chess
In progressive chess, every move is a series-move. White starts with a series of 1 move, black answers with a series of 2 moves, white answers with a series of 3 moves, etc.
White starts the game by playing one move, Black answers with two and so on, always increasing by one the length of the series. Check may only be given with the last move of a series and must be defended with the first one.
Example.
1. e4
2. e6 Bb4
Bb4 seems to be ineffective.
3. a3 axb4 Nh3
Nh3 protects f2.
4. b5 c5 d6 Kd7
At first sight Black's moves seem valid but
they leave too much room for White to operate.
5. d4 dxc5 Bg5 Bxd8 Qxd6+
White has a strong position. First, Black must move the
King, and then he needs a least three moves to eliminate
White's Queen.
6. Ke8 Nf6 Nxe4 Nxd6 Kxd8 Kc7
There were not too many possibilities left.
7. Ra6 Rxd6 Bxb5 Ba6 Na3 Nb5++
A nice mate.
What about making this game on site?
Horatiu Adrian Petrescu (2013-01-16 00:23:43)
FICGS admin scam me
This admin is a big liar and scammer. I post here all story.
In 2010 I ask him how I cashout if I wish to.Bellow is our conversation :
"Re : cashoutMonday, January 4, 2010 3:25 PM
From: This sender is DomainKeys verified"Thibault de Vassal" - ficgs at yahoo . com - Add sender to Contacts
Hello,
There's no button, you just have to ask me :) How many Epoints do you want to convert in Euros ?
Please specify your email at Paypal or Moneybookers.
Best wishes,
Thibault
Hi!
I don't see the button for cashout! Where is it? "
He didn't tell me nothing about some condition.Why? Because that time
was not specified.
Bellow is our conversation in the present time :
"Hi, I wish to cashout my 7,14 Epoints, to my Paypal account.Thank you.Regards.
Hello ,
You have to win at least one silver/gold tournament to cash out Epoints, feel free to read the conditions here:
http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#prize"
...and on chat:
petrescu horatiuadrian :
you are a charlatan
(2013-01-15 23:46:58)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
I lost more than 7 euros,My deposit was much more
(2013-01-15 23:32:03)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
I just ask my money only ,not a profit or an interest
(2013-01-15 23:31:13)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
not crook.
(2013-01-15 23:29:42)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
you think I care about 7 euros ,I have checked you if are or
petrescu horatiuadrian :
you are a bank,but for you only
(2013-01-15 23:26:30)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
you are just a liar
(2013-01-15 23:25:15)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
your rule
(2013-01-15 23:24:44)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
you told me about L511 ,I checked and write nothing about
devassal thibault :
This is a games server, conditions are clear on this...
(2013-01-15 23:17:12)
devassal thibault :
I would have told you to deposit? So, to be a bank for you?
(2013-01-15 23:16:07)
devassal thibault :
This is only a misunderstanding, obviously. sorry about that
(2013-01-15 23:15:09)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
You lied to me to make deposit here
(2013-01-15 23:14:01)
devassal thibault :
.. and let's see what others think...
(2013-01-15 23:13:59)
devassal thibault :
Just publish this email on the forum...
(2013-01-15 23:13:43)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
you think I am naive?then why you lied me then,in 2010?
(2013-01-15 23:12:10)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
ahaha,you are not lawer ,you are liar,liar, liar
(2013-01-15 23:09:24)
devassal thibault :
I'm not lawyer, but a lawyer told me what I can or cannot do
petrescu horatiuadrian :
from the law
(2013-01-15 22:39:35)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
ok ,tell me the article of legislation or give me the link
(2013-01-15 22:39:27)
devassal thibault :
french laws... but I guess that's the same in most countries
(2013-01-15 22:30:41)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
tell me which laws ,yours laws?or what
(2013-01-15 22:25:52)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
which laws?
(2013-01-15 22:24:57)
burrows nick :
ah!
(2013-01-15 22:02:52)
devassal thibault :
as money prize, by winning silver/gold tournaments
(2013-01-15 21:57:38)
burrows nick :
how is money recouped?
(2013-01-15 21:40:31)
devassal thibault :
FICGS cannot be a bank... that's you ask for
(2013-01-15 21:15:02)
devassal thibault :
In one word : because of laws...
(2013-01-15 21:13:32)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
or you don t want because the terms?
(2013-01-15 20:59:26)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
speak clear
(2013-01-15 20:58:33)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
I don t understand why u cannot,because the server?
(2013-01-15 20:58:24)
devassal thibault :
That's the point of this server after all
(2013-01-15 20:40:34)
devassal thibault :
Anyway, winning one silver game would solve the problem...
(2013-01-15 20:40:10)
devassal thibault :
.. but the fact is that I cannot do this & never could
(2013-01-15 20:39:11)
devassal thibault :
We can even discuss it in the forum if you want...
(2013-01-15 20:37:09)
devassal thibault :
That's specified in the conditions... just read it
(2013-01-15 20:36:18)
devassal thibault :
The number of Epoints had to be a multiple of tournament fee
(2013-01-15 20:35:59)
In my country exist many charlatans but I see in France too.France is beautiful country but "there are lees to every wine".
Garvin Gray (2013-02-26 14:48:14)
What size groups do you prefer?
I have played in groups on here that have 5, 7 and 9 players and I am interested in seeing what other players prefer for size of a tournament group?
Having played in these sized groups, I am starting to prefer the 9 player groups, where a game time out or not starting has less influence on the overall group.
What do others think?
Garvin Gray (2013-03-10 14:26:50)
FICGS__CHESS__FREESTYLE_CUP__000005
When will freestyle 5 be held?
I think it is time for Alvin Alcala to put his title on the line.
Thibault de Vassal (2013-03-10 16:34:51)
Vacation: change for 3 days minimum?
Hello all,
It seems that the current vacation system can be used in various ways to recover days at the clock while it is not particularly dedicated to.
We have 45 days of vacation per year, it is now possible to leave 45 times 1 day.
An idea could be to take a minimum of 3 days while there are more than 2 days remaining. Thus one could leave a maximum of 15 times.
Any opinion on this possible change?
Jack Haskell (2013-03-13 21:10:15)
How to delete my account?
How can I delete my account on here? I never use it anymore.
Roy Shapland (2013-03-14 11:56:19)
Accept a draw
Is it possible to accept a draw.
An opponent has offered a draw, but when I click on accept draw and accept message "Do you wish to offer (or accept) draw?" with Ok, then press the submit button, but nothing happens.
Neel Basant (2013-04-02 06:13:11)
!!! The Next world chess Champion !!!
Hi all
Who will be the next World champion ?
How much psychological warfare will be drawn ?
Older ( in chess term) generation or Younger generation?
And most of all What will prevail ?
Options are two.
Chose one of them and explain.
1. Psychological warfare and emotions
2.Accurate evaluation .
Dann Corbit (2013-04-05 04:16:58)
Thematic tournaments?
Do you hold thematic tournaments here?
I am interested, specifically, in the Orangutan:
1.b4
Garvin Gray (2013-04-16 17:55:17)
How to change password?
Can not seem to find this information, how do I change my password to something that I can actually remember?
Attila Ba (2013-04-20 17:40:43)
Poker rating anomaly
I have won a tournament game in poker against a player cca. a hundred points higher rated than me. His rating has dropped a few points but my rating remained unchanged. How is this possible?
Thibault de Vassal (2013-05-07 13:17:57)
Eros Riccio on his win in 8th chess WCH
As you may know, Eros Riccio won the 8th FICGS chess championship by beating Jeroen Van Assche (who remains undeafeated though, he did not lose a single chess game at FICGS yet) in the candidates final, preventing him to play Eros again in the final.
Eros kindly accepted to answer a few questions:
- Hello Eros. First of all, congratulations for winning this 8th FICGS correspondence chess championship. Once again, you did not even have to play the 12 games match to defend your title as you won the qualifying tournament. In these conditions, the challenge was really tough for Jeroen Van Assche, in despite of his prodigious chess. He had to beat you consecutively in the candidates final (8 games match), then in the final (12 games match). How did things go in this candidates final?
Eros: Hi Thibault, thanks again! I was also worried to have to play a very strong player like Van Assche, but fortunately I had again the advantage that all draws were enough to win, and so my strategy was again not to take risks in all my games. As White it was easy... and surprisingly also as Black. The only game where I had to be more careful than others was this one: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qf3 h6 8.Be3 Qc7 9.0-0-0 Nbd7 10.Qg3 b5 11.a3 Rb8. Here Jeroen surprised me with an interesting novelty, 12.Kb1. The two times I had played this position I was White against Gueci and Kruse, and in both games I continued with 12.Bxb5 but couldn't get more than a draw. The idea of 12.Kb1 is to sacrifice a Pawn for the initiative after 12...b4 13.axb4 Rxb4 14.Nb3 Nxe4. The White Bishops are very strong after 15.Nxe4 Rxe4 16.Bd3 Ra4 17.Bd4 and fully compensate the Pawn less. Anyway I managed to defend, and when I was finally able to trade the Queens we agreed for the Draw.
- You also won the ICCF Umansky Memorial a few weeks ago, the italian correspondence chess championship (again) as well, obviously you played numerous games last year, what do you plan for the next months? By the way, Jeroen already qualified for the candidates final of the 9th cycle, meaning that he may play you in the final match next year if you defend your title again, is there a chance that we can see a revenge?
Eros: Yes, like in the past, also last year I have played a lot of games... anyway for the future I am planning to reduce my games a lot. At the moment, except a few games in minor tournaments, I am only playing for the italian colors at the Olympiads and European Championship, for ICCF. I didn't register for the new Italian Championship this time... I prefer to wait that another individual top ICCF Tournament starts. And of course I am also waiting to meet my next challenger for the FICGS Final! Maybe it will be Van Assche again, we have to see if he beats his opponent in the semifinal (actually next candidates final).
- It looks like a few chess engines reached a certain maturity, I mean algorithms. As a consequence, the computer speed may become the major evolution factor during the next years, that is generally slower than the program's improvements (but the future may have surprises, of course). What do you expect from the computer chess world in the next few years and its impact on correspondence chess?
Eros: As I have already said in a previous interview, being chess probably a draw with perfect play, the more engines get stronger, the more draws we will see. That's quite obvious.
- You probably do not play chess over the board so often, yet you have a quite good ELO! (about 2200, while many correspondence chess masters are rated below 2000 or not rated at all) By the way, I can certify that you are a strong blitz player after we met a few years ago. Do you still play tournaments?
Eros: I am not playing otb chess for a few years, my peak was 22... and a few points, I don't remember exactly. One of the main reasons why I stopped is because later, when analyzing my games with an engine... every time I got frustrated a lot seeing all the blunders I was making.
- Do you estimate that playing OTB chess is good to improve at correspondence chess?
Eros: Yes, it's useful especially if you develop a strategical style, then also in your corr. games you can see more easily "long-term-strategy" plans, which is still the "weakest strenght" in all engines.
- Do you feel that you're still improving at correspondence chess? If yes, is it mainly a question of opening book or something else?
Eros: Improving at corr. chess... hmm... I will surprise you with my thought about this matter! I think I can evaluate my strenght according to the speed of the computer I am analyzing my games with. When I bought this computer, 3 years ago, I felt like I could beat the corr. World Champion. Now... as my computer is becoming older and older, I feel like my play is getting weaker each day it passes. So my answer is that I am still getting worse at corr. chess, not improving.
Thibault de Vassal (2013-05-15 00:10:34)
PGN notation for forfeit, loss on time
Hi all,
Does anyone know how to specify a forfeit / loss on time in PGN notation? I just read the Wikipedia article but did not understand the way to do it...
Thanks in advance!
Attila Ba (2013-05-15 17:41:52)
Deep analysis - can it be improved?
The idea behind deep analysis is to store engine evaluations of chess positions in a permanent way and build an analysis tree out of them. Deep analysis is an improvement over simple engine analysis in two ways:
1) Permanent storage of analysis results makes them reusable. You don't have to analyse the same position from scratch over and over again (which is a waste of valuable CPU resources) rather you can build and improve upon your earlier results.
2) The search is configurable. You have control over which positions are examined and in what way. This gives you freedom to tailor the analyis to your own needs not having to rely on the defaults provided by your engine.
This idea is presented in a revolutionary way in the Deep Rybka Aquarium GUI. However using this framework I have encountered some problems. The lesser one and non lethal one is that draws by repetition are not handled correctly. This is for a reason: moves in the transposition table should be valued in an absolute way (regardless of the line which lead to them) in order to preserve the integrity of the tree. Since Aquarium has no means to incorporate lines, it simply ignores them
My other problem is that though the search is configurable I'm not absolutely certain about what is going on. It is not entirely clear to me exactly which nodes are selected for analysis.
These problems made me to try to come up with a deep analyis program of my own. After several failed attempts finally I have on my hand a solution which is not only capable of performing deep analysis but overcomes some of the difficulties of Interactive Deep Analyis (IDeA) provided by the Aquarium framework.
First I introduced a mechanism that can handle repetitions. In order to achieve this I attribute not one but two scores to each move and re-define the concept of root position already present in IdeA. The first score which I call 'idea' score is the same as presented in IdeA. The second is what I call 'alpha' score is calculated by minimaxing the tree from the root position taking into account repetitions.
Consider the following game:
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. Ng1 Nf8
The value of move 2. ... Nf8 at depth 18 by Houdini 3.0 is -19 centipawns. So the idea score of this move at depth 0 should be -19. Yet 2. ... Nf8 repeats the starting position. Therefore its alpha score with respect to a root equaling the starting position should be 0 centipawn which is exactly what my program calculates for it. ( For the sake of simplicity I don't require threefold repetition, since you would never allow your opponent to repeat a position if you have better ideas. )
So when my programs lists the tree it will present both scores for every move (which in most of the cases are equal of course - therefore this is mostly an aesthetic improvement rather than being a substantial one).
The improvement which I'm most interested in is that having full control of node selection now I have freedom to shape the tree search.
In order to keeps things simple I have only three parameters characterising the search:
1) engine depth
2) move distance (centipawns)
3) search depth
Engine depth means a fixed depth at which each move is analyzed. After long experimenting I have arrived at depth 18 as a good default for Houdini 3.0.
Move distance is a tolerance up to which moves are allowed into the analyis. For each position first the best move is determined. The search for alternative moves is continued until a move is found that has a valuation less than the valuation of the best move by 'move distance' centipawns (it is this 'distance' away from being the best move). The tree is then expanded for moves within 'move distance'.
To compensate for exponential growth of analyzed nodes I use a simple technique: at each ply after ply 1 the move distance is halved. So if the move distance at ply 0 and ply 1 is 20 centipawns, it will be 10 centipawns for ply 2, 5 centipawns for ply 3 and so on. This means that at greater depth less and less moves are allowed per position. So the analysis with greater depth slowly evolves into 'autoplay' rather than 'tree search'.
The other method to reduce exponential growth is the well known beta cut provided by alphabeta search. In order that all candidate moves in the root position and all candidate responses to them get proper values, I only allow beta cuts with ply 2 and deeper.
Once an alphabeta search of certain depth is carried out, the whole tree is mimimaxed out for the root. Now the initial evaluations of the root moves may change. This may make moves which initially fall out of the 'move distance' to become viable. So the search has to be repeated for those moves as well. This has to be done at every ply level.
My iterative search at a certain depth only ends when no new nodes are added by the alphabeta search (the tree is 'settled' for this depth). Only then the program is allowed to deepen the search (this I call 'refined' search).
With engine depth of 18 and move distance of 10 centipawns an average position can be analyzed to depth 10 within a matter of hours. This means a couple of hundred (possibly a couple of thousand) positions are analyzed to depth 18. Depth 10 deep analyis means an ultimate depth of 28 if you take into account that the engine depth is 18.
Whether this method has added ELO value over simple engine search is yet to be tested.
Michael Aigner (2013-05-16 21:57:51)
PGN notation for draw offers
Hi everybody!
As it is nowadays mandatory to document draw offers in the notation of otb games I would find it a good idea (and an interesting piece of information during a later study of the games )to do so in our correspondence games too.
What do you think about it?
Tom Kuge (2013-05-21 23:14:18)
isn't this game over?
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=71164
position on board is mate-this game is still in my running games list more than a week
Garvin Gray (2013-05-25 18:44:45)
Playing activity top 20 players
I just had a look at how active the top 20 players on this site are, and apart from one or two players, almost all have either zero or one game active at the moment.
What can be done to make them more active, which gives more opportunities to players lower down the rating list?
Also, with so many not being active, makes it much harder to fill the top divisions.
Garvin Gray (2013-06-04 14:56:48)
Wch cycles possible changes?
With some discussion once occurring about the format of the Ficgs wch, time for a new thread with a different slant.
Some posters have given their opinions on pros/cons of the wch cycle and changes they would like to see happen.
Most though are not incorporated because Thibault is against them, or thinks they will not work.
So time for a new question so it might be possible to get some changes or refinements.
Thibault, on what items in regards to the wch would you be willing to see some changes, or at least incorporate well thought out proposals from the members?
This could at least lead the discussion on where to head for a discussion on these matters.
Because quite frankly if Thibault does not agree with your proposal, it will not happen.
If someone wants to know my opinion on this whole matter. Feel free to ask and I will post in a later post, or possibly a whole new thread as I do have quite a bit to say. Be warned, some may not like it ;)
Garvin Gray (2013-06-23 03:33:23)
Anyone play Semi Slav Botvinnik as black
I have had quite a few Semi Slav Botvinnik's on here. I play the SSB as black, but then when I am white I can not find anyone who plays it as black.
So I am wondering, are most cc'ers considering the SSB unsound for black?
I have a few ideas I would like to try as white, but never get the chance.
Maybe this could be a thematic, but would need to start after 10. Bxg5
John Dyson (2013-07-07 14:37:07)
Download
Can anyone tell me how to download chess games from this site in words a 3yo can understand please? I have Chessbase if that's a help.
Thibault de Vassal (2013-07-15 14:16:39)
Interview with new FICGS Go champion
Yen-Wei Huang, winner of the 8th FICGS Go championship, kindly accepted to answer a few questions for this very interesting interview!
_______________________
- Hello Yen-Wei and congratulations for winning the FICGS Go championship! Xiao Tong was obviously a tough opponent, yet you won 5-0, what happened during this match?
Hi Thib. Thanks again for your kind invitation. Xiao is definitely one of the strongest Go players on FICGS, and I was really, really lucky to have won all five games. In fact, I was behind in three of them until Xiao made some mistakes late in the games: in game 69092, I forced a tough ko fight which jeopardized my lower group. Xiao made a mistake at P2 as he missed my T3 could force another ko. Game 69093 was very close towards the end but I think the move at C13 caused him the game. Game 69096 was even closer that I won by half a point thanks to the big 7.5 komi. The other two games were not easy either and I am glad I could have hung on to the lead. Overall I really enjoyed our match and I would love to have a rematch with Xiao in the future.
- You're from Taiwan, could you tell us a bit more about you? At what age did you learn Go? Do you have any other ranks (e.g. at other sites)?
I learned Go when I was 5 and I have always enjoyed playing all my life. I used to play on servers like KGS and Tygem and I was around 6-7 dan on these sites. Recently I don't have that much time to play so that's why turned to turn-based server like FICGS.
- What do you think about the world of Go these days? Who is the very best player in the world according to you?
I think the past two years were the "warring period" in the world of Go. I would say Lee Sedol was the best player two years ago, but he seems to have lost his dominant position recently. There are many rising stars that are winning the world champions. I am especially keeping an eye on Yuta Iyama, who I think is No. 1 in Japan and has started to threaten the dominance of Chinese and Korean players.
- What about computer Go and its future? How many years do you give to the human before losing to the machine?
As a software engineer I foresee the computer Go beats the world's No. 1 player in two decades. Crazy Stone already beat Yoshio Ishida with four handicap stones earlier this year, and I believe it wouldn't take long for computers to beat pros in two handicap stones. The real challenge will come when computers need to go from handicap games to even games since they need to advance from defensive mode to attack mode. I am really excited to see how Artificial Intelligence can surprise us with its "creative" moves when the time comes.
- Do you use engines or databases? What advice would you give to beginners (and to your future challengers :))?
I know there are many useful Go engines and databases that are being developed these days, unfortunately I don't really know much about them. I do use http://ps.waltheri.net/ if I need to look something up, and I go to http://tom.com for commented games (they're in Chinese, nonetheless). Advice to beginners: just go to any search engine and you can easily find all the free resources you want. Advice to my future challengers: just try the new variations since I know none of them :)
- What new features would you like to see at FICGS?
Firstly I'd like to thank Thib for maintaining such a wonderful site. I enjoy playing Go and Poker here and maybe I'll start playing Chess sometime (I really suck so I'm not ready to embarrass myself yet). The ability to play different games is what makes FICGS unique. As Thib mentioned earlier, we need much more players, and I think FICGS simply needs to host much more tournaments, probably some with shorter time settings. With more games and more player engagement, more people will stick around. Another feature I'd really like to see is FICGS client for cellphones/tablets. The main advantage of turn-based servers is that it allows people to play wherever for whatever period of time: a 1-min ride in the elevator, a 10-min wait at the bus stop, or a couple of hours at home. If playing on FICGS is made easier, I know I will be more addicted to it :)
- Thank you very much and good luck in the next final match...
Thanks! And please go easy on our Poker match...
Miguel Ortiz (2013-07-15 17:00:42)
Invi. to play freestyle/centaur Chess
On Sat, Jul 20, 2013, beginning at 1800 UTC.
Bring all your knowledge and machine to play at www.infinitychess.com
See you there.
Ger Hanssen (2013-07-17 20:48:24)
A player goes on inviting me
A player called Ortiz keeps inviting me for a game of chess, and I don't want to play any chess.
I sent him a message, but he goes on. This is really annoying. What do I do?
Attila Ba (2013-07-18 10:12:31)
Looking for big chess partners
Looking for big chess partners
I like very much the idea presented by this site of chess played on a bigger than normal board. Since Chess960 destroys theory but does not destroy engines (playing Chess960 for an engine is easy as pie) the only anti-engine way is to go for bigger board sizes. In this way you can measure your true correspondence chess skills independent of engines (on one hand no professional would go and write an engine for a game that is played by very few, on the other hand the number of possibilities soon grow out of hand on bigger boards making the tree search very difficult).
Out of my 18 big chess games on this site I have won 17 and lost 1 making it my most succesful type of game here. But with low player turnouts I simply can't get a tournament running (for half a year or so).
In order to have the possibility to play I have created a site solely for the purpose of playing rated big chess games on a single game basis with wide choice of timers and board sizes.
If anyone is interested please come to baatti.com and let's play big chess.
David Ward (2013-07-25 00:15:35)
FICS is down
The Free Internet Chess Server is down. Someone hacked an admin account and the admins shut it down.
Daniel Blike (2013-07-27 04:35:54)
Next WCH Stage start
Just curious as to when this was starting, August 1st maybe?
Ilmars Cirulis (2013-07-29 11:29:10)
Gossip about Evans gambit
Let's do it here. :)
Peter Unger (2013-08-12 18:49:37)
tournament finished but no leader
FICGS__CHESS__WCH_STAGE_2_GROUP_03__000010 is finished but there is no leader. Why?
Will be a stage 3 tournament?
Sam Berkman (2013-08-22 20:08:10)
New FICGS software?
Is this a new moving system now? Just wondering Thib.
Garvin Gray (2013-08-31 09:27:36)
New my games feature requested
I would like to see an additional heading item added to the my games page.
Currently I have a heap of games going. Some of them are class time control and some are rapid time control.
I think it would improve the site and make 'things' much easier if in the space between each tournament games, a new heading was added telling you either:
1) The actual name of the tournament those particular games belong to
or
2) Just a listing of class or rapid.
Because currently a game says 10 days remaining, but 10 days and 8 moves to the time control in a class event is different to having 10 days remaining in a rapid. This would then make it easier to prioritise games.
Joerg Moormann (2013-09-02 13:30:18)
Withdraw from a waiting list?
Hi,
is it possible to withdraw from a waiting list? I couldnt find a button for that.
I registered for FICGS__CHESS__CLASS_E__000167 (ELO 1200-1400), some weeks ago, but meanwhile my rating is 1505.
Scott Nichols (2013-09-08 20:37:10)
Active players list
I think a change is needed here. A player should be considered active only if he plays a game of his choosing, not just the act of signing on.
Paul Campanella (2013-09-15 13:07:22)
Poker for e-points?
Any update on whether or not poker games played for e-points will be allowed?
Wayne Lowrance (2013-09-25 07:16:13)
My tournament activity
Thib I dis like having to post this msg.
Thib I have tried very hard to continue these tournaments. Somehow I have over committed Tournaments. I am competing in away to many tournaments. I am not able mentally & physically to play active chess. it is not fair to me and my opponents.
I am very satisfied with results. I currently have no negative results. My mind no longer has memory capacity for chess at my level.
My wife Dorothy has asked me to discontinue chess
She knows what it means to me and how hard this is for me to take this course of action.
Thanks to you and especially to all of my partners.
God bless all.
Wayne
Bogoljub Teverovski (2013-10-01 12:10:10)
Tablebases and no-engines tournaments
I wonder if usage of the endgame tablebases are permitted or prohibited for n0-engines tournaments?
Thibault de Vassal (2013-10-08 11:57:05)
Kasparov candidate for FIDE president
Is Kasparov back in the chess world?
"Six winning moves" is his program and obviously money is the key.
Do you think he has a chance to unseat 18-year incumbent Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in this 2014 election?
http://www.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4011444/kasparov-for-president--2014-fide-campaign-081013.aspx
Scott Nichols (2013-10-08 16:52:38)
Best Freestyle Site
This site is still IMHO the best site for Freestyle. The interface is easy to understand and everything is clear, that's important to any site.
That's why I don't understand why the traffic has dwindled so. I'm sure we could come up with something to increase the Freestyle on here.
I'll start with my idea, :) Have a monthly Freestyle OPEN tournament. The only requirent is a 2 E-point entry fee. The winner gets 90%, FICGS gets 10%. The time controls would have to be bullet, 5 min with 15 second increment. If 8 players or less, it could be a round robin. 9 players or more, even up to a hundred!, would play a swiss style. Make it unrated so anybody could join. Have it on the first Sat. of the month. It would have to start at least by 1800 server time to get all the rounds in in ONE DAY.
Jonathan Gresham (2013-10-12 23:24:13)
Communism
I've been reading about Communism and have concluded that I agree with a lot of the points that the book brings up in favor of it. The working class would overthrow the middle or rich class and thus establishing a one class system. The only thing that would have to be sacrificed would be freedom of speech but when it comes down to it freedom of speech can be sacrificed justly. In exchange for that you would get free education, healthcare etc. Things would be communal being that you would work within communities and share the wealth. This kind of idea has been put forward before and has failed but I believe that with the right leader it is possible.
Jonathan Gresham (2013-10-21 02:56:50)
Kievan Rus
Before Russia was formed there was a federation of Slavic tribes known as Kievan Rus. There was an old saying that said, "Your tongue will take you to Kiev." This is basically saying that you can ask your way around to be led to your destination. I guess men asked for directions back in the day.
Eduardo Alex Baeza Ibanez (2013-10-23 17:57:33)
Saludos desde Chile
Saludos a los fanaticos del ajedrez, soy uno de ellos y prueba de ello es que me he inscrito en cuanto servidor gratuito hay. Este servidor es nuevo para estoy a en una lista de espera imagino que en algun momento se completaran los cupos y comenzara los partidos, alguien que me aclare?.
Greetings to the chess fans, I am one of them and the proof is that I have enrolled as free server there. This server is new to'm on a waiting list at some point I imagine that quotas were completed and the parties began, someone enlighten me?
Jonathan Gresham (2013-10-25 01:42:21)
Najdorf Poisoned Pawn
After the pawn is taken how does the game continue?
Eduardo Alex Baeza Ibanez (2013-11-05 00:15:00)
About the players
I have a question about how can i play with determinates contacts in this server? Sorry about my english
Eduardo Alex Baeza Ibanez (2013-11-06 13:58:17)
ChessBase Light activate code
Hi, somebody has the code to activate chessbase ligth 2009??
Eduardo Alex Baeza Ibanez (2013-11-06 20:21:23)
FICGS__BIG_CHESS__TOURNAMENT__00
i need some help!!, i was confused, and don't read very well, and then i accept to invitations to play big chess, how can i cancel this? because i don't have time to play a so long game like this, sorry about that, was my mistake.
the name of this tournament is FICGS__BIG_CHESS__TOURNAMENT__00
Thibault de Vassal (2013-11-13 23:29:26)
World chess championship Anand / Carlsen
4 games played already in the FIDE world chess championship and the situation remains completely open...
Chances are about 50/50, obviously...
Eduardo Alex Baeza Ibanez (2013-11-19 13:02:17)
Friend List
how can i to invite friend to my list in this server?
Alvin Alcala (2013-11-23 17:04:17)
Don Dailey, 1956 -2013
http://talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=50189
Garvin Gray (2013-12-05 01:44:30)
WBCCC 2014 Entries Open
Entries for WBCCC 2014 are now open at www.rybkaforum.net.
For those not aware of our event, quite a few of the players here can speak about their experiences in the event, but as organiser I can say that many of the regular players have gotten a lot out of their participation, have improved their play and a lot has been learnt about freestyle correspondence chess in the three years that this event has been running.
Prize money is offered, but how much is determined by players and others willingness to sponsor.
Feel free to contact me by replying to this message, sending me a pm at rybka forum or private message here. A private message here is the least reliable.
Full tournament rules:
1) Tournament will be single round robin, meaning every person will play each other once.
2) A players seed position will be determined by their order of entry. The earlier you enter, the higher your number. The first person to enter will receive number 1. The seed position determines which number a player is in the round robin.
3) Entries open December 1 2013
4) Entries close January 6 2014
5) Play begins January 13 2014
6) Each round will be paired at the start of the event, with the pairings for the entire year published at the start.
7) Each round will have a maximum of four games, most likely two games (just like 2011, 2012 and 2013). The number of games will always be kept to a bare minimum
8) There will be a maximum of six paired rounds.
9) The minimum time control will be 30 days plus 1 hour per move. If the number of games per round needs to increase from 2 to 3 or 4, the time control will be lengthened. For instance, if we have 21 players, so needing 4 games per round to keep the number of games even and use five rounds, instead of the six rounds in 2013.
9) Pairings for future rounds are subject to change due to withdrawal of players and unforeseen circumstances.
10) If a player withdraws, or their games time out without an explanation that is accepted by the arbiter, all their games will be removed from the event. In effect they are no longer a participant in the event and no effect on the final placings.
11) There will be an official entry form that all players will be required to fill out before their entry will be accepted. This is so in case of emergency the organisers have a method of contact outside of Rybka Forum. It will include also include a person other than yourself to contact. Whilst I understand this might seem unnecessary to some, I do hope that events from 2013 (death of Salvador Signes and our inability to get in contact with the family) do show the need for better communication methods.
12) Xfccplay- Xfccplay is the official software provided for WBCCC 2014. Xfccplay is provided for the free use for participants whilst in the event. A user name and password will be provided once registered. Also download instructions will be provided by private message and these must be followed to install the program. The program is provided by chessok and is not to be passed on to anyone and is provided for the sole use of playing in WBCCC. All moves, draw offers etc in WBCCC 2014 must be played on this software.
13) New entrants will be required to play a couple of test games on xfccplay before entries close so that the arbiter is certain that all players are familiar with the software and its features. The organisers do not want to see players withdrawing after the event has begun because they find that they are unfamiliar with the software and get upset because their clock is running. Entries are open from December 1 to January 6. That is over a month to become familiar with the software. The organisers will not accept entries from players who have not tested the software.
Emile Trigance (2013-12-13 19:44:54)
Classement
Je joue depuis plusieurs années et je n'ai aucun classement, aucune statistique, que dois-je faire ou que n'ai-je pas fait pour les activer ?
Lazaro Munoz (2013-12-20 14:06:38)
BIG_CHESS__WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP__5
Hi guys, do we know when this is going to start? I believe that there are 31 on the waiting list and group size is 7 are just waiting for 4 more? Supposedly the final date of entries in July 1st of 2013, but I was able to enter after that, maybe it has scared off the potential other 4 guys that might complete 5 sections.
Garvin Gray (2013-12-22 09:17:43)
Withdrawal from all standard time events
I thought I would bring this topic up to let everyone know.
After a few years here, I have decided that it is almost certain that I will no longer be entering standard time control events on this site until the time control changes.
I find that most players in that time control just waste the time provided and are able to play faster, but choose to run their time down, and then make 8 moves in 10 days, then wait another 30 days before making another 8 moves in 10 days, or similar behaviour.
Sorry Thibault, but I have better things to do in my life than have my life wasted like this.
If you want me to return to standard time control events, change the time control.
This means I will only be playing in rapid time control events, which is a much better time control.
Peter W. Anderson (2013-12-26 11:55:26)
FICGS World Chess Championship results
I thought it would be a good idea to have a record of the FICGS world chess championship results somewhere in an easily digested form. So I have compiled them and published them on a blog.
I have done this mainly for people who are already members here but also wrote an introduction to FICGS for those who may not be familiar with it. Who knows, it might leads to some new members :)
You can see the article here
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4640212584288527521#editor/target=post;postID=4543488454188377326;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=0;src=postname
The link to the championship results is at the bottom. I hope someone finds it interesting. I have beeen quite careful in compiling it but I expect there may be a few small errors in it. Please let me know if there are and I will make the necessary corrections.
Thibault de Vassal (2013-12-26 21:59:43)
FICGS Facebook app in question
Hello all,
As you probably have noticed, we have less and less new players and it seems that many correspondence chess sites encounter the same problem (but chess.com, maybe gameknot... mainly).
Nowadays, it seems that everything goes with Facebook and Facebook applications (even if Facebook enforced their rules in many ways around apps), so I'm thinking about making one... somewhat against my principles. In my opinion, there may be many other reasons why chess sites lose popularity but that's another story.
So I'd like to know your opinion on Facebook applications (well, most are spammy and with one goal, gathering personal data... that's quite obvious) and why not we could share ideas to make it useful and viral as much as possible...
Garvin Gray (2013-12-28 02:42:08)
Ficgs World Championship 13
Been asked in the results thread, thought I would bring it across to here.
When is it going to start?
I have a secondary comment and suggestion that relates to starting time. Number 12 and the groups from 10 and 11 all started at the same time. That loaded a lot of games at the same time, which I certainly found to be a huge impost and impacted on the standard of play.
I went in one day from only having a few games, to having 10 Round Robin Final games, a second stage final plus a first stage M division all started at the same time.
All these games were started at exactly the same time. Not even a week apart from each other.
I really do wish for this upcoming cycle that the divisions do not start at the same time.
For instances, there is no reason why entries for number 13 could not be open now with the idea of starting February 1.
Then all the second stages/knockouts from previous groups could start in March, which has been commented on by Thib in the chat bar.
Joerg Moormann (2014-01-22 15:08:06)
Bug? Mate but game not finished
Hi
I played 29.... Re3# at 18. Jan. 2014.
http://www.ficgs.com/game_77611.html
It's checkmate, but the server did not finish the game. What went wrong?
Don Groves (2014-01-24 03:46:02)
Is this OUR Dinesh?
http://www.businessinsider.com/dinesh-dsouza-indicted-campaign-finance-fraud-2014-1
--
don
Garvin Gray (2014-02-03 02:10:36)
Standard time control abusers
Suffering again with two players abusing the time control.
Sick of this site with an administrator who will not doing anything about it when he has the ability to do so. I believe it is time to start naming and shaming these people and will start to do so in the next post after replies from others. I really do not care anymore, it is time this issue is exposed for the disgrace it is. Perhaps by exposing them, they will be gotten rid of. They hide under the cover of anonymity.
I am strongly considering resigning both games, telling Thibault what he can do with his site and leaving. I have had a F****** gutful of these actions and having months of my life wasted.
Thibault de Vassal (2014-03-03 11:22:35)
Class A, class M & class SM closed
Hello all,
Waiting lists for chess class A, class M & class SM tournaments are temporarily closed as an experiment, following the discussion in the thread:
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=forum_read&id=11507
My sincere apologies to players who entered it already, but anyway you all know that class & rapid tournaments are difficult to start for 2 years now, so we're working on different ways to improve the situation.
Of course, you can send me an email if you want to remove your name from these waiting lists.
Thibault de Vassal (2014-04-09 13:18:35)
Alvin Alcala in Freestyle Battle 2014
It seems that Alvin still some chances to win the gigantic freestyle tournament named "Freestyle Battle" played at InfinityChess server :
http://www.infinitychess.com/Web/Page/Public/Article/DefaultArticle.aspx?id=141
He is now second, Anson Williams is first... Wish him good luck for the last 2 rounds :)
Michael Sayers (2014-04-19 17:05:02)
remove from non-started tournaments
Is it possible for a player to have himself removed from the waiting list of tournaments which have not begun if he might not be able to complete the obligations and if he doesn't make this mistake again?
(specifically
FICGS__CHESS__CLASS_B__000205,
FICGS__CHESS__CLASS_C__000210,
FICGS__CHESS__RAPID_B__000217,
FICGS__CHESS__NO_ENGINES_TOURNAMENT__000071,
and
FICGS__CHESS__UNRATED_TOURNAMENT__000037
- these are many!!!).
Much appreciated if possible :)
Michael S.
Garvin Gray (2014-04-21 04:23:35)
Reduction in max days available? (move)
Currently ficgs has a rule that states: 11. 4. Time rules - Any move in any game shall be played in a maximum period of 60 days, otherwise the game will be adjudicated on time.
I think that 60 days is way too long a time period as a maximum limit and would propose that this be halved to 30 days.
This means a player has to play one move in each of their games every 30 days. This does not seem anywhere near onerous to me.
Jonathan Gresham (2014-05-06 18:00:20)
big chess pgn viewer?
Does the admin need a javascript programmer to make a big chess pgn player? I can contribute :-)
Michael Sayers (2014-05-12 15:57:25)
undetected checkmate
Hej,
The 20.Qd6# in this game hasn't been detected as checkmate by the server:
http://www.ficgs.com/game_80090.html
Thanks for any attention to this!
Mvh,
Michael
Garvin Gray (2014-06-03 03:02:20)
100 point rating bands
I have been wondering for a long time if 100 point rating divisions would make a difference to get divisions starting faster.
I do believe that most of the divisions really do only comprise players within a 100 point rating band. It is rare to see players spread evenly between say 2199 and 2001. If a group of 2050 to 2005's join, three 2170's are not going to join.
So perhaps the number of divisions need to be increased with rating divisions of 100 be created?
Peter W. Anderson (2014-06-23 13:21:52)
FICGS WCh results summary updated
https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?cid=AFB49FE3A5961D46&resid=AFB49FE3A5961D46!238&app=WordPdf
I'll update this every six months or so.
Garvin Gray (2014-07-05 04:33:02)
Call referee button, response time
This comes from the chat bar.
Currently a player has thirty days to make a move when their opponent has used the call referee button.
An opponent will usually only hit the button in situations of forced mate (DMD) and are seeking that the game be adjudicated in their favour.
I stated that the time period is too long.
Thibault responded that not all players play at the same rhythm.
This is irrelevant in my opinion. The issue is quite simple. One player in the game has hit the call referee button.
In these situations, the rules can quite easily be changed to state that after the call referee button has been hit and the other player contacted, the other player has a maximum seven days to make a move.
Ilmars Cirulis (2014-08-15 17:02:41)
Friendly thematic games or discussions
Does anyone want to play Sokolsky-Orangutan opening (1.b4) with white? For any theoretical, practical or other reasons - without any prizes, just friendly game for purposes of exploration.
Also I want to explore such variation of Traxler counterattack: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 5.Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 7.Ke3 Qh4 8.g3 Nxg3 9.hxg3 Qd4+ 10.Kf3
Two will be enough for me now.
P.S. Sorry for disappearance some time ago with lots of unfinished games.
Nick Burrows (2014-08-25 13:11:47)
Ficgs is a money trap * BEWARE *
Here is a heads up, so you can avoid the same mistake I made.
I saw there was an available "gold" chess match against a player I thought I could beat, so I bought the required e-points and began the match. My opponent then played no moves and lost on time. I asked to cash-out my winnings. Thibault pointed out a rule in the small print that allows himself to claim the money that I had won.
I then asked for a refund of my money. Thibault refuses, because he is greedy and wants to earn 200 Euros for doing F*ck all. Now my money is trapped inside Ficgs.
*Buyer beware*
Peter W. Anderson (2014-09-22 18:12:09)
What is the longest game of Big Chess?
I noticed that in one of the Big Chess world champs there was a game that was 280 moves long. I was wondering if this was the longest. Does anyone know of any longer ones?
Thibault de Vassal (2014-10-02 23:01:55)
Eros Riccio makes a record at ICCF
GM Eros Riccio has now played 408 rated games at ICCF, since 2001. This is the highest number for the top 25 (at least) and this is a huge performance due to his rating and numerous games at other servers (including 212 games at FICGS). Just amazing!
https://www.iccf.com/RatingList.aspx
Thibault de Vassal (2014-10-27 20:44:31)
Tournaments rating ranges
Hello all,
As you may know, certain top tournaments are really too long to start... After a long wait, I finally decided to test this new rule:
12. Tournament rules
(...) Please note that the referee may change the rating ranges if a tournament takes too much time to start (such cases are quite rare).
As an example, for the tournament chess class SM, I just changed the low rating limit to 2300 only to find the 7th player. The rating limit will return to 2400 after that. This is not a good thing according to me but it may be the "less worst"... To be continued.
Feel free to tell what you think about this.
Garvin Gray (2014-10-28 23:51:08)
July 1 2014 Fide laws of chess
With the next ficgs wch approaching, I assume this event will now be held under the new rules for the fide laws of chess that began July 1 2014.
Where is the new information contained that states how the new rules will be applied to this event as some of the fide laws chess have had some significant changes and could be make a large change for how some rules are applied on here.
Jing Huang (2014-11-08 12:02:55)
How is the WCH challenger decided?
In the (unfinished) tournament GO__WCH_TOURNAMENT__000011(http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=tournament&tournament=FICGS__GO__WCH_TOURNAMENT__000011), Ruzin, Praz and I all have exactly the same points, but it seems that tournament GO__WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP__000011 (http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=tournament&tournament=FICGS__GO__WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP__000011) has started with Ruzin as the challenger.
Does anyone know how this is decided? Thanks :)
Jing Huang (2014-11-08 12:14:21)
Registered for Go WCH 12 but excluded
I have registered for the GO__WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP__000012
(http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=entry_tournament&tournament=ficgs_go_wch)
However, in the started tournament (http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=tournament&tournament=FICGS__GO__WCH_TOURNAMENT__000012),
there are only 9 players despite that 12 players have registered.
Sasa Radojcic, Angelo Piantadosi and I are somehow excluded. Does anyone know the reason?
Thibault de Vassal (2014-12-01 01:06:10)
Go legend died at 100
Go Seigen (12 June 1914 - 30 November 2014)
http://senseis.xmp.net/?GoSeigen
Thibault de Vassal (2014-12-01 01:20:17)
Magnus Carlsen beats V. Anand again
Any thoughts on the recent FIDE world championship final match?
Magnus Carlsen beats Viswanathan Anand with 2 points more before the last game, but a few games were not so clear...
Alvin Alcala (2014-12-02 07:42:04)
Happy Birthday to CC Champ Eros Riccio!
He turned 37 on 1st Dec.
Thibault de Vassal (2014-12-07 22:23:55)
6th engine masters: A. Alcala shares 1st
Another freestyle chess tournament just finished, and Alvin Alcala did it great again, sharing 1st place!
All details at InfinityChess:
http://infinitychess.com/Web/Page/Public/Article/DefaultArticle.aspx?id=191
Thibaut Saccon (2014-12-16 11:49:24)
delete account
I'd like to delete my account cause i start a professional project and i don't wand to be find on google. Thank you in advance.
Peter W. Anderson (2014-12-20 10:26:14)
FICGS chess WCh summary updated
https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?cid=AFB49FE3A5961D46&resid=AFB49FE3A5961D46!294&app=WordPdf
One hard fought game remaining in the 9th World Championship match. Well worth a look.
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=80633
Alex Getman (2015-01-05 07:29:02)
Business Idea - Chess education
Let us introduce you our small idea of chess education web-site
Interactivity at this level is an untouched niche that will give you
the stable income
and the satisfaction of being relevant to somebody – “the live” work
Details of ideas on a page on LiveJournal >> http://greathumility.livejournal.com/910.html
will hear good criticism with pleasure
To moderator:
am not a spammer but a member of the team, working on the site (the mentioned email is my personal one)
We don’t place full text on your sites,
because it is constantly being improved
So, our request to you is to treat us with understanding, please
Thibault de Vassal (2015-01-09 20:46:20)
Eros Riccio on his win in 9th chess WCH
Eros Riccio kindly accepted to answer a few questions after his win in the 9th FICGS correspondence chess championship. Once again, his answers are worth to read... including probably a few surprises and valuable informations for most of us!
_____________________________
- Hello again Eros. Congratulations for this new win! So you played Jeroen for the second time in a row, this time in the 12 games format. There were 12 draws but it does not mean a lot. How did things go?
--> Hi Thibault! Nice to answer your questions again :-) I managed to resist again Van Assche's assaults, this time he was well-determined to win, as he made me really suffer in a couple of games. The first game was a semislav, me as Black. He played a rare variation (starting with 14.Be2 followed by 15.Qd3) that was new to me. At first the engines were giving 0.00 evaluations, but after the move 22.Qg3 they started to realize that Black's position was difficult, and they kept increasing their evaluation in White's favor move after move. That was quite a scary thing to see, and I really thought that I could have lost the game. I had to use all the thinking time (leave included) to be able to resist. This new variation impressed me so much that I decided to use it as White myself as a surprise weapon, and in fact it allowed my engine on autoplay on my old I7 980x to win a lot of games as White and a 500 dollars prize getting first place in a strong tournament on Infinity Chess. The second game was a Spanish, me as White. After his 7...0-0 I decided to avoid the Marshall (that would have probably happened if I had played 8.c3) trying the AntiMarshall variation 8.d4. I am now convinced that this variation gives nothing good to White, but I didn't know that yet when I played it! Already after the rare strong move 11...c5! things were starting to get difficult for me. He simply continued with c4 and d5, getting space advantage with his Pawns on the Queenside, while I could find no attack at all on the Kingside. Again I had to be very careful to escape with a draw.
- What can you tell about your other results this year, particularly at ICCF where you're now ranked #9 with an outstanding rating of 2639 ?
--> My ICCF elo in the past few years has raised. Slowly, but it has raised. I had no defeats and a couple of wins in the Olympiads and European team tournaments started in 2012. I am satisfied of that, as winning nowadays in top correspondence tournaments is very difficult. Important is to remain undefeated.
- Last year, you said that you felt like your play was getting weaker each day because your machine was getting older, did you finally upgrade it? But maybe this is a secret...
--> No. As I wrote earlier, I haven't updated my machine. Fortunately cpu's general speed has kept increasing not as quickly as in the past, so my I7 980x can still compete.
- Did your vision of computer chess evolve after these last 18 months? What do you expect for the next years? Do you plan to become a chess cyborg? ^^
--> Fortunately for our hobby, computer chess isn't rushing towards the "all draws" situation that I talked about a couple of years ago. That's because, fortunately, increasing cpu's power and engine's strenght is getting more and more difficult. Yes, some main lines already lead to all draws often, but chess gives so many openings options that to avoid that, you can simply play subvariations. When played a lot, also subvariations will become main variations. Then again, when the draws rate gets too high, you just pick another less played opening. It will take many years to cover every opening to a high draws rate.
- Your next challenger is Peter W. Anderson, who made a convincingly path through the round-robin cycle before to defeat SM Igor Dolgov 5-3 in the 10th candidates final (by the way he's also playing the 11th candidates final). It seems that you never played him before. How do you feel this match? Do you have any words for your opponent before that the games start?
--> I am happy to play a new player! We have just started our match, again, all my first moves as White were 1.e4. What to say... it's up to him to avoid main lines as Black (he already did it answering with 1...g6 in three games) if he wants to try to win with the black pieces. But the real challenge for him of course will be to try to win with the White pieces. It will be interesting to see if he can find holes in my Black repertoire like Van Assche was able to do. Let's wait and see!
Garvin Gray (2015-01-10 17:24:43)
Class GM 3 and Rapid SM 12 entry rules
Currently I believe there are two players who have been allowed to enter two divisions who under the current rules are actually ineligible and their entries should be withdrawn.
The current rules state:
Tickets for a higher class tournament : However, when you win a rated tournament (only after that you receive an email specifying it or when the tournaments list shows your name as winner or co-winner of the tournament) or if your rating is at most 50 points below the low rating limit of the next class tournament's waiting list, it is now possible to buy a ticket for the next class tournament's waiting list (for example if you win a chess class A tournament, you may ask for a ticket for the next class M tournament) for 10 Epoints if the following conditions are filled : 1) No more than 2 players obtained the best score in the tournament. There's no winner otherwise. 2) The player's TER must not be more than 200 points below the low rating limit of the tournament's waiting list. 3) At most 2 players may buy a ticket to enter the same waiting list. 4) Five players at least must have entered the tournament's waiting list already so that you can buy a ticket for this tournament. 5) The possibility to buy a ticket is valid up to 1 year after the end of the won tournament and only after the official end of the tournament [when the tournaments list shows winners, not leaders of the tournament]. 6) As the price for any ticket is 10 Epoints, the player's account must be credited of at least 10 Epoints.
The key regulation- and I recall this because I had it included for a specific reason- is: 4) Five players at least must have entered the tournament's waiting list already so that you can buy a ticket for this tournament.
The reason for this regulation is that the division is meant for the players of those ratings and it is clear that having to players with ratings significantly lower than the minimum rating will reduce the chances of them entering.
So those using tickets are entered last, in positions 6 and 7, only after it becomes clear that the division can not be filled without them.
So under the published regulations, both players should be removed and put in their correct divisions.
Thibault de Vassal (2015-03-09 01:26:15)
FICGS freestyle chess superstars
Looks like our freestyle chess champions made it again at InfinityChess in a very tough engine-team tournament (finished 2nd tie but very near):
The team named "Freestyle Chess Superstars":
* Dracodaatson, GM Eros Riccio
* Spaghetti_Chess, IM Alberto Gueci
* Ultra-d, David Evans
* Maximus, Alvin Alcala (Team Captain)
Results and round-by-round results:
http://infinitychess.com/Web/Page/Public/Article/DefaultArticle.aspx?id=208
http://www.infinitychess.com/Web/Page/Public/Article/DefaultArticle.aspx?id=205
Congrats guys :)
Andrew Fischhof (2015-04-15 07:09:00)
GO__WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP__000010
Just curious ... what happened to
FICGS__GO__WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP__000010?
Thanks :)
Angus James (2015-05-01 14:38:48)
Problems with FICGS automated email?
My opponent made a move on 27.04.15 but I didn't receive an automated email telling me until 30.04.15, 3 days later. Has anyone else experienced any issues with delayed FICGS automated notifications recently? Thanks
Thibault de Vassal (2015-05-03 01:25:37)
Chess tournaments rating ranges
Hello all,
As you probably noticed, we slowly have more and more difficulties to fill some tournaments waiting lists (mainly chess SM ones).
No change seem to solve this, actually all major chess websites seem to have less and less activity. Anyway I made a minor change (step backward) with the chess waiting lists rating ranges: brackets are now 400 points again. Looks more logical to me according to circumstances and players behaviour.
Let's wait and see. To be continued.
Herbert Kruse (2015-05-06 03:39:15)
rating update May 1st? when?
today is May 6th
Thibault de Vassal (2015-05-15 00:02:50)
Alcala wins 1st Centaur Weekend Tourney
Our freestyle chess champion Alvin Alcala just did it again at InfinityChess server by convincingly winning the last freestyle tournament that took place on May 8th, 2015. Frank Karl Werner finished 2nd, half a point from Alvin.
All details are reported by GM Arno Nickel... One notable thing is that all players used either Stockfish 6 or Komodo 9, most probably the strongest chess engines these days.
Congrats once again Alvin, your results are definitely not the fruit of chance :)
http://infinitychess.com/Web/Page/Public/Article/DefaultArticle.aspx?id=215
Firhan Firhansyah (2015-05-17 02:06:38)
untuk orang indonesia gabung di sini
bagi yang baru gabung dan belum tahu cara bermain di sini silahkan ajukan pertanyaan. saya akan bantu semampu saya
Josef Riha (2015-06-04 12:49:44)
chessbook.net
Another interesting chess-site.
Clodomiro Ortiz (2015-06-07 23:37:01)
2nd centaur weekend tourney
clodomiro ortiz just got first place playing as miguello at infinity, jointly with player kraken
Peter W. Anderson (2015-06-14 17:34:57)
FICGS Chess WCh Results Summary Updated
Web address is...
https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?cid=AFB49FE3A5961D46&resid=afb49fe3a5961d46!402&app=WordPdf
Next summary update probably December.
Peter W. Anderson (2015-06-14 17:52:04)
Wch Match Tie Break Rules
I recently played in an Infinity Chess freestyle event and was impressed by one of their tiebreak rules. If scores were tied a player got a bonus if he had stalemated an opponent.
I would like to suggest this is adopted in the matches (not tournaments) in the FICGS world championship and that is it the first tiebreak rule applied, i.e before ratings and whether wins or only draws have been played. I would also suggest it is adopted for the title matches too. Perhaps it could be introduced from the 15th cycle onwards or even in existing cycles (11 to 14) where a match has not begun.
This seems a very fair tiebreak rule to me, which would normally reflect who overall played better (came closer to winning) in a drawn match, especially where all games are drawn.
The only disadvantage I can see to this rule is that it would prolong games as some that would currently be agreed drawn would in future be played through to stalemate.
On the other hand it would get us thinking hard about which drawn endgames lead to stalemate and which don't and that in itself is quite interesting.
Alvin Alcala (2015-06-29 17:57:28)
3rd Infinity Chess Centaur Weekend Tour
Tour will be held on July 3, 4 and 5 at Infinity Chess server. For details see below link, good luck!
http://infinitychess.com/Web/Page/Public/TournamentUserView.aspx?TournamentID=1399&IsDialog=False&TournamentStatusID=1&IsTournamentView=true
Nathan Austin (2015-07-02 22:27:27)
A couple of questions
1) Where can I find the rules that are in force for the various world championship tourneys?
2) It seemed to me that the three world championship tourneys all had the same deadline. At this point I have some chess games, but I don't have any go games, nor do I have any poker games. When will those tourneys start?
Alfonso Di Giandomenico (2015-07-03 11:52:44)
Team tournment
Why there isn't team tournment?
Thibault de Vassal (2015-07-11 02:18:11)
E. Riccio on his win in the 10th CC WCH
Once again, Eros kindly answered a few questions after his win in the 10th FICGS correspondence chess championship. His answer on tie break rules meets the discussion in this thread:
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=forum_read&id=11773
____________________________
- Hello Eros and congrats again for this new win in the FICGS correspondence chess championship! This time, your opponent was Peter W. Anderson and you're playing him once again in the next final match. Actually, all games finished in less than 3 months, which looks like superfast, how did it happen?
Hello once again Thibault! Yes, the match with Anderson was very quick. The reasons are that he moves very fast, and like me, I don't seem to remember that he took any day of leave.
Also, our games were not played until the very end; many draws were agreed with many pieces on the board, as soon as we thought that none of us had winning chances.
- For many players, it is quite impossible to beat you in such a 12 games match (probably because of the tie rule). After all these won matches do you start to think that the advantage is too big?
It's a fact that a very high percentage of correspondence games played at the top level ends up in a draw... (and that percentage is even higher in my case, as my strategy is to avoid taking risks) so yes, talking against my interests, I think that something in the rules should be changed.
- By the way, your opponent suggested an interesting tie rule in the forum ( Chess, Poker & Go forum - Topic 11773 ), in the context of more general new ideas for correspondence chess rules (e.g. article by GM Arno Nickel - Correspondence Chess – the draw problem ) in order to increase the interest of the game. Do you have any opinion on all this?
The idea GM Nickel launched could be interesting, even if before we can say for sure if it can be applied in serious tournaments, it needs to be tested.
If I understood correctly, having a piece more in a draw endgame, after the game is over, a little plus on the score would be given to the player who had the small advantage.
I always thought like: How unfair! That player had King and two Knights against a lone King of his opponent... still he only got a half point anyway! Or even worse, in theory, one player could have this position: King in e1, Bishop in h1 and 6 Pawns from h2 to h7. (Black King in h8) Counting the value of pieces that would be a a +9 advantage, like a Queen more, but still it would be a draw. Another crazy scenario, more common, are those blocked positions were 16 pawns block the center (or more simply any fortress position) and not rarely it happens that a color has a huge material advantage but can't break through in any way. In this last case the player with material disadvantage could have found a genial idea to reach that blocked position, should his opponent with extra pieces still be given an advantage after the game?
Another important consideration is that this rule could discourage attacking players to play gambits or make sacrifices, as if the attack fails, their efforts to try to win would be punished! This last case would even increase the draw rate.
Probably Nickel didn't talk about giving a plus after games finished with advantage but still many pieces on board, anyway those positions (except the 16 Pawns one) could very well be played on until only one piece would be left.
After these examples we can see that there are so many different ways that a position with material advantage can be reached... but it's not always fair that the player with the advantage should be given a plus after the game. As a paradox, an advantage should be given to the opponent if he smartly managed to sacrifice one or more pieces in order to reach a draw endgame which he would have lost if he didn't give away material.
- Of course, the level of chess programs is for much in it. Do you feel that high level correspondence chess and centaur chess evolved much this year, or did it reach a kind of peak?
The level of correspondence chess increases in a parallel way as computers, databases and chess programs improve. Slowly everything keeps improving. Of course, due to the more thinking time, correspondence chess will always have a higher draw percentage than blitz games played by computers.
- Finally, what can you tell us about your correspondence chess path this year, particularly at ICCF where you're currently ranked #13?
On ICCF I am fighting with the Italian Team (I am playing in second board behind the World Champion Finocchiaro) in the 9th European Team Championship.
---> https://www.iccf.com/event?id=44123
Scott Nichols (2015-07-11 20:22:09)
Just curious, 2 questions
Hi Thib, I just wondered if you made your own Big Chess set? Also, I wish to know why the "fold" is whited out in poker. I know it's because it doesn't cost anything to call, but sometimes I want to fold anyway (to muck), so he don't see the awful cards I was betting on, :)
Thibault de Vassal (2015-07-17 01:53:49)
Alvin Alcala again in 10th Engine Master
Alvin makes it again in another engine tournament at InfinityChess:
http://infinitychess.com/Web/Page/Public/Article/DefaultArticle.aspx?id=231
http://infinitychess.com/Web/Page/Public/Article/DefaultArticle.aspx?id=233
It's becoming an habit :)
Thibault de Vassal (2015-08-03 02:34:42)
Improving netiquette rules
Well, after a few days thinking about a complaint, I finally decided to open a topic about this public remark in game 86290 (no need to name the players again here in the forum, by the way best would probably be that they do not intervene in this discussion) :
"my engine has said ckmate in 19,but black player,maybe,prefers passing by 51 days to lose on time"
Context most probably hasn't to be known, rules have to say if it fits netiquette or not (is it insulting or not, is it subjective or not) and of course this is the question.
In other servers, this may lead to a suspension or it may not IMHO, so I'd like to gather opinions on this case, any suggestion to improve FICGS netiquette rules will be appreciated.
In my opinion, we'll have to determine if any PUBLIC remark on the use of the clock is acceptable or not and if not, what measurement to apply.
Alfonso Di Giandomenico (2015-08-18 13:28:05)
Number of tournament won
in statistic (FICGS statistic are great!), I think, this item is not clear.
I think is an important element.
Scott Nichols (2015-09-12 01:24:12)
New quotes?
OK, I'll start, :)
Blitz chess kills your ideas. (Bobby Fischer)
Jan Ohlin (2015-09-21 12:11:39)
The draw problem, part two
If both players believe in the engines evaluation it´s a draw. So stop doing that! Here are som help make use of your head instead.
http://www38.zippyshare.com/v/fcv8wP6U/file.html
Thibault de Vassal (2015-10-08 18:14:00)
Alvin Alcala wins Ultimate Chess Champ.
Alvin just won another freestyle tournament, congrats :)
http://www.chessclub.com/ucc
PGN available!
Thibault de Vassal (2015-10-16 01:12:10)
FICGS chess cup : proposal
Hi all,
The recent discussions on FICGS chess wch tie break rules just gave me an idea...
Obviously, there are no satisfying solution (for everyone I mean) for a change in the wch rules. In my opinion, wch rules are great already, even if there are too many draws in matches.
The idea of a cup tournament is here for years but I didn't see any way to include it, in a several rounds version at least, in our calendar because of the wch cycle, the slowly decreasing number of active players, and so on...
But what do you think about this cup format:
An enormous round robin tournament with the 33 (1 player for each piece on the board, it's a symbol but the number is to be discussed) highest rated players who entered the waiting list. It is 32 games per player for 1 round only, duration of games could be the standard one (because there is one round only), longer but maybe fits more the number of games and additional games in other tournaments.
Looks like a great challenge and a real alternative, with very few risks of draw odds, cheating or whatever... It may be the biggest correspondence chess round robin tournament on the internet.
Any opinion? Would you play such tournament?
Alvin Alcala (2015-10-29 16:55:49)
5th Centaur Weekend Tourney (CWT)
Announcement
5th Centaur Weekend Tourney (CWT) November 6-8 at Infinity Chess Server
Grand Prix Series (8 tours)
Swiss System.
7 Rounds.
Time control: 45m + 15s.
Play modes: centaur + engine only.
Rated tour for centaur vs. centaur games.
Privately sponsored tour, but open to all.
Schedule:
1st game Friday 6th November, 21:00 server time
2nd game Friday 6th November, 23:30 server time
3rd game Saturday 7th November, 17:30 server time
4th game Saturday 7th November, 20:00 server time
5th game Saturday 7th November, 22:30 server time
6th game Sunday 8th November, 17:30 server time
7th game Sunday 8th November, 20:00 server time
Registration requires full and correct name in your profile.
Registration is free of start fee, if you play just for fun.
If you play for a money prize ($400, $200, $100) you have to pay a start fee.
For details see: http://infinitychess.freeforums.org/viewtopic.php?t=243
Registration closes on Thursday 5th November, 23:55 server time.
For reports on previous CWT see our website: http://infinitychess.com
NEXT TOUR DATES
CWT 6: December 4th - December 6th, 2015
CWT 7: January 8th - January 11th, 2016
CWT 8: February 5th - February 7th, 2016
GRAND PRIX PRIZES (sponsored by Jojo & friends)
(GP Points = 4 best tournament results of each player, who paid a start fee for those tours)
1st Prize 600 USD
2nd Prize 300 USD
3rd Prize 200 USD
4th Prize 100 USD
The best 8 centaurs according to the final Grand Prix table will be nominated for the next official Freestyle event by InfinityChess in 2016/2017.
Herbert Kruse (2015-11-15 19:43:01)
repetition wrong in ficgs
i just had a game drawn, but it was wrong, because only 2 times the same side was on the move
i am angry!
Ian Zimmerman (2015-11-18 16:59:23)
Feature request
Something still missing on this site, is the ability to sort games by time of last move. This is very useful for players who keeps their own records of games offline, as almost all experienced correspondence players do. All of the following sites have the feature: ICCF, SchemingMind, ChessWorld.
Alternatively, if you want to be innovative, here is something that would do the same job even more efficiently: have an extra flag (call it ACK) stored with each game, and allow filtering by ACK. Display ACK next to each game as a checkbox. Set ACK automatically in one and exactly one situation: when the *opponent* moves.
This way, when I turn on the filter, I can see at a glance all the games where my opponent *just* moved, and I clear ACK by clicking on the checkbox as I update my offline database for each game.
Herbert Kruse (2015-12-10 16:31:04)
TER rating calculation
if my opp and i start a tournament with 2400 TER and 2350 TER, but i manage to reach 2420 (from 2350) and he stays at 2400, how will the rating calculated if its a draw?
will i win or lose rating?
Paul Valle (2015-12-25 20:32:20)
wrong name in chessbase database
Hi,
all my games here are listed under the wrong name in chessbase database. They should be listed under "Valle, Paul", but are instead listed under "Vale, Paulo Alfonso da Co" and under the Portoguise flag and not the Norwegian flag.
Why is this?
Scott Nichols (2016-01-02 23:14:06)
Social networking site.
Thib, I signed for the first time a couple of months ago and see some uses. I forgot the name of your site and was wondering it could give us a short brief? Thanks
Ilmars Cirulis (2016-01-18 09:52:30)
(Random idea)
Endgame "tablebases" on arbitrary big (N*N) board.
Is there anything like this?
Thibault de Vassal (2016-01-20 22:07:04)
Emails from FICGS
Please can anyone tell me here if he receives (or not) emails from FICGS since last week?
Ilmars Cirulis (2016-01-28 09:42:20)
AI beats a professional Go player
http://venturebeat.com/2016/01/27/googles-ai-beats-a-professional-go-player-an-industry-first/
Thibault de Vassal (2016-02-11 21:28:37)
Stockfish 7, Komodo 9.2 or 9.3
Chess engines keep going, what do you think about the most recent ones? Do you prefer Stockfish 7, Komodo 9.3 and why?
Both engines reach about 3340 on the CEGT rating list, this definitely looks like stratosferic levels compared to the old Fritz, Rybka, Junior & so on :)
Garvin Gray (2016-02-13 01:48:08)
Resign message
Thib,
Only a small suggestion, but it annoys me. When resigning a game and you tick the resign box, ficgs asks, do you wish to resign this game?
Of course I don't want to resign a game, but I feel it is the best thing to do, or I have no other option :P
So can you change the message to: By confirming this box, you are resigning this game, is this your stated intention? Or something like that.
I hope you understand my point :)
Garvin Gray (2016-02-28 02:30:53)
Chess960
I am wondering, we have big chess and other chess variants, would there be a lot of interest in having a chess 960 world championship and tournaments?
Scott Nichols (2016-03-28 00:20:00)
3 catches on the "river"
I'm not new to poker. Against one player, he had one card to catch on the river 3 times to win. Let's see 44 x 44 x44 = 85,184 to 3 chances. This poker program has a LOT to be desired.
Garvin Gray (2016-04-01 01:14:32)
Get rid of the new 'advert' button
There has been a new button appear just below the game board, offering suggestions like- would you like to play GM Riccio? Take Back?
I want this removed, or the option to be able to remove it. It is a distraction to the game board, and also the idea that now take backs are allowed is not on.
Get rid of it.
Thibault de Vassal (2016-04-16 01:18:01)
7 pieces tablebases
Hi all, I just realized that 7-pieces tablebases (Lomonosov tablebases) have been produced... 100 Tb would be necessary to use it!! Looks like that it is available on another chess website, but not for free yet.
It would be useful in the last game of the 13th round robin final :)
http://www.ficgs.com/game_87413.html
Paul Campanella (2016-04-18 18:59:14)
FICGS app for iPhone, android, etc.
How about creating an app for FICGS? What does everyone think?
Thibault de Vassal (2016-05-11 19:48:54)
Test
This is a test as it seems there are still problems with accents for the players names.
Ceci est un test : é#"'(-èà @ù
Thibault de Vassal (2016-05-11 19:53:28)
Server crash (april 2016)
Hi all, welcome back :)
First of all, my apologies for this new server crash, about 4 years after the previous one...
The Raid 1 technology has its advantages, the 2 hard drives are almost-exact copies from each other, but it also has its difficulties [e.g. the "almost" part] and I just had to learn much about it to try to restore the server as I encountered not 1, not 2 but 3 hardware failures at the same time, added to a 4th hardware failure at home on the FICGS development PC, and of course added my "famous" incredibly bad internet connection. Murphy's law ^^ ... So, both hard drives and a SATA cable have been replaced on the server. Finally, the system had to be reinstalled and I had to upgrade it, which caused many difficulties these last few days. At the end, it was not possible to restore the very last FICGS database, so we lost a few minutes or hours of moves (fortunately it happened early in the morning). But nothing essential was lost at the end.
I'm still not 100% sure (if it's ever possible) that everything will work fine with this upgraded version of PHP & MySQL, obviously there are some problems with accents for players names (will be fixed soon) but let's go for a try. I probably made mistakes during the whole process that finally took 20 days but the good thing is that I should be able to better prevent such failures in the future. Thanks again for your patience!
As I said in the login/messages page, an email has been sent to warn everyone. If you tried to register or to change your password during the last two weeks, it was not taken in account so you'll have to do it again. 20 days (it was not possible to move during this time) have been added to all players expected to move, and 7 more days have been added to all clocks (including players not expected to move, to avoid any surprise in case of real vacation or something).
One more thing: It may be not possible to connect through SSL with https:// anymore in the future, I still don't know how to configure it on this system.
Let's play! :)
Best wishes,
Thibault
Thibault de Vassal (2016-05-11 21:24:01)
Bugs after the server crash
This is a discussion to report bugs after the server crash (april 2016)...
There are known minor bugs due to the system upgrade, it will be fixed soon but it's always good to know if there are others. Thanks in advance.
Thibault de Vassal (2016-05-25 21:37:17)
FICGS restarts (2016 May 25)
Hi everyone, nice to see you again, I missed our games :)
First of all, my apologies for this too long delay... I went through hell to try to fix these first major issues (emails & database compatibility) that were the consequence of the forced system update that followed the server crash of last month.
Unfortunately, internet protocols & languages are constantly evolving and FICGS is late on these changes. Added to the fact that databases, databases tables, database interface, database calls, PHP language, PHP files, content display, browsers (and I probably forgot ones) communicate with variable charsets, the result is that it is impossible to make FICGS (which uses both UTF-8 and ISO-8859-1 according to the content) compatible with this system change in one shot...
Consequently, it will take a long time to make it right... Feel free to report any bug in the "Bugs after the server crash" discussion in this forum.
Thanks in advance! Have good games ;)
Thibault de Vassal (2016-05-25 22:04:14)
Issues with emails after server restart
It is possible that a few players did not receive the email about the announcement of the server restart, and maybe cannot receive any email from FICGS anymore after that the server restarted. That's why I added a few days more to clocks.
A possible issue in this case is that FICGS ip was blacklisted by your email provider because of the period when the server was sending emails not authentified. It seems to work fine with Gmail, Yahoo... but it may be the case with Microsoft emails and a few smaller providers.
In this case, please send an email to info (at) ficgs (dot) com , I'll see how to fix this.
Ilmars Cirulis (2016-05-26 18:37:39)
Random position from Traxler with Bxf7+
From analysis. :D
I have found a way how to make Traxler counterattack (with Bxf7) games interesting again. :)
ChessPosition (see diagram)
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Aniruddha Duttagupta (2016-07-01 20:48:35)
Rating calculation gain/loss
I'm playing in FICGS Server since last 18 months, but still unsure about the process of rating calculation after finish of a game.My query is that after a game finishes,while calculation of gain/loss of rating of the players which rating figure of the players are taken into account? Their rating figure as at the start of the game or present rating at the time of finish of the game? Can anyone kindly enlighten me?
Nilson Pereira (2016-07-02 20:43:19)
Chess World CHAMPIONSHIP
I do not consider winner if draws in the final of the chess world, there must be one winner even if a match of the final so I think Eros Riccio did not win tournaments on many occasions. If there are draws have to decide on thematic games or chess 960. It would be fair !!
Herbert Kruse (2016-07-27 09:43:15)
when will Stage 2 of WCH start?
its long ago, that stage 1 finished, when starts stage 2?
Herbert Kruse (2016-08-29 16:37:44)
underpromotion possible?
i always get a queen, is there a way to underpromote?
George Jempty (2016-09-02 10:21:48)
Player of the Year
I've been thinking it would be interesting to have nominations for a "Player of the Year" that FICGS members could then vote on. Qualifications could be listed in a manner similar to the following:
1) 15 wins, 13 draws and 0 losses since Oct 2015
2) Rating increase of nearly 250 points (1904-2152) during same time period
3) As 1904 player finished tied for second with score of 4/6 in tournament where average rating was 2041
4) Won a standard B tournament with score of 5.5/6 and a performance rating of 2332
5) Guaranteed tie for first place in a standard A tournament (currently tied for first and is playing in the one remaining game in the tourney against someone one point behind)
6) Currently leading stage 1 group of 2016 World Championship with score of 5/5
7) Finished tied for first in Rapid M tournament for which it was necessary to buy a ticket because TER of 2077 being below normal minimum of 2100
Yes I'm bragging on myself more than a little bit, but still I think that the listed qualifications are pretty objective
Peter Brodie (2016-09-09 09:03:57)
Missing chat
A number of my recent harmless, inoffensive chatty postings in international chat have simply disappeared almost as soon as I posted them..why?
Thibault de Vassal (2016-09-12 18:36:27)
AlphaGo games commented
Interesting Go games to learn from...
https://deepmind.com/research/alphago/alphago-games-english/
Games played by AlphaGo (either versus itself or versus Lee Sedol)
George Jempty (2016-09-20 15:46:07)
Failed to receive email
I failed to receive an email for Sorbi's 25th move in the following game: http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=move_express&game=93675
Thought I should report it in case it's an issue for anybody else
Nelson Bernal Varela (2016-11-07 05:23:32)
Poker Poll
Poll: It could Nichols to be # 1 in Poker or Bernal reach the 2400 elo in poker?
Make your bets gentlemen, place your bets
Scott Nichols (2016-11-11 14:01:20)
Do the cards matter?
Dear Yeturu Aahlad, I have thought long about your inquiry. This is the best scenario I can come up with.
You are at a 9 player real money game. You know all the players. You all have decided to see who is the best.
You have been playing for many, many hours. All that is left is you and Him. Lets call him Eros. Last hand.
You are dealt pocket Black Aces. Eros acts first and checks. You feel you can just take the ante's now and move on, but you decide to slow play them and just call. The flop is 3clubs, 6hearts and Qhearts. Again Eros checks and you decide to bet a little again and he calls.
Now through all the hours of playing, you have gotten to know each other well. He is the type who talks and laughs, makes fun of people, belittles them and acts in a generally arrogant manner. (We all know the type). The KEY is to study all of this and, this is maybe the most important, study his microexpressions. Some people call them tells. But most all pros know how not to give away tells. But I have learned that microexpressions are involuntary. Let's get back to the hand.
The "turn" is a Jspades. He decides to bet, a good bet and of course you call. (slow playing). Now comes the moment of truth, "the river". It is an Ace of hearts. You are thrilled, and your face gives the microexpression for a tenth of a second. You now have 3 Aces, but there is 3 hearts on the board.
All of the sudden, Eros goes all in and walks away from the table. In my experience, the odds of him having 2 hearts in the hole is 23/1. HERE is the point if the cards matter. You can beat anything except a Heart flush. And the odds of him having that are 23/1. This is a real money, no limit game. If you call and lose, you lose 90% of all you hold near and dear.
WHAT DO YOU DO?
Francois Caire (2016-11-12 16:48:17)
Stockfish fixes memory leak in Syzygy
I tested it and after a 24 hour analysis in an endgame position, stockfish was using only 2.6 Gb of ram with 2Gb hash size.
http://abrok.eu/stockfish/
Author: Marco Costalba
Date: Sat Nov 5 07:55:08 2016 +0100
Timestamp: 1478328908
Rewrite syzygy in C++
Rewrite the code in SF style, simplify and
document it.
Code is now much clear and bug free (no mem-leaks and
other small issues) and is also smaller (more than
600 lines of code removed).
All the code has been rewritten but root_probe() and
root_probe_wdl() that are completely misplaced and should
be retired altogheter. For now just leave them in the
original version.
Code is fully and deeply tested for equivalency both in
functionality and in speed with hundreds of games and
test positions and is guaranteed to be 100% equivalent
to the original.
Tested with tb_dbg branch for functional equivalency on
more than 12M positions.
stockfish.exe bench 128 1 16 syzygy.epd
Position: 2016/2016
Total 12121156 Hits 0 hit rate (%) 0
Total time (ms) : 4417851
Nodes searched : 1100151204
Nodes/second : 249024
Tested with 5,000 games match against master, 1 Thread,
128 MB Hash each, tc 40+0.4, which is almost equivalent
to LTC in Fishtest on this machine. 3-, 4- and 5-men syzygy
bases on SSD, 12-moves opening book to emphasize mid- and endgame.
Score of SF-SyzygyC++ vs SF-Master: 633 - 617 - 3750 [0.502] 5000
ELO difference: 1
No functional change.
Garvin Gray (2016-11-30 02:01:25)
Future penalties for games lost on time
I know this topic comes up for discussion from time to time, but seeing the results from Rapid A 192, I think a more thorough discussion needs to take place about what should be done about players who lose multiple games on time.
I know on ICCF, they have very strict rules in this matter, and I believe that FICGS should follow the same procedure.
Players should be made aware before entering a tournament that they are expected to complete all their games, not just time out some of their games without consequence.
If players do not want to continue their games and feel that it is ok to let their games time out, then FICGS should take the position that their services are no longer required on this site for a stated period.
The ICCF rules should be followed in this matter.
Scott Nichols (2017-01-07 15:20:42)
Defeating Draw Death
Maybe some new ideas can be shared here. Here is one, 2 players play a 2 game or even more game match where Black gives up the f7 Pawn. Or a set of the first 6 moves very wild in nature and then each player will have to play the same first six moves. They alternate colors of course, :)
Thibault de Vassal (2017-01-11 15:28:01)
Adjudications & 7 pieces tablebases
Hi all,
Just a reminder about reasons why some games may be not adjudicated even when the result is announced thanks to 7 pieces (or 6 pieces, 5 pieces...) tablebases:
- FICGS chess rules are slightly different from FIDE rules (no 50 moves rule), so an announced draw may not be a draw here.
- According to the rules, any player (who may not use engines or tablebases) has the right to see the game going until a "quite" clear position.
But any player who estimates that the result of the game is known can call the referee to shorten the game.
http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#adjudications
Thibault de Vassal (2017-01-18 03:32:56)
GM Eros Riccio 12th WCH & chess
Finally, here is a new interview with FICGS correspondence chess champion GM Eros Riccio, who gives us his (surprising?) impressions on his latest win in the championship, his current match and correspondence chess nowadays... A good matter to think about!
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=tournament&tournament=FICGS__CHESS__WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP__000012
____________
- Hi again Eros... Once more, congratulations for winning this final match in the 12th FICGS correspondence chess championship. This time, it seems that things went quite differently than in your previous matches (you scored 9 out of 12, which is a huge performance at this level), could you tell us what happened in these games?
--> Hi, yes, finally we have seen some wins after a very long series of draws. I was surprised too, I didn't risk to lose any game and I could even win one as Black... What to say, my opponent was simply not as challenging as the previous ones.
- It's a long time since you won the previous match, would you like to tell us about your other results this year, particularly at ICCF where you now rank #9 with an outstanding 2643 rating?
--> My latest final on FICGS were my only games of 2016. On ICCF I have taken some rest, the too high draw rate didn't incentive me to start new tournaments, also because drawing all games with a high rating means losing points.
- In the next final match (13th cycle), you play Peter W. Anderson for the 3rd time... so you probably know each other's opening book quite well. What do you expect for in this match?
--> Anderson is a very tough opponent, it's not a coincidence that he reached the final for the third time. I tried to win at least one game as White, but he's incredibly hard to beat. I experimented with almost anything possible against his modern defence, but I could never find a single weakness in his repertoire. I will see what to invent this time against his terrific 1...g6.
- As you probably know, another Go champion (Lee Sedol) lost a 5-games match to AlphaGo this year, while chess engines (now Stockfish 8, Houdini 5 Komodo 10...) slowly but surely continue to improve... Still waiting for the quantum computers. How do you feel things should go in the next years? Did your way of playing advanced chess or correspondence chess change these last years?
--> I have said a lot already about the very high draw rate of the recent years... I am surprised that some changes haven't been done already, like switching to chess 960, even modifying some chess rules, or at least giving 1,5 points for one win. Otherwise a lot of players will lose interest in seeing a series of all draws in the tournaments they play. I am one of those players who lost interest in correspondence chess, and even in blitz chess, engine vs engine, as we can see the extremely high draw rate situation there too.
- Finally, what can we wish for you for the next year? :)
--> Wish me to lose the match with Anderson :-) even I got bored of seeing myself there over and over in the final! That will bring some new air and that way I can take some total rest in corr. chess.
- Many thanks for your time, have a great match!
--> Welcome, and thanks.
Thibault de Vassal (2017-01-20 17:31:22)
Thematic with lowest chances of draw
Poll! :)
According to you, what are the most interesting chess thematics that are the less drawish (with the lowest chances of draw)...
Of course, this is in the idea of a possible future championship that would keep the historical part of chess & chess openings (chess 960 is another game IMO). But this is only an option for now.
As for me, I'll start with King's gambit, that is not only chess, but (IMHO) the most romantic & beautiful part of chess...
Your opinion?
Alvin Alcala (2017-03-31 18:27:51)
Ultimate Challenge Tour 2017, USD 20k
Details:
http://infinitychess.com/Page/Public/Article/DefaultArticle.aspx?id=298
Peter W. Anderson (2017-04-19 13:42:06)
WCh and other ramblings
Congratulations to Eros for retaining his FICGS world title again. A casual glance at our 36 games might give the impression that I did not put him under much pressure apart from in game 95512. Actually it is more a case of him making it look easy. He generally plays extremely accurately in the opening and avoids deeply hidden pitfalls in the middle game – I always get the feeling that I am playing someone who understands the game well rather than someone purely reliant on engines.
I have decided to give up playing normal correspondence chess. Engines have simply become too strong and the amount of human input into my games has decreased over time. Human input remains (games 95516, 95512, 93727/87343 being good examples), but there is far too much hard work with engines these days for my liking. I am sure a GM would add a lot more value but I am a mere mortal! I will probably play some big chess instead. I tried this a couple of times and really enjoyed it. I just hope nobody writes an engine for it.
With regards to the format of the world championship, we need to recognise that with engines getting stronger the draw odds is a bigger and bigger advantage for the champion. Despite that I personally think the current format is fine. I generated a significant advantage in 2 games – in addition to game 95512, I believe game 87337 offered real chances if I had not forgotten to play 25.Nb4 as intended (I could barely look at a chess board for a month after screwing that game up, but that is another story). If people keep trying they may eventually beat Eros. The bigger issue to my mind is Eros’s own statement of boredom with defending the championship. So time for a change when the current cycles are finished?
Aniruddha Duttagupta (2017-05-06 19:55:27)
adjudication of FICGS Games
Can any game of FICGS send for adjudication? If so, to whom the game will be send? Who is thw adjudicator? If my opponent wants to continue a dead drawn game with opposite color Bishops and one pawn in the board only, can I send the game for adjudication ?
Herbert Kruse (2017-05-12 11:13:38)
WCH_ROUND_ROBIN_FINAL__000015
i think its long time ago since stage 2 finished and we could begin
Steven DuCharme (2017-05-30 13:18:24)
Most Embarrassing Loss Ever...
White(me)g3 h3 Rb4 Rd4 Qb8 Kg4 Black g5 h6 Qa5 Kf6 Last move of game was B8(Q).
Resignation immediately followed. Ego crushing for me and a lesson for all.
Garvin Gray (2017-07-02 03:00:38)
WCH_GROUP_02__17 round 2
When is round 2 for the those who made it out of round 1 from WCH 17 stage 1 starting?
All the first round games seemed to have finished.
Sergey Zemlyanov (2017-07-03 22:02:59)
My new match with GM Eros Riccio
Hi all! I just transfer 100 euros to the site in hope to play with GM Eros Riccio in Standart Tournament with 100 e-points as entry fee. I know him as one of the strongest corrchess players of the world, but I'll try to survive in two games. And I'm not going to purposely shut out the game.
Thibault de Vassal (2017-08-06 17:36:46)
When chess is just beauty
I just lost my chess master.
François Melison was a great friend to me, and a very special chess player as all who played him over the board know.
Actually he was the only one I never saw playing to win, even during a rated tournament (his performances were always 200 or 300 points below his level, often losing on time in winning positions - even when having the time to win, even against fide masters).
It seems to me that his deep motivation was to understand, to touch the beauty and nature of the game... that changed my vision of chess but not only, most probably, even if I was never close to approach his talent and vision of the board. He played correspondence chess when real mail was used, when it was a very special thing compared to this strange time dominated by computers. He was able to play blindfold of course, and some simultaneous games are great memories for a few of his chess friends.
He just played for the beauty of chess, or maybe he played for the beauty only.
He was 54 only. I'll miss him.
Condolences from all his friends at ESIGETEL go to his family.
Thibault de Vassal (2017-08-12 21:52:19)
Go and artificial intelligence
A funny drawing about Go and A.I. :)
https://xkcd.com/1875/
Marek Trokenheim (2017-08-15 09:48:32)
contact other member
How do I contact some other member here privately?
Thibault de Vassal (2017-08-28 21:56:28)
Kasparovs comeback in chess
A summary of the former world champion's performance in St Louis tournament with Caruana, Anand, Navara, Aronian, Karjakin, Dominguez Perez, Nakamura, Le & a few others... and Garry Kasparov of course.
http://en.chessbase.com/post/kasparov-in-st-louis-a-closer-look
Well, it was just blitz & rapid but maybe a first step before a true comeback? Anyway, he did better than Viswanathan Anand (that's not meaningless) and a few games are worth a glance in my opinion.
Thibault de Vassal (2017-10-19 20:05:55)
Morozevich speaking of chess & Go
An interesting interview from the now rare & still incredible Alexander Morozevich (well known for his creativity & spectacular chess), speaking about Go, Deepmind's AlphaGo, Kasparov's return (or not) & other things...
https://chess24.com/en/read/news/morozevich-on-go-computers-and-cheating
Thibault de Vassal (2017-10-19 20:14:23)
AlphaGo Zero
Must read... AlphaGo would have been able to re-learn from scratch & reach the level of the AlphaGo (2015) that beat Lee Sedol in... 3 days... only 3 days!
http://deepmind.com/blog/alphago-zero-learning-scratch/
Not so surprisingly, it took 21 days to reach the level of the version that beat Ke Jie this year. Now he would have reached a stellar rating (that does not mean much to us poor humans) of about 5000 (!) and he's able to win 100 games out of 100 to the AlphaGo "Lee".
Really stunning.
Thibault de Vassal (2017-11-25 21:05:20)
The older rating lists
At last, all correspondence chess rating lists (from the server start, march 2006) are available by clicking "Rating lists" and following "The older rating lists"... 1 year of ratings by page.
As it was asked by a few players for a long time, only players who were REALLY active (who finished at least one game at most 1 year before or 1 year after the period) are listed in.
Many informations and good memories :) The worst part is that I can see clearly the reality: About 50% players left in about 4 or 5 years. The peak was about 900 players, there are now only 261 active correspondence chess players. Time to find new ideas, definitely.
Thibault de Vassal (2017-12-07 16:44:05)
AlphaZero stronger than Stockfish
It looks like there's no more month without news from Google Deepmind... This time again, this is quite stunning!
AlphaZero would have been able to beat (crush) the most recent version of Stockfish, that is also the world champion program and of course the free engine well known by correspondence chess players.
But most important is that actually AlphaZero would have outperformed Stockfish after only 4 hours of training (if I understood well), while it took 8 hours to outperform AlphaGo Lee and only 120 minutes to outperform Elmo at Shogi! However it seems much much harder for the neural program to improve at chess after this stunningly fast auto-learning.
100 games played (25 wins & 25 draws with white! 3 wins with black... no loss, either with white or black, which is an incredible performance)
All details available (must read) here: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1712.01815.pdf
http://www.sciencealert.com/it-took-4-hours-google-s-ai-world-s-best-chess-player-deepmind-alphazero
A few games played by AlphaZero against Stockfish are included in the arxiv article.
Thibault de Vassal (2017-12-16 02:15:04)
DeepZen reached 9 dan (Go)
Everyone is talking about AlphaGo / AlphaZero but I just realized that another Go program reached 9 dan in 2017 : Zen or Deep Zen
It won a computer tournament and beat number 1 japanese player Iyama Yuta 9d, that seems quite significant.
http://senseis.xmp.net/?ZenGoProgram
A way to compare the success of the program by Google Deepmind.
Garvin Gray (2017-12-22 10:06:03)
Monte Carlo Analysis
Time to start a thread on this topic, since it has gained some 'fame' with AlphaZero's win.
I have been looking at it and experimenting with it using Fritz 16 gui, but so far it seems to be only using Fritz 16 as the main engine, even though I am choosing four engines.
I have tried different depth (keeping them odd as recommended) and also both middle and broad search options.
So I am a bit lost as to the value of Monte Carlo Analysis for correspondence play. Is someone able to assist on whether it will show analysis or games from other engines, or how the breakdown works?
Thibault de Vassal (2017-12-29 23:07:05)
FICGS Android APP beta version
Finally... finally, FICGS Android applications are here:
http://www.ficgs.com/chess-online_gbr.html
Basically, the 4 versions are quite the same: only the name & icon change.
I tested it in many ways and it looks like it works fine and display seems ok, so feel free to try it, any feedback would be much appreciated!
I will publish it in APP stores soon, let's hope it will help to attract many new players (most probably Go players & chess players without engines IMO) and bring back a few ones :)
Steven DuCharme (2018-01-06 03:46:12)
My New Chess Rule
You may not move a non-pawn onto your foe's side of the board until all your non-pawns have moved.
Zack Stephen (2018-01-06 13:08:56)
Next Ficgs World Championship Tournament
Is it too late to join the World Championship tournament? If not when will the first round begin?
Thibault de Vassal (2018-01-10 22:29:48)
1st King Supertournament
Dear chessfriends, FICGS Android apps are now bringing a really different playing experience!
All 4 apps are now dedicated to either chess, Go or Poker Holdem (or all games) with specific features that make it easier and compliant with laws in more countries, that's why it is now useful to install them all and use it according to your taste at the moment.
Of course, it is more dedicated to "chess for fun", that's why it's a good time to start the very 1st FICGS chess King Supertournament:
- No engines or databases allowed
- Unrated thematic tournament: King's gambit
- Marathon tournament : unlimited number of players / games
- Flash deadline: The tournament will start on January 17th, 2018
Will you dare to enter this much fun and challenging waiting list? :)
Finally, these apps are very good news for FICGS as new players are coming again... It was really time, particularly after the last server crash! Now I'll make my possible to make FICGS great again, or even greater :)
Kym Farnik (2018-01-15 07:11:04)
Conditional chess moves (again)
Hi
I've used a site in the past with conditional moves. VERY handy!
Especially for forced moves or obvious moves.
For those against the idea - you don't have to use the feature :)
It would speed up games for those that want to use it.
I'm a software developer with PHP experience and would be happy to help implement the feature!
(Yes, putting my money where my mouth is so to speak)
Thanks!
Kym Farnik (2018-01-17 02:35:24)
Spice up chess? More members
OTB and online chess have moved to faster format games.
The use of rapid, blitz, bullet, and even Armageddon (tie break) games are very common.
An idea to get more involved... 'Super rapid' say 10 days + 12hours / move
Thoughts?
Thibault de Vassal (2018-01-20 01:15:06)
New feature : picture of the game
As you may have seen in the "move_express" page or "viewer" page, it is now possible to generate a picture of a game (available for chess, big chess & Go, not poker holdem).
The picture is also "attached" to the public viewer page, eg. http://www.ficgs.com/game_98779.html when you share the url.
It is particularly convenient to share a game result or a position (just add the move number in the url) in your favourite social networks...
Any feedback is welcome, if you have any suggestion :)
Thibault de Vassal (2018-01-20 20:30:32)
Names updated (the accents issue)
Hi all,
Finally, I just removed all special characters (accents & others) from first names, last names, names in the games & names in the forum, names in games discussions...
This is a very strange issue since the last server update (following the last server crash), as several characters sets/encodings were used and I did not find a way to make it compatible.
To be continued...
Thibault de Vassal (2018-01-22 00:51:19)
Chess engines in no engines tournaments
New topic to discuss what should be done when chess engines are probably or obviously used in no engines tournaments. Not so easy to judge, and it would be easy to make it quite invisible IMHO.
- Elo rating points loss?
- Loss of all games in the tournament?
- Nothing (comments will be enough)
Any other idea or preference?
Kym Farnik (2018-01-24 12:39:21)
Laws of Chess - new version
https://www.fide.com/component/handbook/?id=208&view=article
FIDE have news rulz effective 1/1/208.
Enjoy! Also: Here are the changes... http://rules.fide.com/images/stories/Laws_of_Chess_2018_-_approved_amendments_-_correction_highlighted_version.pdf
Thibault de Vassal (2018-01-26 15:14:40)
3D board in login page
As you may have noticed, I've added a 3D board (just for fun) to replay the latest games in the login page. Any feedback welcome, either if you like it or if you prefer it to be replaced.
If your browser displays any error for the 2D replay in public games pages or in this 3D replay, thanks for specifying which one you use.
Thibault de Vassal (2018-02-11 00:38:48)
New FICGS app: beta test
Anyone to test this new chess trainer? Any feedback welcome :)
http://www.ficgs.com/scripts/chess_board/chess.php
This will be the next FICGS feature and app for Android!
Main question: is the elo scale realistic according to you?
Thibault de Vassal (2018-02-15 23:48:00)
Stockfish 9 released
It seems that Stockfish 9 is now available... Did anyone test it already?
http://stockfishchess.org/download/
Any improvement "noticed"? (seems hard to notice anything anymore :))
We'll see what rating it reaches on CEGT lists...
Garvin Gray (2018-02-22 11:22:43)
Norm qualification criteria, incorrect?
In looking at the current group/event that I am playing in, which is Rapid SM 15, according to the current way FICGS sets the scores for norms, to get a FIM norm for that event, FEM is at 4 and FIM as at 4.5 for all players.
It has occurred to me that this is different to how fide works out norm opportunities in round robin and swiss events.
In those events, each players average rating of their opponents is worked out and then that is plugged into the system and then that expected score is used to work out what score they need to get a FEM or FIM norm or higher.
To explain further as that might be unclear.
In the group I am talking about, PoulErik Jorgensen has an equal chance of getting an FEM or FIM norm than someone who is rated lower than him, even though that other player is playing a field who is stronger.
So using the FIDE way and the percentages for FEM and FIM norm, I play and average rating field of 2337.8, round up to 2338. This means that in a category 4 event, I need to score 56 percent, or 3.5 for an FEM and 67 percent or 4 points, not 4.5 for a FIM norm.
Now also doing some further calculating, Alex Wosch is able to score a FSM norm as his average rating of opponents is 2,329 and would then need to score 4.5. Under the current arrangement, he is deprived of this opportunity.
Therefore, I could give a rundown of all players, but I am of the conclusion that the current method of calculating Norm qualifications is inadequate and needs to be refined.
My thoughts were triggered to this from the FICGS world cup when any player to reach a FEM norm needed to score 12/16, which was clearly an outlandish score given the field.
Garvin Gray (2018-03-03 05:44:33)
World Championship Groups
I know this is not the first time this question has been asked, but thought this could be explained again as I am a bit confused.
I have looked at the layout for the stages of the World Championship Groups and the path that each group takes, but I am a bit confused about how being put into a stronger pool of players ie Group SM is an advantage.
It seems to be that the players in Group SM or M are still starting from stage 1.
So, the players who finish at the bottom of this group can be bundled out of the event, whereas someone who was in Group 1 starts at the same level and plays against players 2000 or so.
I am confused as to what advantage there is to being put into Group SM is?
Thibault de Vassal (2018-03-14 23:12:38)
A few questions to Nelson Bernal Varela
Nelson Bernal Varela is an early FICGS correspondence chess player, now rated 2277 but also rated 2359 at ICCF (Correspondence Chess Master - CCM).
Last but not least, and as all poker holdem players here probably noticed, he is also our ranked #1 for years, who just reached an outstanding poker rating of 2382, while number two is now rated "only" 2212. A good occasion to ask him a few questions, that he kindly accepted to answer.
-----------------------
- Hello Nelson! You are the 2nd most active player at FICGS for years now. Everyone here probably noticed your incredible results in poker tournaments. "Correspondence poker holdem" was probably a strange idea as it is very unusual and very different from "Internet poker". What's your opinion on this and on the presence of a card game (played without money) at FICGS?
NBV: There are more important things than money and one of those is HONOR; It is honorable to be a chess master, international master, grandmaster, world chess champion at ICCF and at FICGS and to be number one in the ranking. It is honorable to be a FICGS world champion at Go and to be first in the ranking, it is honorable to be poker world champion at FICGS poker and in my case, it is an honor to be number one at poker here at FICGS during the last years, understanding that our general level of play has improved remarkably. None of these activities produces money, but to achieve any of the mentioned titles, it is necessary to have extraordinary abilities.
When I was about 18 years old, I had the opportunity to meet a person with immense material wealth, we spent whole evenings playing chess and then I told him my perceptions about each movement of the game. He thanked me for my chess explanations and paid me with good money. That wealthy man in his turn told me about life and recommended that I should always be proud of the gifts I had, since he knew, with all the money he had and being able to hire the best grandmasters in the world, that it could hardly come at the level of chess master. That person told me that the intellect can be turned into money whenever you want.
Now, by playing poker without money at FICGS, I understood that it was my extraordinary and wonderful opportunity to study-learn-perfect and test my poker theories without costing me a single dollar. In FICGS there is no money, but thanks to the knowledge I gained playing poker in FICGS, today I can go after the money in online poker rooms and probably in OTB poker tournaments. I am studying the possibility of becoming a professional poker player.
- The understanding of your opponent's behaviour is usually quite important at Poker. Do you manage to establish some profiles while playing so many simultaneous hands & games? Did you build any method?
NBV: Today I am sure that the most important thing to raise, and keep raising my level in poker, has been to build a psychological profile of mine, to get to know Nelson Bernal Varela in depth and above all to understand me, accept me, love me and be work every day eliminating my technical errors, strategic, psychological that make me play badly. I am aware that in poker I can play perfectly and still lose, what I can not forgive me is playing badly, which is why I work hard correcting my wrong decisions.
Of course, there is a space in my brain where I have built a psychological profile of each contender, that profile I have been able to elaborate with all the information that is provided to me in each hand we play. The way each of us plays, gives reliable information about our personality.
About my method I can write the following: A few years ago, I created a table in excel, where I had all the games with each contender, I identified them with the FICGS numeration and each movement in each hand (preflop, flop, turn, river ) it I was writing and studying; I started to add technical-psychological variables that seemed important to me, resulting in 20 variables that I had to qualify in each movement. With the passage of time and my effort, I no longer needed the excel table and I did not use it again (it was exhausting and time consuming) because I was assimilating things faster and with greater depth. Today I can say that I evaluate these 20 variables in a natural way, as if I was breathing and that when I am at a poker table, online or real, after a few minutes I get the psychological profile of the table and each of my opponents. In the pocket of my shirt I keep a small paper with the list of variables, periodically reread it and I wonder if I should modify, remove or add something.
- You won 1007 poker games, and lost only 380, with a ratio usually going from 57% to 80% according to your best opponents. Undoubtly you know the mathematics hidden behind poker but that may not explain everything. How did you learn to play?
NBV: Mathematics is an ingredient in poker, in the same way that my psychological aspects and of my opponents (I recommend reading-studying about four times the book “The Poker mindset†of Ian Taylor and Matthew Hilger), it is vital to understand the Law of Large Numbers. Next I make a list of topics that I consider important to raise the level of poker; compete with EV+ cards, you have to know the small ball theory of Negreanu (but not apply it, hahaha) you have to always look at the texture of the board, you have to evaluate your reality and your future, also that of your opponents (act and power), the position to talk is important, the stack, the personality of the table, know who has the panic button on. All these and other variables must be evaluated in the few seconds they have to make a move and the only important thing is to make the right decision according to the circumstances. There is a good list of poker books to read... it is mandatory to have read about 15 poker books.
- As for me, I may be wrong but I can't imagine that you reached such a rating without special techniques & maybe by optimizing it in some ways... Of course, "rating management" is not a problem, and it is only one thing with a limited impact, but maybe you have some other secrets? What about this "+1" technique that I noticed in many of our games, if this is not a secret? :)
NBV: In these years I have used different techniques that I had to read, study, learn, repeat, modify, invent and sometimes eliminate. Poker is a sport that seems easy, with time one manages to understand that it has an amazing complexity, today I consider poker to be as complex as chess and I study them in a "similar" way. As an example, I have tried to create "openings in poker"; based only on probabilities I invented something that I called mirror theory and another "opening" that I called opposite outs. I am fascinated by mathematics and from the mathematical perspective they are perfect "theories-openings", but I have lost tournaments and a lot of money for applying such theories in mistaken emotional moments. In poker it is important to never lose sight of the Law of Large Numbers and be aware that this LAW likes to make fun of each one of us... I am working on giving an emotional nuance to my theories "mirror" and "opposite outs". There are moments when perfect mathematics becomes an unforgivable psychological error...
For the last few months I have modified my way of playing and my results have improved; Today it must be much more difficult to win a game me, thanks to small and imperceptible adjustments that of course only I know, because I have followed my mistakes-successes-evolution in the game over several years.
- Isn't it too frustrating for you to play heads up only (here at least) ? Of course it is a way to improve this important technical case but we know that many complexities come with 3 to 8 players on the table, which is the most common case in professional poker tournaments.
NBV: Currently I spend little time every day playing heads-up in FICGS, thanks to the fact that I have the profile of each contender. The 4-5 hours that I study poker daily, include practice in micro limits in cash tables of 6 players and tournaments in tables of 8-9 players. I think I'm covering the whole range of possibilities, experiencing game situations between 1 and 8 contenders.
- What do you think about computer analysis in poker? Do you think it could make a difference here just like the way we play advanced chess?
NBV: I think the algorithms are ready to be written in machine language and the question is where are those algorithms? Well, in the brains of the best players in the world and in their games compiled in huge databases. But programming language can be accelerated with artificial intelligence brains, making A.I. studying databases of the best professionals, playing with itself millions of games and building an invincible TACTIC-STRATEGIC SYSTEM, similar to chess software and GO... I think preflop and flop play would be very similar between humans and artificial intelligence, but on the turn and on the river artificial intelligence would take considerable advantage, but in the short time the level of human poker would rise because artificial intelligence would teach us to play poker, this event that would diminish the profits of the professionals. It will always be said in favor of poker that because it is an incomplete game of information, to make computer algorithms are quite complicated, but despite that, I am sure that artificial intelligence will far surpass the best human poker player. It is possible that an artificial intelligence that plays a perfect poker already exists, but unlike GO and chess, poker does produce a lot of money. Due to the money factor, in today's world, it is very difficult that there is a Prometheus willing to steal fire from the gods and give it to mankind...
- How would you describe your relation to games in general?
NBV: I can summarize it in one of the first chess books I had the fortune to read, by the great Danish master Bent Larsen, "I play to win"
- When did you start to play chess & poker? Do you play other games?
NBV: My first contact with chess was at the age of nine, it was love at first sight and until death separates us; I must confess that for some years we have been separated, due to my stupidity and my erroneous decisions. I have always been self-taught in any subject, my method is to buy about 10 to 15 books of the subject that interests me and I read them thoroughly, sometimes 3 or 4 times; already with that information in my head and thanks to the constant practice, I build MY SYSTEM (Nimzowitch) according to my personality, my dreams, my desires, my anguish, my fears... I was youth champion of Bogotá, for 4 years , my OTB level was strong, but I had to abandon chess because I had to work and survive; Being an athlete in Colombia is an absolutely difficult thing, but being a chess player is extremely complicated since there is no support or respect from society and you can not live by chess, because it does not produce money.
I met poker in 2009 in FICGS, at that time I was in a terrible emotional situation, trying to get away from a relationship with a woman that I should never approach and where I wasted valuable time and energy. In that context, looking for my thoughts to be occupied, I ended up playing the FICGS C-24 poker tournament and tied the first place with three more players; I kept playing, without understanding what was happening with the cards and obviously, losing, until in 2010 I won the FICGS D-21 tournament with perfect score, 6 out of 6. I had already bought-read my first beginner book: Poker for Dummies of Harroch and Krieger, but my poker was coarse, wild, street, intuitive, amateur, without dedication or study. In the background of this paragraph, the affection and gratitude that I have for FICGS is condensed, a place where I have been able to build-practice-study-test MY SYSTEM in poker.
I play Backgammon, I do not care that it may sound pretentious-petulant, but I have a very strong level and I have not read my first book yet. Hahaha. Any year I register as a participant in the world championship and I will cause disgust to more than one professional. Hahaha. Unlike chess and poker, backgammon does not cause me stress, on the contrary, I feel a lot of joy and pleasure when I play backgammon. I feel something similar with math, reading and music. It's true and I'm proud, I've always been a NERD.
- We all know how difficult it is to reach a number 1 rank but it is even more difficult to keep it during a long time. What is your motivation? Do you have more goals to achieve (chess & other games included) ?
NBV: My motivation in any activity I undertake in my life is to do it with absolute passion (passion is everything you would do to get a breath of air, in the second before dying by drowning or suffocation).
I have several goals to accomplish before December 2021; In the ICCF correspondence chess I must reach the 2400 elo and get the titles of International Master, SIM and Grand Master, also perform outstanding performances in world championships. In FICGS Chess I must complete my Master and International Master titles and overcome the 2450 elo, also snatch the title from our eternal champion Eros Riccio. You're warned Eros, hahaha. On the LSS site where I also play, www.chess-server.net I want to be a world champion.
In POKER I find myself playing micro limits bets in several online sites; in June 2018 I hope I have built some bankroll. In July of 2018 I must be evaluating my poker to know if my immediate goal is to become a professional poker player, that would completely change my chess goals and I would have to dedicate myself to OTB poker. At the moment I study and practice poker every day, about 4-5 hours a day. At this moment my poker is full of errors that I am eliminating one by one. MY SYSTEM needs to win and raise money in the micro limits, so that it can succeed in professional poker.
In chess OTB I should become a great master, but that topic should be left as a goal for after 2021. I could achieve the record of being the oldest human in getting the title of Grand Master OTB. Hahaha.
In backgammon I would like to play some important tournaments in USA and Europe and maybe to be OTB world champion, but at the moment I do not have clarity on how to do it. I must mature that idea.
I hope they invent immortality before I die and that I have enough money to buy it, because time is what I need to realize all these and other dreams...
- Finally, playing so many games on several websites (obviously with serious ambitions in each game & place) may look quite inhuman and exhausting, does your body or brain say "stop" sometimes? Do you train by melting sports and brain games just like Kasparov did in the past?
NBV: It's true, it takes willpower and a lot of resistance to sustain the pace that I carry. To take care of my body, I am doing daily exercise for 60 to 90 minutes, including routines of strength, elasticity, speed and endurance. I also practice table tennis to preserve the agility of my body. I'm also divorced and I do not have a girlfriend... Hahaha
- By curiosity, do you consider playing Go in the future, even after... 2021? (which would surely be an enormous charge more, but the game is really interesting)
I have a kind of commitment with the best Colombian GO player, exchange of classes, he makes me a competitive player of GO and I turn him into a competitive player of backgammon. But the truth is that I do not have time... it could be after 2021...
- Do you confirm that you are not (entirely or partly) AlphaZero or any kind of A.I. (yet) ? :-)
NBV: Hahaha, of course I would like to be a real centaur, human with machine power, I do not care what physical form I should adopt. I offer myself publicly as a guinea pig in projects of technological singularity. Hahaha
- Many thanks for your detailed and instructive (impressive as well) answers! My best wishes of luck in all your games and future tournaments.
George Jempty (2018-03-16 12:29:42)
Anybody in USA want my computers?
Wondering if anybody in the USA I could ship to would be interested in buying my 2 desktop computers? They're a couple of years old but haven't been used in about a year. They were instrumental in me rising from the low 1900s to the low 2200s without a defeat along the way, and one of them has Houdini on it. They cost me about $1000 each but I would sell the two of them as a package for $900 and to make it official we could do it over eBay. I'm away from home for another week so can't get the exact specs until then, just trying to gauge interest between now and then.
Herbert Kruse (2018-03-18 08:19:31)
replaced player
who was replaced in FICGS__CHESS__RAPID_SM__000015
Thibault de Vassal (2018-03-26 01:38:20)
Translations needed, new FICGS homepages
Dear chessfriends, any help to improve translations of the new FICGS responsive homepages (https only) will be very appreciated :)
https://ficgs.com/ajedrez.html (es)
https://ficgs.com/xadrez.html (pt)
https://ficgs.com/schach.html (de)
https://ficgs.com/scacchi.html (it)
https://ficgs.com/catur.html (id)
... also russian, ukrainian, chinese, korean, japanese, hindi, vietnamese.
If you have any suggestions, please write to web [at] ficgs.com
Thibault de Vassal (2018-03-27 02:19:00)
Ratings inflation period
Dear chessfriends, in order to make FICGS correspondence chess ratings somewhat more coherent with other ones & with the real chess level (which is quite important in many points of view), we start an "inflation period".
During this time (that will last several months or maybe a few years according to the effects), the rating calculation will differ as explained in the rules: "During an inflation period, 10 points per game are added to the bonus, then any negative bonus is divided by 2. [Edited]"
As a side-effect, fortunately this may encourage even more games and more wins :)
Let's just wait and see the evolution in the next rating lists, then there may be adjustments.
Steven DuCharme (2018-03-29 08:46:24)
Daily Chess World Championship
GM [moderated]. You are invited to join the Daily Chess World Championship. Decide asap. Thank you. Please answer here. If u decline the next poster will be entered.
Thibault de Vassal (2018-03-29 20:55:19)
A great book on Eros Riccio's games
How is it possible I found this only now? (when searching FICGS on Google)
It looks like there's a big (& nice) book on Eros Riccio's chess career (that will still need updates), you can read it partly on Google Books:
https://books.google.fr/books?id=bsRSDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA409
What a nice work!
Thibault de Vassal (2018-03-31 02:06:03)
Vallejo Pons leaves European Chess Ch.
Quite incredibly sad story for GM Francisco Vallejo Pons after having played poker for money under an old & strange spanish law...
http://www.pokernews.com/news/2018/03/chess-francisco-vallejo-pons-poker-tax-dispute-30327.htm
http://www.chess.com/news/view/hunted-by-spanish-tax-authority-vallejo-leaves-european-championship
http://www.change.org/p/spanish-tax-authority-my-aim-is-to-seek-as-many-signatures-as-possible-to-help-out-a-sportsman-in-distress
Garvin Gray (2018-04-01 13:54:10)
Options in game return
In the last few days, I have seen a return of different options, For instance- Would you like to play GM Riccio etc. We agreed to get rid of this feature long ago as not only was it annoying, it included a question saying take back. So it asked, would you like a take back?
Why has this feature returned?
Thibault de Vassal (2018-04-01 15:38:56)
Poll: renaming the Queen as Dragon
Hi all,
As it may be quite sexist to have King and Queen with different importances on the chess board, what about renaming and changing the icon of the Queen for a Dragon? The PGN notation could also evolve this way, replacing Q by letter D.
This change could be done very soon, what do you think?
Kym Farnik (2018-04-06 00:52:07)
New style? Please revert
The new desktop style is not so usable. Please revert to previous style.
Thanks, Kym
Thibault de Vassal (2018-04-07 03:09:02)
Harold Moye, man of arts... and chess
I'm very sad to announce here that we just lost a chess friend, Harold Moye, who played chess with us while he was involved in a much more difficult battle. My condolences to his family.
Here is the first part of the obituary:
"Harold Anthony Moye, age 62, died on March 4, 2018, wife Linda (Polhemus) Moye at his side. They were devoted to each other for 17 years since vowing their love on a mountain in Wyoming. For 13 of those years, Harold endured bone marrow cancer (Multiple Myeloma) with grace, unusual resilience, and quiet courage.
He loved poetry, languages, art, music, history, philosophy, astronomy, cinema, flying airplanes (actually and with flight simulator) and coffee. Some of his favorites were Shelley, Blake, Rilke, Shakespeare, Norse sagas, VanGogh, Mahler, Bach, Beethoven, and Sumatran and Guatemalan beans. Harold said that Blake taught him the most about art; Shelley was his brother; VanGogh his first cousin; and coffee a major food group (along with pizza and cookies). Above all, he valued imagination, compassion, and generosity of spirit in others. He played Shogi and Chess with friends all over the world online and in person, reaching the distinction of Chess Master when he coordinated tournaments in Wyoming. (...)"
http://www.ficgs.com/moye_harold.htm
Aniruddha Duttagupta (2018-04-07 07:43:58)
unable to play my move!
In game 102995 I can't play my move as Black.Any move played by me is shown as INVALID MOVE by the server!What to do???
Paul Campanella (2018-04-09 02:31:01)
Real Poker Game
This might seem like a farfetched/crazy thought, but what if were to actually have a real Texas Holdem Game sometime this summer with the top 10 players on the list physically meeting in person at an agreed upon location?
In order to promote the site, the winners could also donate a portion of the winnings to an agreed upon charity/word organization that helps people?
Does anyone have any thoughts about this?
John Hadden (2018-04-12 09:54:00)
Design
Hi... don't want to be annoying to the developers - in general the new style is more inviting than the old - but it is still pretty busy. I had to search for quite a while to even find what was going on. Still not quite sure if it is possible to have a game outside of a tournament - or how the tournaments work. Fair play for making tournaments with prizes... but Im not likely to pay to join if I don't know what's going on...
PS... I had to press post twice there...
William Taylor (2018-04-15 14:07:42)
Big chess castling
Thibault,
Have you ever considered allowing players to castle twice in big chess, giving a mechanism to allow similar castled positions to normal chess? For example, from the starting position the king could castle once to kingside, ending up on l1 with the rook on m1, and then again, ending up on p1, with the rook on o1. He could also go the other way, finishing on c1 after castling twice.
Thibault de Vassal (2018-05-11 01:54:44)
New domain names for FICGS apps
Quite good news for FICGS !
As you may know, .app domains are available for a few days... I was not able to take the very best domain names (chess.app & ajedrez.app), but very good ones anyway. I hope more players will come from Google to the following:
playchess.app (english)
jugarajedrez.app (spanish)
xadrez.app (portuguese)
echecs.app (french)
These ones should be online with the Chess Trainer app within a few days... By the way I also bought:
pokerholdem.app
playgogames.app
It is really hard to find good keywords in english for the Go game... Maybe baduk.app & weiqi.app would have been better but not so sure.
Peter W. Anderson (2018-05-15 11:29:42)
Leela Chess Zero
Hello everyone :)
I guess most people here will be aware of the Leela Chess Zero project.
I was interested in whether anyone here is already using Leela? I have run a few of my old FICGS games through it quickly and it gives very different evaluations to the standard engines in some positions - I am not sure if they are better or worse at a quick glance but they are different!
For those who aren't familiar with Leela it is an attempt to recreate something like Alpha Chess Zero for the PC. It is not yet as strong as Stockfish etc but is as strong as most grandmasters and some weaker engines and is gradually increasing in strength as it is trained. It comes in two versions: one to run on the CPU and one to run on a graphics card. A high end graphics card gives the best results, but it runs OK on CPUs.
Leela is nowhere near as tactically strong as the best engines (whether it ever will be on "normal" hardware is an open question). However, to my eyes, it generally exhibits pretty good positional judgement, and so I am figuring it could provide a useful alternative view for correspondence games.
You can contribute to this really interesting project by helping to train it by donating computer time. Helping with the training is pretty straightforward. A guide of how to help is at
https://github.com/glinscott/leela-chess/wiki/Getting-Started
A forum and progress chart is at
http://lczero.org/
I found getting it to run under GUI's as an analysis tool a little more fiddly as it not yet fully UCI compliant. However, I have got it to run OK under Chessbase, Shredder, and Arena OK for analysis. For running matches Arena or something like Cutechess may be best.
I would interested to know your thoughts on this.
Thibault de Vassal (2018-05-29 02:37:09)
Komodo 12 with AlphaZero techniques
Hi all! As you may know, Chessbase chess engine Komodo 12 is now promoted as having a Monte Carlo version, looking like AlphaZero algorithms... It would play a more human-like style. But does it really make a difference on a "normal" computer? It would be about 30 elo points stronger than Komodo 11 (quite a good improvement anyway)
Any tests or thoughts?
William Taylor (2018-06-02 14:31:46)
Order games load in
Hi Thib,
Currently when we make a move in a game, another loads automatically afterwards which may or may not be of the same type. Personally I like to make moves in all of my Go games (for example), followed by all of my big chess games, rather than switching between games. What do you think about changing the algorithm which determines which game loads next to facilitate this?
Cheers,
Will
Steven DuCharme (2018-06-12 01:45:25)
Free Digital Chess Magazine
sign up for emails from newinchess.com asap
Thibault de Vassal (2018-06-19 00:34:08)
Chess Trainer app on Facebook
Hi all,
About one month that the Chess Trainer app is available on Facebook... surprisingly (I didn't expect much from this way), it is now used by about 130 players a day (357 at most) and about 60 new players per day. Quite not bad for a non-viral app after all, to be continued.
Do not hesitate to rate the apps, also on Facebook, it may help :)
Steven DuCharme (2018-06-25 19:53:46)
I Own Chess
Decree #1 - All players will count to ten or more before each move. Thank you
Thibault de Vassal (2018-06-30 01:11:46)
Modern correspondence chess
An interesting article on modern correspondence chess & ICCF SM Wolff Morrow [rated 2514, 19th ICCF United States Correspondence Chess Champion] in Chessbase:
http://en.chessbase.com/post/correspondence-chess-and-correspondence-database-2018
Thibault de Vassal (2018-06-30 20:22:16)
Interview with 15th chess WCH finalist
For once, as Eros & I couldn't find much more to say after all his consecutive wins, I asked Ramil Germanes these few questions around his match & correspondence chess (with what may look like a quite surprising conclusion).
_______________________
- Hello Ramil, many thanks for answering those few questions! This is a first time with the WCH finalist, as the winner (Eros again) agreeded this could be an interesting experiment for a change, so we'll probably have a quite different point of view this time! You just finished your games to score 6-6 (12 draws), Eros retaining the title again. I guess this was the first time you played such a correspondence chess match, what are your impressions on this knockout format?
Yes this is the first time I've played a world championship match although I played before in earlier editions of this world championship but not reaching the challenger level. My impression? Its great playing for the world championship but I know its nearly impossible to beat the world champion.
- Let's rewind a few months backward, would you make other choices, in openings or anything?
I don't know. Tbh, I'm not very good on chess theory and not very updated as well. So I'm just playing basic moves hoping for opportunities to come up.
- So, is Eros beatable in this final match according to you? (please give us some hope) ^^
With how quickly you can search information and the strength of chess engines nowadays, its almost impossible to beat him unless you have access to alpha zero (haha). Though maybe Herbert Kruse can pull it off.
- What can you tell us about yourself and your relation to chess & correspondence chess?
I'm just an ordinary guy from the Philipines who happens to love playing chess. But my love of computers is what brought me to correspondence chess and to ficgs.
- Do you play other games, e.g. Go, Shogi, cards games?
No I don't know how to play those games.
- Could you tell us how these 12 games went from your own point of view?
For me, the games went through their normal course. Both of us didn't made any major mistakes so all games were drawn. That's just how it went. Though there were new moves on some the games it doesn't really changes result of the older games played before.
- Would you share a few tips to play good correspondence chess in 2018, or at least to beat the best chess engines? :)
Sorry but i dont know. I will be the new world champion by now if i know, hehehe.
- You told me that your computer configuration was basically a quad-core i5 3570 / 4gb on Fritz GUI (about 10,500 kn/s) / Windows 10, and we know that many of us (Eros included) still use such configs or even dual-core, would an octa-core have brought a significant advantage to you to win this match according to you?
Oh I don't know they still have those configurations. But I've already encountered opponents in Infinity Chess with 18-22 cores configs. Anyways, an octa-core or faster cpu would definitely be going to speed up my analysis and will let me analyze more lines and variations which may improves my overall play.
Honestly, I don't have that much time these days for correspondence chess. In my match against Eros, I had only about 1 hour of analysis time before work and about another 1 hour after work. Since I already have a family and 2 kids, they have to be my priority first. And I think somebody also can relate to this. So a faster cpu would be very helpful in the match and maybe will give a better chance than a slower cpu.
- As far as I know, you love to build computers, did you use or think about using several ones at the same time for analysis?
No. I only used one computer in my match against Eros. I have 2 other computers but both are slower.
- How much time you've been playing correspondence chess & how do you feel the way the game changed over the years?
I've been playing correspondence chess since 2010 and I have observed that its easier to win games in the past when chess engines were still weaker. Because you notice some players depend only on engine moves and engines still commit mistakes and you can exploit those mistakes if you "investigate" further.
Unlike now, engines are very strong that even players who rely solely on engines moves will be very hard to beat. It lessens the gap of players that know how to "use" the engines and the ones who do not.
- Finally, what makes you love correspondence chess in 2018?
I will always love chess and correspondence chess but what makes it exciting now is the rise of the new kind of engines.
Engines like Leela chess zero that has a different approach in playing chess. Maybe more of these kind of chess engines will be seen in the future. Because of its use of monte carlo analysis and neural networks, we are starting to see moves that we have never seen before. Very aggressive attacks and moves defying opening principles can now be seen. Correspondence chess is getting exciting again!
Thibault de Vassal (2018-07-27 01:50:24)
On (almost) global forfeits in WCH
Hi all,
I'd like to gather opinions on several cases that may happen or have happened in WCH tournaments.
1) Let's say that one player lost on time 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 games out of 7 (for any reason) in a WCH tournament, after having won one or several games.
2) Let's say that one player resigned 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 games out of 7 (for any reason) in a WCH tournament, after having won one or several games.
3) Let's say that one player lost on time or resigned 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 games out of 7 (for any reason)in a WCH tournament, after having won one or several games.
Obviously, there may be possible unfair situations for one or several players, but it is not so easy to find a fair global solution for all cases. Should those wins (by the player who lost on time and/or resigned several games) not be taken in account? Any suggestions for a simple/clear rule?
I must say that I'm not so favourable to add such a rule at a first sight, but let's see how this discussion may lead.
Many thanks in advance.
Christoph Schroeder (2018-08-14 18:24:07)
poker reflection time
In chess, an increment of 1 day per move is sensible and leads to manageable game lengths.
But in poker?
A poker game (consisting of up to 5 rounds) can have thousands of moves (that is another dimension compared to ~50 in chess). Therefore, I consider the current increment (1 day per move) as much too high.
My proposal: the increment should be one day per hand.
Wilhelm Schuett (2018-08-15 19:30:46)
How to pass in the game?
How to pass in the game? I see no button or formular where i can pass.
Thibault de Vassal (2018-09-07 16:57:06)
Netiquette reinforcement
Hi all,
Following a few problems of provocation and repeated draw offers, I propose to reinforce and specify the netiquette to help players finding the right things to do according to the situation...
http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#general
Particularly this paragraph:
"It is possible to leave public comments for your games and to send private messages to other members. No player may post in forums or send to another member any voluntary message that contains abusive, insulting, provocating, advertising, vulgar, foul, racist, sexist or other discriminatory or politically sensitive content. Also, no player will make draw offers repeatedly, particularly serveral times in a row. Doing so may lead to instantly lose the game, and/or being immediately and permanently banned.
If a player receives such a message, he may use the "report" link and accepts to use the "block" link that appears then (when playing a move) rather than replying to it. Responding to a provocative message is strictly forbidden and may lead to get a limited access to the server during a few weeks, at the moderator's discretion. In this case, please just warn the moderator or webmaster in private.
To maintain a friendly community, any cheating complaint should be addressed to the referee and should not be made publicly in games comments or in the forum, otherwise with the same consequences. Please note that no time will be added to any clock in any case, the game will continue in all cases, in example arguing to wait for the referee's decision will not be accepted. Finally, you agree that the webmaster, administrator and moderators have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic, comment or message at any time should they see fit.
Publication of a private message without the authors expressed permission is strictly forbidden."
A big difference (I hope) is in the small add "Doing so may lead to instantly lose the game (...)". Better or worst? Any opinions or ideas?
Thibault de Vassal (2018-09-24 00:15:43)
Some questions to H. Kruse, WCH finalist
After that the last FICGS chess WCH final match finished, the choice was made again to ask a few questions to Eros Riccio's challenger: Herbert Kruse, for the 2nd time. He kindly accepted to answer it so let's learn a bit more on our top-ranked correspondence chess player.
______________________________
Hello Herbert, you're not really a player to introduce as you're very active here and at several chess websites for years, with outstanding ratings in each one (as far as I know), you're the 1st FICGS CUP winner & several times FICGS WCH challenger, each time facing "the wall" Eros Riccio, what could you tell us about yourself particularly as a chess & correspondence chess player?
- i began late with 16 to play my first tournament game, but with 18 i already was kicked out of a night club in company with tony miles ;) (dresscode) had vlastimil hort as trainer for a short time and played in teams with gutman, michalchisin, klovans, gipslis and some other GMs. corr chess i began, because i love to find the truth and because of freestyle, where i began to build very strong computers
What kind of computers do you build? Is it all dedicated to chess?
- i have several dual xeon e5 computers with 64gb ddr3 and 16 to 20 real cores and they all play chess ;)
Once again, GM Eros Riccio managed to draw the 12 games of the match. What are your feelings on these games? How did you estimate your chances to destabilize your opponent in the openings and to create complications enough with White (or Black)?
- this time my feelings were neutral. 1% chances to win, but i hoped he would lose his concentration if i began more games with him (we played 6 other games at the same time)
Doesn't "1% chances to win (the match)" mean about 0.17% to win only one game with White, even when losing one with Black? Isn't it a bit pessimistic after all, or is it the new so called Riccio-effect? :)
- if the strongest players face each other there is no win possible, except some has a mouse slep or forgot something during human interfacing
When did you start playing correspondence chess and what changed since that time? What attracted you most in the game?
- 2004 and evaluation of the position is the key point of improvement since then. attractive was to be better than actual world class players :)
Could you tell us anything on the way you work chess and play your correspondence games? Any tip or secret? (nothing to lose to ask :))
- with black i play for fastest way to 0.00 and with white i try every promising way to make a game for a longer time complicated
Do you use several ones at the same time when analyzing a game? (still grabbing some tips)
- i only use the newest stockfish versions of brainfish and corchess because the other engines are not so good. because i have many games i decide which one gets the most cores and time and let them run in infinity mode until i am happy that can be after 1 week or more sometimes.
You're not far to rank 2nd as a poker player at FICGS, you obviously started to take on Big Chess as well. What other games do you play? Did you consider to play Go already?
- i played go against the german champion and lost so i quit :)) played backgammon money game and internet (in fibs with kit woolsey i played over 100 matches) in bridge i was best bidder in germany 1994 to 1995, but dont play much nowadays
Do you have specific goals to achieve as a player?
- 2 goals, since a long time: be ficgs world champion and win one german bridge championship
How do you imagine correspondence chess evolution within a decade? What kind of engines/computers do you expect to use and what will look like centaur chess according to you? (in other words, what part will remain to the human player in the decision?)
- i think the engines today are already unbeatable, so in 20 years the would still not lose and chess is dead since about 4 years
What did you think about Google Deepmind's Alpha Zero performance vs. Stockfish?
- it was a joke because they let a bad version of stockfish play. i would not have lost one game against az0 and maybe won 2 til 5 out of 100
Conditions of this AlphaZero vs. Stockfish match were very specific (opening books, unbalanced hardware...) What weaknesses did you detect in AlphaZero play?
- it was the lack of precision, what would let it lose against stockfish in its tuned newest version but i look from a view of a player who is used to play with deep 60 :)
It seems that computers did not completely take on Bridge yet, what do you expect within a decade?
- i have not seen bridge programms, but the game is so easy that it must be already mastered by computers
Rotom Monotua (2018-10-08 23:33:28)
No engine tournaments, no, no
At the moment I am playing the King Supertournament which is great fun - but I have to say it seems there are a handful of players who arent playing by the rules - therefore I am a little disappointed....
To me it looks like no engine tournaments are not really possible.
Christoph Schroeder (2018-10-22 18:18:29)
Resigning in poker
Resigning in poker is absolutely uncommon. I cannot imagine any situation in which resigning a match or a round would be a reasonable option. Even if a player is trailing 0-2, he still has chances to win the match. So why would anybody consider to resign?
Moreover, the "resign" button is irritating, because it is unclear if resigning means resigning the current round or the current match.
Therefore, I propose to remove the "resign"-button completely.
William Taylor (2018-10-27 12:03:10)
World Championship Tie-breaks
For many years, the reigning classical world chess champion had draw odds. The chess world eventually realised this was both unfair to the challenger and uninteresting for the spectators, and introduced a rapid and blitz playoff match for use in the event that the players remained tied after the classical portion of the match. There have always been, and will continue to be grumbles about this system (mostly that the classical WC should be decided by classical games), but overall it is popular (as I imagine can be seen from online viewing figures from the Carlsen-Karjakin match, for example) and, to my mind at least, fairer than the alternative. I propose something similar for the FICGS WC match: an advanced chess tie-break match. Granted, there is the same objection as for the classical WC match - advanced chess is not the same as correspondence chess. However, the combatants will already have had ample opportunity (12 games) to decide matters in that format. An advanced chess tie-break would provide much more sporting interest, as the current system is becoming a bit predictable (this is not in any way a dig at the incumbent, Eros Riccio, who is just doing what he has to do, and doing it very well). I think the match would also be great for promoting FICGS - you could stream it live on Twitch, for example, perhaps with commentary. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Steven DuCharme (2018-10-29 18:06:40)
New Chess Record...
Mr.Ding or Liren is up to 98 unbeaten games and going. Tal's 95 lasted 44 years!
Paul Larwinski (2018-11-08 22:25:26)
Carlsen Caruana wch match
tomorrow starts wch match between Carlsen and Caruana ?
this is the best and most interesting now
who will win this time ? we will know it after 12 games
Herbert Kruse (2018-11-25 19:57:12)
cannot enter this tournament
i shall have too many running games (69/50)
but the intention of this rule was to avoid forfaist, what i never did
so my hard work to get rating over 2000 at big chess was for nothing?
Thibault de Vassal (2018-11-30 00:38:11)
AlphaZero 2.0
Looks like a new version of AlphaZero is to be "released"... don't know much about it, all links are welcome. It would reach about 3600 elo, to compare with its previous version and with the last Stockfish (I guess that we will never see a human/computer match again ^^).
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/lczero/bRlSX5nYqv8
Thibault de Vassal (2018-12-02 19:14:19)
Stockfish 10 is available
That is probably the most famous chess engine nowadays, Stockfish 10 is now available at https://stockfishchess.org/ (for its 10th birthday)
Any thoughts, testing, news or information are welcome here.
Christoph Schroeder (2018-12-25 17:00:44)
poker: not enough chips to pay BB
When a player has not enough chips left to pay his blinds for the next hand, the round should be lost for him.
But this is not the case. Example (just happened in one of my games):
My opponent has only 1 chip left. In the next hand, he ist the Big Blind which requires him to pay 2 chips. But instead of counting the round as lost for him, he gets a "discount" on his BB and has to pay only 1 chip, and the game goes on - but in a very strange way since my opponent has zero chips left, and there is no raising possible for neither side.
I cannot imagine that this behaviour of the poker software is intentional. Or is it?
Steven DuCharme (2018-12-25 23:29:50)
This site is now...
#109 of 702 on the great list
Graham Kerr (2019-01-22 02:51:24)
WCh groups...
What happens if all games in a qualifying group are drawn?
Garvin Gray (2019-01-24 08:14:14)
James Romig
Fred Delaforet expressed concern regarding James Romig's health or otherwise after James lost on time in seven of their games.
Doing a google search, I was able to find a James Romig from USA (same location as listed here on ficgs) and that person is 48 years old and is a high class musician.
No death or funeral notices mentioned that I could see.
Jing Huang (2019-01-28 09:25:28)
I cannot make move in my Go games
Anyone else having the same issue?
Thibault de Vassal (2019-02-09 21:58:14)
Advice for correspondence chess players
An advice for correspondence chess players from ICCF world champion... what do you think?
https://chessimprover.com/correspondence-chess-advice-from-iccf-world-champion/
Kym Farnik (2019-02-16 03:14:03)
Remo Pareschi ?
Remo Pareschi is another member gone quiet.
I have had some good games with him.
Anyone know anything?
Fred de la Foret (2019-02-22 18:27:31)
Best Opening Move?
In your opinion, which is best for chess engine players, 1. d4 or 1. e4 . CCGM Hans Berliner argued that 1. d4 was the better.
Jukka Joutsi (2019-02-26 11:40:40)
delete my account
Please, delete my account - I can't find any information of how to do it. I will not continue my chess in FICGS so DELETE my account - "Jukka Joutsi".
Steven DuCharme (2019-02-27 18:24:54)
Happy 18th Birthday...
to a competing site
Fred de la Foret (2019-03-02 17:40:51)
Pointless To Play The Kings Gambit ?
Is the King's Gambit a bad opening to play for correspondence chess engine players ? It seems to be only a futile opening in failure against strong chess engines.
Steven DuCharme (2019-03-14 18:58:10)
Shame on the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame...
for inducting Susan Polgar :(
Thibault de Vassal (2019-03-18 22:59:01)
Leela Chess Zero & neural networks
Month after month, it looks like Leela Chess Zero is taking on computer chess... what do you think? Actually neural networks engines could even solve the future CPU problem (i9 and Threadripper seem much stronger than the first versions of i7 but what next... technology seems to reach some limits) by using GPU in an efficient way instead.
Does anyone use it to analyze correspondence chess games already?
In my opinion, most top centaur players will use Leela or another neural network chess engine (more or less based on ideas that made the success of AlphaZero) within 1 year...
Actually, I'm more and more concerned with the spectacular way & speed A.I. now improves, I just spent some time to understand it better and I wouldn't be surprised if our societies are really shaked in many ways (and more and more) within the next few years.
Thibault de Vassal (2019-04-01 16:19:38)
April fool jokes at FICGS
I announce here that there won't be april fool jokes anymore at FICGS. Sorry about that for those who liked it (sometimes at least), but it it definitely too confusing on sensible points and it is quite hard to find good ones.
Anyway, have a nice spring everyone!
Miroslav Gazi (2019-04-25 13:07:58)
Chess DB
Using COR or OTB chess Databases or both?
Miroslav Gazi (2019-05-16 10:04:05)
Chess DBs for learning and training
Chess DBs for learning and training
https://chesswind.eu/
Any comments or suggestions are welcome!
Steven DuCharme (2019-05-23 01:40:02)
New rating system
Start at 10K. Draws don't affect ratings. Ratings adjust via formula 250 - number of loser's moves. Combined adjustment is neitral. No floor or ceiling. ur welcome
Joe Myers (2019-06-07 00:46:11)
The 3d will not work,
Every time I try to go to the 3d it turns to the 3d board, but the board is black the peices are black and it's way too hard to see
John Hadden (2019-06-22 21:12:53)
Android App not working
Hi, Not sure if this is your problem - or samsung's but I noticed just recently after the samsung internet browser on my phone updated the ficgs app stopped working. When I open it it comes up with a blank screen and 'fatal error'.
Leon Pereira (2019-06-23 08:20:58)
Tournament
I did not receive any notification that the tournament was starting. Did not receive any notification when a games starts. WTF? Just keep getting emails that I have lost. Please drop me from the tournament. This is ridiculous.
Steven DuCharme (2019-07-15 04:22:02)
CHESSHERE.COM
closes August 15,2019
Dino Hsu (2019-08-19 18:20:41)
Where is my finished go game?
Under "My games", it seems I cannot see finished games, I am not even sure about the result. Any advice?
Thanks, Dino
Thibault de Vassal (2019-11-09 00:57:30)
Fat Fritz vs. Stockfish
Few months ago, Chessbase announced "Fat Fritz", then few days ago it was alive with a finished 100 games match against Stockfish 8 and another one with the engine playing Stockfish 10. It won both matches by a quite good score... but just like the event AlphaZero-Stockfish, conditions may be discussed.
Any thoughts on the event and Fat Fritz qualities & strength?
https://en.chessbase.com/post/fat-fritz-defeats-stockfish-match
https://en.chessbase.com/post/fat-fritz-defeats-stockfish-match-2
https://en.chessbase.com/post/fat-fritz-what-on-earth-is-that
Garvin Gray (2019-11-10 12:11:05)
Komodo 13
For correspondence chess analysis, how good is Komodo 13?
Is it better than the other engines out there?
And finally, in the advertising for Komodo 13, the chessbase advert said useful on multi processor cpu's of 16 to 32.
So does that mean that Komodo 13 is a bit weaker compared to the other engines if you are not using the latest and greatest gaming software?
Steven DuCharme (2019-11-17 17:28:43)
CC Server World Championship Tournament
I have contacted the top player from about 40 sites with the hope they will battle for global supremacy. A forum topic with the title name is at chesstempo.com where games will be played. Optional money play is available at chesshere.com...Herbert Kruse has accepted my invite but has not signed in at chesstempo yet. He is the first and hopefully not the last to respond.
Thibault de Vassal (2019-11-28 12:08:42)
Lee Sedol quits Go because of A.I.
Finally, is it time for Go players to play "advanced Go"? Would it make sense like it used to be at chess?
Meanwhile, Go champion Lee Sedol resigns (it seems for several reasons actually, now ranked #54 at GoRatings.org - by the way the full rating list is worth to watch until rank 800)
So, we human will not probably beat what will replace AlphaZero in the future, but as in chess we could learn a lot from it, if not build great centaur teams.
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-50573071
Thibault de Vassal (2019-12-05 21:32:38)
IECG chess-server.net
Does anyone know how things are going at (IECG) chess-server.net ?
For those who don't know, this correspondence chess server was born at about the same time as FICGS (for about the same reasons) as an evolution for IECG where I used to play correspondence chess by email until 2006, so it's kind of "big brother" by history and "little brother" by chronology... and quite different on many points AFAIK.
As far as I know many of the IECG players continued to play there, after that many joined us here (FICGS started maybe few weeks before). As for me of course I concentrated to play at FICGS all these years so I'm not really aware about Ortwin's server. Now I can see that its traffic recently went badly down (like many chess servers actually and even very impressive ones)... that's the reason for this post: any news about it?
Garvin Gray (2020-01-23 08:16:30)
Vacation suggestion
I would like to propose a change to the settings for vacation.
Currently, when you set your vacation time, it will start from the exact moment you set the vacation.
I think a better way would be to allow players to set vacation, with the starting date in the future.
For instance. A player knows they are going on a two week vacation in two days.
Under the current settings, they either have to 'eat' the two extra days, or wait until the very last moment to set their vacation.
It is a bit of a mystery to me why players can not set their vacation to start in the future?
Ty Bowen (2020-01-23 15:14:53)
Go needs to be an auto-victory.
The loser beings expected to resign is expecting too much and caused unneeded difficulties. Scoring should be calculated by the client, and a winner declared.
Patrick Satonnet (2020-01-30 17:52:04)
tournois en cours
je suggère une nouvelle option dans le listing des parties, afficher toutes celles des tournois en cours.
Ainsi quand on a fini son tournoi, on peut suivre son évolution
Garvin Gray (2020-02-15 13:57:31)
Game decided by tablebase
This topic is referring to game 119111. Over 24 hours ago, I pressed the call referee button and claimed a draw for a six man tablebase position.
I have also referred to this game in the chat section.
Whilst I have plenty of time on my clock, this whole process and lack of action, which in my opinion should not take much effort, is really making me nervous that nothing is going to be done and I should waste my time playing out the position.
All I want is the position declared drawn as per the rules.
It should not be this difficult.
What would occur if I only had two days or so on my clock? Would I have to use vacation time to prevent my clock reaching zero.
Ilmars Cirulis (2020-02-18 01:25:27)
Avoiding Hedgehog with white
What are your favorite ways of avoiding it after 1.c4 c5?
Charles Bovary (2020-02-19 14:24:54)
Rated Chess960 matches on the serveur
On FB? Never, as too many accounts have been snapped some time ago. Moreover I won't let my personal data be known by the whole wide world.
Thibault de Vassal (2020-03-02 20:44:28)
Chess WCH #22 (march 1st, 2020)
Dear chessfriends,
This time, the correspondence chess rating list was updated just after that the new correspondence chess WCH cycle started, this is not really usual (and the answer is yes, I forgot to update it) but it can happen and it happened before... Just to remind that there is no particular rule about this, so one can't expect a 100% deterministic situation when a championship starts.
Best of luck everyone :)
Garvin Gray (2020-03-04 05:29:14)
Wch groups, less than 7 players
I have asked Thibault a long time ago about this topic, but it has occurred again.
The rules for the WCH is that if a group has less than 7 players, it may be played as a double round robin.
I think this rule should be changed to: If any groups have less than 7 players, then each of those groups will be a double round robin.
I propose this for discussion, and hopefully agreement as I think it is not helpful for the event to hold groups of 5 and only have 4 games for each player.
If one player times out a game in that group, then that result counts for 25% percent of their opponents total score, whilst the rest of the opponents have to battle against that opponent for the full point.
So, I believe with groups less than 7, double round robin should be used. This will make the winner more meaningful and also reduce the impact of any time outs.
Steven DuCharme (2020-04-11 00:11:12)
FICGS.COM ...
has risen 217,153 places in alexa.com global traffic rankings since Feb 15,2020
Daniel Parmet (2020-04-28 22:59:06)
The State of correspondence chess
I have played correspondence chess now for 13 years. During that time, I have played 983 correspondence games. These days I mostly play at ICCF and some of these issues may be ICCF specific... but since ICCF has no forum and I want to get a sense of the health of correspondence chess in general... I posit my thoughts here.
First of all, I think the number of correspondence players and the number of correspondence games are decreasing across the board on all correspondence websites due to the things I want to talk about.
Second, I primarily shifted my playing to ICCF years ago for two reasons: 1) The higher level of competition available; 2) The norms available. Although I was concerned with their fees which are usually minor but, in many cases, certain organizers do construct outlandish tournaments that you need to be wary of (looking at you Venezuela).
On the first point, I think ICCF is a little more open to high caliber players competing up until a point (they really try to prevent you from playing a 2450+ player until you are 2450+ yourself). And the rating protections get tougher and tougher the further you go but they make it easy to play 2300 players. While most websites outside of ICCF, usually have one annual Cup / WCH or Thematics, these other websites usually make it impossible to play anyone more than a few hundred points above you no matter your rating outside of these few events.
On the second point, I think ICCF norms are somewhat of an illusion. They’ve always been hard and much harder to achieve than OTB norms which received a watering down of requirements of decades ago. In fact, ICCF norms are so much harder than FIDE norms that one actually needs to achieve two norms to receive the prerequisite title in ICCF vs the standard three norms required by FIDE. In the US, for example, there are 116 ICCF Titled players in history (13 GMs, 25 SIM, 78 IMs) vs 828 FIDE Titled players in present (101 GMs 166 IM 561 FMs) [https://ratings.fide.com/topfed.phtml]. Now however, there is a proposal, for the ICCF GM Title only, proposed by Dennis Doren, ICCF Rules Commissioner who really does a lot for correspondence chess, and SIM Uwe Staroske, ICCF Qualifications and Ratings Commissioner, to remove the requirement to have to play GMs to get the GM Title [leaving IM and SIM untouched] [https://www.iccf.com/Proposal.aspx?id=1280]. This proposal states, “A search of the ICCF data indicates that 21 players obtained at least 2 GM norms across 24 games but failed to get the GM title because of the requirement of "5 GM" opponents. (Only 5 of those players are currently active).†Leaving aside the fact that this proposal violates the very definition of the GM Title, one must beat the club in order to join it, the proposal further outlines the real problems without addressing them, “The GM Title has already become far harder to earn than it used to be, due to the rating suppression caused by the increase in draws.†Wow, let’s unpack that one line because it is a doozy!
Really, this one line, that is easily overlooked, is two huge problems that correspondence is facing: 1) death by one thousand draw paper cuts and 2) rating deflation. I will argue later that there is a third huge problem but let’s start with the ones acknowledged by ICCF itself. Every correspondence player knows the draw rate is going up. As engines and hardware get stronger, players are able to save positions that in the past would have been lost and we are finding ever easier ways to head straight towards 0.00 as Black. I would love to see a detailed analysis that describes how much harder it has become to win as Black against a decent correspondence player (let’s say someone 2300+). In the last five years, I have beaten three 2300+ players as Black without counting mouseslips (one in 2015, one in 2016 and one any day now in 2020) despite playing extremely aggressive openings like the KID (for the record that’s three Black wins out 103 Black draws or 2.91% Win rate). That may be part of the draw problem, but I have witnessed my own draw rate skyrocket 2014: 82.4% 2015: 86.7% 2016: 90.2% 2017: 90.6% 2018: 91% 2019 is still in progress. Often for these norms, you need to score +2, +3, +4 or +5 despite the fact that +1 usually wins the event… and with the draw rate North of 90% in a 12-13 game event that means you are likely to win 1 game on average… but in many events the entire cross table often sees one to three entire wins (look at a recently completed tournament here where I scored my first IM norm that required +0 and I scored +1). My win was one of five wins in the entire tournament 100/105 = 95.2% draw rate! [https://www.iccf.com/event?id=73482]. People love to tell me that’s fine because we are talking about such a weak event as Category 8 [2449 was the rating average]. Fine, I do not accept your argument but let’s look at the World Championship then shall we? Let’s look at the most recently concluded World Championship 30 which finished on 10/2/2019, Category 13 [2562 was the rating average]. This event was won by the new World Champion SIM Kochemasov, Andrey Leonidovich 2540 [https://www.iccf.com/event?id=66745]. Congrats to the new World Champion on his two wins! The event had 8 decisive games out 136 or a draw rate of 91.2% (not far off my own). But wait did I say SIM? I did. In fact, congratulations to the World Champion on scoring his final GM norm as well! This World Championship saw 5 SIMs compete in a field with 12 GMs. While 3 of the SIMs finished 1st 2nd and 3rd, only our new World Champion scored a GM norm. The problem is with all the draws that norms are not just becoming hard, but maintaining or increasing one’s rating is becoming hard. And one’s rating is how one receives any decent invites to have a chance at a norm in the first place.
The draws are a death by one thousand cuts as I recently played one of the ICCF’s proposal’s outlined “21 players that could have obtained a GM norm.†My rating is 2389 and his rating is 2504 (although SIM, he is recognized by all his peers as a GM caliber player). As Black, I obtained an easy draw without ever being in any trouble at all. The player had a rather angry initial discussion with me post mortem about how he felt it was wrong that a 2504 should have to play a player as weak as 2389 where the draw would kill his rating. He felt that his rating was being destroyed by these draws with weaker players and that ICCF should protect him from us. He felt I have it easier as a lower rated player because I can gain rating from these draws. Let’s look at his argument that one is causing the other and it is only happening to those 2500+. At the time that draw occurred, I gained exactly 1.17915 rating points from it (and he lost the same); however, this was the first draw in over 40 games in which I *gained* rating points (this statement is no longer true as a few higher rated players have since given me draws but at the time of the game’s conclusion this was the case). Yes, that’s right, ICCF already does such a good job of protecting higher rated players that it actively hands out advice to new players to be very particular about what invites and events they play because the draws could kill their initial rating. I too have experienced a net negative loss of rating points from draws and still seen my rating going up only due to the fact that wins are easier and ever so slightly more common to come by at my level. However, it means I am not exempt from the draw problem. It is patently false that this problem is limited to those 2500+ as in my last 43 draws, I lost rating in 42 of them and gained rating from 1 of them. Therefore, it appears draws are causing rating deflation and this is the real problem in both norms and correspondence in general. With the exception of matches, perhaps there is a way to have draws not count against one’s rating since there are so many of them? It kind of blends the Chess rating concept with that of Bridge where one cannot lose rating points once earned. What we can see is that the player’s argument that draws are causing rating deflation is probably true. One problem is at least partly causing the other one.
There is a third more devious problem worse than the two outlined above in my opinion. While rating deflation, draws, less players and norms are real issues… they are dwarfed by the change in behavior caused by these issues. I know it is a bit overdramatic to talk about such issues in a time of COVID, but there has been a great increase in the number of players playing Dead Man Defense (often shortened by correspondence players to DMD+ and DMD=). It is important to note that the death rate in COVID for those in the elderly category is markedly higher and the correspondence community in general is also markedly higher. I have heard estimates of the average age of correspondence player being 70-75 range though I haven’t seen any data. Back to DMD, what is DMD and why is it such awful behavior? The players are hoping you die before you win so they can claim either a win on time or if it goes to adjudication then at least claim a draw. The other hope is that you might mouse slip by being forced to play more moves which while that would never happen over the board does surprisingly account for a large portion of wins in ICCF correspondence high-level play. One of the main problems this issue causes is that if someone takes an early draw against a player who then goes on to die, the entire rest of the field gets a free half point and you are punished for playing your game quicker than your peers. Often, players over the board resign once mate is unstoppable or a simple endgame is reached in which the result is known to players of all levels. In correspondence, often even sooner than these players will resign or offer draws, knowing that perpetual check is unavoidable should we play another 10 moves past the piece sac against a bare king? How about when the engine reads +25 +30 or +40? So, for the most, correspondence players draw or resign much earlier than one might over the board due to engine and tablebase assistance. On that note, depending on the tournament, players can outright claim wins and draws either on the 6-piece tablebase (always allowed) or the sometimes allowed on an event by event basis the 7-piece tablebase. It is considered out right rude to make a player play all the way to the 6-piece tablebase to claim. I recently claimed one win in a six piece tablebase up an entire piece where my jolly opponent wanted to discuss the game in a post mortem (rarely done in correspondence in general anyways). I declined to even respond to him even though I was already having a very lively and fun post mortem with a Venezuelan on our extremely interesting draw. A worse example is the 92 move game I played with opposite colored bishops where I had two extra pawns. I offered a draw as white and the higher rated player to my lower rated opponent who declined it, forcing me to play to a 7-piece tablebase claim to end the game. This kind of behavior used to be quite rare. In the past, I would say it happened in 1 out of every 100 games… these days it seems to happen in every other game (1/2!). I have seven different opponents right now that are DMD+ against me where the engine reads +148 (or in some cases even sees mate! The 2504 player that complained about my rating earlier also complained someone was DMD+ him… I remarked that I have no less than 7 players DMD+ me and if they would resign? My rating would be about 2450 right which sort of eliminates his claim about our “giant†rating difference). The issue is that due to rating deflation these players need to artificially keep their rating high as long as they can because that’s how they will get their next invite. With the new terrible time control that is not yet Official (although there is a proposal to make it Official: https://www.iccf.com/Proposal.aspx?id=1282), players only need to make a move once every 50 days to pointlessly extend the game. I have a DMD= draw currently going on 16 months now where the player is just moving Kg1 Kf1 Kg1 every 50 days. This time control exasperates the DMD problem. When I contacted ICCF Officials to point out the severity of this problem, I was told that I should report it to the TD on a case by case basis only if it is DMD+ as they will not look at DMD= at all. However, it is usually the TDs that are the biggest offenders (6 of the 7 players described above were TDs). In fact, it is usually the same general casts of characters which allows for an easy black list to be created that bars these players from play until they can fix their atrocious behavior. This behavior needs to be punished. These players need to be reprimanded. In the end, lack of norms, rating deflation and the draw death will not make me quit correspondence chess. It is DMD+/DMD= that will make me quit. This experience is my personal experience with high level correspondence over thirteen years and I would love to hear from other correspondence players concerning these problems.
Thibault de Vassal (2020-05-05 17:54:22)
AlphaGo, the movie (Deepmind)
For all Go lovers, the film about the victories of AlphaGo over professional players, european champion Fan Hui 2 dan then Lee Sedol 9p and Ke Jie 9p.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXuK6gekU1Y
Of course, AlphaGo was the start of the "AI" adventures in the Go game when it played Fan Hui... AlphaZero was even much stronger not long after that.
Exal Garcia Carrillo (2020-05-28 09:37:48)
Cancel joining a tournament?
Hi, I'm currently in the waiting list for two chess tournaments there is a way I can cancel this? (the tournaments are still waiting for more players)
Roberto Battaglia (2020-06-04 09:55:29)
chess archives in pgn
A few days ago, in the chat, I put some questions regarding the existence or not of archives of chess games and their organization. The chat doesn't allow many words so I take advantage of the forum for explaining the matter.
For example on the ICCF website I find for each player a file with all his chess games, I also find archives of all the games played year by year. This allows me to create excellent databases, using for example SCID.
I also would like to add the games played on FICS but, perhaps for my limit, I was able to find only one way to access the pgn. that is: I type the name of a player in the search box and press go. If, for example, I write Fric (Fric Lubos is a friend of mine who attends both ICCF and FICGS) I find all his PNGs but there are mixed games of poker and chess and this creates a problem because I have to separate them by looking at them one by one.
I hope I was clear. Obviously it is possible that I have not seen some functions of the site that allow to access to archives where could be stored games divided by year, by player and by type of game. I thank all those who want to answer me and wish everyone good and winning games.
Roberto
Steven DuCharme (2020-06-05 02:51:26)
ATTENTION USA PLAYERS
Please join/renew the United States Chess Federation asap...tyvm
Wilhelm Schuett (2020-06-18 01:11:45)
Game 122565
In Game 122565 i have made several moves but my clock stayed a4 1 day. No day was added after my last moves. In my other games there was added one day after each move.
Thibault de Vassal (2020-07-30 01:28:33)
Chess engines levels from 1985 to 2020
What do you think about these elo estimations for chess engines, from Mephisto to DeepBlue, then AlphaZero and Stockfish, Komodo & so on?
Old names surfacing: Rybka of course, all Chessbase engines (Fritz, Junior, Hiarcs & Shredder) but also older but well known names like Fruit, Crafty, Chess Tiger, Chess Genius, Chessmaster, Rebel, Saitek, Nimzo and many others... Those graphics are always funny to watch :)
Steven DuCharme (2020-07-30 16:51:10)
HAPPY 60th...
birthday to me :)
Steven DuCharme (2020-08-29 05:03:41)
I have left here...
permanently...may yours improve incrementally :)
Thibault de Vassal (2020-09-03 00:09:24)
Stockfish 12, neural network
Stockfish 12 is available, and surprise surprise it includes NNUE (efficiently updatable neural network) out-of-the-box. It would be significantly stronger than its predecessors.
https://blog.stockfishchess.org/post/628172810852925440/stockfish-12
Did anyone try it in deep already? Any thoughts?
Thomas Croon (2020-09-14 14:36:46)
bullet corrospondence
whats the time controls for it. I am confusioned
Steven DuCharme (2020-10-08 23:12:04)
please join...
the English Chess Federation asap tyvm
Steven DuCharme (2020-10-11 00:30:39)
Duda Demolishes Carlsen!
ends 125 game game unbeaten streak!!!
Steven DuCharme (2020-10-27 12:52:43)
THE QUEENS GAMBIT...
is at NETFLIX
Steven DuCharme (2020-11-23 18:42:54)
On Another Site...
the system there said my position was lost...I disagreed...I said I didn't like the system...(I have since learned I was wrong)...I have been suspended there until March 18
Daniel Parmet (2020-12-03 19:09:01)
What happened to all the players?
What happened to all the players? I see we used to have dozens of GMs and SIMs not to mention just a huge quantity of players here in years past. How do we get them back? It has become so hard to play on ICCF. Online chess is seeing this huge surge and even now more FIDE IMs and GMs seem to be trying correspondence for lack of other places to play. Why hasn't FICGS enjoyed some of this uptick as well as DMD, rating deflation and lack of events hurt ICCF.
Garvin Gray (2020-12-06 13:57:56)
Repeated draw offers
I have noted over quite a period of time where players complain that their opponents keep offering draw after draw after draw.
At this point in time, the only avenue to try and get this stopped is to press 'call referee' and complain to Thibault.
ICCF has a different solution to this matter and I believe it should be incorporated here:
If a player offers a draw in a single game, and that draw offer is declined by the opponent, the server will incapacitate the player's ability to make a second draw offer until at least 10 more moves have been made, with one exception.
If the opponent offers a draw during a player's 10-move count (that is, within 10 moves subsequent to the player's having made a draw offer), then the player's 10-move count is terminated at that time such that the player can again offer a draw with any move. This "10-move" rule does not include claims of a draw related to 3-position repetition, 7-piece tablebase claims, 50-move rule claims, or adjudication-related claims.
Dariusz Fraczek (2020-12-12 16:57:21)
Cannot make a move
After selecting a game I am on move, blank page is displayed (only menu bar) - no board, no game data. Games where my opponents are on move are displayed correctly and I can change game id and go to a game I am on move, but it is in read only mode. Checked on different browsers (Chrome and Opera) and different PCs. Some hours ago there was no problem.
Ewald Gossmann (2020-12-23 12:59:51)
FAIR PLAY
Please, have a look on game 123915. Is something like that FAIR PLAY?
Don Groves (2020-12-27 06:11:07)
Anyone up for a Chess Rapid Silver match
I'm waiting...
Ewald Gossmann (2021-01-04 14:27:01)
K+B vs. K
I think all chessplayers know that this position is a draw. But in the game 125428 my oponent continues making move after move. I have already offered a draw, but no reaction.
King Heilong (2021-02-10 08:21:21)
Who likes weiqi or Go
I do!!!
Ilmars Cirulis (2021-03-19 19:26:41)
Berlin Defense
Why do people keep playing Ruy Lopez if there's Berlin Defense that's drawish more than enough?
I still haven't lost a game in Berlin Defense as black.
Herbert Kruse (2021-03-27 13:12:46)
Poker Rating
if someone goes all in all games and loses, why i dont get a rating?
do i have to fold??
Garvin Gray (2021-04-10 03:20:05)
Wch 22 Stage 2 ended
As noted by Stanislas Gounant, all three groups have now ended.
Looking at the qualifying structure for the World Championship, are we waiting for the winners of the two Semi Finals to be completed?
That would then mean the Knockout final and the Round Robin Final start at the same time.
In response to that, I would think that a round robin group of 28 games would take longer than a knockout final of 8 games, so the round robin group should start earlier, if possible
Misha Allport (2021-04-27 20:18:08)
Players ratings
When are players' ratings adjusted? After each game? After each tournament?
Steven DuCharme (2021-05-21 00:09:08)
World Bee Day....
please help crank up their quantity asap...thanx
Misha Allport (2021-05-26 16:36:51)
Waiting List Expiration.
Are there time limits for waiting lists? Are they removed for lack of interest/non-participation?
Thibault de Vassal (2021-06-21 13:42:20)
Fat Fritz 2 vs. Stockfish 13
Chess engines still evolve, now we have Stock... err, Fat Fritz 2 (based on Stockfish 12) on Fritz 17 GUI, and the famous free chess engine Stockfish 13, both using neural networks on CPU and not GPU anymore (if I understood well).
Did anyone try both of them to compare it, or to compare to former versions like Stockfish 11 ? What learnings?
Misha Allport (2021-06-27 18:47:48)
Withdrawal from Standard Tournament
I respectfully request withdrawal from the Standard Tournament -Class E- #000239 for personal reasons. Thank You, Allport, Misha
Thibault de Vassal (2021-07-04 01:01:42)
Stockfish 14 is out
Recently speaking of Stockfish 13, the next gen is already there: Stockfish 14 for Windows, MacOS, Linux & so on... it is said more accurate & quite stronger than its predecessor. Any comparison will be welcome!
https://stockfishchess.org/download/
Ilmars Cirulis (2021-07-08 11:36:01)
Big Chess theory?
I will start with a low-hanging fruit: bishops are much more worthy than knights, maybe even twice as much.
Don Groves (2021-07-09 04:42:13)
Confused
In Game 129751, the last move was Re4 but the pgn shows Ne4. What happened?
Christoph Schroeder (2021-07-18 02:23:21)
3 times repetition not recognized ??
Game 131349 is a 3 times repetition. My opponent still declines my draw offer.
Why isn't there an automatic end of a game when a position is repeated for the third time?
Don Groves (2021-07-26 02:18:24)
Another error.
In game 129344 the last move for White is Kg2, but the King is still on G1!
Juri Eintalu (2021-09-04 17:22:19)
ICCF ratings
Hello. I am new here. I see that my ICCF rating has been converted into a FICGS rating. However, I have not found here any information about whether the FICGS rating influences the ICCF or ELO ratings.
Juri Eintalu (2021-09-09 02:09:40)
Venezuela has been dismissed from ICCF
ICCF announced:
"Venezuela was dismissed from the ICCF (2021-028)."
The number is the number of the proposal accepted by Congress.
In the proposal, it was said that the Venezuelan organizer of several correspondence chess tournaments had vanished with the prize money:
"presumably absconded with the promised prize money".
(https://www.iccf.com/Proposal.aspx?id=1341 )
I know that Venezuela organized several correspondence chess tournaments "in support of Venezuela". There are also rumours that because of the US sanctions, Cuba and Venezuela have difficulties with international money transfers.
Thibault de Vassal (2021-09-20 02:16:26)
Chess Cup final #4
The 4th FICGS chess cup just started with 28 players... that is much more than the previous ones, and too many players most probably, but it should not happen again as 5 players groups will be double round robin from now (decreasing chances to see 4 or 5 players obtaining the same score).
Good luck everyone!
Juri Eintalu (2021-09-27 16:29:57)
How to Accept a Draw in Chess
I am new on FICGS and I do not understand how to accept a draw offering in chess. I accepted a draw, but after about 12 hours, my clock is still running and the draw is not fixed. I do not want to accept a draw together with making a move, as in the OTB game making a move means rejecting the draw.
Steven DuCharme (2021-10-14 09:32:32)
After 23.75 years...
stansco.com will cease operations on 10/20/2021
Ilmars Cirulis (2021-11-01 15:36:57)
First steps in 8-piece endgame TBs
http://arves.org/arves/index.php/en/latestnews/latest-news/2-ongecategoriseerd/1509-8-men-tablebase-first-explorations
Juri Eintalu (2021-11-27 02:49:44)
Unvaccinated correspondence chessplayers
I have read that in Latvia, unvaccinated deputies of the parliament are banned from voting and giving speeches — even from far, digitally. Estonian newspapers wrote about this.
I have also read that in some parts of Australia, the unvaccinated deputies of some local offices cannot vote even from far. I do not know what to believe.
However, online voting cannot spread the virus.
Therefore, a question arises concerning correspondence chess. Imagine that someone demands that unvaccinated chess players be banned from playing online chess because online chess cannot infect anyone with the virus.
I do not understand what the logic of all of this is.
Garvin Gray (2021-12-23 03:39:41)
Cross tables in score order
Currently the tournament cross tables are always shown in start order.
Would it be possible to give players the option to be able to show them in score order?
Stanislas Gounant (2022-01-18 22:12:07)
Chess engines in thematic tournaments
Are players using chess engibnes welcome in thematic tournaments?
Vadrya Pokshtya (2022-02-17 08:52:23)
Grand Dice Chess
Hello,
I am the author and inventor of chess variants. My chess variants are published on chessvariants.com and some of them can be played on Game Courier.
I would like to present to you a variant of chess with dice that I invented relatively recently and which can already be played on two sites on the Internet.
Grand Dice Chess
The Rules
The game uses a 12x12 board.
Each player has:
4 Kings
24 Pawns
8 Knights
8 Bishops
8 Rooks
4 Queens
White and black occupy the 1st-6th and 7th-12th ranks, respectively, as shown in the diagram.
Unfortunately I can't post an image here, but you can always find it here:
https://granddicechess.blogspot.com/2022/01/grand-dice-chess.html
https://www.chess.com/blog/Pokshtya/grand-dice-chess-battle
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-variants/grand-dice-chess
White starts the game first.
The game uses four dice.
Opponents make moves alternately, throwing 4 dice. The piece to move is determined by a die:
1 = pawn, 2 = knight, 3 = bishop, 4 = rook, 5 = queen and 6 = king.
The player makes four moves at the same time based on the indications of the dice and has the right to refuse (pass) any move that does not suit him, unless it is a pawn move. Unlike in regular dice chess it's allowable to pass moves. And this rule was already applied about a thousand years ago in old variant of Shatranj (Shatranj al-Mustatîla or Oblong Chess), the Arabic pre-decessor of modern chess. However it's not allowed to pass on pawn-moves, except when they are blocked.
Chess pieces move across the board as they do in ordinary chess - according to the standard rules of move and capture.
The only minor exception is for a pawn that is not allowed to move forward two squares from its starting position.
Upon reaching the last rank, the pawn can be promoted to any piece except the king and itself.
There is no castling, check and checkmate in the game.
The goal of the game is to capture four enemy kings.
The first test tournament was held on the site http://abstractgames.ru/index.php
The tournament is attended by 10 people and I received the most positive feedback from them.
The game has proven itself so well that regular tournaments have already been launched.
Yesterday the game was added to Dagaz server https://games.dtco.ru/map
And it's a great place to test the game in person, as registering on the site is very easy and doesn't require any personal information.
The game turned out to be extremely interesting and exciting, replete with puzzling combinations. Surprisingly, with this size of the board and the number of pieces, the average game lasts no more than 30 turns.
Brice Boucher (2022-02-25 14:34:43)
Bullet game
organize a game of chess or big chess bullet whenever you want ;-)
Thibault de Vassal (2022-02-27 13:47:40)
Ukrainian players clocks during war
This topic to discuss what should be done about ukrainian players clocks... Probably they do have other matter to think than to take vacation on FICGS while their country is under attack.
Garvin told me that ICCF decided to stop their clocks. What do you think?
Thibault de Vassal (2022-02-27 14:00:58)
FICGS support to Ukraine
I must say I'm not used at all to merge politics &/or war to chess... I'm not sure if FICGS should display a ukrainian flag during these obviously very sad times. But I'll do it if the most think it's a good idea. Personally I do support civil people under bombs, probably in all cases.
Also it is quite tough to understand what happens there from 2014 & Minsk agreements... I discussed about it with russians, ukrainians, read many news & fake news, much complexity. I do not think this is the place to discuss about it though, so let's just decide about a way to support or if we should stop players clocks only.
Thibault de Vassal (2022-03-02 00:55:20)
Russian flag replaced
Dear chessfriends, I think that FICGS should walk the way followed by several federations (tennis, soccer...). The russian flag does not represent russian players anymore. Of course, russian people has nothing to do with the sad events in Ukraine.
Thibault de Vassal (2022-03-07 21:08:28)
HTTPS not available on March 7th
There was a huge issue on FICGS server today, I'm glad to have been able to fix this as it was really tough and unlikely ^^ This is what happens when running an old system with recent modules...
No time was added to clocks as it lasted less than 24 hours (sorry :)), and a few players connect to HTTP (not really secure, particularly if you used the right login field).
I started to work with the most recent Linux system a few weeks ago so I should be ready to migrate FICGS to this new server at some time... There is no urge though, it will be a long and difficult operation.
A. T. S. Broekhuizen (2022-03-15 10:27:03)
withdraw from waiting list
Dear chess friends,
I'd like to withdraw from a waiting list, but I don't know the procedure.
It's FICGS__CHESS__RAPID_M__000129.
The reason is that the second round of last WCC has started and I need some time of the board as well.
Juri Eintalu (2022-03-21 21:23:10)
FIDE BANS KARJAKIN
FIDE bans Karjakin for 6 months because of his announcements concerning the Ukraine war.
https://www.fide.com/news/1650
Giacomo Rita (2022-04-04 00:22:26)
TITLE FEM
why, despite having two FEM standards, was I not awarded the title?
Juri Eintalu (2022-04-13 09:54:42)
ICCF Extraordinary Congress
ICCF is about to change its Statute to be able to suspend or exclude countries from the ICCF based on other reasons than financial reasons.
Then, the ICCF is about to suspend Russia and Belarus, using this fresh Amendment.
No reasons or principles are provided, the only criteria are the majority of votes.
However, if any new principles would be introduced, they would be applied backwards-looking and selectively.
https://www.iccf.com/Proposals.aspx?id=76
Thibault de Vassal (2022-04-20 23:32:42)
Stockfish 15 available to download
About 36 elo points stronger than its predecessor, Stockfish 15 is out & available to download...
You can read all details here:
http://stockfishchess.org/blog/2022/stockfish-15/
Thibault de Vassal (2022-05-01 00:23:18)
Chess & Go in TV shows
Just seen Hikaru Nakamura in Billions S05E02... short appearance, but still surprising :)
The scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNlvlwbdOek
Did you notice such appearances of chess granmasters or Go champions recently?
Thibault de Vassal (2022-05-06 16:12:00)
Chess.com blocked in Russia
It seems that the #1 chess website has just been blocked in Russia, probably because of too many messages in favor of Ukraine... about 3.5 million users could be impacted.
Let's hope that other chess websites will not follow this way, isolating more and more our russian chessfriends. I'm just more and more skeptical on how the situation can evolve.
Thibault de Vassal (2022-05-11 01:02:59)
Carlos Alcaraz y el ajedrez :)
The recent winner of Rio, Barcelona & Madrid Open 2022 talks about his incredible performances at tennis, and how blitz chess helps him...
(spanish language)
https://www.marca.com/tenis/2022/03/07/6225c2c6e2704ed95f8b45cc.html
"P. Uno de los aspectos más desconocidos en usted es que le gusta hacer siesta y el ajedrez antes de los partidos. ¿Me lo puede explicar?
R. Asà es. Me pillaron con la cámara en el Next Gen de Milán y en RÃo también dormÃa porque el descanso es importante y más en una semana tan intensa en la que llovió y se retrasaron los partidos. La recuperación era clave y las siestas antes de los partidos para mà lo son. Y el ajedrez me ayuda porque estás concentrado, la cabeza te funciona...
P. ¿En qué le ayuda concretamente el ajedrez para la práctica del tenis?
R. Me ayuda a estar más rápido mentalmente, a observar jugadas, a ver el movimiento que quieres hacer, la estrategia... A estar concentrado todo el tiempo. En el ajedrez, como el tenis, te despistas un momento y ya se revuelve la partida. En este aspecto son dos disciplinas bastante parecidas."
Thibault de Vassal (2022-05-15 16:39:20)
19th Go championship final match
Hello everyone,
The 19th Go championship final match just started... late, really late. It did not start before because the challenger obviously stopped to play at FICGS and lost games without making a move (cancelling his qualification), but when reading the rules again, I realized that nothing prevented to make a replacement by the 2nd best score.
Consequently Paul Dao (CAN) is the challenger in 19th & 20th Go championships. Of course he will not have to play the 20th final match if he wins the 19th...
(better late than never, sorry for the delay)
German Denegri (2022-07-09 21:27:21)
Cancel vacations
hello
how can cancel my vacations, i see i dont can move, i did it becouse i had little time in one game....
Juri Eintalu (2022-07-10 19:05:13)
RUSSIA AND BELARUS NOT SUSPENDED?
It seems that Russia and Belarus have not been suspended from the international chess federation ICCF.
The ICCF Extraordinary Congress tried to suspend Russian and Belarus federations.
Online voting was carried on 27 April - 09 May 2022.
https://www.iccf.com/congresses
ICCF homepage does not provide a clear result. I do not see it. The link to THAT Congress disappeared today.
The downloadable table of the voting results does not show in detail, what country made what decision.
An excerpt from the results:
***
EC 2022-003 Suspend the Russian Federation - Void if EC 2022-001 is Defeated
For 33, Against 10, Abstain 14
(I calculate that FOR: 58%)
Amendment of ICCF Statute Article 17, EC 2022-01 required 2/3 votes. The result was:
For 34, Against 10, Abstain 13.
I calculate that FOR: 60% which is less than the required 2/3 or 67%.
***
It seems that the ICCF did not succeed to change its Statute so as to allow the suspension of Russia and Belarus based on majority voting.
Unfortunately, in my homeland, there is no information available on how our representative voted (if he voted) and based on what considerations. The national federation also has not responded to my question sent officially through the ICCF server. I also do not see any relevant news on the national federation's website.
Frey Rafferty (2022-08-15 01:10:41)
FICGS Titles
Hi!
Is there somewhere I can find the full requirements for all of the FICGS titles? Thanks
Yeturu Aahlad (2022-08-16 21:32:54)
respectful legacy
Today, an esteemed opponent, Aleksey Payzansky, a Ukrainian player, resigned all his Poker games against me. I've been wanting to start a discussion here on a FICGS policy of respectful legacy for some time now. What follows is a straw-man to start the discussion.
1. It is reasonable to require a minimum degree of prior participation before this policy applies.
2. Under appropriate circumstances, this policy may be applied retroactively.
3. If we know that a participant has died, it will trigger this policy.
4. If a participant announces that they will no longer participate or suspend their participation for an unknown length of time, it will trigger this policy. (Controversial - this is regardless of their reasons for doing so.)
5. If a participant stops participating for a prescribed length of time without any announcement, it will trigger this policy retroactively from the time the participation stopped. (Controversial - the intent is to give the participant the benefit of doubt.)
When the policy applies,
1. All of the participant's pending games (retroactively if applicable) will be adjudged. A player with a clear lead will be declared the winner. Games which are too close will be either declared a tie or removed from the record with no adjustment of ELO. (Controversial - time on the clock will not be a consideration in the adjudication.)
2. Returning participants will be welcomed. They will retain their ELO, and their degree of prior participation will be reset to zero.
I would be happy to see this policy applied retroactively to Aleksey if that is appropriate.
Misha Allport (2022-08-26 18:06:00)
2022 Chess Cup-Group Leader(s)
In the current 2022 CC, one group has finished 12 games. No leader(s) are shown. Why?
Thibault de Vassal (2022-09-26 14:24:10)
Magnus Carlsen vs. Hans Niemann
I guess that everyone here is aware about the Carlsen-Niemann drama... Of course, it is still difficult to make a clear idea, so what do you think about this video (in french but you can get subtitles)?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PqORG75Cr4
If you know a video in english that say about the same (in brief, Niemann would have a 100% correlation with Stockfish 15 in several recent games, even more than in the cheating case in Paris few years ago, which is very very unlikely), thanks for sharing some more links...
Misha Allport (2022-09-26 23:52:00)
Chess Cup-1st Stage
How many players from each group in the 1st stage qualify for the next phase?
Rodolfo d Ettorre (2022-09-27 15:28:37)
Next thematic tournament
Hi,
What is the theme of the next thematic tournament? Any change?
Misha Allport (2022-10-03 16:58:26)
Number of moves affect the ratng result?
If I am playing a stronger player(+600 points).do the number of moves I make in a loss affect my new rating?(i.e. do I lose fewer points being defeated in 60 moves as opposed to being beaten in 10 moves)?
Patrycja Zerowska (2022-10-06 09:54:59)
Threefold repetition
It seems that there is no way to claim a draw by threefold repetition on this site. In the game 136386, where I have Black, the position that occurred after my 50th move, is the same as that after my 58th move, and will be the same after my intended 60th move, namely 60... Bf7. I therefore claim a draw in this game.
Since apparently there is no "automatic arbiter" to process the claim, I called the "referee" on 1 October 2022 (5 days ago), explaining that I made a draw claim as described above (and mentioning my intended move), but I haven't received a reaction yet.
This particular game has been a dead draw at least since move 35. I offered a draw after my 35th move and on my 59th move. Both offers were declined.
1. Why is there no automatic arbiter which processes draw claims? If I am not mistaken, this site exists more than 15 years already, and yet the Laws of Chess are not yet fully implemented.
2. Why can't I stop my clock when I make such a claim? See art. 9.5 of FIDE's Laws of Chess.
3. Why doesn't the arbiter or the referee stop my clock? Without this, a player making a claim can timeout, or, when she is short on time, may be reluctant to make a draw claim.
4. Why doesn't the referee take action? Is there a referee at all?
In the rules section of this site I read: "Also, there is no way to stop the clocks, players cannot claim that they stopped to play after they called the referee for any reason..." This is a violation of the rules of chess; it implies that on this site it is not chess that is being played, but a weird chess variant. Of course I disagree with this corruption of the playing rules, and so should everyone who call themselves chess players!
Your strange rules also state that the referee will "act as soon as possible", but so far, after five days, no referee has shown up. So you are not even acting in agreement to your own rules.
Finally, I find in your rules the following statement: "All games are played until a player resign, accept draw, or lose on time." This is the most ridiculous "rule" I have ever encountered. Not only renders this farcical rule a win by checkmate illegitimate, it is a blatant ignoring of the Laws of Chess, which allow games to be ended by accepted draw claims, or for any other reason at the discretion of an arbiter.
Misha Allport (2022-10-11 01:48:33)
Rating System.....
.....which rating system(i.e Elo, Glicko, URS etc. etc.) is used by FICGS?
Thibault de Vassal (2022-10-26 18:33:00)
What about this position?
What do you think? :)
ChessPosition (see diagram)
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Stanislas Gounant (2022-11-21 18:00:54)
I did not win a game since 3 years
Cela fait 15 ans que je joue sur ce site, assisté par ordinateur. Il y a 15 ans pour gagner une partie il fallait utiliser plusieurs programmes d'analyse suivant les phases de jeu. Je crois me souvenir que Hiarcs était meilleur en finale que les autres programmes. Il y a quelques années encore, il était possible de trouver des forteresses qui résistaient aux assauts de l'adversaire, même quand mon programme me disait que j'avais perdu. Mais cela fait 3 ans que je n'ai gagné que contre des joueurs qui jouaient sans l'aide de l'ordinateur ou qui se sont trompés de case en jouant leur coup. Ce que j'aimerais c'est qu'une solution soit trouvée pour redonner de l'intérêt au jeu par correspondance.
Gregory Kohut (2022-11-22 22:30:44)
World Cup
Who do you think will win the World Cup?
Branko Kosic (2023-02-02 14:38:16)
Advertising a win or a draw with 7th or
How can I advertise a win or a draw with 7th or 6th figure base playoffs 1!?
Pavel Hase (2023-05-23 13:57:57)
Problem players.
Why are players still accepted into tournaments who overwhelmingly fail to finish their games or lose on time? A tady zase jednoho po pár letech vidÃm - stále to samé. Plus nÄ›kolik dalÅ¡Ãch.
Ilmars Cirulis (2023-06-03 02:12:00)
GUI for Big Chess?
The title.
Misha Allport (2023-07-04 14:47:58)
allport_misha: Withdrawal from 2023 CWC
......for health reasons. I informed FICGS 3 hours ago by e-mail that I wouldn't be able to participate in the FICGS 2023 Chess World Championship.
User Name: allport_misha(Brasil)
Thibault de Vassal (2023-07-27 19:06:48)
FIDE rating change proposal
Maybe you heard about this strange proposal made by a mathematician to make FIDE ratings (<2000) more coherent against some deflation...
http://en.chessbase.com/post/fide-seeks-proposals-rating-changes
http://www.chess.com/news/view/fide-mathematician-proposes-changes-to-improve-rating-accuracy
I'm somewhat doubtful about this idea to change some data rather than the algorithm, what do you think?
A. T. S. Broekhuizen (2023-09-10 13:00:12)
Looking for opponent in 1v1 match
see: https://ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=entry_tournament&tournament=ficgs_chess_rapid_silver
Vadrya Pokshtya (2023-11-03 07:37:46)
Battle of Kings
As the inventor of many chess variants that can be played on the Internet, I want to share with you a mind-blowing chess variant.
I’m sure you’ve never seen anything like this before, and I’ll say without undue modesty that this is perhaps my best creation.
https://www.chessvariants.com/rules/battle-of-kings-
or more detailed here:
https://www.chess.com/blog/Pokshtya/battle-of-the-kings-is-a-chess-variant-that-drives-you-crazy
Give it a try against a bot (no registration required): https://dagazproject.github.io/checkmate/botk.htm
Feel free to implement it here if you see fit.
Regards,
Vadrya Pokshtya
Juri Eintalu (2023-11-05 06:03:45)
A Public Appeal to Chess Organisations
A PUBLIC APPEAL TO CHESS ORGANISATIONS ON THE BOMBING OF THE GAZA STRIP
Israel’s bombing of the civilians trapped in the Gaza Strip has resulted in a catastrophic number of causalities in a very short time. It may amount to crimes against humanity, war crimes, mass murder, collective punishment or genocide, as noted by the UN and several international independent organisations.
I suggest that international chess organisations like FIDE and ICCF should revoke their sanctions on Russia and Belarus concerning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, or they should impose the same sanctions on Israel.
Independently of the decisions of these international chess organisations, I call individual chess players to refuse to play chess with those players who are using Israel’s flag, etc.
The full text of my appeal can be read here:
https://medium.com/@eintalu/a-public-appeal-to-chess-organisations-on-the-bombing-of-the-gaza-strip-be56afd3f5ca
Timothy Cookson (2023-11-24 01:40:53)
Referee Adjudication
At what point should I ask for an adjudication by tablebase?
Is there a rule for 5-6-7 man syzygy positions? It is a 167DTM position and it does not draw by 50 move rule.
Ilmars Cirulis (2023-12-27 19:30:42)
Fried Liver analysis on rybkaforum.net?
I tried to browse it using web.archive.org website, but I don't remember when (which year) and where (which place in the forum) it was posted...
There was some collective analysis of Fried Liver, after some poster postulated that black is okay in this variation.
Thank you in advance and Happy New Year of 2024! :)
A. T. S. Broekhuizen (2024-03-16 20:34:57)
message for Thibault regarding...
... the tournament that I withdrawed from.
Dear Thibault,
February 25. I sent you an email that I had accidentally enrolled in two standard class M tournaments, by clicking a second time before the next page loaded.
This night I saw some new games and assumed it was the new WCC cycle. But upon closer inspection, it was the second Class M tournament that I thought I had withrawn from.
Added to the imminent new WCC this will be a bit much. So is it still possible to fix this?
Ilmars Cirulis (2024-03-24 10:46:42)
Big Chess in NebiyuAlien engine
How to configure the variation for it?
I'm trying to figure that out. ':)
Peter Brodie (2024-05-19 18:27:20)
Conditional
How do you offer conditional moves? It isn't that obvious..
Thibault de Vassal (2024-05-31 19:21:52)
Extreme case in a Go game
I couldn't imagine such a case, but it happened:
Two players reached this position, now alternately pass... and one player just asked me to adjudicate the game. It could have been a good joke, but...
Now I just don't know what to do ^^
https://ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=viewer&game=142645&move=413
https://ficgs.com/game_142645.html
A. T. S. Broekhuizen (2024-09-10 14:05:28)
Group winners first stage of Ficgs WCH
For group 1 t/m 5 it is already clear as crystal who's going to win and for the last groups as well, but those are shared group wins. Sadly many players prolong their game. And for group 6 and 7 I can understand, since the rules are such that in case of a tie the group win goes to the highest TER and after that to the highest rating holder.
But wouldn't it be best to just start a second round ASAP with two groups of five players? Or will it really come down to TER's and most recent ratings?
I included an oversight of the group winners:
Group 1
Kireev, Sergey
Group 2
Hallqvist, Niklas
Group 3
Knittel, Martin
Group 4
Swiatek, Janusz
Group 5
LaDuke, Matt
Group 6
Gounant, Stanislas
Pech, Stepan
Group 7
DeBonis, Patrick
Broekhuizen, A. T. S.
Ward, David
Bahadir Ozen (2024-10-19 16:25:41)
Conditional Moves Method
Hello, thank you for keeping the site active!
I am curious; ICCF - as in LSS; Is it possible to make conditional moves in FICGS? Could it be possible in the future?
Kind regards
Stanislas Gounant (2024-11-12 01:02:19)
50 moves rule
Does this site use the rule of 50 moves, or not ? And why ?
A. T. S. Broekhuizen (2024-11-15 09:37:54)
stage 2 WCH 000028
I made some earlier post about this WCH. Now I was wondering when stage 2 of WCH 000028 would start (and if I would be in it ;)). I looked up the first stage tournaments of this WCH and I noticed that there seems to be a bug. For my group it says that there's only a leader and no definitive winner. Only by now all games have been completed. So it seems this is a bug, which potentially is the cause of the hold-up.
Garvin Gray (2024-12-07 04:02:25)
New Tie Break System
Currently Ficgs uses TER as its first tie break if two or more players are tied for first in a round robin group.
I have thought for a long time this is rather unfair and gives way too much advantage to the player with the highest rating in the group.
The practical effect of this rule can be thus:
7 players in a group:
The difference in ratings between the players can be less than 100 points and seeds 1 and 2 can be as little as 2 or 2 rating points.
But with using TER as the first tie break, the top seed only needs to have score the same as everyone else to advance, which with engines nowadays, can quite often mean that all games in a group are drawn.
What I propose is to change the tie break system to the following:
1) Number of wins
2) Sonneborn–Berger
3) Direct Encounter
4) TER
A second option is to stop using such small groups where possible. This would then at least increase the likelihood of a positive result in the groups as more games are played.
Scott Ligon (2025-01-07 18:55:30)
Stockfish unbeatable at modest settings?
I am running an experiment where each move will be selected by Stockfish 17 in a deterministic configuration, so it will be possible to predict my response to any given move with certainty. I believe Stockfish 17 at these settings is so strong that it will be difficult if not impossible to exploit this strategy. However, if I reach a position where it looks like this strategy is going to lose, I reserve the right to deviate. If this happens, I will message my opponent to let them know that I am no longer following this system.
I'm using a python script to interact with Stockfish, but you should be able to get the same results running Stockfish 17 from the command line. I am currently running the search with the parameter nodes = 10 million (previously I tried nodes = 5 million but I found a way for white to win against Stockfish at that setting). From the command line:
go nodes 10000000
In order for Stockfish to be deterministic, it needs to be running on just 1 thread and from the command line that's the default. If for some reason Threads has a different value on your machine:
setoption name Threads value 1
I'm using the default size for the hash table, but if you run the search a second time without clearing the hash, you will get a different search result. So either close and restart Stockfish between searches or else clear the hash table:
setoption name Clear Hash
Lastly you need to be able to input the position before running the search. It is important that you enter the position via FEN string rather than by inputting the moves, because you might get different search results otherwise. Use only the first four fields of the FEN string, like this to get black's response after 1 e4:
position fen rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq -
From that position if you run Stockfish with nodes = 10 million, the last two lines of text output should say:
info depth 32 seldepth 46 multipv 1 score cp -26 lowerbound nodes 10000376 nps 462252 hashfull 999 tbhits 0 time 21634 pv c7c5
bestmove c7c5 ponder g1f3
I think only the values of "nps" and "time" will vary, everything else should be identical between runs / machines. So in this case Stockfish 17 recommends the Sicilian Defense and gives an evaluation of +0.26. (cp -26 is the evaluation in centipawns from the perspective of the side to move, but usually evals are given from white's POV).
Ilmars Cirulis (2025-02-22 21:23:01)
KGA, Breyer Gambit
King's Gambit Accepted, Breyer Gambit
It goes 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Qf3
3.Nf3 and 3.Bc4 is okay, but what do you think about this third move (3.Qf3)?
Cheers!
Account deleted (2025-03-26 01:43:09)
Delete account
Hi I would like to delete my account as I'm starting a personal project and don't want any IRL nosey people searching my name. Could you guys arrange that? thanks!
Thibault de Vassal (2025-03-27 23:35:56)
The future of cheating over the board?
"Scientists create sound that can curve through a crowd and reach just one person
Engineers at Penn State have introduced a breakthrough audio system called “audible enclaves†that can send sound directly to one person without anyone else hearing it—and all without the use of headphones.
The system relies on ultrasound waves, which travel silently through the air. When two beams with slightly different frequencies cross paths, they generate an audible tone right at that meeting point, allowing only the intended recipient to hear the message.
Even more impressive, the sound can curve around obstacles to reach its target. In initial tests, it worked effectively up to three feet away. This innovation opens the door for private audio experiences in shared spaces and better control of sound in noisy environments, though it's not yet ready for commercial use."
(Source: Facebook)
[Chess forum]
[Rating lists]
[Countries]
[Chess openings]
[Legal informations]
[Contact]
[Social network] [Hot news] [Discussions] [Seo forums] [Meet people] [Directory]
[Social network] [Hot news] [Discussions] [Seo forums] [Meet people] [Directory]
Social network : create your photo albums, discuss with your friends...
Hot news & buzz : discover the latest news and buzz on the internet...
Discussions : questions and answers, forums on almost everything...
Seo forums : search engines optimisation forums, web directory...
Play the strongest international correspondence chess players !
|
Khachaturov, Vadim (ARM) [member # 1078] Correspondence chess : 2371 Ranked # 109 in the rating list. Rating history : No change this year. Advanced chess : 2353 Poker holdem : 2151 This member has no profile in the social network. |
 | Correspondence chess World championship Play chess games Go (weiqi, baduk) Advanced chess Play big chess Chess trainer apk Rated tournaments Poker texas hold'em Fischer random chess | |