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André Diamant wins Brazilian Chess Championship W. Utesch wins the 2nd FICGS candidates final Veselin Topalov wins Pearl Spring in Nanjing Miroshnichenko wins Ukrainian Championship 2008 Vassily Ivanchuk wins Benidorm tournament Armenia wins gold at 38th Chess Olympiad Deep Fritz 11 is available (Chessbase.com) Dominguez-Perez wins World Blitz Championship Hikaru Nakamura wins Cap d'Agde tournament Viswanathan Anand is FIDE world champion 2008 more chess news... |
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Patrice Verdier (2006-04-12 09:47:09)
Tournaments formulas
I am agree with De Silva. I think that already tournaments are slow. 10 moves for 40 days or 30 days is a good formula. Perhaps it will be interesting to create blitz tournament for players who like this (example : 1 move by day) Also it will be interesting to create tournament with Cup System.
Jose Carrillo (2006-05-05 00:25:09)
Start positions
In FRECC santioned events, we rather have each board be different within the same tournament. It favours even more creativity when each board is different, and no one can look at another board for ideas. Look at a sample FRCEC tournament: http://frcec.chess960.info/FischerCup.htm
Sebastien Marez (2006-05-06 15:47:35)
Cup
Cher ami, Avez vous prevu un tournoi du style COUPE FICGS? Bien amicalement Sebastien Marez
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-06 16:58:07)
FICGS cup...
Bonjour Sebastien.
Non, pas encore. D'abord pour ne pas multiplier les tournois, au risque de diviser leur popularité. Le problème reste d'imaginer une formule un peu originale, qui ne ressemble pas trop au championnat du monde (donc peut-être éviter le classique cycle de tournois round-robin). A suivre...
(about a FICGS cup, the problem is to imagine an original scheme, that doesn't look like too much to the FICGS world championship... a classical round-robin cycle is maybe 'not enough' to justify this special event)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-09 16:08:33)
Cup / Wch
Bonjour Sébastien.
J'avoue que j'ai du mal à trouver de quoi justifier l'existence d'un tournoi "cup" utilisant la même formule ou presque que le championnat du monde, à part diviser l'intérêt et la fréquentation de l'un et de l'autre... Il est bien dommage que le système suisse ne puisse pas s'appliquer aux tournois de jeux par correspondance... Peut-être, pourquoi pas, proposer une coupe (façon championnat) d'échecs 960, ou réservée aux joueurs classés au dessus d'une barre ELO à déterminer...
Jose Carrillo (2006-05-13 00:28:45)
Re: Qualifying
In a Knock out you can have 3rd vs 4th in the final. In the Page system you can't.
It's just a matter of whether you want to acknowledge the top players in the round robin.
In the page system ONLY the top four players in the round robin qualify for the playoffs.
Look at the Page system in practice in the Gligoric Cup tournament that we are running in FRCEC at:
http://frcec.chess960.info/GligoricCup.htm
Heinz-Georg Lehnhoff (2006-05-13 17:58:51)
Swiss
Hello Thibault, Chessfriend.com has started the Championship as a 3 rounds Swiss tournament. Why don't we try this form under the name FICGS-CUP? I have liked the mode. Heinz-Georg
Dinesh De Silva (2006-05-14 07:43:13)
An alternative to Cup Championship
In my opinion, instead of a Cup Championship, perhaps a Knock Out Rapid Championship maybe more interesting!? This is simply an idea. (Otherwise, FICGS might begin to look too similar to other correspondence chess sites, don't you think?!)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-14 16:07:16)
"Blitz" cup...
Thank you Heinz Georg, for the files you sent to me.
Now I understand better the work and ideas of Reimund Lutzenberger in Chessfriend.com, a great experimentation field for sure...
I first concluded some things not to do in FICGS WCH. In example, a player rated 2500 (even provisional rating from fide) shouldn't have to play in the first stage against a low-rated player in a world championship [but that could be possible in a cup tournament cycle]. So I'll add special rules for high rated players (who are not qualified for the WCH knockout tournament) to begin directly in a 2nd stage tournament...
I agree with Dinesh, the aim is not to use the same formulas, even good ones. Anyway I think we can find new interesting (better :)) ones. But as the WCH is already a rapid tournament cycle, the CUP could be an unrated "blitz" (30 days per game with no increment, or even 10 days + 1 hour / move) knockout (2 games / match + playoffs) !! Something quite "brutal" and unfair between correspondence chess & classical rythms. What do you think ?
Heinz-Georg Lehnhoff (2006-05-14 17:29:59)
Swiss and Blitz Cup
Hello Thibault
Swiss tournament was only a suggestion. I don't like knockout tournaments - too many rounds (7 if 128 players want to play), great problems, if not the right number of players is available or players withdraw. If you have only 30 days for the whole game, it is much better to live on the "right" continent relative to your opponent.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-15 11:05:57)
Blitz cup
Yes, time is the main problem. Correspondence chess don't give a large choice, it's difficult to vary rhythms.
10 days + 1 day per 4 moves (6 extra hours / move) could be more fair and we can avoid playoffs with the sudden death (similar to WCH knockout tournament). I like the idea of a violent, rapid and quite unfair (unrated) tournament. It could be quite popular. An advantage in a knockout (with 2 rounds) is that a few games will have to be played : 7 rounds means at most 14 games... If the number of players doesn't fit, the highest rated players could enter at stage 2. The winner could be qualified for the third stage of the WCH round-robin cycle.
But there are potential problems. I don't find a good & fair algorithm to distribute players in a big knockout (chance is not a good idea, I think), and it could be a big work to organize such a tournament (& start games regularly) with 256 players or more...
Dinesh De Silva (2006-05-15 13:53:13)
Blitz Cup
I think you're quite correct, Thibault! It seems conducting such a tourney has some practical problems. Nevertheless, it was good discussing ideas.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-06-14 13:15:33)
FICGS 1st chess world championship
Hello Heinz-Georg !
It's only a logical extension to the rule that divide the championship in a round-robin and a knockout (for the 8 best rated players) tournament. Of course, there's no rule that fit to everyone, only choices... I hope to make the most balanced ones for the whole site.
By this rule, high rated players have a stage less to play (that they would probably win) and it limits the rating gaps (otherwise it would be more like a cup). In most wch competitions, winners and high rated players/teams are qualified for an advanced stage in the tournament.. A quite common and logical system, used everywhere from football world cup [winner qualified for quarter final] to Roland-Garros [qualifications stage], FIDE world championship etc... 2300 rule is a statistical choice, used in IECG too with more parameters. (nevertheless at IECG high rated players can choose to play the first stage too, but IMO it's quite complicate)
I hope to make it as simple and attractive as possible, believe me ;) Of course (and it is mentioned in the rules- preliminaries) rules could still evolve if improvements are decided by the [future] council.
The only negative point is, indeed, only 2300+ players can play the 1st wch, that is in a way not a "complete" championship. But compared to all other positive points (first, everyone can play now), and as 2nd wch starts at the same time, I think this choice is best.
What I think to do is to send all tournament tables to players who registered on 2006 june 16. If finally there are players who don't want to play it, they'll just have to tell me within days, responding by email. It should avoid any forfeit.
Amir Bagheri (2006-06-23 12:26:28)
Blinfolded chess ( part II )
Very recently, however, all the honors of Europe, in this department of indoor games, have been run away with by two young Americans, Morphy and Paulsen. Paul Morphy, a native of New Orleans, seemed to be born with chess in his blood; he played almost from childhood; and at thirteen years of age he proved a formidable antagonist to Herr Lowenthal, a noted Hungarian. In 1857, when just twenty years of age, Morphy encountered Paulsen, a native of Iowa, only a little older than himself, at a chess congress in New Orleans (Editor: It was New York!). All the gray-beards struck their flag to Paulsen, and then he struck to Morphy. Of Morphy's subsequent achievements in regular play, which stamp him as perhaps the first living chess-player (we say this with fear and trembling; however, for the knights of the game are a sensitive race), we will not speak here, for our purpose is only to notice the blindfold performances. At the chess congress above mentioned, he finely played a blindfold game with a leading German player. Early in 1858, he struck the New Orleanists with amazement by playing six games simultaneously, without seeing any other the boards; winning five of them, and exhibiting beautiful play throughout. He then came to Europe, not only to "lick the Britishers," but "all creation;" and it must be admitted that he made great progress towards that achievement. At a meeting of the Chess Association at Birmingham, in August 1858, he played eight games simultaneously, without sight of the boards. His opponents were Lord Lyttelton, and seven other persons, mostly presidents or secretaries of provincial chess clubs. Against such players, and under such tremendous conditions, he won no less than six games out of the eight, drawing a seventh, and losing the eighth. In the following month, he went over and astonished the Parisians in a similar way; he contended blindfold against eight practised players at once, at the Cafe de la Regence, a famous resort of chess-players; and out of these did not lose even one; he was the victor in six, and drew the other two. In the spring of 1859, Morphy contended against eight of the most experienced members of the London Chess Club, including Mr. Mongredien and Mr. Walker, two distinguished players. He won two games, and drew the other six--all the players except himself being wearied out by a very protracted sitting. A few days afterwards, he played with eight members of the St. George's Chess Club, including Lord Cremorne, Lord Arthur Hay, and Captain Kennedy; he won five, and the rest were drawn through want of time to finish them. Nevertheless, inconceivable as these mental labors are, Morphy yields to Paulsen in blindfold play. There are whispers of twelve or fifteen games having been tried simultaneously by the latter; but the number ten has been most certainly reached, under conditions of the utmost publicity. On the 7th of October in the present year, at a Divan in the Strand, ten players accepted Mr. Paulsen's challenge to grapple with them all simultaneously, the boards being placed out of his sight. One of the players was M. Sabouroff, secretary to the Russian Embassy in London; the other nine comprised many names well known among chess-players. Ten chess-boards were placed on ten tables in the room. An arm-chair, turned away towards a window, was mounted on a dais. At two o'clock in the afternoon, Mr. Paulsen, a quiet, courteous young man, with not a trace of "brag" in him, took his seat in this arm-chair. For twelve mortal hours he never rose, never ate, never smoked, and drank nothing but a little lemonade. What were his mental labors during that time, we shall see. His ten antagonists took their seats at the ten tables; and each table speedily became the centre of a group of spectators, whose comments were not always so silent as in fairness they ought to have been. Paulsen could not see any of the chess-boards. Herr Kling, a noted player and teacher of chess, acted as general manager. He called the boards by numbers--No. 1 to No. 10. Paulsen audibly announced his first move for board No. 1; Kling made that move; the antagonist replied to it; Kling audibly announced the reply; Paulsen considered what should be his second move, and when he had audibly announced his decision, Kling made the proper move on the board. Here No. 1 rested for awhile. No. 2 now made his move, leading to the same course of proceeding as before. Then No. 3 in the same way; then No. 4; and so on to No. 10; after which No. 1 began a new cycle, by playing a second move; and thus they proceeded over and over again. Now let us see what all this implies and involves. Chess is not one of the most frolicsome of games; indeed, ladies generally declare it to be very dull, seeing that a chess-player is apt to be "grumpy" if spoken to on other matters while playing. The truth is, there is a demand for much mental work in managing a game well; the combinations and subtleties, the attacks and counter-attacks, are so numerous and varied, as to keep the mind pretty fully occupied. Nevertheless, a fine game between two fine players is mere child's play compared with this wonderful achievement of Paulsen. He was obliged to form ten mental pictures; and every picture changed with every move, like the colored bits in a kaleidoscope. Most persons, even though knowing nothing of the game, are aware that it begins with thirty-two pieces of different colors and forms, and that these move about over a board of sixty-four squares. After every change of position in any one of the pieces, Paulsen must have changed his mental picture of the board, the field of battle, and then made that a fixture until the next move was made. This is hard enough in even one game, against an antagonist who has his eyes to help him in planning attacks and defences; but how hard must it be against ten! It is difficult to conceive what is the condition of the mental machinery under such circumstances; and yet, there he sat, the calmest man in the room. When told of his antagonist's doings, one by one, he looked quietly out of window, and rubbed his chin, as a man often does when thinking, and then announced his move--never mistaking No. 1 for No. 7, No. 9 for No. 3--never failing to recover the proper mental picture, and making the proper change in it; never embarrassed; never making an unlawful move, or likely to lose sight (mental sight) of any unlawful move made by his antagonists. Nor did he obtain the least pause for mental rest. Without one minute's interval, as soon as he had announced a move for one board, he was required to attend to the move of another antagonist at another board. Hour after hour did this continue--all the afternoon, all the evening, midnight, until two in the morning. He made two hundred and seventy moves in the twelve hours, twenty-seven per game average; this gave two minutes and a quarter for the consideration of each move. As all his moves were met by corresponding moves on the part of his antagonists, he was called upon to form five hundred and forty complete mental pictures in twelve consecutive hours, each picture representing the exact mode in which all of the sixty-four squares of a chess-board were occupied. Paulsen won two games, lost three, and drew five.
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
Rodrigo Jaroszewski (2006-07-02 23:58:24)
Re: Football world cup :-)
It was a victory that really teaches something. While the Brazilian squad tried to hide itself from their obvious flaws, masking them behind big names, France faced its problems, fixed them, and is very close of being a great team. A really classy victory for the French. Perhaps the bit of motivation they needed to achieve greater things. ;)
Marc Lacrosse (2006-07-10 15:04:46)
Football world cup :-(
cher Monsieur Muller ...
N'y-a-t-il pas un seul endroit sur le web où on puisse échapper à cette footballistique obsession ...
... et à ces leçons de morale bon marché sur fond de jeux de ballon??
Si vous étiez italien ou français, passe encore... mais vous êtes belge, en plus.
Qu'est-ce que votre commentaire a à faire ici et en quoi peut-il intéresser quiconque ?
Faites-le plutôt sur
www. FanaDeFootMoralDésappointé.com
ou sur
www.AQuIlEstBonDeChambrerLesFrançais.com,
par exemple ...
... mais la leçon élémentaire de moralité publique à deux sous à base de coupe du monde sur des forums d'échecs moi, pour parler clairement, j'en ai déjà eu ma dose jusqu'à l'écoeurement ...
.. et j'espère que ça ne va pas continuer à polluer longtemps encore ce forum-ci comme tant d'autres!
Henri-Louis Muller (2006-07-12 09:19:01)
foorball world cup
On est quand même sur un forum où TOUTES les idées peuvent être débatues. Que l'on soit belge, français ou autre !!C'est du moins ce que je pensais ! En ce qui me concerne, l'incident est clos ( ici du moins !!) et je rejoins les observation pertinentes de Thibault ! Bonnes parties....d'échecs à tous !
Henri-Louis Muller (2006-07-12 09:27:38)
Football world cup
Cher Monsieur Lacrosse, Je pense que même un Belge peut avoir son opinion sur le sujet !!??.... sur un forum, quel qu'il soit. Mais je ne désire pas poursuivre cette polémique ni répondre à une provocation. Bonnes parties....d'échecs !
Graham Wyborn (2006-08-01 23:53:22)
England not a country?
England is not a country!! What is it then? In the football world cup, we played as England, not United Kingdom. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles_terminology part of which is quoted above. "England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland = constituent countries of the United Kingdom." It is like saying France, England and many other countries belong to the EU, therefore all EU countries should have the EU flag, not there home country. I would prefer the English flag, but I can live with the Union Jack flag.
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 (2007-04-21 10:08:48)
WCH Stage 1 rules
Hello Achim.
I understand, it may look really difficult at first sight, the ideas behind this are first to make cycles not too long in order to organize a new one every 6 months (so you have more chances), second to have best chances to find the very best players in the final stages - this is the aim of a championship IMO.
Anyway, that's right the fight is often between the 3 top-rated players in these groups. So the easiest way : To get a good rating first (at least you can win some points in these groups).
It could be great to organize another event (like a cup) with different rules. Waiting for more players :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-05-03 01:17:03)
sb tie breaks
"The higher rated player in a group is not always the best player"... I agree of course, no rule can say surely who is the best player at a particular moment or period (in this case I meant during a quite long period), it's a question of probability only !
Ok... In my opinion these WCH rules are great, different and shouldn't be changed. However there should be a Cup multi-stage tournament with different rules to give equal chances to everyone, also a new section for double round-robin tournaments. I must 'finish to' launch money tournaments, attract more players after that, then it could be done...
Don Burden (2007-05-11 02:32:13)
Chinese thoughts
Confucius could give answer to that, unfortunately Confucius not here at moment.
Kindness in heart better than gold in bank.
Truth like football, receive many kicks before reaching goal.
Politeness golden key that open many doors.
Any powder that kills flea is good powder.
Knowledge only gained through curiousity.
Man without relatives is man without trouble.
Sleep only escape from yesterday.
Do not challenge supernatural unless armed with sword of truth.
To destroy false prophet must first unmask him before eyes of believers.
When fear attack brain, tongue wave distress signal.
Drop of plain water on thirsty tongue more precious than gold in purse.
Thought at present like dog chasing own tail, getting noplace.
When money talk, few are deaf.
Humility only defense against rightful blame.
Luck happy combination of foolish accidents.
Alibi have habit of disappearing like hole in water.
Good fisherman, like clever merchant, know lure of bright colors.
Man without enemies like dog without fleas.
Front seldom tell truth, to know occupant of house always look in backyard.
One small wind can raise much dust.
Caution sometimes mother of suspicion. Suspicion often father of truth.
Don Groves (2007-06-11 08:21:25)
Go scoring
Hi Mladen -- Here, it counts the Chinese way (total area occupied, including stones) and always has. -- Don
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 (2007-06-23 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 !
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
Jason Repa (2007-07-15 20:45:57)
Hillarious!
This is your "argument"? You copy and paste some drivel where they seem to substitute the word "skill" with "intelligence", or perhaps you did that.
You don't provide any sources or qualifications of the author whatsoever.
This is too entertaining and unbelievable to make up!!
in a statement signed by 52 psychologists, published in the December 13, 1994 Wall Street Journal
"1. Intelligence exists as a very general mental capability involving ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience. The brain processes involved are little understood.
2. Intelligence can be measured, and IQ tests measure it well. Nonverbal tests can be used where language skills are weak.
3. IQ tests are not culturally biased.
4. IQ is more strongly related than any other measurable human trait to educational, occupational, economic, and social outcomes. Whatever it is that IQ tests measure, it is very important.
5. Genetics plays a bigger role than environment in intelligence, but environment has a strong effect.
6. Individuals are not born with an unchangeable IQ, but it gradually stabilizes during childhood and changes little thereafter."
I think 52 psychologists might be a bit more qualified than the random blog where you copied and pasted from.
Garvin Gray (2007-07-26 05:01:18)
too fast, too hard
I have a recommendation that the time control be extended. 10 min + 20 secs is too short.
I played one game with this time control to try it out and found that it just felt like a 5 min blitz game, especially since we have to scroll down to confirm our moves.
I agree that another way has to be found to allow people to put money into their accounts. It took me three days because I had to wait for notification of the exact euro amount.
If I wasnt keen on entering the freestyle cup, I probably would not have bothered.
Charlie Neil (2007-08-10 19:06:19)
Real Names
"Play the board not the man!" Is that not an old proverb? I play on another site, (or two) under a nickname. Chess should be fun and then a serious sport/game/art/science, Morozevitch and those like him play on those sites for 'fun'. And they relish the anonymity. Every large tournament will see a corner occupied with players having 'fun' blitz games between rounds. Legends such as M Tal, Karpov even Fischer had their 'fun' games. (Sorry for calling Tolya a Legend, but he is a living legend.) We all come here for our own reasons but mostly to play chess, (and Go) We know when we sign up here it must be on our real names. What's the problem? Some Websites charge a Fee, ICC for example. Ficgs doesn't.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-02 12:07:21)
Freestyle cup...
End of holidays, I'll make my possible in the next few days to promote this new tournament. Patience :)
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 :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-21 14:52:53)
60 minutes + 15 seconds
Ok Garvin, you convinced me :) .. Finally it will be play on 2 consecutive days (october 20 & 21 - 14 pm, 17 pm, 20 pm)
This format is longer but definitely more interesting.
I'll start (at last) to promote it today, feel free to announce it in forums & websites :) .. Now FICGS account at Paypal is available to send & receive money.
I'll start a new topic about Freestyle cup... Too many out-of-date informations in this one.
Thanks for your help !
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 !
Tano-Urayoán Russi Román (2007-09-28 00:36:03)
Comment
This remark was made by past freestyle winner Equidistance in the rybka forum: "This FICGS site is very unclear, impossible to find anything. No clear summary about what these e-points are all about, very long terms and conditions, really I doubt anybody will spend so much time to even find the page about Freestyle Cup, which is hidden under one of many menus." Maybe navigation could be made easier for new players interested in the tournament.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-28 02:56:48)
E-Points
A summary about E-Points has been added to the terms and conditions :
http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#epoints
"E-Points : To summarize previous Entry fees and Prize money sections, you can buy E-Points (1 E-Point is worth 1 Euro, see My account after you connect to the server) then play money tournaments with entry fees and prizes (bronze, silver, gold) with low rakes in E-Points, finally ask for money prizes instead of E-Points for the tournaments you choose : According to the prize won, you'll be paid 0,75 Euro per E-Point remaining in your account. Consequently the more tournaments you play before to ask for a money prize, the lower is the cost per game (prizes in E-Points reach up to 99 % of the entry fees, 100 % for the chess freestyle cup)."
Feel free to tell me if it is not clear enough... I've also updated the Help section about how to enter the freestyle cup & E-Points.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-28 03:01:14)
Invitation to FIDE, FICGS, ICCF GM & IM
Just added to the FICGS chess freestyle cup rules :
"FIDE GM & IM, FICGS / ICCF GM, SM & IM are invited to enter the waiting list for free until one week before the start of the tournament ! .. 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."
Strong titled players may be interested in winning the title & prize, other players may be interested in playing them...
Garvin Gray (2007-09-30 11:31:11)
new entrant
A third entrant to the freestyle cup
:)
Was starting to think it was
going to be a six game match between Thibault and myself :P
Welcome to the tournament Michael
Will Ilmars be entering?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-10-12 22:11:47)
Reminder : Invitation to GM, SM, IM
"FIDE GM & IM, FICGS / ICCF GM, SM & IM are invited to enter the Freestyle Cup waiting list for free until one week before the start of the tournament ! .. 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."
One more day for titled players to register for free !
Thibault de Vassal (2007-10-13 19:17:27)
Freestyle tournament
A new player may enter the Freestyle Cup waiting list soon... So we'll be at least 8 players, anyway only 6 rounds will be played, I can't change the rules now.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-10-17 02:42:45)
2 more entries
Two international masters will probably enter the waiting list soon. If other titled players want to enter the Freestyle Cup waiting list for free, please just contact me.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-10-19 22:18:09)
Freestyle cup starts tomorrow, 2 pm.
10 players entered the waiting list !
As we still need more players, titled players (GM, SM, IM) may register for free until saturday 1 pm. server time, please email me. Prize is 80 E-Points at the moment.
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 :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-10-21 22:35:06)
Eros Riccio wins 1st FICGS freestyle !
SIM Eros Riccio completely stunned the tournament, very well prepared with White & Black on this interesting sicilian line : 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
Final score for Eros : 5 / 6 .. Congratulations :)
See results and games :
http://www.ficgs.com/tournament_FICGS__CHESS__FREESTYLE_CUP__000001.html
Thibault de Vassal (2007-10-23 02:59:46)
Time zones
I'm to add the waiting list, Go "freestyle" cup will be a 6 rounds swiss tournament... Chess & Go freestyle tournaments will occur at the same time. Rounds will start at 15:00, 18:00, 21:00 server time on 2 consecutive days.
Time zones are a problem for players from ie. New Zealand, but it should be ok for players from Moscow to New-York.
Time control will be 1 hour + 10 seconds per move.
Edwin Dabbaghyan (2007-10-25 00:57:27)
freestyle on FICGS
Hello all :) I am a bit confused in here...I see two freestyle tours, one "cup" and one "go" freestyle... what are the differences? and I would like to write my view about the freestyle time control, as it was an issue on the forum I guess... I think we can have two forms of freestyle tours here: one 30+15 with more rounds every time, and one with absolutely longer time controls, like 90+30 with fewer rounds... . A knockout freestyle tournament is also very exciting with 30+15 time controls, in each round best of 3 games goes to next round, and in the third round the player with white pieces has less time, say 10 minutes less. I hope freestyle tours will be more popular and successful on this server, I like here :) regards Edwin
Thibault de Vassal (2007-10-25 01:17:16)
Go freestyle cup
Hi Edwin, this topic is about the Go (another game) freestyle cup. See both chess & Go freestyle cups in Waiting lists. Anyway, I'm already thinking about faster chess freestyle tournaments :)
Knockout format could be lots of fun too, but players will probably prefer to play all the games to try to catch the best ones.
Let's discuss about the chess freestyle tournaments in the other thread :
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=forum_read&id=3987
William Taylor (2007-10-25 16:29:24)
Chess and go at the same time?
Why have you decided to hold chess and go freestyle cups at the same time? I'd expect this to reduce participation in both events, as obviously nobody can play in both.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-11-04 15:32:57)
Swiss tournaments
Hello Michael, more rounds probably means less players and less tournaments (freestyle cups), it is a quite hard format, also for the organizer :)
By the way, why 20 players ? An advantage of swiss system is it doesn't depend on the number of participants.
Michael Mueller-Toepler (2007-11-06 16:28:01)
FICGS freestyle cup
For more players: The winner is qualified for: FICGS__CHESS__WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP__000004 Regards Michael - muetoe
Thibault de Vassal (2007-11-06 16:59:11)
FICGS freestyle cup
That's an idea... and it could work but I'm not sure it is good to melt freestyle chess & correspondence chess results. Anyway, your suggestions are welcome :)
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 :)
Garvin Gray (2007-11-11 07:45:23)
promotion
Time to start promoting the 2nd freestyle cup :)
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 (2007-11-27 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!"
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
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...
Dan Rotaru (2007-12-17 17:41:55)
FICGS World Cup
Hi Thibault, What is the difference between FICGS__CHESS__WCH_TOURNAMENTS and FICGS__CHESS__WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP ? Is the latest supposed to be a Knock-out tournament? There are no games displayed under this on the Tournaments page. Anyway a knock-out tournament would be interesting. Something like the FIDE World Cup.
Dinesh De Silva (2007-12-20 11:11:23)
Re:
Thibault, as though spake with a truly righteous tongue, I conform to thy suggestion. Henceforth the cup of mirth overfloweth.
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.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-03-30 07:25:30)
Freestyle cup : Rules & start
There was a small conflict in the rules, now corrected : The first game will start at 13:00 server time, not 15:00
Current rules :
FICGS advanced chess "freestyle" cup is a 6 rounds swiss tournament with entry fee and prize, played in a single day. Entry fees are E-Points that you can buy in 'My account'. Read carefully terms and conditions, particularly Entry fees & Prize money sections before to play tournaments with entry fees.
All games are played in 30 minutes + 15 seconds / move. Norms are not possible.
The first round will start at the date and hour (13:00 server time) indicated as "deadline". Next rounds will start at 15:00, 17:00, 19:00, 21:00 and 23:00 server time. Please register carefully as it is not possible to retire from the waiting list. It is strongly recommended to display the chat bar to communicate with the tournament director.
If several players obtain the best score and the best Sonnenborn-Berger, they will share the prize. It is possible to forfeit all next games (that will be unrated for the advanced chess rating list) during the tournament.
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. The tournament might be cancelled if less than 7 players registered before the deadline, in this case entry fees will be given back to the players.
An extra fee, usually 30% of the entry fee, will be added to the entry fee 2 days before the start of the tournament.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-04-05 02:43:40)
FICGS 2nd Freestyle Cup
Obviously the tournament won't probably be really interesting before I can sponsorize it and find additionnal sponsors... Ok, I'll make some important changes during the next weeks, this 2nd freestyle won't start this time again, we need more time anyway. Sorry and many thanks to the players who entered the waiting list !
Jason Repa (2008-05-04 11:54:53)
Lasker Variation of the From's Gambit
One correction. My comment about 5...Nc6?? 6.Bxg5 was from the line:
1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nf3 g5 5.d4
But I still don't believe that 5...Nc6 holds any more promise than 5...g4, even from: 1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nf3 g5 5.g3. The reason 4...g5 is played is to play to "g4" and dislodge the knight on f3. I don't believe delaying "g4" is going to benefit Black, as was evidenced in:
Malaniuk,Vladimir P (2600) - Tseshkovsky,Vitaly (2510) [A02] RUS-Cup Krasnodar (3), 1998 1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nf3 g5 5.g3 Nc6 6.c3 g4 7.Nh4 f5 8.d4 f4 9.Qd3 Nf6 10.Bxf4 Bxf4 11.gxf4 0-0 12.Nd2 Be6 13.0-0-0 Bxa2 14.h3 Nd5 15.Ng2 Qe7 16.hxg4 Rad8 17.e3 Rd6 18.Rh5 Ncb4 19.Qe4 Qd7 20.Bb5 c6 21.Bc4 Bxc4 22.Nxc4 Nf6 23.Rg5+ Kh8 24.Qf5 Nbd5 25.Nxd6 Qxd6 26.Rh1 c5 27.Nh4 1-0
Andrew Stephenson (2008-05-15 04:10:11)
Openings
Hi Hannes I think the Modern Benoni is playable but needs a lot of work. Hector Walsh 16th on the IECG list (2497) used it in the IECG Cup 2002 final (just ended!) with games that started in 2006. He played it 3 times including the critical line 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 c5 4 d5 exd5 5 cxd5 d6 6 e4 g6 7 f4 etc and got 3 draws against opposition of 2150, 2300 and 2400.
Graham Cridland (2008-06-05 00:18:34)
Warren Buffett again
"If markets were efficient, I'd be a bum with a tin cup."
Andrew Stephenson (2008-11-03 10:47:42)
Free style cup games...
...are not linked to wikichess which is a shame because there are some very important theoretical games there!
Thibault de Vassal (2008-11-03 13:13:53)
Freestyle cup games
Hi Andrew, which games & wikichess articles are you refering to ? As Wikichess does not have hashtables yet, a transposition may hide some games.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-11-24 14:50:09)
Poker Holdem game duration
Well... as a correspondence poker holdem game may last about 500 moves at most, it is quite complicated to think about a multi stages tournament that would last 3 or 4 years... I think the current formula (looking like the Go championship) will be the one... waiting for a Poker freestyle cup :)
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 (2008-12-12 15:56:50)
Now Michael Adams...
Open Letter from Michael Adams
"I have regretfully withdrawn from the whole Grand Prix series. Some of the reasons I took this decision are the sudden switch of venues at very late notice, the replacement of players whose results thus far will affect the results of the whole Grand Prix both in terms of prize money and World Championship qualification and the fact that when I made my decision the status of some of the future GP events was still unclear.
The changes to the World Championship cycle also concern me as making major changes to a cycle in progress in such a sudden manner is very undesirable. There also seems to be no guarantee that further changes will not be made in a similar manner in the future. The changes are obviously immediately very negative for all Grand Prix participants but also in general it seems to me that the rewards for success in such tough events as the Grand Prix or the World Cup are now much too minimal."
Michael Adams
11th December 2008
Next ?
Don Groves (2009-01-04 01:35:56)
FIDE or FIFA...
... what's the difference?
The FIFA World Cup champion gets no special privileges in the next cup challenge, why should the FIDE World Champion?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-01-04 14:06:51)
FIDE or FIFA
Salut Don !
FIFA has not the biggest problems FIDE has :
1) There are only about a hundred of participants in the world cup before the preliminary tournaments already.
2) A dozen of these participants are stars and will remain the stars, just like clubs in each country, and it is unlikely to change (one reason is money of course but there are many others). Chess, like soccer or any sport, needs stars !
The context is not the same, I don't think one can compare the FIDE & FIFA business...
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