Free Internet Chess & Go Server
 
Home
Informations
 
Login
Register
Waiting lists
Membership
Hall of fame
Tournaments
Best game
Wikichess
Rating list
Problems
Forum
 
Links
 
Help
About
 







Game result  (chess)


N. Bernal Varela, 2078
S. Marton-Bardocz, 2346

1-0

See game 22851




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

Nigel Short wins Commonwealth Championship

Rybka wins World Computer Chess Championship 2008

Topalov tops the October 2008 FIDE rating list

Pentala Harikrishna wins Spice Cup in Lubbock

GM Jan Werle wins EU Individual Championships

more chess news...




Oh Chi-Min 7d wins Go-to-Innovation tournament

Andy Liu 7d wins Masters Open at NY Go Center

Gu Li 9p wins the 10th Chinese Agon Cup

Hugh Zhang 6d wins Ing's Cup Youth Go Tournament

Zou Jin 6d wins Pandanet Go European Cup

more Go news...





In the forum...


Money games...


Moneybookers, Paypal, credit card and bank transfer are available to play money games...


Affiliate links...


Win E-Points by linking to us as an affiliate, for each new member referred by your link, 1 E-Point will be added to your account...


E-Points prizes...


Ficgs now offers free games & tournaments with E-Points prizes...


Rybka 3, Fritz 12...


Rybka 3, Fritz 12, Hiarcs 13, your predictions on forthcoming chess engines...


Translators...


Translators are needed for chinese, japanese, indian, romanian, polish home pages...


Vacation help...


Hello all, I've entered a vacation time in error. Is it possible to cancel the vacation ?





Last referers :


GOOGLE
WIKIPEDIA
VIKINGSKAK
LIVE
SPAGHETTICHESS
N
YAHOO
CSCL
GO4GO


Feel free to link to this page to get referer backlinks to your website !





Free Internet Correspondence Go server



Want your banner here ?







                                          
Forum



Back to forum


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 13:37:17)
Class tournaments overlap

Hello Hannes. Thank you for support :)

The overlap offers the possibility for players to register to several class tournaments, at least to choose. I think it won't be used a lot, but it could be something more for the stronger players who will choose to register to "under-class" tournament as well as other players who may play sometimes with stronger players.

Feel free to tell me what you think.

Thibault


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 17:51:15)
Drag & drop...

... isn't implemented yet ! The interface to play is a click & click one.

Go to "My messages", choose a game (click Game # or the rook)... the board appears.. click on the piece to move, wait the page loading, click the destination square, then submit.

Feel free to give me your impressions about the interface. Thank you in advance.

Thibault


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-10 09:45:04)
My games

Per, it's changed. Thank you :)


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 !


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-11 05:18:57)
FICGS council / staff

About job specification, as I said, I would like FICGS to be a place that fits to the most, and not under a dictatorship (even mine :)), so the idea to create a council with all members who want to be part of it, voting all decisions relating server rules, tournaments, wch cycles, titles... (or simply opinion poll on the website ? or both...)

The FICGS staff should be able to manage the server (registering new members, moderating the forum, referees...) Nothing difficult, just needs motivation. Most important is that it could completely work without me. Of course, if developers want to help, making a drag & drop interface ie. or improving whatelse..) About "go", we'll see later, Hannes :) (it's a fine game, you should learn !)

Anyway I'll send an email to all players responding in this thread soon. We will discuss about that.

Best wishes & thank you !


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-11 14:44:22)
Not exactly...

... but it's true that there are many things to translate yet. Players already helped me with German, I'll continue to translate as soon as possible. (feel free to send to me German & Spanish translations, French is ok for me)

Thank you in advance.


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-11 14:54:36)
FICGS titles

Hello to all.

I would like to have players opinion !

As you may have noticed, I already changed FICGS titles to FEM, FIM, FSM, FGM. (not titles obtained elsewhere) Do you agree with titles appearing this way ?

I thought several other ways : EFM, IFM, SFM, GFM, or only to mention norms obtained ! (not titles) At last, of course, we can suppress definitely titles from FICGS, a bad idea in my opinion. What do you think about that ?

Thank you in advance for your responses.


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.


Glen D. Shields    (2006-04-16 12:15:33)
A Couple More Suggestions!

Thank you Thibault for your prompt response to my suggestions. Here's another one that you may not be able to do easily. Can you add an option to make the board a little bit larger? And maybe eventually give us chess piece choices or board color choice? My eyesight plays tricks on me as I get older and bt experimenting with the colors, sizes and piece choices it sometimes helps. Just a suggestion! None are big ones. Thanks!


Glen D. Shields    (2006-04-16 12:37:05)
Thanks Thibault

Thank you Thibault. Please don't rush to make changes. You can only do so much. Just offering suggestions because you genuinely want to listen to the players. We all appreciate that. Thank you :)


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-16 17:12:22)
Email notification

Feel free to uncheck the "own moves" checkbox in Preferences if you don't want to receive notification for the moves you just played.

Thank you for feedback.


Daniel Cincă    (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


Hannes Rada    (2006-04-19 22:58:34)
starting date and ending date

Thank you Thibault, But how can I define the starting date and ending date of my vacation ? I can only specificy the number of days.


Elmer Valderrama    (2006-04-20 15:38:29)
o.k.

OK, thank you!


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-23 06:01:44)
explanation

Hello Elmer.

It's possible the player entered an ambiguous move in plain text format. The program may have interpreted this move as the first one possible. Anyway he probably did not verify his move before confirmed (inquiring), I can't correct that. I'll fix that as soon as the next update of the site is done. Thank you.


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 ?


Wayne Lowrance    (2006-05-19 08:05:25)
suggestion

I see your points. I play at another corresponce sight, Pacific-mall.com/chess. They have solved the problem there and incidentally it will satisfy those who have mentioned the desirability to chat with your opponent during the game. At pac-mall you can chat about the game or any subject, others can view the game and drop by to say hello, or what ever. Outsiders do not suggest moves but are allowed to talk about a particuliar line after the fact, but in ten years there I have not seen this done only in rare circumstances. In the talk window you can politely tell your oppent "it is mate come up. giving the forced line" or you can just say "Dan the game is lost for you, give your reason. All accept this decorum there. and it is the friendliest cite on the web. The players there range from novices to close to 2300 which I am. By the way, my name there is globalpac, look me up on the ladders (2). Do me a favor and check it out. Tell me what you think. Thank you With respect.... Wayne


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-05-19 21:27:30)
Achieved -> Finished

Thank you Wayne :) That's corrected.


Wayne Lowrance    (2006-06-01 07:32:45)
other chess websites

okey dokey. Thank you. dunno what I did wrong but I check. by the way, it is not my chess site, I only play there for over 10 years.Thanks Wayne


Lionel Vidal    (2006-06-01 15:21:00)
FIGS rules

Thank you, the link through the help section is just fine. Sorry I did not see it at first.


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-06-02 20:39:25)
FICGS : Chinese rules !

You convinced me :)

(sorry, I didn't understand well some concepts before)

Good news : I have implemented the non-repetition rules with hash keys...

Now the rules are exactly CHINESE RULES with a 6.5 komi, which is the value which tends to be used in tournaments.

Thank you Lionel :-)


Heinz-Georg Lehnhoff    (2006-06-14 14:40:34)
FICGS 1st chess world championship

Hello Thibault!

Thank you for your answer.

Two points:

It isn't sure at all that a player with a rating > 2400 will win his group if he had to play a 1st stage group. The CFC-Ch 2003 has shown, that less than 50 percent of the best rating players (even players with rating > 2600) have won their qualification groups.

In the moment we have about 100 players with a rating < 2300 who have registered themselves for the wch. Their rating avarage is about 1720 (!). Is that right? This means (if I understand your rules) the wch groups of the 1st stage will have this rating (+ or - some points). In these groups for a 2200 player it is nearly impossible (even as winner of a group) to get a tournament performance > 2050 (I suspect that this is the reason that players with rating > 2300 not have to play this stage). After the first stage the distance to 2300 will be greater than before.

I have registered myself and I will play. But I'm not really satisfied with that situation.


Amir Bagheri    (2006-06-16 13:08:59)
thibault

thank you for your advice as you probaly saw I have registered for a tournament ( i think I am the only one...) I would be grateful if you could contact Nigel and let him know that i would be interested in playing him. Regards Amir


Tim Bredernitz    (2006-06-18 16:35:30)
Confused...

I understand the rules of the tournament fairly well, but I'm still having trouble figuring out when the games will start. The last post says that the deadline is June 15, but when I check the waiting list it says the deadline is July 1st. I'd just like to know when the games will start being played. Thank you.


Tim Bredernitz    (2006-06-18 16:37:45)
Sorry

In my previous post there was a typo. Please excuse. "The last post" should be "The first post." Thank you.


Heinz-Georg Lehnhoff    (2006-06-19 20:29:55)
FICGS 1st world championship

Hello Thibault,

thank you for your answer. Even I have understood this now. I have always missed the knock-out tournaments in the postings. It wasn't clear to me (and I was probably the only one ...) whether these tournaments take place also.


John Knudsen    (2006-07-04 18:50:05)
Symmetrical games

Hi Thibault: The format is unusual, and not desired, IMHO, because you do not need an 8-game match with one opponent to determine who is the superior player. Think about it - it is 4 games with white, and 4 games with black. Overkill. You mention OTB chess players. What OTB player has played an 8-game match with the same opponent, lately? Never happens. It also never happens in serious correspondence chess, except here. I do not want to complain too much, because I thank you for the neat server, and the opportunity to play some serious games for free. However, the format will need to change, in the future, if you want to attract excellent players. 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!


Graham Wyborn    (2006-07-29 12:33:44)
Thank You

My flag has been changed!


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 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


Benjamin Aldag    (2006-08-29 22:39:48)
English please...

Hey Thibault,

just read your own F.A.Q. !

http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=help

There you will can find this one:

Please speak english only on the forum.

Thank You


Graham Wyborn    (2006-09-07 22:15:35)
Site Design

Thank you for making the changes so quickly. Now using "grey plain". So much better.


Benjamin Aldag    (2006-09-27 23:19:09)
WOW !!!!

This opening is one of my favorit openings !!!

Thank you for this ! You can find some good lines at wikichess by me ;-)

Benny


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


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 19:18:18)
Open letter

Another letter of support to Vladimir Kramnik, written by famous chess grandmasters... (source www.chessbase.com)


Monday 2nd of October 2006

Dear Vladimir,

Through absolutely no fault of your own, you have suffered the consequences of an unprecedented combination of unethical behaviour from your opponent and glaring incompetence, for lack of a stronger word, on the part of the Appeals Committee.

In spite of evidently unfair treatment, which has not only resulted in your being forfeited one game, but also being subjected to petty attacks and ridiculous accusations from the opposing camp, you have agreed to continue the match for the sake of reunifying the chess world. This is a very impressive decision. It testifies to your remarkable sense of honour and is worthy of your true status of World Champion.

Regardless of the final result of this match you have earned the deepest respect of your fellow Grandmasters and colleagues as well as countless chess fans around the world. Thank you for being a model sportsman in a time and place where so many circumstances turned against you. You deserve to win.

With unfailing support,


GM Joel Lautier
IM Almira Skripchenko
GM Viktor Korchnoi
GM Laurent Fressinet
GM Nigel Short
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk
GM Pavel Tregubov
GM Pentala Harikrishna
GM Yannick Pelletier
WGM Sophie Milliet
GM Lev Alburt
WIM Anna Hahn
GM Rustam Dautov
GM Yasser Seirawan
GM Emanuel Berg
GM Helmut Pfleger
WIM Olena Boytsun
GM Vladimir Barksij
GM Bartlomiej Macieja
IM Maxim Notkin
GM Alexander Baburin
GM Tony Kosten
GM Alexander Khalifman


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    (2006-10-18 21:31:24)
Re: Kick this player !!!

Thank you...

That was my first impression too, but I was not sure. The 'filter' is not perfect yet ;)


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


Scott Prestwood    (2006-10-20 19:56:46)
Time Controls

Thank you, it sounds good for a 6 game tournament. From my calculations it has an average of 5 days per move(40 move basis). Are their any other forum readers that are interested in a 7 day(weekly) time control?


Farit Balabaev    (2006-10-25 08:28:49)
Rating / 8-game match

Hello Wolfgang, Thank you for the message. 1. John resigned 8 games 2. If you see carefully these 8 games, you make certain of in games 1793,1797,1798 I have a decisive advantage, in games 1791,1792,1794,1796 I have the upper hand, the game 1795 is even (as was established in game Lautier-Leko Batumi 1999) As a result, expected score might be between 7,5 : 0,5 and 5,5 : 2,5 up to me Best , Farit.


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-10-30 18:28:50)
Member No. 1000 !!

Thank you Hannes !

Yes that's great, the number of players regularly increases already, with no more announcements on chess forums (most players come from Google).

I think it will speed up at the beginning of 2007 ;)


Wayne Lowrance    (2006-10-31 02:43:50)
2nd FIGS chess WCH waiting list is open

Tribault de Vassal. Would you kindly remove me from the waiting list. Thank you. Wayne


Wayne Lowrance    (2006-10-31 21:49:40)
2nd FICGS chess WCYH waiting list is ope

Ahhhh, that was the reason. I wanted to enter with my best rating. If I understood you correct, That wont be a problem, given that the waiting lists ratings are updated. I would like to re-submit my name, can you do it, or should I resubmit ? Thank you Wayne


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


Wayne Lowrance    (2006-11-03 20:18:14)
Rating change

Ahhhhhh. I just dont understand this I guess, I am confused, my TER at start of tourny was also 1400. This does not make sense to me. Guess the only way I am gonna find out is for this guy to draw. In that vain I will force a playing draw, if the 50 rule does not do it for me. Thank you Wayne


Arthur Alfred Macarsindale    (2006-11-14 11:16:06)
Thank you

To all of you who have taken the trouble to read my very very mini auto biography. If I 'pop my socks' tomorrow I can honestly say it was not a boring life!


Ryaad Aabid    (2006-11-16 09:28:27)
Suggestion

All openings became known nowadays. If the opponents ends the openinig step, the clock will automatically be changed from 30 or 40 days to 7 or 10 days. If the player has no time enough to visit the website during 7 or 10 days, he/she should take vacation, otherwise to leave! instead of bothering his/her opponents. Thank you Thibault, Ryaad


Glen D. Shields    (2006-11-17 06:39:51)
Changing World

It's interesting to read players correspondence chess expectations as technology evolves.

What we see on servers like FICGS is the integration of players with various chess backgrounds and expectations. Players who grew up with the internet, and whose first chess experiences were real time chess servers expect games to move quickly. Players who grew up playing correspondence chess by postcard expect games to move much more slowly.

Personally I'm as equalled annoyed by players who stall (like the one described by Mr. Aabid) as I am by those who think move-a-minute correspondence chess is cute. It's going to take time and creativity by the server owners to balance players needs/interests. My ideal is when both players move at a steady 2-3 days per move pace (with the obvious exception for holidays, work, illness, etc). Those games stay interesting from start to finish and always seem to end with a pleasant thank you and congratulations.


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


Lawrence Nesko    (2006-11-20 01:39:51)
Thank you....

...for the timely and informative response, Thibault.


Daniel Khayman    (2006-11-21 20:38:51)
many thanks

thank you guys, i appreciate your concern; i'll send you an e-mail immediately, Wayne. and thanks to this site too.


Barry Bell    (2006-11-22 05:17:38)
Introduction

Thank you Thibault for your warm welcome, please feel free to create a 178 x 159 pixels jpg providing information about your site and I will post it a soon as possible. P.S. this offer is available to any webmaster that runs an online turn based chess system. Thanks again.


Glen D. Shields    (2006-11-22 14:04:56)
Strange Setup

Dear Mr. Bell - being the curious type I followed the link to your site. I don't understand what you're offering and I'm surely not registering to your site until I know. Might I suggest some basic FAQ's accesible prior to registation?

Thank you.


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    (2006-12-04 22:54:28)
Go: "Score" function

That works, thank you!


Lionel Vidal    (2006-12-09 14:34:04)
scrabble+?!

I am not sure this scrabble+ would be a better game than the current face to face competitive version. (the rules imply a game of skill; but also of risk management because of the clock and the correctness you may loose, but willingly give up, in a form of bluff very like poker).

The point is, why would one change a game where players can beat computers if one has enough skill (because computers are still bad at valuating the level of openess of a scrabble position), for a game where a searchable tree is (in theory) enough to play the very best moves?
The game then becomes IMO quite void of fun in correspondence play, because the player skill adds nothing to the computer evaluation. Note the difference in chess, where most correspondence players are convinced they do add and choose something worth improving the play. (although I have just give up the idea to buy an engine... gnuchess is enough for me as a sparring partner, and correspondence analysis, I let it to my shaky brain... for shaky analysis :-), but more fun!... And thank you Thibault, you convinced me to play correspondence chess again :-))

The deepness of the game is another wonder: in the current game I have to ponder many possibilities, an probalistic equipartition (sorry for the bad translation) (and good players always keep the count of the remaining letters)... it seems much more complex, though less analytical, than just wandering along a calculation tree?!


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


Austin Ferrell    (2006-12-17 02:23:42)
Thanks for the help!

Thank you for helping... I guess I have a decision to make...


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


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 19:36:48)
draw offers

sorry, I have never observed the small envelope. I guess I was right in my statement above " Then again perhaps I am the only careless one here" oh well , thank you Wayne


Graham Wyborn    (2007-01-03 00:12:41)
I'll stop moaning!

It appears to me that the "hard rule" re vacation is to stop players wasting time or using time in a mischievous way. All it has done for me and my opponents is waste time that could have been used wisely. This is the only site that I use that applies such hash rules, I wish I had seen the earlier correspondence on this matter, as I would had voiced my opinion then, but now it is too late. Anyway, thank you for the replies. I will stop moaning and look forward to the end of my vacation which will be on January 10th about 4 am!!


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


Wayne Lowrance    (2007-01-15 19:01:00)
Draw declared

okey dokey 1) no Stalemate ! 2) if it was adjudicated I was not aware of it. Not to worry. Thank you Wayne


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.


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


Wayne Lowrance    (2007-01-18 17:42:27)
Chess engines

Ahhhh, thank you. I was not familiar with that one. Wayne


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 :-).


Michael Aigner    (2007-01-22 22:54:44)
Stage 2

Thank you for the info - I was afraid I missed the start =:-0


Michael Finkelstein    (2007-01-23 04:37:26)
problems with playback --

Dear Thibault, Thank you for your kind attention to my issue. I appreciate your efforts here very much. When I am at the start of a game which I wish to play back, I hit the forward button to play the next move -- when I do so the screen drops a quarter of a page. I then have to go to my screen up button to move the screen up again so I can see the move buttons. Or, when it is my turn to move, I click on the piece I want to move, and the screen again drops down a quarter of a page -- so I have to do a screen up button to get back to the board and click on the square I want to go to. I assume this is a unique problem to me since I saw no posts on it. What do you think, do I need to do a better job of explaining my situation? In regard to the light by the names of people online, I find it helpful when I logon and go to my games to see in one view which of my opponents is online, that way I can know if I will be making several moves before I log out since my opponent is online too. It is more tedious to search on my messages to see if any of my opponents is online. It would also to nice to have a buddy list so I could see stats in one view on my friends here. Thank you so much for allowing us to download all our games in progress at once. I did not mean to be critical. This is a nice site and you do a nice job here. Thank you again for your response to my question. Mike


Michael Finkelstein    (2007-01-23 21:25:52)
problems with playback --

Thibault, When you are looking at your own game, or any game in the site, you see the chess pieces on the chess board on your computer screen. Belown the chess board are the arrows to move the pieces forward and back in the game in order to replay it. When you click on the arrows to move a piece forward or back as you replay the game, the screen drops a quarter of a page. Thus, to get back to the arrows to replay another move in the game you have to scroll the screen up. Also, I just noticed that when viewing my game where it is my turn to move, the arrows for replaying the game are not present. This is a problem since I may not have played that game in many days and would like to replay before making my move to remind myself of how I got into the position. This is a nice play to play, but I do think you shoud visit queenalice.com to see some of the nicer features that you can incorporate here to make the experience better. Thank you for your kind consideration, Thibault. Mike PS I note that when I write here I do put in paragraph spacing but it does not show up in the preview or post. Yet your messages do have paragraph spacing -- how do you do that?


Michael Finkelstein    (2007-01-26 05:23:20)
playback

Dear Thibault, Thank you for your response. I do indeed ask how can I start a new line in a forum post. You advise that I do the following: please use < br > html tag to begin a new line)", without spaces in BR tag.. I do not know what that is. Mike


Benjamin Aldag    (2007-01-29 14:24:07)
engine-free area

Thank You Thibi, for your fast answer. I believe, its more interesting to play vs. Opponents between 800 and 1600 rating. This area is in my opinion "engine-free". 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


Wladyslaw Król    (2007-02-02 17:01:05)
Bryntse opening ?!

Marc, thank you for publish very interesting article. It is new for me. Wladyslaw


Charlie Neil    (2007-02-18 12:09:03)
Gameknot Match

Well I know I won my game at Gameknot. And as for further team matches I'll sign up for standard chess without computer assistance thank you. Will Marc and Beranard be Vice Team Captains?.....8-)


Michael Aigner    (2007-03-21 16:58:07)
Thanks :-)

Hello Thibault, thank you for the links they helped a lot. Michael


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.


Don Groves    (2007-04-12 01:12:45)
Suji

It seems to be an excellent source for Go. Thank you, Mikhail!


Robert Mueller    (2007-05-20 20:37:14)
Thank you :)

Thank you, that was very helpful. At least the game will be over before the next rating list update.


Robert Mueller    (2007-05-30 06:09:53)
Adjudication

Thank you.


Thibault de Vassal    (2007-06-14 02:40:05)
Schachfeld

Ok... Thank you for the translation & summary :)


Hannes Rada    (2007-06-14 23:18:43)
Figlio - Schuster

Oh, Thank you Wolfgang. Very complicated ... :-) Or let's say unusual.. . I would prefer a 3 stage round robin tournament based on the famous swiss-system. For me that seems to be a more fair competition.


Dan Rotaru    (2007-06-17 03:10:29)
Rating lists

Thank you for clarification, it makes sense now and I believe it is a nice feature to have these lists. Maybe you should rename "preliminary /active players" list?


Thibault de Vassal    (2007-06-27 03:45:20)
Miguel

I'm sorry if you felt under attack... Of course we're only discussing ideas and I thank you for having submitted this one. I agree that rules are quite hard but it is also quite hard for us to understand how it couldn't be linked to the number of games in any way. There are other factors that we can predict more or less, but it's obviously related IMO. Anyway, maybe 10 days more would help many players to manage their time. Waiting for more opinions...


Ilmars Cirulis    (2007-07-24 02:21:03)
Second possibility...

... is to get to next stages of FICGS championship and meet him. I will try.

Thank you for adding more merriment in my life, Jason. :)


Dinesh De Silva    (2007-08-05 08:12:35)
Re:

Tano-Urayoan! Thank you very much for the translation. It seems accurate.


Johann Piek    (2007-09-08 18:27:23)
Thank you

Hi Thibault ... it's all right ... I'll play it ... cheers, anyway ...


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


Wayne Lowrance    (2007-09-19 01:50:21)
Ahhhhh

OK, thank you so much......Wayne


Farit Balabaev    (2007-09-21 13:07:01)
Figlio - Schuster

Dier Chessfriends Thank you for the discussion. Please don't forget, that I've just suffered in the match with Schuster. The match with Thibault is an attempt to draw everybody's attention to this rule. Best wishes, Farit


Dan Rotaru    (2007-09-22 01:16:27)
Games download

Excellent update and new interface, thank you very much Thibault. I really like the new feature which allows to download all games in a particular tournament. On this note it really would be nice to be able to download all one's games in progress. If playing few tournaments in the same time it is not practical to download all of them. Also what about being able to download all the games finished on FICGS from the beginning to date?


Denis Chumakov    (2007-09-24 14:23:59)
SM, FEM, FIM

Thibault de Vassal! Thank you!


Hannes Rada    (2007-10-03 19:49:56)
Kasparov vs the World

Thank you for the interesting link. It is quite an interesting game and when playing without further and depper analysing it looks like the World did a very good job, which should at least be sufficient for a draw.


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


Peter Schuster    (2007-10-15 14:05:23)
match pligin-schuster

Dear Sergey, Thank you very much for your very friendly offer. After my mistake (quick move input) I resign both games because I was so anger about myself. If Thibaut and your team was agree with your suggestion, we continue both games. Best wishes Peter


Wayne Lowrance    (2007-10-15 19:18:23)
slippery slope

I was so very proud that of sergie's offer ! This what I like very friendly chess. I would most certainly have made the same offer. So Tribault thank you if it turns out ok Wayne


Wayne Lowrance    (2007-11-02 00:13:09)
Change in class M rapid

Thibault I dont like that change at all. When I signed the entry was 2200. I do not like that to be lowered to 2100/ I think the division was just fine. Ive been busting my butt to get to that 2200 window. Would you please remove me from the waiting list. Thank you wayne


Wayne Lowrance    (2007-11-02 01:40:29)
okey dokie

Thank you, please leave me on the waiting list Wayne


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


Robert Mueller    (2008-01-11 19:24:42)
Personal Mails

Hi Thibault, I am not sure this is a problem. Maybe I just have not figured it out. I would like to be able to send a personal message to my opponent AFTER the game is finished. Sometimes I offer a draw, my opponent accepts, and the game is gone from my list. I would like to send something like "thank you for the game" or "good game". I just don't know how to do that.


Richard Allen    (2008-01-17 00:32:08)
time added

thank you!


Gaetano Laghetti    (2008-01-22 09:00:36)
congratulations

Dear Philip, it is very kind of you. Thank you also to Thibault for giving me the chance to play in this match. Ciao Gaetano


Wayne Lowrance    (2008-01-22 17:12:13)
Database

Yes Mladen, I guess that will work for current games.....I have all current games in a Ficgs database I created. My problem is I do not have the entire database of my games. I tried Thibault's suggestion and it worked fine. Thank you Wayne


Thibault de Vassal    (2008-02-08 00:57:29)
Candidates final tie break rule

"But the whole process is a method of determining a challenger for the WCC not a challenger to one of the top eight." << Well, actually it is also in a way, why not ? :) Anyway, thank you for discussing this point and trying to improve the rules, it would be great to know the opinion of other players !


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.


Amir Elnemr    (2008-02-15 15:21:30)
Thank you

Thanks Thibault this is exactly what I needed, now it will be much easier playing.


Tano-Urayoán Russi Román    (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.


Volker Koslowski    (2008-04-28 11:01:53)
Conversations

Hi Thibault!

That's a reason why I didn't find the delete option. I still use the old plain HTML interface which I prefer more than the javascript interface. So I will wait for your new trick and in the meantime I will switch to the other interface from time to time to delete messages when thy are to much for my taste :)

Thank you and greetings
Volker


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!!


Mik Kris    (2008-05-27 19:51:18)
Thanks for the quick response

I am sorry I did not think my original idea it all the way And forgat my manners for a moment there I wold like to thank you for building this great site and this opportunity for me to meet many intersting people Yes I wold like to be able to challenge some one for a simple rank game without starting a tournament one more thing might be nice is to get an "are youre ready to play" message before a game in a bullet or lightning tournament


Wayne Lowrance    (2008-06-03 03:56:21)
Entry Rating

Okey Dokey Gavin, your right of course. I just feel like fewer players are inflicted with this misery at 2200-2400. I guess I am biased tho. I forsee that for me reaching 2300 will be almost impossible with the new bracket...I am in several tournaments at the previous bracket rating system, my hope is I can make it in this way, just dunno Thank you Wayne


Wayne Lowrance    (2008-06-08 22:59:52)
Rapid chess entry rating

Sorry for mispelled name, not my intention. This my last post here with you, I do not wish to engage in insults. I have never claimed to not use a engine. of course I do. I do not know your rating, not bothering to look it up. I am so very busy with my tourny games I have no time for you. I will not forget your last post my friend. After I get a little free time from games I will challenge you to some match games. I doubt you will accept, but I will do it. So long my friend, good c hess, good luck with your problems Wayne p.s. do not bother with a follow. I thank you


Wayne Lowrance    (2008-07-03 23:48:22)
mygames copied to fritz data base

sounds like it, but I may not understand it. is...."your games in fritz database" thank you Wayne


Normajean Yates    (2008-07-13 04:52:23)
I MEANT DECONSTRUCTION

I *meant* deconstruction, NOT demolition, thank you!

oops, Rodolfo d Ettorre's post is maybe not aimed at me! But, today I celebrate paranoia day ;)


Jonathan Willis    (2008-07-18 00:52:18)
Ending a game of Go

Thank you Thibault for the information. I shall be calling a referee now as we are about to enter our fourth round of passes in this game.


Normajean Yates    (2008-07-27 20:20:39)
I WOULD IF I DIDN'T HAVE ,,,

... BETTER THINGS TO DO, THANK YOU!

the lunatic is in ... whose head?


Don Groves    (2008-08-06 03:06:27)
Thank you Andrew...

... for the correction. I see she has many other good quotes also ;-)


Thibault de Vassal    (2008-08-14 18:56:37)
:o)

Thank you... Maybe we'll know about poker in a while :) I feel my Go rating is over estimated though, my first Go games here prove that I really started from zero... anyway, always learning, as a webmaster also :)


Benjamin Block    (2008-08-18 08:52:18)
Try to translate!

I think it is something like that?
Hello Xavier and first congratulations on your victory in the match which t'opposait the MI (ICCF) Gino Figlio [Peru] in the final candidates. You should avoid at all costs void in all parties, finally brought blacks t'ont chance, how do you explain this result? X
avier: Hello, thank you for the congratulations. It is true that in case of zero for all parties, the regulation states Figlio winner in the event of a tie with victory (s) and defeat (s) I won the match. So I had to take risks in attacking and it is with blacks that I did it because I thought Gino, in these parts, expected without taking risks to ensure the void.
-- Can you tell us about how you approached this match against Gino and his conduct as different phases of the game?
X: It's pretty simple, in this match I was not at all favorite because with more than 200 ELO points FICGS to my disadvantage, and Gino titled Master International, with more than 2480 ELO ICCF point, I thought I n ' not resist going on 8 simultaneous games as a part everything is possible but on 8 parts ... it was for me a great challenge! In the course of the game I played diversity in my beginnings with white 4 parts 4 different strokes: 1.e4 1.d4 1.c4 1.Cf3. Gino did the same: 1.e4 1.d4 1.Cf3 1.Cc3. What made me doubt also because 1.Cc3 surprised me, I thought he had planned an early tonitruand and this is where I said that I should take risks with blacks. As the different phases of the game I assured the zero positions balanced for me concacrer deal has two parts, one with blanks and one with the black for at least make a difference in part to ensure victory. And ultimately it 3 victories me back, which seemed impossible given the quality of the game Gino played on this site to reach the final of the championship candidates.
-- You have made during a championship course without fault, no losses to report, you also posters statistics stratospheric to 78% against an average elo to about 2200, what's your secret?
X: My secret? I have no secret. If I had a secret I do not dévoilerais if I do win more! I think I got a little lucky because he is required by little I am not qualified to stage 3 (round-robin final) because there were 3 players equally and I had l 'advantage classifying the departure of this tournament as indicated by the regulation. As for my statistics, it is also thanks to the errors of my opponents who allowed me to win parts in balance.
-- What do you think the system mid-ko, semi-all-round championship FICGS and its new départages in matches in 8 parties? What changes would it be?
X: Very good question! The system mid-ko for me is a little too fast since a coup by day is overtime analyses to operate a complicated position, which is difficult when several parties in progress. Especially when you work. It is perhaps also through this pace that my opponents lack of time, made some uncertainty regarding postions or exploited my mistakes. But the pace has an advantage over the cadences ICCF which is 5 days a coup is that the parties had to 5 times less time! The départage new games to 8 parts is excellent, forcing the favorite to ensure all matches to nil win this duel and otherwise obtain an additional victory against the challenger is a very well thought out. The amendment that I could make is perhaps time management which is fast for a game system per server. Perhaps increase the clock starting 15 days, starting with 45 against 30 days at this time. And also the possibility of taking a vacation only on the tournament underway to manage other parts of the site. For example, take 7 days vacation on a chess tournament championship and be able to play a tournament Big Chess, Go or another chess tournament during the holidays. Being able to choose a start date of holidays in advance would also be appreciated.
-- Why t'ętre invested in correspondence chess? T'apportent there are other rewards compared to traditional chess and blitz?
X: I prefer chess match over time. For the classical chess is often play the weekend at a specific time and often on the move to make a tournament. The advantage for me, correspondence chess is that I can connect at any time to play my shots, which allows me, for example, making family meals on weekends and late at night to play a coup, which is not possible chess classics.
-- You knew not to succumb to the temptation and you only play a very reasonable number of parties on the site throughout the championship, do you think nevertheless that the correspondence chess are addictive and at what point? Did they affect your everyday life?
X: Yes! Limiting my number of games in progress is essential for me to try to have parts of quality rather than quantity. Have a lot of parts simultaneously is still something very difficult to manage! This is perhaps the key to my victory against Figlio, I watched its games in progress, it had nearly 90 on the site of the ICCF, it has been felt on his time devoted to analysis our parties on FICGS 8. On the everyday life impacts are family because it is true that I spend more time to analyze the parts and less time with my family, which is quite difficult for me. But when the results are there I do not regret!
-- What do you think about the current position of engines for analysis (Rybka, Shredder, Fritz and others) in correspondence chess? What are the qualities you complementary core player by correspondence, now centaur with the machine for legs?
X: The engines of analyses in chess matches are used by 95% of players ... Now we must adapt and learn to use these machines to calculate. Car simply play the best shot of Rybka 3, Fritz 12 or Hiarcs 12 mentally without thinking leads to zero if the opponent does the same or possibly lose if the opponent gives himself the trouble to consider using them as well. Knowing that when you're in the middle part of these programs give you often 4 to 5 strokes assessed similarly, and that is that we must choose the right time when it is not even necessarily cited by the analysis engine ...
-- You get the Big Chess now on the site, curiosity or interest? What do you think of this strange version of chess?
X: For curiosity and fun and I think Rybka 3 is not yet the Big Chess! This version is