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Game result  (chess)


H. Ingersol, 2489
D. Brunsteins, 2479

1/2-1/2

See game 14256




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

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Andy Liu 7d wins Masters Open at NY Go Center

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Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-04 03:54:36)
FICGS forum is open !

The forum is open to all discussions. Feel free to suggest and debate all kinds of improvements for the website. Please speak english only.

Have good games... :-)


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-08 13:10:47)
Things to be implemented...

Hello to all... and thank you for your confidence in this very new server (when no game started yet ! maybe today...)

I expected a high average rating, but not so much :)

The last update provoked the first bug -> in this forum. Sorry to all who tried to post here. It should work now.

Here are things to be implemented in the future :

- Vacations (until, time limit by move is 2 months)
- Conditional moves
- A better interface for the forum...

Don't hesitate if you have ideas to improve the website !


Best wishes.


Hannes Rada    (2006-04-08 13:20:52)
Thank you !

Thank you Thibault for this great job of creating a chessfriend clone. Chessfriend had definitely the best and most convenient user-interface for server play. I Hope many chessfriend-players will migrate to this server. Once again thank you for your work and support of the correspondence chess community ! Furthermore -There is an overlap in the class tournaments concerning the minimun elo requirement. Can you clarify this ? - No holiday entitlement is mentioned in the terms and conditions hannes


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-08 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


Hannes Rada    (2006-04-08 19:06:49)
Vacations

The most important issue to be implemented is imho the vacation. I think otherwise many potential players (me included) will be prevented from joining a tournament. How many days a year would you allow ?


Hannes Rada    (2006-04-08 19:12:59)
Titles

I thing titles provide an incentive for players and their wording is not really important. To avoid potential conflicts with other bureaucratic organisations you should maybe rename them to FEM, FIM, FSIM, FGM ...


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-08 19:18:26)
Vacations

I think 40 days for vacations is right. What do you think about ? (it may depend on tournament category, ie. rapid tournament shouldn't allow vacations)


Hannes Rada    (2006-04-08 19:32:44)
vacations

40 days is fine for me. I've 31 days leave in a year and I ususaly use them all for travelling and visiting foreign countries. I had no experience with rapid tournaments on the cfc - server. However they also allowed 40 days in a year. Maybe otherwise many player would not participate. I for one had to go several times on business trips for a few days and in this case it would risk losing games in a rapid tournament if there is no possibility for taking leave.


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-08 19:59:22)
Hannes

CFC rapid tournaments didn't allow vacation (and start clock was 10 days, not 30). Anyway, you have 2 months to play a single move (if your clock is over 2 months, of course)


Per Lea    (2006-04-08 23:03:27)
Vacations

In this modern world, not even travelling abroad will stop you from being able to play: you will probably find an internet cafe near by. Or you may have internet access in your hotel room, or if you visit business colleagues, they will probably give you access to a PC. Too bad if you're TOO dependent on Fritz, of course, but....


Per Lea    (2006-04-08 23:09:40)
Titles

A provocative question: Do we really need titles at all? Isn't rating more informative than a title that maybe has been won when the player was at the top of his playing strength, many years ago? I admit the rating system isn't perfect, but I still claim it tells me more than a title. Being a Norwegian I am possibly less obsessed with titles (within all walks of life) than people from other countries?


Hannes Rada    (2006-04-09 00:43:50)
Travel destinations

>In this modern world, not even > travelling abroad will stop you from > being able to play: you will > probably find an internet cafe near > Or you may have internet access in > your hotel room, or if you visit > business colleagues, they will > probably give you access to a PC. > Too bad if you're TOO dependent on > Fritz, of course, but.... Normally I spend my holiday far away from the so called civiliations. Destinations like Papua New Guinea, Micronesia or Ethiopia are my favorite places. So there is no chance for communications and also no interest for playing chess. In 2 weeks I am heading to Vanuatu .....


Marc Lacrosse    (2006-04-09 09:01:47)
delay before moves publishing?

Hi Thibault If I do understand all moves of all games are visible as soon as they have been played. Isn't it better to delay public publishing a little bit (by 3 moves or so). Most other servers have such a policy so as to avoid game duplication tricks. congrats for the already very good work ! Marc


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-09 10:16:50)
Duplication

Hello Marc ! I thought players (I first) precisely would appreciate something different and this totally "live" concept. I don't think many correspondence chess players will try to cheat this way... Furthermore, I already did implement processes to DETECT 'double' games.. and rules clearly forbid these methods.


Per Lea    (2006-04-09 11:37:05)
Titles

In my opinion, there are only 2 official sets of titles in the chess world, belonging to the only officialy accepted world-wide chess organisations: ICCF and FIDE.


Per Lea    (2006-04-09 11:41:46)
Rating improvement...

2141? Now you mention it... I had simply forgotten the latest list! (Hooray! I am 5 points stronger than I thought! Everyone in A_000001 beware!)


Per Lea    (2006-04-09 11:50:32)
Vacations

OK, Hannes, you're right. When you leave "The modern world" my comments no longer apply... And, by the way: I fully support the idea of some sort of "vacation". After all, not everyone is obsessed with chess 24 hours/day. There are other valuable things in life as well! Often, it can be fun just to relax, and forget all about difficult middle-games, irritating colleagues at work and the disappointments of your local football team and just go away - to Vanuatu (wherever that mey be)


Henri Muller    (2006-04-10 10:56:31)
success

Bravo et félicitations à Thibault ! Un TRES grand et mérité succès pour ce nouveau site. Bien pensé, bien ordonné, et....facile ( quand on s'y est fait !! ) Il y a qqs jours quand je me suis inscrit, j'étais le 39ème. Il y a déjà plus de 120 membres....et cela continue ! J'espère que Thibault sera en mesure d'assumer ce ghrand succès, car le travail ne manquera pas ! COURAGE - BONNE CHANCE ert....FELICITATIONS !! hm


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-10 21:51:58)
Exclamation mark

Hello Patrice, is the exclamation mark "!" okay for you ?


Hannes Rada    (2006-04-10 21:57:30)
Job specification

Generally speaking I am interested. But what about a job specification :-) To be honest, I've no idea about go ..:-) But I've experience in administrating a phpbb - Forum. Hannes


Patrice Verdier    (2006-04-10 22:16:07)
Exclamation mark

Yes It's OK


Patrice Verdier    (2006-04-10 22:19:36)
Possibility Job

I have been club chess president. I can organize tournaments, proceed rating calculator, write rules, doing relation with others organisation (ICCF, IECG,...). I have some ideas also for tournament with fee and prizes


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    (2006-04-11 18:33:13)
Bug fixed...

Many improvements in the send move process... It should not be possible anymore to make a wrong move. Stalemate detection is implemented. In checkmate case, nothing else should be possible than resigning. Thanks for your feedback.


Hannes Rada    (2006-04-11 21:03:24)
Titles

FEM, FIM, FSM, FGM. That's in my opinion a good compromise. Don't worry about the attacks of the guys in the Correspondence Chess Message Board. Just follow your dreams ....


Daniel De Noose    (2006-04-11 23:46:29)
FICGS council/staff

I'm interested too. I don't have always lot of time but I have lot of holidays ! ;-) You can see my description on echecsemail.com (login : danideno)


Dinesh De Silva    (2006-04-12 07:24:22)
TITLES

I think the answer is obvious. FICGS titles should be named FICGS EM, FICGS IM etc, so that it's clear from where the titles are got from. By putting the organization's name in front of the title this way, I don't see any problems. I think the majority are bound to agree, and there won't be any sorta arguments with other organizations. After all, the world is a very big place.... there's enough room for everybody! I find FICGS a very friendly place. Also, organizations like IECG, ICCF, LIAPE etc. are very hardworking, dedicated organizations too, and I enjoy playing in them too. My thanks to you all.


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-12 09:14:24)
Tournament formulas

Hello to all.

What do you think about the idea to create a SLOW tournament category ? Clocks could be 60 days + 10 days / move or 100 days + 100 days / 10 moves (very slow) ?

Any idea or opinion ?


Patrice Verdier    (2006-04-12 09:49:26)
FICGS Council / Staff

Can you send your email adress for discuss about this organisation ?


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-12 09:53:48)
Rapid tournaments

Formula for rapid tournaments is 30 days (because players could be in vacation while the tournament starts) + 1 day / move


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-12 12:46:22)
FEM, FIM, FSM, FGM

About titles obtained on FICGS, it would be the same ones. We have choice : We could add a special letter, from the organization the title comes from (very confusing I think : IIM.. IECG / ICCF) .. or consider EM, IM, SM, GM are "official" titles, and FEM, FIM, FSM, FGM are the other ones, including FICGS ones... Probably not perfect. Any idea ?


Dinesh De Silva    (2006-04-12 12:52:51)
FEM,FIM,FSM,FGM

How about contacting IECG, ICCF etc and reaching an amicable solution regarding how to name the titles on FICGS?!


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-12 14:02:49)
Solution...

One solution could be to display titles from organizations in separated columns named FICGS, ICCF, FIDE, IECG etc... (as Chessfriend do) It's quite heavy for the rating list page :/ So the idea was to display the player's highest title only, and player is free to mention his titles in his own informations page.

That's not a completely satisfying solution, I agree...


Dinesh De Silva    (2006-04-12 14:15:16)
Solution...

I have 2 suggestions which might be viable..... *The FICGS decision making committee should make a decision regarding it. OR *Have some sorta poll/voting on FICGS to decide on it.


Hannes Rada    (2006-04-12 19:15:19)
Titles

>> One solution could be to display titles from organizations in separated columns named FICGS, ICCF, FIDE, IECG etc... (as Chessfriend do) It's quite heavy for the rating list page :/ So the idea was to display the player's highest title only, and player is free to mention his titles in his own informations page.

I think that's the best idea. Maybe you can use smaller fonts, so that all information can be displayed on that page.


Paul-Iosif Guralivu    (2006-04-13 15:19:03)
New Titles!

To make FICGS more atractive and original I propose to make new titles for every category of players: Candidate for Master(FCM) - 2000-2200 First category (FI) - 1800-2000 Secound category (FII) - 1200-1800 Third category (FIII) - 800-1200 Every of this category could be obtain if a player plays more than 12 games in tournaments with tha same ELO. What do you think about it ? P.S.:Don't be mad on me...It's just a proposition.


Paul-Iosif Guralivu    (2006-04-13 15:22:36)
A new comision for this!

I also propose to make a new comision for giving this titles.


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-13 15:46:55)
New Titles

Hello Paul-Iosif.

Interesting new idea. In my opinion, there are too many titles & titled players already from official & "non-official" organizations. I think this is a mistake from FIDE / ICCF they couldn't remedy anymore. Titles from other organizations and particularly IECG are not really a problem "more", cause they are hard to achieve (rare), but I don't think this could be so attractive for players. To get a title is a reward itself. Maybe even EM title shouldn't exist.

But I think that ie. a KM title (over GM) could be an interesting idea !

Anyway, I'm ok with the commission idea, we'll vote that too.

Another interesting & controversial idea is (as IECG do) titles not to be awarded for life ! If player's rating decrease, he could lost his title... but I don't think this is very fair.


Paul-Iosif Guralivu    (2006-04-13 15:52:18)
New Titles

I agree it's a bit confusion, but there are a lot of players wich never achieves a title..so that will be atractive. About the fact that the title to be removed it's a bit unfair, because it's hard to be achieved... ----- My humble opinion


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-13 16:05:35)
I agree...

... that would be unfair.

About players that will never achieve a title, I think most important is to stimulate motivation, and titles (I think) are awarded in this way. Don't you think categories FI, FII, FIII are in a way the rating itself ?


Paul-Iosif Guralivu    (2006-04-13 16:30:20)
New Titles

Again, Their is no problem if you don't create such titles... I was only proposing... and I will submit to the decitions of the FICGS council... God bless FICGS!


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-14 04:54:25)
Proposal from a visitor (anonymous)

" >>> Hi Thibault

Congratulations for the launch of your new CC server! I fully support your initiative and hope I will join very soon.

Meanwhile I would like to share some ideas about the Ficgs Titles, which I also fully and unconditionally support.

My proposal is to adopt/or "recognize" any title awarded by FIDE/ICCF/IECG as a FGM, FSIM, FIM, FEM titles. (e.g. not just IECG IM = FIM, but all others too).

That is, a ICCF GM should be named FGM much as a FIDE GM, or IECG GM (or SIM, IM or EM for CC). There shouldn't be special treatment to those players with a title from FIDE/ICCF

Then, to differentiate them, there could be a color scheme or a footnote explaining the procedence of the title: FGM (ICCF) ...FSIM (IECG) and simply FSIM for the truly SIM title obtained at FICGS.

In adition, those players who do not have a title, but have norms either at FIDE/ICCF/IECG (my case ;) either will have them "homologated" (as the titles are) or better, when/if the title has been awarded later, his Ficgs title will be "updated" to the newly awarded title (by FIDE/ICCF/IECG), which must be the highest of them all (as in IECG SIM > ICCF IM > FEM ..etc)

This way FICGS will be the first organization to homologate norms and titles in CC world ;) <<< "


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-14 05:16:26)
re: Proposal

What do we call "legitimacy", "official" ? This is quite subjective. In my opinion each organization can create his own titles and choose to recognize titles from other ones. IECG titles are recognized by FICGS, but it's obvious titles from FIDE / ICCF have more value in players mind (legitimacy is not the subject), and players from everywhere could appreciate this distinction. Anyway the FICGS council will discuss about that.


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-14 13:19:38)
Registrations, best of :)

Among players who tried to register with a false name, some of them have a great imagination. I'll post their most funny "contributions" here. If they finally succeed to skirt the filter (me), I'll just say "ok, you won... great. now, what about a game ? :)"


Fischer, Bobby (2900)
Holycron, Kieron


Patrice Verdier    (2006-04-14 16:00:07)
Registrations, best of :)

ahahahaha !!!! Yes funny !


Håkon Anda    (2006-04-14 16:52:42)
Some wishes

I think this server works great after so short time online. However I think there are som possible improvements that could be done: 1. Option that can disable e-mail notification of one own moves. 2. It should be possible to take leave. 3. A better list of our own games, like when last move was done, reflection time left and so on. 4. A flag for every player that shows the nationality and other information that could be found in the rating list. Best regards, Håkon Anda


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-14 17:08:26)
Answers...

Hello Håkon. Some answers :

1. Maybe try : Preferences -> Notification checkbox
2. Right, other players already asked for this. Now you have 2 months to play a single move, so few chances to be late. The council will discuss about vacation option before to be implemented.
3. Some players asked these informations not to appear in the list to reduce it in size, so you can check this just by clicking on the games. ("when last move was done" : right !)
4. For website design reasons, I can't display many informations on the same page. I don't think flags are essential, but it will probably be implemented anyway !


Hannes Rada    (2006-04-14 19:34:41)
Vacation

I agree with Hakon's proposal. In my opinion the possibiliy to take leave is absolutely essential. Happy Easter !


Per Lea    (2006-04-14 23:43:10)
Coordinates

I didn't even notice that there were no coordinates until I read your posting! If you move directly on the screen, this should be no problem. I do not see any reason to maintain the option of entering your move by writing it in English notation instead.


Per Lea    (2006-04-15 00:01:42)
Minor notational bug...

In game 8, I had Rooks on f8 and b8. I played 18...Ra8 on the screen, but when I list the game, the move is recorded as Rba8. The "b" is superfluous, the f8 Rook can't move to a8. In game 13, I had Rooks on d6 and d1 and played 18.Rxd8. This came out as R6xd8. The "6" is superfluous. These are not serious errors, but it is a bit irritating....


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-15 03:16:38)
English PGN notation

Writing the move may be a bit faster than clicks. (2 steps instead of 3)

About the last move, you're right Walter. Maybe it should be only an option, I'm not sure all players would appreciate a special color for the last piece moved. (?)


Heinz-Georg Lehnhoff    (2006-04-15 16:46:29)
Vacation

I agree with Hannes. And I would like to take a leave in one or another but not necessarily in all of my tournaments.


Glen D. Shields    (2006-04-15 19:01:14)
Extend Timeout

I agree great server. The board definiely would be better with coordinates. Is there a way to extend the timeout time? Or an option to save one's login information so you don't have to input name and password after being tossed? Thanks!


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-16 09:25:33)
Implemented & vacation

Hello to all.

Cookies, last move & board coordinates have been implemented. Thanks !

Still thinking about vacation, but it doesn't seem obvious to me that it is essential. There's objectively no difference between "vacation" & time for move... Rules on other servers are often a bit hard and to manage vacations is something more to do (and not so easy when you have few time). I would prefer not to hurry players and allow a 2 months time limit per move (= 1 month + 1 month leave by default) Quite more flexible. (!?)


Hannes Rada    (2006-04-16 09:52:16)
time and vacation

>There's objectively no difference >between "vacation" & time for move... >Rules on other servers There is a difference. If the player does not have the time on the clock, because he is involved in many tournaments .... I think we should start a poll about this issue.


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-16 10:12:09)
Right

You're right, Hannes. That's different. In a way, we should call this "reserve" more than "vacation". So it only depends on rules -> depends on council. Not sure it is an obvious thing but anyway, we'll vote that too very soon.


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.


Håkon Anda    (2006-04-16 12:14:19)
Re: Some wishes

Hello Thibault. You wrote: "1. Maybe try : Preferences -> Notification checkbox". The problem is that when uncheck this box, one loose also opponents moves with e-mail notification. I wish to get e-mail notification with oppononets moves, but not my own moves.


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 16:02:22)
Right again

You'll have both options very soon.

In case of crash, the database is automatically & periodically saved out of the server.


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.


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-16 18:33:01)
Adjudication

Déjà ? :)

So, about games "obviously lost" (somewhat subjective), the council may decide special rules so that referees can grant games that drag out. What do you think is best ? That's a recurrent problem in correspondence chess, and an original policy could make the rating more accurate, as some players may finish "good games" very faster than others... Quite subjective indeed, and not obvious. Where's the limit ? Maybe correspondence chess players should first accept this idea that their "won" games may finish much later...


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-16 18:42:59)
Two players matches

Question about 2 players matches will be discussed too. I first decided not to offer these formulas because it may lead to cheating problems, at least unfair results. I have implemented processes to detect cheaters, but avoiding temptations is probably best for all :)


Glen D. Shields    (2006-04-16 18:57:19)
60/10 Too Slow for Me

I'm in the group that thinks 60/10 is too slow. Like Mr. LaCrosse, I like fewer games at a faster pace. Only way 60/10 might work is to set a REASONABLE limit on days per move. ICCF's 40 days is too long and some TD's are much too lenient about extending it. I hope this doesn't hijack your thread Thibault, but The opposite question I'd like to ask is how many server players find the opening game too fast and like a blur? I make a move and there's a reply waiting 5 minutes later. It won't be long before someone writes a script and connects it to ChessBase to cut the time down to seconds :)


Dinesh De Silva    (2006-04-17 08:54:33)
About Glen's observations

Thibault, I think Glen has a point there. IF any players are using/might use such fraudulent script writing, a system can be found to detect it!?


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-17 09:23:44)
Fraudulent ?

I'm not sure.. is really an "automatic player" fraudulent ? Many players are centaurs (human + computer). The decision to let an engine play would be a human one after all.. Anyway, a script player doesn't seem so easy to make. (and for what ?)


Glen D. Shields    (2006-04-17 19:01:10)
Thanks for the Comments Guys

Dinesh - since computer use is allowed I have no problem if someone uses a "script" to automate moves. I don't think that would be fradulent. Actually I think it would be clever :) The point I was trying to ask is anyone concerned (besides me) that we created a chess medium (server chess) where it's so easy to make moves that the games move too fast? I dread the start of a new section, particularly large sections with 10+ players. It's impossible to keep one's inbox empty for even a minute. I know I should show more discipline and walk away, but it's almost like an illness "just one more move then I'll stop" and I don't! One practice I've been using lately is to make a move in a notebook and sit on the move for a day or two before sending it. That helps slow things down. I wonder if a delay send option on the server would make any sense? One could make a move and then click a delay send button for 24 or 48 hours. One would be charged time during the delay, but it would automate the slow down and make tournament startups a little less hectic. Maybe I'm the only one who sees this as an issue> If so, then label this just one crazy man's thoughts :)


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-17 19:25:06)
New features...

Coordinates & last move have been implemented... Now the "live games" concept of the site extends to the home page :)

Also, player informations are 5 successive pages (informations, elo history, title norms, tournaments, games), reachable just by clicking on "ELO" (to improve yet) after clicking the magnifying glass.


Paul-Iosif Guralivu    (2006-04-18 00:25:05)
Explaining

I put that quesion more like a joke... Put on the other hadn I asked it, because you didn't let Holycron to join....


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-18 00:34:26)
About vacation...

Don't you think it would be more logical to allow 40 (for example) days of vacation per year and not per game ? Vacation would stop the clock for all games of the player. Seems to look like "vacation" more than a "reservoir" that doesn't really have to exist ?!


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-18 13:25:56)
Time limit per move

If a player has 60 days and more on his clock, the deadline for one move is 60 days ! This is a provisional (quite good, I think) solution before question of vacation be answered. Many players can't play every day and correspondence chess games usually last several months, often more than 1 year.

It seems server games go much faster than email games, but rules 40 days + 40 days / 10 moves are the same.

Time limit per move in IECG is 30 days. Here, a 60 days limit (a rating period) don't seem too much to me. Players won't feel oppressed (Glen, turn email notification off :)) and I think they won't use it often.

RAPID TOURNAMENTS are an alternative solution.

Thibault


Glen D. Shields    (2006-04-18 21:39:57)
A Suggestion

Thibault my e-mail notification will be turned off :)

I'd encourage you to re-consider your 60 day ruling. I can foresee individuals getting late in a game and accumulating hundreds of reflection days. Not many, but a few players could go 59 days per move 2 or 3 times in a row just to irritate their opponent. Not everyone is a "good sport" unfortunately :(

IECG does it right by limiting time to 30 days max per move. You violate the limit once, game is over no questions asked. ICCF does it half right and half wrong. They set the limit at 40 days, but then make the person waiting beg the TD to do something. If the TD refuses to enforce the rule, the violating player can stall as long as he wants :(

This is your chance to pick and chose from the best things done in other organizations. Either set a limit on the number of accumulated days so it doesn't go into the hundreds or set a reasonable limit on the number of days per move. Just don't let both become large. Also don't be wishy washy on the limit. Set a limit and enforce it, no questions asked. No hard reasonable limit and too many accumulated days is an infrequent, but irritating problem in the making. There won't be many, but sadly there will be those few "bad losers" who think it's "cute" to string their opponents along. Don't let that happen at FICGS!

Just my two cents :)


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-18 23:04:48)
Interesting...

Glen, that's a fine suggestion !

We could probably improve the time rules, indeed.

Maybe a 100 days accumulated time limit would be appreciated ? What do think the players ?


Elmer Valderrama    (2006-04-18 23:15:46)
30 d max

I agree with Glen, 'resign' is the hardest word, and some prefer the server (or the time control rules) _gradually_ pronounce it.. 30 days max, with time doubled at move 10th + optional leave of 30 days would be more than reasonable to me.


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-19 19:13:56)
Vacation implemented

Dear chessfriends, a major update on FICGS : Vacation has been implemented. You now have 30 days leave per year (for all games !)

Be careful using it, as days can't be took back (or vacation stopped before the end date) by playing a move for example. But you can add days to your vacation simply taking days more. You can play while you're in vacation, the days leave you take are simply added to your clock for all your running games. A message tells your opponent you're in vacation in the viewer page.

Also please note this new rule : Time accumulated is now limited to 100 days ! (taking effect at your next move) The 60 days limit per move is kept for the player's convenience.

Have good games !


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-20 11:59:21)
Cheating / Forfeiting

Hello to all.

The website detected 2 'probable' cheaters registered (one playing), with a 1400 rating.

Of course, FICGS will face problems encountered by all correspondence chess sites but I think it will be minimal here, as I'm enforcing detection rules so that aliases couldn't register anymore.

Important : Games forfeited without a valid explanation won't be rated, and the account for the player closed. A player who may forfeit should send an email with explanation to : ficgs (at) ficgs.com

Thanks.


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.


Glen D. Shields    (2006-04-20 01:47:29)
Congratulations!

Thibault - I don't know if FICGS is the first server to do so, but it's the first server I play on that has made the intelligent decision to limit accumulated time. Hopefully you will set a trend that other servers will follow :)

60 days max for one move may be too much, but with a 100 day limit, abuse will be minimal.
Good job :)



Elmer Valderrama    (2006-04-20 14:52:47)
search by ECO code

Wonderful feature to have all on-going games available just one click away (an old request to Reimund @chessfriend). Even more interesting to be able to search games by player name. Now would it be too much to ask for a search by ECO? --similar games would be identified in a second, a good thing; and information for choosing different variations would be available..


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-20 15:21:08)
ECO / statistics

Not too much :)

But I have many things to implement before. Also statistics are not very accurate yet, as the code don't detect transpositions.

This is only the beginning... Huh.


Marc Lacrosse    (2006-04-20 21:57:33)
unknown openings

There were already a few 1.Nc3 games but they were classified as 1.f4 (through transposition I suppose)...
... But now that I have begun to play you _must_ add 1.Nc3 to the list of played opening moves in the statistics page.
... nothing but normal : 1.Nc3 rules!
:-)))
Marc


Graham Cridland    (2006-04-21 16:55:55)
Waiting lists

An option to remove oneself from the waiting list for a tournament might be useful. No immediate need on my part at present, but people's schedules change, etc.


Patrice Verdier    (2006-04-22 15:33:48)
At the end of the game

I think that option is very interesting but only when the game is finished. When the game are in play it is possible that players play many mistake and after the game is not so good. In my opinion the vote will be better at the end of the game with an analysis of the 2 players


Marc Lacrosse    (2006-04-22 15:39:05)
Conditional moves ?

I cannot figure how to propose conditional moves. Is this feature implemented yet?

Maybe I did not read the rules accurately...
Marc


Elmer Valderrama    (2006-04-22 15:44:16)
bug?

Dear Thibault On-going game 49 has "6.Nb5" although both knights (from c3 and d4) could move to b5 (correct is either 6.Ncb5 or 6.Ndb5)
Anyway, the interface (or the player Ghisi) moved the knight from c3 (more obvious was to move the knight from d4, according to theory at least) and, as a result, the move 7...e5 won a piece..(can't see a post from the concerned players so it could have been played as intended, but the "Nb5" needs correction for sure)


Graham Cridland    (2006-04-22 17:47:39)
Fair point

Just a suggestion, I'm honestly not sure which way of handling it is superior, I just noticed the lack of an option and thought I'd mention it.


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    (2006-04-23 06:12:25)
Not yet

Conditional moves will be probably implemented, but not this week... Many things to do before.

I think it's generally an appreciated feature. Some players don't like to receive "automatic" moves just after they played, but it seems to be a "must" have for CC servers.


Stefano Ghisi    (2006-04-23 16:36:50)
conditional moves?

I think it's a feature important. Then, if you want to use it, you use...


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-24 11:21:14)
Bug...

About vacation, an error has occured with the backoffice. Vacation turned back to 30 days for all. Fortunately not heavy consequences, as just one or two players took days already. It won't happen again as the sub-admin backoffice will be installed today.


Michael Höppenstein    (2006-04-24 15:45:19)
Referee - Checkmate

That's not quite all right, I think. In case a game is won by checkmate, the game should be over - that is: without referee and without me waiting for my opponent losing on time. Would you consider changing this? Just a suggestions.


Stefano Ghisi    (2006-04-24 16:08:59)
Other languages

Thanks for the translation in german, french and spanish Can we hope to have an italian version too?


Michael Aigner    (2006-04-24 20:20:09)
Spanish / Deutsch (help....)

Hello Thibault! I had a look for the german parts of the website and I have unfortunately to say the babelfish german is horrible. You can (if you like) send me all the english text you like to have in german and I will translate it for you. michael10013@lycos.com Give me please an mail adress where I schould send the translation to. Have a nice day Michael


Graham Wyborn    (2006-04-25 13:13:52)
Condition Moves?

I have played on another site which uses conditional moves. The Conditional Move is only operated after you opponent moves, therefore you are unaware of your opponents offer. Also players can turn the feature on or off. So if one player has it turned off, the opponent cannot use it. Conditional moves are good time savers. especially when making a capture and the opponent has only one good reply. It saves time. Hope Conditional Moves are coming to this site too!


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-25 16:09:45)
So, no need to turn it off... !?

That's not obvious... Conditional moves may save time, may irritate too... Is it really "fair" ? His existence is arguable, in my opinion.


Graham Cridland    (2006-04-25 16:31:57)
?

You can't do anything with conditional moves you can't do just making the moves yourself. It isn't like it makes imitation harder to spot. It just saves time.


Glen D. Shields    (2006-04-25 16:48:28)
Another Opinion

I have mixed feelings on 'conditional" moves. I agree they save time, but they also can be irritating. Depends how they're sent and who sends them.

We all have those opponents who play whatever Fritz plays. When one gets in a rather simple series of moves, those opponents like to run out a string of 3 or 4 conditionals in a row. Opponents like that are like leeches. You can't get them off your skin without yanking them off and eradicating them :)

Time saving versus irritation. Considering the options, I vote for time saving. The faster I can get rid of Fritz opponents, the happier I am.

Just another opinion :)


Graham Cridland    (2006-04-25 17:22:16)
Hmm.

Well, I see your point (I have an opponent like that) but what you're really objecting to is their failure to use their time, not conditional moves (or even fritz). And I can't imagine that forcing people to use their time will be popular. Just have to NOT send the move back right away, sit down at the board, and figure out where Fritz goes wrong. Our German friend isn't all knowing (especially at the 14-16 ply people only give him much of the time). So you should generally win those games.


Graham Wyborn    (2006-04-25 17:42:52)
Please join:-

I joined this site recently and still have not started a game! Forgive the advert 4 the following games. We need one more player! FICGS__CHESS__CLASS_C__000002 (type : rated round-robin, time : 40 days, increment : 40 days / 10 moves) 7 players, 6 game (1 game against each opponent) elo : 1600-2000 Cridland, Graham (USA) 1700 Grady, Richard (USA) 1654 Höppenstein, Michael (DEU) 1700 Fillion, Nicolas (CAN) 1640 Wyborn, Graham (GBR) 1700 Muller, Henri-Louis (BEL) 1923


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-25 18:02:08)
1st Rating Calculation - May

Be patient... :) I'm sure you won't have to wait so long. Resigning today or next week doesn't change anything, the first rating calculation will occur the first days of May. Just call referee at the end of april if he didn't resign before.

Amici sumus.


Glen D. Shields    (2006-04-25 20:39:39)
Hmmm ... yup

Graham - I think you summed it perfectly. I have no objection to conditionals nor do I care how much time folks use. What I find "irritating" (the word used in this thread) are those situations where you move and ten minutes later you're back on the clock again. Overused conditionals contribute to the "irritation," but hardly are the root cause.


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-25 23:15:07)
Links (& emails) recognition !

The forum now recognizes links and emails. No tags or whatever, just enter the link & it will appear correctly... (for connected players, not from the home page)


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-25 23:47:35)
Waiting lists / Delay

Usually, the delay before a tournament start is at least one week in other big organizations... Be patient, tournaments will start more often as time passes and players join us. (the next month could be "surprising") Anyway this is correspondence chess after all :)


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-26 01:33:22)
Finally...

Less than 2 hours later, the second Class C tournament started :)

I hope the first CHESS 960 tournament will begin soon. (Special tournaments category) See the Help section to see the start position. More about Chess 960 / Fischer Random on Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer_random_chess


Quad tournaments and other categories will appear later, but feel free if you have any idea for special events (teams from countries, other clubs or websites etc...)


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-04-26 19:42:16)
Russian, Italian, Chinese, Dutch....

The Babelfish versions of the FICGS home page in other languages are at the bottom of the home page... Quite funny :)

If players from these countries have time to help to translate, feel free to send me an email to info (at) ficgs.com ! Thanks.


Glen D. Shields    (2006-04-28 01:35:12)
Congratulations FICGS!

Congratulations FICG! The rating list now has over 200 members. 200 members in about 1 month of operation. Outstanding :) The more players we can attract, the quicker tournaments will fill.


Jose Carrillo    (2006-05-01 01:34:24)
Other Chess960 opening positions

Thibault, When will other Chess960 openings be available? In FRCEC, we prefer to run tournaments where every game in the tournament begins with a different opening position. It avoids repetition. Let see how this tournament develops. Cheers, Jose


Stefano Ghisi    (2006-05-01 11:41:45)
Possible bug?

In the game 58 my last move was Rad1. I typed only Rd1 (with no specification of what Rook was to move) and the program has accepted my move as Rfd1. Be aware! Every move typed and no moved on the board must me verifyed...


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-05-01 14:27:08)
"Repetition"

Thinking about it... I like the idea where all start positions are the same in the whole tournament.


Nicolas Fillion    (2006-05-02 20:06:09)
Printable game list

Hi, I'd like to know if there's an option to have a printable list of the moves of the games we're playing. I don't see any option... If not, I'd like to suggest to add such an option to the webmaster! The site is undoubtly great, but this kind of option would surely make it even greater! Thanks


Jose Carrillo    (2006-05-03 00:19:03)
Repetition???

Why? It defeats the purpose of Chess960. Everyone in the tournament is just playing a Chess960 game, not the same opening position. Using the same opening position simulates a regular chess tournament (i.e. repetition). Anyway, at least it should be an option to have differnt opening position per game in the same tournament. It's more in line with the "purpose" of Fischerandom Chess.


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-05-03 04:41:09)
Start positions

It seems to me that changing the start position from classical chess is "sufficient"... The purpose was, according to Fischer, to avoid databases and to favour creativity.. The same positions in the whole tournament allows to compare & analyze a bit deeper, maybe understand better the position. The start position will be different for the next tournament (working on). There are "only" 960 positions, there will be repetitions anyway... And what do you think about the Fischer rules ? Seems strange to me. I wonder if everyone knows how to castle in other start positions (king or rooks at different places)


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-05-03 14:15:54)
Chess 4000 ?

About Fischer Random Chess / Chess 960, the king' start position must be between the rooks to allow this strange castling. Why ?! Wasn't it ok to forbid this unusual (non-sense) move in these other cases... The number of positions should increase a lot. Does anyone knows the number of positions resulting ?


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-05-04 01:03:58)
Update - Chess 960

The start position for Chess 960 tournaments will change each time a tournament starts ! The start position for the next tournament is the Chess 960 board in the Help section.

Have good games...


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-05-04 17:25:27)
FICGS statistics

2006 may 4

Dear chessfriends, the first FICGS statistics (1 month after server start) are displayed on the informations page : http://www.ficgs.com/informations.html

Google just reacted (today), so I hope for new players coming from search engines soon...


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


Jose Carrillo    (2006-05-05 00:32:18)
Chess 4000 ?

Forbid what unusual (non-sense) move? Castling? Chess960 was meant to be the bigger picture, where regular chess is just one of the openings. Regular chess has castling and so does Chess960. About Chess 4000, without King placement restrictions, and without castling... Sure... I'm sure there are players that will play it. There are hundreds of chess variants. Some more popular than others... In FRCEC we only play Chess960, the bigger chess picture!


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-05-05 15:19:03)
FICGS world championship

Hello to all.

Please post here all your questions / suggestions about the FICGS world championship rules.

There are many answers to bring yet : about the building of groups, who exactly will play which stage, etc...

It seems that many players like this scheme : knockout / round-robin tournament, that is more fair and much more interesting than a pure round-robin cycle. The final match rules are particularly hard (24 games, 30 days + 1 day / move), but I think it's a good way to make it different and give value to the title. Rules are not far from the old classical world championship, the champion will only play the next final match against the challenger...

FICGS WCH Rules :
http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#tournament


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-05-05 16:35:18)
Question...

... from a player :

Who (how many players from each tournament) will play the next stages of the wch ?

Indeed, rules are not clear enough yet, I'll bring changes soon. About "how many players", from ie. a 11 players round-robin tournament : It's stated only one, the player with the highest rating in case of equality. Maybe that's not fair enough, I have to simulate other possibilities.

As June is very near already (too short delay), if there are no players enough at this time, we could pass the first stage but I think it would be better to wait, postponing (one month or two) could be considered...


Jose Carrillo    (2006-05-05 18:51:43)
Tournament reccomendation

Try a round robin + Page system playoffs.

Round 1:
Round Robin (as many players as you want)

Final Round:
Page System Playoffs:

Top 4 players in the Round Robin qualify for the quaterfinals:

1st place vs 2nd place
3rd place vs 4th place

Winner of 1st-2nd gets bye in semi-finals, and moves on to the finals.

Loser of 1st-2nd plays in semi-final round

Winner of 3rd-4th playes in semi-final

Loser of 3rd-4th gets eliminated.

Winner of semi-final plays in the final.



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    (2006-05-07 21:14:00)
"Help"

Hello Henrik. Sorry if this is not clear enough. Maybe try first to read help section, then take a look at the waiting lists : choose a tournament category, ie. "class tournaments", then click on a tournament name and follow the instructions. (you enter a waiting list after 4 clicks)

Have good games...


Sebastien Marez    (2006-05-08 20:03:32)
FICGS

Bonsoir, Il sera difficile d'éviter la fourmule du Championnat du monde car il faut qu'il soit ouvert à tous. C 'est le cas pour tous les autres sports.


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...


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-05-09 16:46:25)
Qualifying

I didn't know this system !? Is it really efficient ? How to designate the (4) winners of the round-robin cycle ? Then the semi-final (players bye :/) seems to be a stage more... Means at least 6 months more to end the cycle.

I think the combined round-robin / knockout cycle is fast and fair enough... The 2 first players (designated by the highest ratings in case of equality) of each round-robin tournament will be qualified for the next stage.

The rules for world championship have been updated.


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-05-11 09:34:03)
Wikichess !

Hello to all.

You may have noticed this novelty on FICGS :) .. no need to say more.

Thanks in advance for feedback and suggestions. Please note that transpositions are not supported yet.


Trent Parker    (2006-05-12 00:31:30)
Banned players