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 !





Russian Go Gallery



Want your banner here ?







                                          
Search



There are 0 results for Jan in the games.




There are 144 results for Jan in the forum.


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-05-02 17:43:05)
Who beats Garry Kasparov ?

Funny :)

http://www.ibeatgarry.com/

A "Kasparov number" of 3 for Patrice Verdier, great ;)

Other winners : Janos Helmer, Christian Koch, Farit Balabaev, Marc Lacrosse, David Angeli... Finally everyone beats Garry :))


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-06-23 13:16:42)
Source

A very interesting article.

BLINDFOLD CHESS. (PART I)
by Anonymous

From Chambers' Journal

This article is from the journal LITTELL'S LIVING AGE (Third Series, Volume XVI, January, February, March, 1862), which is in the public domain.

Content by Chess Samizdat

http://www.correspondencechess.com/syndication/articles/0050.htm


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-07-21 11:24:02)
Mise a jour classement ELO

Bonjour Eric.

Tout est là (11.7) : http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#general

"The rating period is 2 months. The first period of a year starts on January 1st. For ratings calculations, the opponents' Tournament Entry Rating (TER), which are valid on the day of the rating run, are used."

La prochaine mise à jour sera donc pour le 1er septembre.


Dirk Jan Van Dijl    (2006-07-23 15:47:36)
Wikichess : Modifiability

Why are some lines not modifiable? Are they beyond criticism?


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-07-23 16:00:42)
Wikichess : Modifiability

Hello Dirk Jan.

It's not possible to modify a comment made by a stronger player (> +100 points ELO) in order to maintain a kind of "trust level"...

Anyway, chess game is still large enough for everyone ;)


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-07-23 16:23:05)
A thousand moves !

More than a thousand moves in Wikichess...

Thanks to Dirk Jan (very active already ;)) and to all contributors.


Dirk Jan Van Dijl    (2006-07-23 20:46:29)
Error?

What is wrong with 4 ... Nf6 after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4? Regards, D.J. van Dijl


Dirk Jan Van Dijl    (2006-07-23 20:53:50)
Error 2?

Hello there! After 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Bc4 e6 7 0-0 the program allows castling by Black, but the black Bishop is still at f8. All the best! Dick van Dijl


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-07-24 13:03:25)
Future of correspondence chess......

That's a fine analysis, Glen.

However, it's legitimate to consider that chess at a higher level is becoming much harder so that some of the very best players may stop their career, thinking that it's no worth the energy anymore, for results more influenced by 'chance' in statistics...

How many "super-grandmasters" (2700+) said that each point over this mark represents more and more work ?

It's probably the same (and more) in correspondence chess. I do think that it's still possible to improve a lot ! .. but there's a lack of a higher class of players. That's a pity the very best correspondence chess players (ie. former ICCF world champions : Joop van Oosterom, Gert Jan Timmerman...) retire or at least don't defend their title since they achieved it. Of course it's a lot of time, but result is the top class appear to be bigger and there's no clear champion. That's not good IMO to popularize correspondence chess.

All games need champions. I read recently on a Go forum that the success of Chess nowadays was due to his champions (Go is not popular yet in the west because there's noone to represent it, except a manga [Hikaru No Go]..), Garry Kasparov, Bobby Fischer... That's true IMO, and that's what particularly misses to correspondence chess. Maybe things won't change in ICCF (maybe I should pretend to the board :)), but anyway that's why I chose the knockout system for the FICGS world chess championship, and the possibility for the winner to play a final against a challenger. We'll see...


Dirk Jan Van Dijl    (2006-07-24 16:53:41)
Copyright issues

Dear Thibault, what about copyright infringements? Are you allowed to copy older books and magazines? Kind regards, Dick van Dijl


Dirk Jan Van Dijl    (2006-07-24 18:59:04)
Copyright issues

Indeed, moves are free, but not necessarily the comments, question marks, exclamation marks etc.


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-07-24 19:23:24)
Copyright issues

Like everywhere else, Dirk Jan... at your own risks ;)

http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html


06. Warranties and limitations of liability

(...) FICGS shall not be liable for what members will do if they don't respect these "Terms and Conditions" or for what members will publish in the forum, news, comments or messages to other members.


Mladen Jankovic    (2006-08-12 20:11:51)
Advanced Chess

Computers have their advantage in the field of tactics, while humans have their advantage as strategists. A combination should be better than either on their own. A player capable of combining the advantages of both well should be the best.


Don Burden    (2006-08-26 18:51:54)
Opening Idea

I'd say it is a fairly big advantage to black. He's a solid pawn up and threatens to win another. Found two games in my database with higher rated players:

[Event "ICCF MN/12 corr"]
[Site "ICCF corr"]
[Date "1995.06.30"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Majewski, Jan"]
[Black "Chorvat, Marian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2335"]
[BlackElo "2305"]
[PlyCount "122"]
[EventDate "1995.??.??"]
[Source "www.chesslib.no"]
[SourceDate "2006.04.01"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Nxe4 8. O-O O-O 9. d5 Bxc3 10. bxc3 Ne7 11. Re1 Nf6 12. d6 Nf5 13. Ba3 Nxd6 14. Bxd6 cxd6 15. Qxd6 Ne8 16. Qd5 Nf6 17. Qd6 Ne8 18. Qd2 d6 19. Ng5 Nf6 20. Rad1 d5 21. Bb3 h6 22. Ne4 Bg4 23. Nxf6+ Qxf6 24. f3 Qb6+ 25. Qd4 Be6 26. Bxd5 Bxd5 27. Qxb6 axb6 28. Rxd5 Rxa2 29. f4 Rc8 30. Rd3 Rc2 31. Ree3 Ra8 32. h4 Raa2 33. Rg3 Rd2 34. Rde3 Kf8 35. Re4 b5 36. Re5 Rab2 37. Rc5 b4 38. Rc8+ Ke7 39. cxb4 Rxb4 40. Rxg7 Rxf4 41. Rh7 Rf6 42. Kh2 Ke6 43. h5 Rd5 44. g4 Rd4 45. Kg3 Rd3+ 46. Kg2 Rd6 47. Re8+ Kd7 48. Rf8 Ke7 49. Rhh8 Ke6 50. Re8+ Kd5 51. Re7 b6 52. Rf8 Rf4 53. Kg3 Rdf6 54. Rc8 Rf3+ 55. Kg2 Rf2+ 56. Kg1 R2f4 57. Rg8 b5 58. Re3 b4 59. Kg2 Kd4 60. Rb3 Rb6 61. Kg3 Rf1 0-1

[Event "ICCF MN/12 corr"]
[Site "ICCF corr"]
[Date "1995.06.30"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mathias, Manfred"]
[Black "Chorvat, Marian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2370"]
[BlackElo "2305"]
[PlyCount "110"]
[EventDate "1995.??.??"]
[Source "www.chesslib.no"]
[SourceDate "2006.04.01"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Nxe4 8. O-O O-O 9. d5 Bxc3 10. bxc3 Ne7 11. Re1 Nf6 12. d6 Nf5 13. dxc7 Qxc7 14. Qb3 d5 15. Bd3 Be6 16. Rb1 b6 17. Qc2 g6 18. Bb2 Ne8 19. Re2 Neg7 20. Rbe1 Rfe8 21. Qd2 Nd6 22. c4 dxc4 23. Qc3 f6 24. Bxg6 hxg6 25. Qxf6 Qf7 26. Rxe6 Qxf6 27. Rxf6 Rxe1+ 28. Nxe1 Re8 29. Nf3 Re2 30. Be5 Nf7 31. Bd4 Re6 32. Kf1 Rxf6 33. Bxf6 b5 34. Bc3 Ne6 35. h4 Nf4 36. a3 Nd5 37. Bb4 a6 38. g3 Kg7 39. Ke2 Kf6 40. Ba5 Nd6 41. g4 Nb7 42. Bd2 a5 43. Bg5+ Kg7 44. Ne5 c3 45. Kd3 b4 46. Kc4 Nb6+ 47. Kd4 Nc5 48. axb4 axb4 49. f3 Nd5 50. Nc4 Ne6+ 51. Kd3 Nxg5 52. hxg5 b3 53. Na3 Kf7 54. f4 c2 55. Nxc2 Nxf4+ 0-1



Mladen Jankovic    (2006-09-07 17:26:38)
Seen Shogi, sounds interesting

I've seen Shogi before, but i didn't play more than few moves. Shogi is actualy a family of variants, board sizes range from 4*5, to 36*36. I had a program once that handled a number of variants (I probably still have it somewhere). I read something about the Chinese Chess, it sounds interesting, the computers have not realy mastered it yet, and it seems somewhat slower than the regular Chess. I'm not realy sure how one can play corespondence Backgammon (I prefer Tavli).


Mladen Jankovic    (2006-09-09 18:55:51)
Jellyfish?

Does it also work for all of Tavli?


Mladen Jankovic    (2006-09-11 14:15:22)
Tavli

Tavli is actualy three games. One of them is nearly identical to Backgammon (that would be Portes). The other two are Plakoto (my favourite) and Fevga (that's one primitive game).


Mladen Jankovic    (2006-09-11 17:18:34)
Big chess name

The name of Big chess seems to be taken by an older variant, see: http://www.chessvariants.org/large.dir/big-chess.html


Mladen Jankovic    (2006-09-11 19:38:23)
Big chess name

Well, I was thinking, maybe you should formaly call your variant FICGS big chess, to avoid confusion. with that and other variants. Anyway, my opinion on Big chess is somewhat split.


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-10-12 15:41:13)
FICGS chess championship #1

Pairings for the semi-finals in the first FICGS WCH knockout tournament are known :


GM Farit Balabaev / SM Peter Schuster
-
IM Gino Figlio / SM Petr Makovský


FICGS WCH round-robin tournaments (stage 1) are still running, next round should begin in 2007 january.

This time control, 30 days + 1 day / move, is definitely hard ! .. but definitely challenging :)


Mladen Jankovic    (2006-10-13 13:16:11)
Re:Good luck

There is no luck in chess.


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-10-23 18:00:29)
Rating / 8-game match

Hello Wolfgang. (FICGS, not FICS ;))

In these 1st FICGS WCH quarter finals, there were 2 forfeit cases & 1 match with 6 games out of 8 lost on time. In the first 2 cases, not all games were rated as a win (according to the 8-game match rule), the last case was a bit different but as far as I remember, the winner had a better position (winning or small advantage) in all games... Anyway, ratings wouldn't change significantly if 2 wins were not rated.

The real question is about 8-game matchs & fast time control 30 days + 1 day / move (quite hard). There's no perfect rule & particular cases could happen, but that's really interesting IMO & the number of games with rapid time controls are probably enough to balance ratings in time. We'll see...

Anyway, several players were surprised by the difficulty of this time control, I hope it won't happen again during the next cycle (that should start in january)...


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-10-26 15:20:20)
Re: Rating / 8-game-match

That's not right.

These quarter finals are particular cases because there were no forfeit before move 10 in all games... (games with less than 10 moves played are not rated for the winner) That's why there's a special rule 'general forfeit' for 8+ games matches.

Moreover, the waiting list for the 1st FICGS WCH remained open from april to july, maybe it was a too long period, that's why the waiting list for the 2nd FICGS WCH (that could begin in january) is still closed.


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-10-26 19:05:48)
Last 2 games started

Finally we have a 12 boards match, the last 2 games just started :

Edwards, Matthew (tugger) vs. Kepinski, Janusz (kolarz)
Johnson, Eddie (eqj2) vs. Vasquez, Carlos (errantknight)


Best wishes.


Mladen Jankovic    (2006-11-10 15:08:44)
yes

Count me in.


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-11-17 18:59:02)
Tournaments with money prizes

Hello to all.

Finally, Chess & Go tournaments with money prizes will begin in 2007 january !

"Money chess" is an all times controversy, many players play for fun only (even at the highest levels), others like much more this way of play. I think it's simply the most challenging, finally it quite looks like classical tournaments.

About Go, things are quite different, as software & particularly engines are a negligible factor in the play. The best players will probably always win, but weak players may be interested in a lesson.


You may have noticed some changes in the waiting list categories for money tournaments :

Two formats for 2-players matches will be available, 8 games matches (time control 30 days + 1 day / move) and 2 games duels (time control 40 days + 40 days / 10 moves) renewed in case of a draw.

Simultaneous games will be also organized with international masters for both games, with prizes shared if some players could beat the masters.

Of course, it won't change anything to the free tournaments & championships, it will be optional only. I hope it will help to provide prizes for the FICGS chess & Go world championships (sponsors are welcome :)) ...

The membership page - Terms and Conditions - has also been updated.

http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html

Some major changes (as in money tournaments pages) might happen until 2007 january.


Feel free to post here if you have any comment or suggestion.

Best wishes.


Janos Helmer    (2006-12-04 14:16:34)
About Google Adsense!

Hello Thibauld! I think the idea is very good,especialy for the players from some eastern countries, but what do You know about the...real story of the Chessfriend server?!? Best regards, Helmer Janos


Mladen Jankovic    (2006-12-07 11:32:57)
Question : Waiting lists

Can you temporarily restrict someone from entering waiting lists?


Mladen Jankovic    (2006-12-07 14:02:00)
The reason

I'm currently entertaining the idea of signing up for yet another waiting list. With the Big Chess tournament in progress and being signed up for the WCH, I belive it would be too much if I signed up for another one. Maybe something like a waiting list vacation. Sorry about giving you more work.


Mladen Jankovic    (2006-12-08 09:11:25)
Re:

That's it. Too much chess is a bad idea. :(


Mladen Jankovic    (2006-12-08 18:56:16)
Re:

It's realy a problem of inadequate conditions (like not owning a chess board and connecting only from public computers). And playing too much games like that can be a frustrating experience, last time I started making dumb moves to just to end games, and reduce the presure.


Pablo Schmid    (2006-12-22 01:08:47)
Vacation

"You have x days leave remaining for year 2006" Ca veut dire que le 1er janvier on reçoit tous nos nouveaux jours de vacances?


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-12-22 11:18:16)
Vacation

Right, you can take your x days leave remaining until december 31.

On january 1st, everyone will have 30 days (no more, there's no addition !) leave for year 2007.


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-12-27 20:51:21)
Ratings

Hello Jason.

Next rating calculation will occur on 2007, january 1st

All informations about rating calculation are here :

http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#rating

How many games must be completed until the rating is regular : 9 rated games


Thibault de Vassal    (2006-12-30 13:31:14)
Quad Silver?

Tournaments with money prizes will begin in january... By the way there will be changes in these tournament categories (it will be also possible to play "blitz" games, at probably 10 moves / 1 hour time control)

However I think this challenge should stay friendly... (at least 'on FICGS')


Charlie Neil    (2006-12-31 01:02:56)
Blitz Chess on Ficgs

Hello Thibault,"10 moves in one hour". Starting next year. I am intrigued. That would be something! All those dull Sunday afternoon in January and Februuary just crying out for something like this. Tell me more.


Graham Wyborn    (2007-01-02 13:23:11)
Sledge Hammer to crack a nut!

The rules seem too hard to me. I am locked out of this until the 10th January. This is the only site that I use that does not allow you to cancel holidays. Nor am I allowed to move whilst on holiday, which other sites allow.


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!!


Karsten Fyhn    (2007-01-07 13:54:27)
Please remove me from the waiting list

Please remove me from the waiting list for FICGS__CHESS__WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP__000002. I am starting two other tournaments elswhere in mid January, so I dont have time for this one. Sorry.


Thibault de Vassal    (2007-01-18 10:55:10)
Draw declared

Wayne, everything is ok. You did offer a draw on 2007 January 6 - 18:52:0 by playing c5.

Best wishes.


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 :-).


Janos Helmer    (2007-01-23 00:38:38)
WORLD_CHAMPIONSHIP Waiting list

...U are not alone with that!


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-01-24 14:26:13)
playback

If you want to review the game, the pop-up window that is accessed trough the magnifying glass icon is a better option, and on top of that you don't have to reload the page. About making moves, I never noticed as I find it a better option simply to type in the move directly in english algebraic notation.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-01-24 20:07:30)
playback, paragraphs

It is true that you can't change the perspective, but it is the easyest way to see how the game progressed. Besides, having your own perspective is the most important when you are making your move, IMHO. For paragraphs, try pressing enter while you type in the text.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-01-25 15:58:46)
Horrible players wanted ;)

Horrible players wanted to start the Class G tournament no. 10.

We'll also take anyone whose rating currently sucks, n00bs, and generaly just anyone who has ELO rating 1200 or less.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-01-25 15:59:21)
direct link

http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=entry_tournament&tournament=ficgs_chess_class_g


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-01-26 13:46:06)
re:

Actually, I was just looking for humans players with no engines who have a tendency to suck real badly ;) (I just want to beat them all!! ;)).

Ok, one more player needed.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-01-26 13:51:40)
paragraphs, html tags

http://www.w3schools.com/html/

It explains html, along with br tags.

It might be too much information, but, you never know... ;)


Thibault de Vassal    (2007-01-28 22:25:51)
holidays

That's possible... Taking his last days for year 2006 on january 1st (just before I reset vacation). Now consuming his days for year 2007


Ilmars Cirulis    (2007-02-08 21:04:34)
Steve, how do you do?

I send my move to you in Jan 15.

And I don't have your answer! :( What's going?


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-03-19 17:24:56)
A quote

Not mine, but something you can use:

Beat your enemy trough calculation. Sun Tzu


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-03-19 17:32:53)
timeout IS too quick

I find that the timeout is too quick for me in the course of normal surfing. Is it realy that neccesary to ask for the password so often.

Making local copies of long posts is an old wisdom useful for any forum (I usualy make do with a simple copy in the clipboard, but if you want safe use your text editor).


Janos Helmer    (2007-03-31 00:14:20)
Hello!

...Too addictive? Of course it is too addictive(thx for that,Thibauld!), but more important is that we (or at least I!) like to live with that! Best regards,


Don Groves    (2007-03-31 02:53:09)
Too addictive?

Yes, Janos, everyone should have such a good addiction -- the world would not be in such bad shape then :-)


Don Groves    (2007-04-05 07:51:16)
FICGS Birthdays

I just learned that Alejandro Suarez-Moreno's wife's birthday is also today! I think we should know players birthdays so we can send them greetings on that day. Maybe put them in each player's information. Mine is Sunday ;-)


Thibault de Vassal    (2007-05-27 19:13:09)
Candidates Matches 2007

I just read the Chessbase news :

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3886

I was first surprised to learn that Etienne Bacrot (after Grischuk) turned to poker also...

Levon Aronian (ARM) - Magnus Carlsen (NOR)
Alexei Shirov (ESP) - Michael Adams (GBR)
Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR) - Sergei Rublevsky (RUS)
Alexander Grischuk (RUS) - Vladimir Malakhov (RUS)
Peter Leko (HUN) - Mikhail Gurevich (TUR)
Judith Polgar (HUN) - Evgeny Bareev (RUS)
Boris Gelfand (ISR) - Rustam Kasimjanov (UZB)
Etienne Bacrot (FRA) - Gata Kamsky (USA)


In this round my favourites are : Carlsen, Shirov, Ponomariov, Grischuk, Leko, Polgar, Kasimjanov, Kamsky.

Hard to say who will win this knockout tournament...


Garvin Gray    (2007-06-04 11:41:42)
Wch 3 in rating order


KAZ Balabaev, Farit 2580

FRA de Vassal, Thibault 2512

USA Ingersol, Harry 2502

NZL Noble, Mark 2497

DEU Schuster, Peter 2480

POL Ostrowski, Leszek 2458

ARG Brunsteins, Daniel 2452

CAN Zubac, Marius 2415

ROU Mathe, Iosif 2414

UKR Khokhlov, Igor 2370

MLT Sammut, Ronald 2362

ROU Helmer, Janos 2343

PRT Pires, Miguel 2270

LKA De Silva, Dinesh 2235

POL Sanner, Zdzislaw 2219

RUS Dyakov, Alexander 2217

DEU Schiller, Wilfried 2217

DEU Koslowski, Volker 2204

DZA Ould Ahmed, Samy 2195

FRA Appendino, Jérome 2192

GBR Taylor, William 2182

GRC Bleker, Frits 2171

DNK Jorgensen, Poulerik 2168

DEU Kesselheim, Peter 2149

CAN Repa, Jason 2144

PRT Louro, Eugénio 2123

USA Kotlyansky, Edward 2114

DEU Markus, Roland 2103

FRA Czekaj, Christophe 2098

AUT Dudulec, Konstantin 2084

CAN Plante, Marc-Eric 2079

LVA Borisovs, Leonids 2078

AUT Mueller, Robert 2069

DEU Unger, Peter 2065

AUT Riha, Josef 2019

POL Skwarczylo, Marek 2018

MUS Stephenson, Andrew 2000

CZE Stanislav, Musil 1990

SCG Vidanovic, Djordje 1966

USA Burden, Don 1959

DEU Haluschka, Rainer 1950

CAN Rotaru, Dan 1937

GBR Wyborn, Graham 1890

GBR Burrows, Nick 1884

POL Broniek, Mariusz Maciej 1879

BIH Dautovic, Dzenan 1875

AUS Gray, Garvin 1863

USA Minkin, Alexander 1850

GBR Josse, Mark 1806

ARM Khachaturov, Vadim 1803

USA Kotlyanskiy, Ilya 1800

DEU Krueger, Karsten 1800

PRT Vasquez, Fernando 1775

DZA Toutaoui, Khaled 1763

DEU Wosch, Arkadiusz 1746

TUR Yuvarlak, Ugur 1732

ROU Hrubaru, Mircea 1726

ARG Carrizo, José 1724

USA Phillip, Lennox 1700

ROU Kondort, Mihai 1700

ROU Ioan, Bucsa 1700

BRA Miranda, Marcus 1691

VEN Flores, Luis 1680

RUS Ruzin, Mikhail 1639

DEU Faust, Dieter 1627

MYS Behrmann, Klaus 1617

FRA Bellanger, Michel 1606

POL Bester, Kazimierz 1600

DEU Nent, Alexander 1593

PRT Oliveira, Carlos 1586

HUN Nagy, Attila 1549

ROU Ionescu, Catalin 1535

HUN Kis-Kos, Laszlo 1512

ITA Lupinacci, Nicola 1492

BEL De Groof, Pieter 1465

DEU Odendahl, Marcel 1462

USA Hendricks, Richard 1459

BRA Queiroz, Florencio 1444

CZE Pech, Jaroslav 1433

USA Goodwin, Adam 1415

HUN Csoma, Robert 1400

USA Gillz, Nicolas 1400

BGR Toktas, Ibrahim Ugras 1400

IND Veeraiah, Karuppaiah 1400

MEX Ortiz Durán, Esteban 1400

TUR Ilhan, Alper 1400

CHE Margot, Alain 1400

TUR Erdonho, Erdinç 1400

USA Lipsits, Sasha 1400

BRA B. Lima, Edmilson 1400

DEU von Buttlar, Paul 1386

HUN Fenyves, Adam 1330

BGR Stoianov, Stoian 1316

GRC Serd, Than 1300

TUR Ak, Murat 1300

GBR Willoughby, Peter 1294

ARG Orden, Jorge 1264

GBR Neil, Charlie 1212

NLD Oldenhof, Dwight 1203

USA Greer, Stephen 1200

BRA Barradas, Anderson 1194

IND Malvankar, Vikrant 1188

BEL Tuteleers, Bruno 1145

DEU Bothe, Matthias 1143

BGR Stoyanov, Zdravko 1136



Mladen Jankovic    (2007-06-06 16:57:44)
Go rules

I was wondering, are we still using Chinese rules?


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-06-08 15:45:47)
Nice!

Likewise.

I was just concerned over scoring, IIRC, it counts in the Japanese way.


Janos Helmer    (2007-06-18 10:01:55)
Hello!

Hi Thibault,if needed, You count me in ! Best regards, Helmer J.


Thibault de Vassal    (2007-06-18 15:19:55)
FICGS vs. IGAME.RU

Thanks for joining us Janos, we'll need you undoubtly :)

It will be a great match, just looking like Russian vs. The World... About 30 russian players registered these last 2 days, with several FIDE / ICCF masters (GM/IM). We need more 2300+ players !! :)


Thibault de Vassal    (2007-06-20 15:46:39)
Players for FICGS team (by rating)

Here is the complete list of players who registered for the FICGS vs IGAME.RU match. Unfortunately, a few players couldn't play :( .. I think our team is strong enough, as rating rules are quite hard at FICGS and some ratings are still provisional.

I don't know how players will be distributed on "tables", if it's freestyle I think Wolfgang should play at table 1.

I am also surprised to see players coming from IGAME.RU or russian forums who entered FICGS team !? .. Anyway, I'm sure there are no spies :)


Thibault de Vassal (2512)
Mark Noble (2496)
Wolfgang Utesch (2466)
Albert Popov (2463)
Michael Aigner (2354)
Janos Helmer (2343)
Miguel Pires (2270)
Leszek Tymcio (2270)
Alexander Shalamanov (2252)
Heinz-Georg Lehnhoff (2246)
Silviu Nenciulescu (2194)
William Taylor (2182)
Poulerik Jorgensen (2168)
Wayne Lowrance (2124)
Edward Kotlyansky (2114)
Christophe Czekaj (2098)
Konstantin Dudulec (2084)
Polina Romanova (2000)
Dan Rotaru (1937)
Nick Burrows (1884)
Garvin Gray (1863)
Vadim Khachaturov (1803)
Janusz Kepinski (1599)
Alexander Nent (1593)
Graham Cridland (1406)
Edmilson B. Lima (1400)
Sasha Lipsits (1400)
Ilmars Cirulis (1305 ~ >2100)
Than Serd (1300)
Charlie Neil (1212)
Phil Cook (1132)


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-06-26 15:08:05)
re: nicknames

Now, I might not be a high rated player here, but here's my take on the situation.

What some here don't seem to realise is that one can stand by his results or whatever with his nickname.

On this site I use my real name, but that is only becouse of the atmosphere here. However, on the rest of the Internet i tend to use nicknames, and when I say or do something under a such nickname I stand by my actions with the reputation of that nickname.

This goes to a point where my most commonly used nickname is used almost interchangebly with my real name IRL. BTW, I have friends who can say the same.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-06-26 15:40:42)
Ctrl-F

If you want to see the positions just go to the tournament page with boards and use your browsers search function for your name (Ctrl-F in Firefox). Might not be the best way, but it might be more of what your'e looking for.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-06-26 15:55:09)
a question

When you designed the Big Chess, did you playtest it much?

BTW, doublewide can be played with 4 boards http://www.chessvariants.org/large.dir/doublewide-chess.html


Thibault de Vassal    (2007-06-27 21:18:36)
FICGS vs. IGAME.RU, the games

Hello to all.

The friendly match between FICGS & IGAME.RU teams just started :)

http://www.ficgs.com/tournament_FICGS__CHESS__FICGS_VS_IGAME_RU_MATCH.html


I'd like to thank Sergey Pligin for organizing this match and all players who registered to play. I apologize to the players who couldn't play :/ .. 25 boards was not enough this time. To build FICGS team I selected players with the highest ratings but one cause his rating should be clearly >2000 already. Also IM Mark Noble plays at table 6 because his opponent is another FIDE IM.

I wish good games to everyone, this is a great opportunity for us to meet russian chessfriends.

Amici Sumus !


... quote of the day : "Top boards make the show, last ones win matches." :-)


Here are the complete teams :


FICGS :

1. Thibault de Vassal # 1
2. Michael Aigner # 139
3. Peter Schuster SM # 323
4. Janos Helmer # 47
5. Miguel Pires # 83
6. Mark Noble IM # 1991
7. Leszek Tymcio # 2151
8. Heinz-Georg Lehnhoff # 142
9. Silviu Nenciulescu # 1319
10. William Taylor # 1232
11. Poulerik Jorgensen # 940
12. Wayne Lowrance # 135
13. Edward Kotlyansky # 1140
14. Christophe Czekaj # 1193
15. Konstantin Dudulec # 1329
16. Robert Mueller # 1233
17. Josef Riha # 157
18. Dan Rotaru # 1394
19. Garvin Gray # 1363
20. Nick Burrows # 1643
21. Vadim Khachaturov # 1078
22. Daniel Khayman # 1032
23. Gaetano Laghetti # 138
24. Alexander Nent # 1411
25. Ilmars Cirulis # 533



IGAME.RU :

1. Sumets Andrey, Member # 2137, GM
2. Pljusnin Ivan, Member # 2147
3. Pligin Sergey, Member # 2189
4. Doinikov Owl, Member # 2191
5. Romitsin Nikolay Sergeevich, Member # 2159
6. Vovk Andrey, Member # 2144, IM
7. Yunusov Adkham, Member # 2124
8. Pavlikov Andrey Nikolayevich, Member # 2157
9. Leskiv Miroslav, Member # 2133
10. Domanov Dmitry, Member # 2130
11. Kragujevcanin Stole, Member # 2148 12. Silkin Aleksey, Member # 2198
13. Orlov Sergei, Member # 2207
14. Kim Vladimir, Member # 2139
15. Gerasimov Vladimir, Member # 2190
16. Larin Igor, Member # 2193
17. Zarullin Ivan, Member # 2203
18. Filimonov Evgeny, Member # 2176
19. Pezikov Evgeny, Member # 2174
20. Stork Denis, Member # 2180
21. Mancubov Boris, Member # 2156
22. Ilyuschenko Yury, Member # 2168
23. Prokopenko Alex, Member # 2182
24. Basiliev Iouri, Member # 2205
25. Shpakovsky Alexander, Member # 2185


Edit : There was a mistake while building the games, I had to make a replacement at board 23.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-07-03 13:08:47)
Small board variations

I know that on this site people tend to talk much about large board variants, but, recently I have gained an interest in small board variants.

The reason is simple. They are fun!

I'm interested in the experiences of other members.

I've so far played only Los Alamos Chess. About 30 games. They were simply fun, regardless of winning or loosing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Alamos_chess

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minichess


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-07-09 19:14:25)
Re:

There is certainly a formula for calculating the number of points you have to win in order to get a certain norm.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-07-20 18:58:15)
You beat me to it

I just saw that here: http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN1932391520070719?feedType=RSS


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-08-01 15:47:10)
Yes

That was an ultra-weak solution. Now we have a strong solution.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-08-03 17:59:45)
Algorithm

It provides the algorithm for best play in any position.

An ultra-weak solution is not really a solution, it's only a proof that a solution exists and what properties it must have (draw, first player win most commonly). Such solutions tend involve the strategy stealing argument.

It is essentially proving a mathematical theorem.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-08-03 18:01:53)
IE, yeah right

It requires the use of Internet Explorer. No way I'm going to play there.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-08-03 18:20:23)
Any luck?

Well? :)


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-08-06 00:06:41)
Algorithm

It seems to be implemented with Chinook. It offers perfect play. Like when knowing the solution to tic-tac-toe, play is perfect.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-08-07 00:54:18)
re:

At least not rated as a win.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-08-12 20:56:37)
ok

Let the quotefest begin!


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-08-14 14:06:49)
I've done worse in the past

I've made some stupid moves that I knew that were stupid, but forgot why. And the worst thing I did was resigning during an opening that was actually to my advantage.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-08-14 14:19:26)
Playing with rules

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomic ;)


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-08-16 21:27:50)
1

"To err is human, to shift the blame on someone else is tactical."


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-09-03 16:55:11)
Actually

The waiting list is active since the site first became online. That is a lot more than two months.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-09-08 00:46:47)
software

Are you using MySQL?

And, did you script all of the site yourself (other than some obvious external plugins)?

What distribution of Linux are you running if I might ask?

I have to commend it to you, the site certainly seems to have a good uptime, I have never encountered a problem accessing it, and only a single bug, promptly fixed.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-09-09 03:19:05)
Debian

Seems to be a common choice of distribution for small servers. Hard to configure right, but infinitely stable once done so. And also featuring the best package manager around.

I'm guessing that this site is the most for what this server is used for.

I also wonder what connection do you use. Would you mind if I scanned the server?


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-09-09 06:09:10)
Scan

You're using Courier Mail Server, other than that I found no information worth reporting, other than that you probably have a firewall, and a relatively decent one.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-09-10 00:15:58)
Jason

Cool down a bit and don't shout, it's not a very civil thing to do. To me it seems obvious that Garvin has been joking. It might not be much of a joke, but it is still only a joke.

BTW, the only reason why I was asking questions is pure curiosity about the site, and what runs it so well! :)


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-09-10 00:46:07)
:P

;)

I was rather coolheaded to begin with, IMHO.

I'm also mostly done asking about the server for now.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-09-10 00:55:51)
Rating lists problem

The rating lists no longer display all of the players that should be displayed. Even with all filters off it only displays 518 players. Is this intentional?


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-09-10 01:54:09)
Confessions of a Magic 8 Ball ;)

Well, first off I started with the provisional rating of 1200, then I signed up for a bunch of tournaments and started playing 60+ games. Next, add irregular Internet access with no conditions to perform any reasonable analysis of games in progress and the pressing requirement to answer 40 moves in one go, only to go trough the same at the next soonest opportunity.

I "solved" the problem by not playing and forgetting about the server for about a month (needed that). For that reason I lost more than 250 points (254 to be exact).

Needless to say, the recovery of my rating to any decent level is slow, as, in the meantime I have gone trough periods when I played little chess here, or even none, with games in progress.

Your speculated reasons for my supposed intrusion here (it might be argued that your first post here is the real intrusion) are just plain wrong.

I also don't find ELO ratings to be a valid measure of a man. The real reason I "intrude" in the matter is that I like the general atmosphere here. I am also quiet aware that I am probably the lowest rated poster here, but, before few minutes ago, I was not aware of your rating (good job, while we're on the subject) or Garvin's, for that matter.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-09-11 05:44:21)
A wish

Could you please make the site align well within the confines of a 1024x768 monitor. You seem to be missing the resolution by the width of the slider, plus couple of pixels.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-09-10 21:39:51)
problem

Your rule is unclear, or flawed. Someone responding a provocation might answer with a personal attack, or not. The originator of a personal attack should be baned, whoever he is. It is irrelevant who started it if you are after those making personal attacks, you simply ban those making personal attacks.

Your current rule is unfair in case if one of the posters engaged in the said discussion makes no personal attacks and gets baned.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-09-11 15:02:50)
Sugestion

You could take away some pixels from the menu bar on the left as there is enough horizontal space there that isn't being used.


Thibault de Vassal    (2007-09-15 14:12:19)
FICGS chess & Go WCH cycles

Hello Edwin,

FICGS chess & Go WCH cycles start every january 1st and july 1st each year... Waiting lists will be open about 2 months before this date.

To enter the FICGS chess freestyle tournament (I still have to promote it after finishing the new interface, new date is october 14 :/) & money tournaments, you have to add E-Points to your account, see 'My account' to know how to buy it. Hope it helps :)

Best wishes, Thibault


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-10-03 14:26:56)
a good 1

http://xkcd.com/
http://xkcd.com/chesscoaster/

Caveat! The site contains an excessive amount of excessively geeky jokes.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-10-06 01:33:43)
:s

I figured that I had things under control, but I now realize that I have 3 running tournaments, and I'm on another waiting list.

I'm still underrated since the last time I took on too many games. :s That's just when I settled on a nice slow pace of about 1-2 tournaments at the same time.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-11-07 09:41:40)
I know...

...exactly what you're saying. I have a backlog on computer games so long that I find it hard to find time for correspondence chess.

I can't even find time just for computer games I really want to play.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-11-12 15:41:17)
In my experience...

Anything above 40 games is too much.I peaked at about 60 games (IIRC), for me, that is too much, and, IMO, anything above 40 games is too much. Others might be able to play more with no problem, but still...

I think 40 games might be ok, 50 maybe, but no more.

You might consider giving players some control of the limits.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-12-05 12:57:56)
re:

Right click - Save link as...


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-12-06 13:07:17)
re: Where is the PM-Tool?

Try the bottom of the front page, above the list of online people.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-12-19 22:40:38)
Small board

I was about to propose recently an implementation of a small board variant, just for fun that wouldn't be counted against the game limit.

Such things tend to be just plain fun.

With a small board variation you would complete the offer along side of Big Chess, Chess regular, and Chess 960.

You might want to consider some of Gardner's variants. I've played Los Alamos chess, and it's FUN.


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-12-24 23:58:00)
Merry Xmas

And a lot of good chess in the New Year! ;)


Mladen Jankovic    (2007-12-25 21:37:22)
re:

FEN used in encoding the starting position does not include castling information. You can add manually "KQkq" in the FEN line at the end, in the PGN file.

Fritz uses a non-standard encoding of the castling rights for Chess 960, with starting positions of Rooks not on A and H files.

Fritz should recognize castling rights, but the information is not included in the file. This is most likely an accidental omission, or it might have been done to avoid messing with X-FEN and the non-standard Fritz solution.

At this rate I'm becoming a helpdesk. :?


Mladen Jankovic    (2008-01-05 14:31:42)
no

They don't mean that, as we are on FICGS, rather than FICS. ;)

Yes, it's funny. :)


Mladen Jankovic    (2008-01-06 15:46:08)
re:

There seems to be an high amount of bullet bronze games started and lost in the firs turn.


Mladen Jankovic    (2008-01-11 09:18:06)
re:

Lack of sincronisation with the width of the screen is an anoying feature for me. You might want to fix that sometime.


Thibault de Vassal    (2008-01-16 18:10:48)
FICGS emails unavailable jan. 14 to 16

FICGS email provider had a problem from january 14 to 16, 2008.

Emails sent not through the server to FICGS domain most probably did not reach me :(

In this case, please resend it to me. Thanks in advance.


Mladen Jankovic    (2008-01-21 20:32:58)
Inport from pgn?

Why not simply click on the computer icon in my games, click on all games, where you get all your games in pgn, copy-paste all of the games to a plain pgn text file, and import from that.

This is just a guess that seems reasonable, as I do not own Fritz, however it should be supported the way I've described it.


Mladen Jankovic    (2008-01-25 13:39:03)
Sounds good

We can just sign up for a Fischer Random tournament in the special tournaments category and just play.

I'm considering my game load right now.


Mladen Jankovic    (2008-01-25 13:54:07)
Ok, I'm in

Looking for players in:
FICGS__CHESS_960__TOURNAMENT__000025


Mladen Jankovic    (2008-01-25 18:59:59)
On the note of diversity

You might consider, if you want more games, some non-traditional abstract strategies, like GIPF, or YINSH.;)


Mladen Jankovic    (2008-01-28 17:55:36)
Tried YINSH

I tried YINSH, just enough to pick up the rules. It seems to be that good. It swaps first place with Go from time to time on boardgamegeek.

I never got around to trying GIPF, but I've heard it's well suited for correspondence play.


Mladen Jankovic    (2008-02-14 16:38:47)
Since when?

I remember a game where 3-fold repetition happened and wasn't noticed by the server (I haven't noticed it either). The game ended up being counted as a loss.


Mladen Jankovic    (2008-02-15 09:59:55)
re:

I still use the old interface, as it works even in a command-line browser (don't ask).

Still, that game was a long time ago, and I only noticed a few months after it was over.


Rodolfo d Ettorre    (2008-02-15 14:14:52)
Command line browser ..

Hi Mr Jankovic, sorry if I am a little off topic, but I am curious, which command line browser do you use?


Mladen Jankovic    (2008-02-16 15:00:33)
re:

The new interface seems to be mainly graphical, and I doubt that Links has JavaScript implemented. I prefer to input moves using notation manually, regardless.

The command line browsers I used so far were various variants of Links. I use those if I'm stuck with just the terminal for one reason or another. Or if I'm playing certain openings and don't bother switching to graphical interface.


Mladen Jankovic    (2008-03-27 20:57:09)
re:

Everything seems to be in order. Everyone got half a point per game, and that translates to 1 point in 2 games, that is 1/2.


Mladen Jankovic    (2008-04-01 14:23:17)
Seems fixed

It works.


Marc Lacrosse    (2008-05-01 18:03:17)
to Andrew

"I don't se much benefit to letting the computer think for hours frankly wants it gets to 20 + ply. There all sorts of horizons in positions that letting the computer run for a year wont sort out."

There are other ways to use engines than letting simply one of them run for hours.
You may interactively walk along the various branches of the tree going from current position with one or several engines running.
You may also have engines playing some kind of test matches against each other from the current position or from any critical position that you identify along the possible continuations.
You can use Rybka randomizer against itself or against other engines for more exhaustive evaluation through test games
And so on ...

"Marc why are you playing this c3 stuff against the sicilian with such great kit? You play the same openings all the time and I thought it was because you had not much time!!!"

1. I never played this disreputed c3 stuff against the 2..d6 sicilian (with or without the 4.Be2 pawn offer) before january 2008 in my 140+ former serious correspondence games
Indeed I did choose it because I erroneously enrolled in three new tournaments simultaneously and I feared to miss time for serious analysis due to heavy workload at that time.
Results are a bit disappointing with it : five draws so far and two unfinished games that I should win (one win is sure and the other one is probable).
This should lead to a 64% result and a 2333 elo performance. Not shining but not that bad insn't it ?

2. I like playing unorthodox openings in correspondence play.
I do not see any interest in beginning my games with 30 moves of overanalysed theory.
Most often I decide for a side variation and I do play it in as many games as possible simultaneously : I do the analysis job once for all while being fully "in the mood" of a similar set of positions.
Then I change for something else
I won't probably ever play any more game with the line I played against you.

3. An exception is the Basman-Sale Sicilian (2..e6 4..Bc5).
I like it a lot and even have a web site devoted to it (http://chessbazaar.mlweb.info/basmansale/index.html)
I am in a running series of more than twenty corr. games without a single loss with it and decided not to stop using it until defeat happens
I probably analysed it more than anybody : I have several thousands of analysed lines in my files.
I am just busy to consider switching to something more agressive for cases where I need to play for a win as Black.

Regards

Marc


Jason Repa    (2008-05-13 12:54:06)
Repa vs Stephenson 1-0

My obsessive fan is quoting my game with Bucsa Ioan played last year. Actually you have it backwards Stephenson. I trusted my database, which wasn't up to date. I wasn't even consulting an engine until around move 18, when it's already lost for Black. I thought quite a bit about alternative lines in this game, but found myself agreeing with the Psakhis analysis. That line is recommended by Psakhis in his book "French Defence - Steinitz, Classical, and other Systems". Additionally, 13...0-0 has been played by the likes of GM Dreev, as well as GM Marjanovic, as recently as 2003. But alas, it pays to keep your databases up to date for correspondence chess.

The game was a valuable learning experience for me. I'm very happy that it occurred. My otb opponents will never get me in that position as a result :)

I can't help but feel sorry for you Stephenson. Firstly I'm sorry that you don't have any of your own games worthy of publication, and that you need to vicariously live through me and post my chess games. Secondly, I'm sorry that you don't play otb chess and appreciate the joy of playing chess using your own mind. But then again, in your case, maybe that's a good thing. :)


Jason Repa    (2008-05-13 14:17:46)
Repa vs Stephenson 1-0

I really couldn't care less what an internet troll with a <1500 otb chess rating, whom I've already crushed in correspondence chess, thinks about anything. Send emails to GM Dreev and GM Marjanovic, who have also played 13...0-0 and see if they feel differently.

Re-read my post a few times until you're able to understand what I said. Everything I stated is correct. I'm not going to hold your hand and spoon-feed everything to you.

As I said before Stephenson, it's sad that you don't have any of your own games worthy of publication, and that you need to vicariously live through me and post my chess games. I've never met anyone this obsessed with me. I don't think it's very healthy for you. In more ways than one.


Mladen Jankovic    (2008-05-16 19:51:00)
PC

Mine is an AMD Turion 1.66 GHz.

Do any of you happen to know any ARENA-like user interface for Linux?


Mladen Jankovic    (2008-05-21 11:20:18)
re: Thibault

That only works with words we use more or less daily.


Mladen Jankovic    (2008-05-21 18:26:14)
Another one

Who cares?


Mladen Jankovic    (2008-05-21 18:27:04)
BTW

Define "free will" without using mysticism.


Mladen Jankovic    (2008-05-27 16:21:52)
Local chess saying

"Life is like chess, just when you think everything is OK, some horse comes along and takes your queen!"


Rodolfo d Ettorre    (2008-06-12 15:12:47)
More thematics ...

Also the old indian defence or janowskey indian thematic tournament would be nice, Tal used the latter occasionally. They are solid, a bit passive. I played a few times the janowskey indian and I felt like I was playing a Philidor with steroids.


Marc Lacrosse    (2008-07-05 19:36:23)
Qualification information ?

Because i did not realise that I had qualified for two WCh tournaments I recently enrolled for a third one and had three tournaments beginning almost simultaneously in january, which proved to be too much for me.
And now the deadline for the next Wch (005)is approaching and it just seems that i will win WCH_STAGE_1_GROUP_M_01__000004.
So I am hesitating : when will Wch-004 next stage begin ?
I do not wish anymore to have more than one tournament starting almost at the same time.

More generally speaking, I wish I could get the following infos permanently updated on my "My messages" page :

* I enrolled for a tournament of type X on date Y. Presently there are already Z players enrolled for this tournament.
* I registered for championship X on date Y. this is supposed to start on date Z.
* In tournament Wch-X my present result ensures (or leaves the possibility open) that I will be qualified for next stage tournament that is supposed to begin on date Y.

Your opinion ?

Marc


Mladen Jankovic    (2008-07-09 11:51:48)
re:

I already suggested Garner variant to be accepted as a "small chess" variant. It would be nice, as such variants tend to be fun.

I doubt that another large board variant would be accepted here.


Thibault de Vassal    (2008-07-23 14:00:26)
MoGo vs. Human

In 1997 Janice Kim (1 dan) beat Handtalk, then the strongest Go program, despite giving the program a 25-stone handicap.

On Thursday, August 7, Kim MyungWan 8p will play MoGo, probably the world's strongest computer Go program. MoGo will be running on a supercomputer boasting over 3,000 processor cores !! The game will be broadcast live on KGS - http://www.gokgs.com/download.xhtml

The human is "8p", meaning 8-dan professional; not quite 3 stones stronger than a 1d pro player, who in turn would give an amateur 1d at least 6 stones. Edward Lasker said that 3 stones handicap at Go is comparable to knight odds at chess.


Svante Carl von Erichsen    (2008-07-23 17:33:36)
Janice Kim

Janice Kim was a 1 Dan professional in 1997, she is 3 Dan professional now. Is there more information available somewhere, e.g. regarding handicap and time settings?


Andrew Stephenson    (2008-08-03 21:50:22)
Will try to help!

Hi Marc We were talking about WCH 2 which is history now as the round robin final for which you received a direct entry was won by Francois Caire (equal with Alberto Gueci). As far as WCH 3 is concerned I will do my best to reduce your burden of games by winning my last game:)) But this could be difficult as Janos has other ideas!


Mladen Jankovic    (2008-08-04 12:45:58)
Strategy stealing

Actually, that comes from the strategy stealing argument in the game theory.

Shannon was the first to formaly study theory of chess engines. See:
http://www.pi.infn.it/%7Ecarosi/chess/shannon.txt


Mladen Jankovic    (2008-08-08 10:56:13)