playchess
FICGS - Search results for playchess
There are 72 results for playchess in the forum.
Graham Wyborn (2006-05-06 10:37:16)
Computer Aided Sites
Do you know of any other sites that allow computer aided chess?
I am aware of www.playchess.de and www.cowplay.com. Any others?
Marc Lacrosse (2006-09-18 11:22:31)
Computer use
I completely agree with H Muller.
In most web-based sites where computer use is forbidden most high-rated players do actually use them.
The most intriguing example is the very well organised www.playchess.de (not related to Chessbase server) where there are two different sections with respectively computer use allowed and forbidden : there are much more players in the "computer forbidden" section but almost all high-rated players in this section are cheaters (I was one of them and I left because I began to fell disgusted with this necessity to cheat for not being crushed).
That's why I came here and that's also why I will not in any case join the team for the match against GameKnot (or others) if the rules are not modified.
Marc
Marcin Kasperski (2006-10-04 12:27:12)
Exaggerating?
I googled this thread accidentally, and ... I would like to say that some opinions here seem to be going too far.
I am just an amateur player (no FIDE rating, but according to my results on FICS and Playchess I would estimate myself about elo 1900). I play on a few servers including gameknot (my nick there is Mekk). I have never used chess engine there (or anywhere), and I am at the moment rated 1654 on gameknot, I also happened to win and draw some games against 17xx rated players. Surely they were not using engines, if they were, I would lost those games - my results on IECG (where I lost everything I tried to play) show this clearly.
Of course my claim, that I am not using an engine, is just my claim - but you can take a look at my games, if you like...
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-26 18:33:58)
Reveal your software
Actually I wouldn't say that any engine vs. engine games are played here.
(or at ICCF, IECG ...)
This kind of statistics may be relevant on Playchess server or FICS [Free Internet Chess Server] at fast time controls where human can't help much, not in correspondence chess. That's obvious anyway that most players above 2000-2200 elo use chess engines, but games are not 100% engines, or any particular engine for sure...
I'm convinced Fritz or Shredder 'alone' wouldn't reach 2200.
Marc Lacrosse (2006-11-19 13:33:40)
Where else do/did you play corr. chess ?
I just wondered where else did some of us play before coming on FICGS (and do some of us still play elsewhere ?).
Thibault I could not find you on AJEC or ICCF listings although I see you are a regular poster on ICCF's forum (TCCMB): where did you play before ?
For what regards myself I played in ICCF tournaments in 2000-2003 than switched to playchess.de and then here. And now I just began with ICCF play at new : I had one half master norm there and thought it could be nice try to get the other half :-)
Marc
Thibault de Vassal (2006-12-01 11:19:43)
Deep Fritz, Rybka & future
The Chess Challenge 2006 in Bonn between classical world champion Vladimir Kramnik and chess engine Deep Fritz 10 confirms (who ignored ?) the best chess programs can rivalize with the world champion in a match, but it first shows us these calculating monsters still have weaknesses.
Question is : What are the real improvements in Fritz 10 compared to Fritz 9 (engine speaking only) ?
Here is what I think about chess engines nowadays (Fritz 10, Shredder, 10, Junior 10, Hiarcs 10 and particularly Rybka 2.2) :
The way of think to play correspondence chess is (or should be) mostly human one combined with a chess engine algorithm. We follow the tree of moves like a program with our selective algorithm (much better than chess engines), applying our judgement of the position when necessary only. The point is we evaluate moves and we almost never evaluate a position twice.
Chess engines are very good analysis tools but are surprisingly not designed to be very good chess players. I think a major improvement in chess engines should be recognition of 'sufficient moves' : ie. it is no worth to always find the best move at a particular point of the tree, this reflection time could be used later... It depends on the evaluation of the position, on the clocks... Iterative model is quite basic (in a game at least !).
Another point is recognition of traps. This is the start of psychology in chess engines, and basics of the art of war. It first depends on who your opponent is, and on the clocks too. Finally, at the end of the tree, chess engines evaluate positions, but how many evaluate moves ? .. Speculative moves were a step, but it first shew chess engines were not able yet to see what move is worth to be analysed really deeper, consequently creating a 'human' weakness, particularly against some other chess engines.
I don't know how Rybka works, but as far as I read about this one that calculates much less positions (about 10 times) than Fritz, I wouldn't be surprised that Vasik Rajlich had implemented a better approach of human way of think, which is undoubtly the future of chess engines.
A good 'centaur' in ie. Playchess rapid tournaments is first a good choice between Chessbase engines according to the position and clocks. Fritz qualities probably apply best in standard games, where clocks are really designed for him. Among Chessbase engines, Hiarcs is probably the best Blitz player and could be the best correspondence chess player (even if it isn't the best CC tool for humans). Rybka is probably a kind of centaur itself (sorry, herself ;)), knowing when to use (in the tree !) brute force and more selective approachs - not to be compared to Hydra or Deep Blue which, on contrary, use most brute force.
My conclusion is chess engines have much to learn from humans yet, we'll see a Rybka 5 and Fritz 13, with much better results against other chess engines, but their results shouldn't increase a lot against the best humans in future. Finally, it will never be a good correspondence chess player :)
My two cents.
If I find time, I'll continue to implement my own chess engine..... but it's a lot of work :/
Marc Lacrosse (2007-02-14 19:09:12)
To Nicola
But there are already _many_ other web-chess organisations with forbidden computer use:
- our friends at itsyourturn.com
- the letsplaychess server
- http://www.playchess.de/
...
The last one has a very good interface and is also free.
Servers with computer use allowed are at the opposite very few.
So why should Thibault change a feature which is specific here for something which is already available everywhere else ?
Moreover, having played for long at playchess.de where both kinds of play exist (with or without computer help) I can tell you that there was there a surprinsingly large number of players cheating in the non-computer section instead of playing with their computers in the computer-allowed one, and this was at the origin pf permanent discussions and flame wars on their forum.
For what regards myself I do not wish that FICGS would go the same way.
Marc
Benjamin Aldag (2007-02-15 12:30:33)
YOU FLAME !
@
Marc Lacrosse
The discussion is not about to change something. It is about to build a new feature here. It would be kewl to see a little (c) in the profiles of computerusers.
Please dont flame here about 'what is allowed and whats not allowed' !!!
IT IS ALLOWED TO USE A COMPUTER-ASSISTENCE !!!! AND THIS IS OK FOR ME !!!! AND IT IS ALlOWED TO PLAY WITHOUT COMPUTER-ASSISTENCE !!!! IS THIS LOUD ENOUGH ???
I play here at FICGS and why should i play at playchess.de ??? I want to play CC-Chess HERE ! So please dont tell me, where i can play without computer-assistence. I can play without computer-assistence here TOO !
yk
Thibault de Vassal (2007-02-15 14:26:23)
Engine free area
Definitely, there won't be a (C) mark as computer, (F) as Fritz, (B) as books or (D) as databasen, (C+B), (F+D+B) and so on :) .. It makes sense in blitz / bullet chess on Playchess ie., not in correspondence chess, as human makes the real decision.
Definitely, I agree with Marc. I had some experience in the past in organizations that forbid computer assistance, I'm convinced it's no use to separate rating lists. Actually, it would even lose some interest for many players.
Anyway, if you do not take care about top ratings, just play chess without computer assistance (it is allowed too) :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-04 12:34:09)
Playchess Freestyle Tournaments
A hard one for sure... It looks like Advanced Chess more. As for me, I can't play it because of my internet connection :(
Anyway that's interesting, feel free to tell us about the results and your impressions !
Petr Makovsky (2007-03-04 21:44:16)
Terrible !
We are 4,5 out of 7 and before last game (+- 30 second before start) "somebody" kick of us from room and they did not make pairing for us. 5,5 from 8 was enought for tiebreak and we were very close. Currently I am very frustrated and playchess.com will not see me for next few monthes.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-05 10:19:11)
Playchess Freestyle Tournament
Thanks for info, Samy...
What a crosstable, no less than 17 players finishing with 5,5 / 8
Petr, I understand your frustration, anyway that's why I play correspondence chess only over the internet. Losing a game thanks to a connection lost or strange rules is not interesting much :/
Several remarks while looking at the final crosstable :
The winner uses Rybka 2.3 mp, the others too :) .. Rybka's author (Rajlich) scores 5 out of 8 (pos. 18)
With Rybka getting stronger and stronger at fast time controls, Advanced Chess will probably become Computer Chess and finally Rybka Chess very soon. 1 hour + 15 sec is no more interesting.
I recognize some famous 'names' used on the defunct KasparovChess.com, King Crusher (5 / 8), Deep Thunder (3,5 / 8)... Correspondence Chess GM Mikhail Umansky scores 2,5 / 8... and last but not least, french forums superstar Olivier Evan scores 2,5 / 7 :)
Samy Ould Ahmed (2007-03-08 16:19:54)
Mikhail Umansky-Samy_Ould-Ahmed
[Event "5th Freestyle Main Event"]
[Site "playchess.com #091606"]
[Date "2007.03.04"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Mikhail Umansky"]
[Black "Samy_Ould-Ahmed"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E04"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. O-O Rb8 7. Nc3 a6 8. e4
Be7 9. Qe2 Nxd4 10. Nxd4 Qxd4 11. Rd1 Qc5 12. e5 Nd7 13. Ne4 Qb5 14. a4 Qb3 15.
Rd4 b5 16. Qg4 Bf8 17. axb5 Qxb5 18. Bf4 Qxb2 19. Qd1 Qb3 20. Qh5 Qc2 21. Rdd1
Be7 22. Rac1 Qa2 23. Ng5 g6 24. Qh6 Bf8 25. Qh3 Rb6 26. Bf1 Qb2 27. Rxc4 c5 28.
Ne4 h6 29. Bg2 Be7 30. Rc3 g5 31. Bc1 Qb4 32. Qh5 Bb7 33. Re3 c4 34. Nd6+ Bxd6
35. exd6 Bxg2 36. Rxe6+ Kd8 37. Qxf7 Rf8 38. Qe7+ Kc8 39. Rf6 Rd8 40. Kxg2 Qa4
41. Rf5 Qc6+ 42. Kg1 c3 43. Qe1 c2 44. Rd2 Rb1 45. h3 Kb8 46. Kh2 Qc3 47. Rf7
Ne5 48. Rf5 Nc6 49. Rfd5 h5 50. d7 a5 51. R5d3 Qc4 52. Re3 a4 53. Re8 Qc3 0-1
Elmer Valderrama (2007-03-10 15:27:33)
Playchess Freestyle Tournaments
Interesting and true observation, Thibault.
What about the format 2h/40moves displayed under Money Tournaments in
Waiting Lists?
Maybe this is equally harder (in order to beat Rybka) that at 1h+15sec (!?)
And second question is why do you think Black needs so many moves to have
winning chances in the proposed Silver/Gold Thematic game, or a better
question could be: Do you think White can get a draw after that sequence:
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.Ng1 d5 3.Nf3 c5 4.Ng1 Black to move.
-->assuming the idea is that if the game is drawn White would win the
1-game match--.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-10 15:43:17)
Playchess Freestyle Tournaments
Hi Elmer.
1h+15 is worth 1h10/40 moves... 2h/40 moves is the longest time control before correspondence chess (games that don't finish the same day it started) and I think it's long enough so that human can do something else than operate Rybka :)
About Silver/Gold Thematic game, if White/Black obtains much more than 50%, I'll change the opening until to find one that give about 50% chances. What do you think ? .. About this opening, I think chances are about 50%, I would play it with both colors :)
Elmer Valderrama (2007-03-10 15:56:59)
Playchess Freestyle Tournaments
..Well, I would play only Black there, so I guess I know who could be my opponent in the first Gold thematic -isn't there a Platinum with 1000 EUR at stake?! ;)
Elmer Valderrama (2007-03-10 16:17:33)
Playchess Freestyle Tournaments
1hour+15sec per player makes 2hours and 20 min for 40 moves overall which is significantly worse than 4hours for 40 moves overall, so I guess yes you are right (there is enough time to beat Rybka)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-03-10 16:54:39)
Playchess Freestyle Tournaments
.. enough time to beat Rybka, I don't know, but enough time to bring a bit of human brain chess for sure :)
About another Platin (or whatever) category with 1000 EUR at stake, I'll see it later as it could bring some more difficulties regarding laws.
Elmer Valderrama (2007-03-11 10:40:27)
Playchess Freestyle Tournaments
I'm not that concerned about just bringing a bit of human brain into the game,
I'm most concerned about bringing a bit of human brain into the game
*successfully* :) i.e. for a start, real chances to beat operated Rybka at this time
control. Hope you are right, I am just rather being optimist on your
proposed time control.
--The 'money' prizes are now listed as Epoints not Euros, but what's the
equivalence between them?
Jason Repa (2007-04-23 10:04:00)
Cheating Accusations
My advice is to take the accusations with a grain of salt. I'm a very good blitz/bullet player and years ago before I found out about ICC and Playchess.com I used to play at the crappy free sites such as yahoo and pogo. I would often be the strongest and highest rated player in the room and would get constantly accused of being a "prog". I would say take it as a compliment but these people are too stupid to understand what a good move or good technique is. They make the accusation based on successful results only.
As for your game with Anand. I think it's ridiculous to accuse you of program assistance. For starters, the game isn't very important. It's just an unrated simul game with no prize whatsoever. It seems to me you should have received some sort of award, not necessarily cash, but something chess related and of value. I understand it's for charity, but I can't see who in their right mind would pay money to play in a simul when there is no incentive to win. You might as well just write a check to send directly to the handicapped children of India.
When Chapters bookstore hired me to do a chess simul it was a fundraiser for our chess club. I didn't lose any games, but the sole person to merely draw me (28-0-1) in the 29 games I played received a free tournament entry ($30 value) to one of our local monthly events. I thought this was a great idea and had the benefit of bringing a new player into our club.
Jaimie Wilson (2007-06-14 16:35:03)
Holger
My experience of Holger on Playchess.com (same thing as schach.de) is that he is a very fair and assertive sysop. He takes a very dim view of cheats and rightly so. If you behave yourself properly there then Holger will be helpful and would certainly do no harm .
Wolfgang Utesch (2007-06-25 17:48:40)
FICGS vs. IGAME.RU
Let me explain – I don’t want to have any exception rules for me! It’s a principle thing: about 35 years ago I played some few correspondence chess tournaments by postcard (naturally with my real name). After a long period of abstinence (since 1999) I played correspondence chess by Email (IECG/Playchess-Server and ICCF/ICCF-Webserver) – new transport medium but with old real name.
So everybody can see my chess history: I’m standing (with my real name) to all my many bad or neutral games as same as to my some very good chess performances. I’ve always used tools (first just books and later also engines), but I’ve always played my games alone (without help by any other person).
I think there are many other players with FICGS (i.e. Peter Schuster, Hannes Rada, Harry Ingersol or others more) who have done it similar like me.
In contrast, if DONALD DUCK wins and has played a very good game, he likes it to say his real name, if he loses or has played poorly, he is just staying DONALD DUCK. He wouldn’t have to fear to disgrace himself, but there is a real chance for him to gleam!
Sorry, but this is not my idea from a friendly match between two serious teams.
Marc Lacrosse (2007-07-02 18:22:50)
Too fast
10+20 is a timing where a strong engine playing alone with a good book is unbeatable.
No time left for creative human added value ...
That's the reason why Freestyle tournaments on Playchess recently evolved from an initial 45 min + 5 sec/move to a slower timing (60 min + 15 sec/move)
I am pretty convinced that at 10 min + 20 sec increment the one with the most powerful computer will win for sure...
Marc
PS for a mean 60 moves game, 10+20 is equivalent to 30 seconds per move.
Freestyle tempo (60+15) gives a mean 75 seconds per move.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-07-04 11:31:09)
tie breaks + time controls
Garvin, I'll look at this question deeperly soon... Thx !
Marc, I quite agree, on the other hand it takes some time to operate the computer, a good chess player may be "also" required in such games, that would be interesting. Anyway, it would be hard to use longer time controls in a 1-day tournament. Less than 20 seconds per move would be hard with the current interface... How many days a playchess freestyle tournament takes ?
Garvin Gray (2007-07-27 18:51:31)
competition
I think one of the concerns for this competition is that it could very much start to just look like a smaller PAL playchess competition, except that the entry fee is the same but the prizes are way smaller.
Higher chance of winning those smaller prizes though lol
Garvin Gray (2007-07-31 06:38:35)
date change please
Can you please change the proposed date of the competition?
This date directly conflicts with the playchess freestyle tournament. Which is being held on 7/9 - 14/16 September.
I dont think it helps to have a clash of dates.
Ivan Pljusnin (2007-08-10 01:06:34)
2 Dinesh De Silva
As an IGAME player I express my opinion. Everything is not so simple!
1. Some strong chessplayers like Morozevich on ICC would not like to show their real names. Should they all be driven away from all chess cites? I am not sure. :-)
2. Your rating-leader is Viktor Savinov, he have not played a single game here. Our rating-leader is Polina. Are you sure that they should be the captains of our teams?
3,4. Legendary chessplayers like Viktor Kortchnoj or Bobby Fischer are sometimes abusive. But I am not sure that they should be driven away.
5. There is no any titles on IGAME. We are anonymous Russian amateours.
In general, I think that chess cites of all kinds are necessary and useful. And a chessplayer must have a choice: FICGS, IGAME, ICCF, GAMEKNOT, PLAYCHESS.DE, CHESSHERE and so on. Each cite has its own customs and traditions.
By the way, it makes matches between them more interesting. I believe in IGAME anonymous fighters. :-)
Best wishes, Mobutu (my IGAME nickname)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-08-30 16:05:11)
Without chess engines
It has been discussed here in the past, including this thread :
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=forum_read&id=2094
Letsplaychess.com, Itsyourturn.com, Gameknot.com and other chess servers & organizations offer correspondence chess games without chess engines, simply by 'forbidding' it...
We'll see, I will create a new unrated category (probably next week).
Best wishes, Thibault
Jason Repa (2007-09-05 15:11:44)
HAL9000: "I think you missed it Dave"
The fact of the matter is that you'll never be able to tell for certain if someone is consulting a program or not in corr. chess, so why fret about it?
You have several options:
1) There is otb chess. Unless your opponent is pulling out his palm computer with pocket fritz in the washroom, you can be reasonably certain it's a mano e mano game.
2)There is also fast internet chess on a secure server such as playchess.com. I'm not sure how secure ICC is these days. If the games are 3 min or shorter you can be pretty certain it's human chess at least 99.9% of the time.
If you want to play corr. chess, fine, but why play a game called "let's worry about whether or not my opponent is making good on his promise to not look at the rybka engine suggestions". Just use it for what modern corr. chess really is...which is an excellent form of group study to prepare for REAL chess, ie, OTB chess.
Garvin Gray (2007-09-06 17:35:00)
Playchess freestyle tournament
Am curious, how many of our members are playing in the playchess freestyle tournament, starting in about 24 hours:
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4093
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-06 17:41:43)
Playchess freestyle tournament
Yes, it would be nice to follow them... I remember that at least 2 of us played in a previous playchess freestyle tournament.
Edwin Dabbaghyan (2007-09-15 03:09:57)
how can I enter (or qualify for) ?
Hello :)
I am new here and I am going to start my first games.... I wonder how I can enter the world championship cycle? where should I start from?
and...how can I enter the freestyle money tournament? do I have to qualify or just paying is enough? how much should I pay?
I appreciate any help :)
by the way, I live in sweden, stockholm... I have played all of playchess freestyle tournaments but the first one and am playing in the current one too...( 2,5 of 5 so far ) ...anyone from sweden, stockholm here in Ficgs? we can drink a beer together in Medborgarplatsen och snacka lite om schack :)
I appreciate any help :)
regards
Edwin
Garvin Gray (2008-04-06 14:02:58)
not a fan
Now that the tournament has been cancelled, I have a couple of comments regarding what was the proposed format of 6 rounds of 30 + 10 in one day.
Players on here previously objected to this type of 'fast' time control as
it gave too much advantage to engine only players over freestylers. This point was also discussed heavily when 45 + 5 was used in a playchess freestyle tournament.
I will not be participating again in a tournament under this time control when for me play starts at 9pm and will finish at about 7am with 6 rounds in one sitting.
I would find it much easier to play one round per day at 90 + 30 over a few days, with play starting at 1300 server time.
While this may seem like a big commitment, I would think that more players can make a few hours commitment each day, than a 12 hour or so commitment on one day. Especially when trying to run a tournament across 24 time zones.
Andrew Stephenson (2008-04-19 08:20:38)
Alberto Guecci
I see Alberto has got into the round robin final of the 8th Freestyle chess tournament under the name Spaghetti chess - congratulations Alberto and best of luck in the final which is showing on the Playchess server on April 25-27th
Thibault de Vassal (2008-04-19 14:05:51)
Playchess freestyle
Congrats guys & good luck ! :)
Thibault de Vassal (2008-05-01 18:56:08)
8th Playchess Freestyle
Congrats Eros :)
Jason Repa (2008-05-07 01:09:36)
Step up, or shut up!
"I know that you're only a 1912 rated player on this site" Yeah, on this site... I began here as a 1700 (the first rating here)"
Join the club. I started as a 1700 player also. You've lost over 25% of your games. And to weak opponents at that. So I'm quite justified in assuming that I'm a better chess player than you, and by a very wide margin also. The fact that you couldn't figure out on your own why 10...Bf5 is no improvement over 10...Qe7 is just icing on the cake.
But anyway, I've had enough of you whining about your low rating and making excuses for your poor performance in chess. Excuses are for losers.
And there was nothing "arrogant" in any of my statements. The problem here is your stupidity and incapability at understanding what has been said to you. I've already explained to you TWICE that you were wrong in assuming that there was an implication that "material is everything" when I was discussing the recovery of material. That was not said nor implied. What part of this isn't sinking into your skull? How many more times does it need to be repeated for you to be able to understand???
I don't normally give free chess lessons to insolent patzers like you, but I'd be willing to have you a few bullet games on a secure server like playchess.com where in bullet time controls you won't be able to use your chess program to do the thinking for you like you do here. I've already had this type of thing go down with another motormouth on this site. I beat him 100% of the games and posted a link to them. At least he was man enough to step up to the plate and play me. You made the challenge so don't back down with any excuses, like the excuses you used to explain your paltry 1912 rating. And obviously if we're going to play real-time chess with the assumption is that its going to be human mind vs human mind chess, it's going to have to be fast bullet games. Not standard blitz where you have time to see what rybka running on your other computer suggests. Let me know what your playchess.com account name is and when you're able to play.
Jason Repa (2008-05-08 03:13:22)
Pavasovic vs Baklan
This game was played a couple weeks ago in the 2008 European Individual Championship in Plovdiv.
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1491774
It's hard to believe a GM would play this in a real game. It's an old cheapo line of the Tarrasch French where White gives up two pieces, then dangles a third, for an attack. Black's defense is simple and intuitive. He gives back one piece to diffuse the attack and wins a relatively simply endgame. I first came across this when someone tried it against me in a bullet game on playchess.com. Even at bullet time controls I was able to come up with 13...Ndxe5 (not too difficult to find) and consolidate the material advantage.
Andrew Stephenson (2008-05-13 15:47:39)
Mr cfc
Frankly I have alway taken someone saying they have an ELO rating to refer to having a FIDE rating and not a national rating
I understand that you need to deduct about 35 points from sub 2200 ratings to get a FIDE equivalent. Well I have never met anyone before who thought that FIDE 2000 was such a high rating I dont mean that in a bad way I am just surprised that you think this is high.
As for beating me at chess I thought this was not real chess? Well like I said there is a sense in having it both ways. Look we could easily organise a money match at cc say for Euro 1000 6, 8, 10 games whatever you want, rapid time limit you can have white in every game and I can give you 3 to 1 odds. You win 1 game you get Euro 3000 you fail to win a game I get Euro 1000. All you have to do is win a game you can even lose all the other games.
Well like I said it does not prove anything - its a research competition. I dont want to hustle you but you have been making a lot of statements so if you are interested .......
But please dont challenge me to bullet games on playchess......
Benjamin Block (2008-05-25 13:44:22)
Draw!
In playchess.com the computer play against each other the fastest computer+the biggest opningsbook win. But if both computer have the same book and the same fast computer it is draw.
Jason Repa (2008-06-09 00:22:32)
Rapid chess entry rating
If you're not bright enough to figure out how to look up someone's rating, you better stick to "engine-assisted" chess. I'd probably beat you blindfolded in chess where you have to come up with the moves using your own mind. You're not even intelligent enough to figure out how to spell someone's name, when the spelling of it is right in front of you.
And for someone who doesn't want to engage in insults, you sure are doing a good job of insulting. Nice of you to "claim" I wouldn't accept your "challenge" of playing match games, before you even make the challenge. Obviously it's YOU who's backing down from match games with me, under the pretense of not having any time to play. What sheer nonsense. You seem to have a lot of free time on your hands....enough to blabber away with numerous forum posts where you whine about not being able to make it to 2300.
I'm challenging YOU to some human mind vs human mind chess on the playchess server right now. You can get a free trial account there (if you don't already have an account) in about 2 minutes. For a guy who's incessantly bickering about Rybka hurting your performance, you should love having the opportunity to prove to everyone reading this that you're not the spineless hypocrite coward I'm claiming you are and step up to the plate to play me some fast (so rybka or other engines cannot be consulted) online games.
Nice of you to tell us you have problems, but it was already obvious.
Ben Milton (2008-11-05 14:51:33)
opening book
I have downloaded the games played on playchess and was wondering how i could make an opening book based on them?
Scott Nichols (2009-01-13 03:58:19)
Different sites:
Dear Tom, There is a site called Playchess.com that only allows engine play in the engine room. All other areas are closly monitored and players who try to use engine assistance are seriously repremanded, (loss of ratings and on up). It is an excellent site.
This site allows engine use in correspondence chess. Alot of players love the system. And it seems also, that even when players have basically the same equipment, the better player usually wins anyway. As Thibault so eloquently put it, they look beyond the "horizon" of computers to make their decisions.
I play on both sites and follow both sites rules. Playchess=serious chess.
FICGS=fun and theoretical chess and more.
Normajean Yates (2009-01-13 19:28:13)
ficgs is serious chess!
Sctott Nichols ends his post with "Playchess=serious chess. FICGS=fun and theoretical chess and more."
1. false
2.Doesn't follow from the rest of his post.
3. putting 'theoretical chess' in opposition' to 'serious chess' is so unorthodox a use of the word 'serious' that it borders on the incorrect.
Denis Ivanchenkov (2009-03-22 23:28:11)
captured pieces
Thibault, maybe it is just my personal drawbacks but when I set up board I usually look at captured pieces (on letsplaychess.com or chess-online.ru) and see how many of pieces are out - and just count with those on the board to be 16 in total - and become confident that I didn't miss anything. here on Ficgs it usually takes more time to get confident that all pieces on their places. and from the other side it will be easily seeing which player is getting upper hand - just looking at captured pieces (especially when difference is small - like pawn or two or pawn for a piece)
and yes notation
White: 2B, 2N, 3P
Black: Q,4R
would solve the problem
Nick Burrows (2009-04-12 22:30:28)
Teams
The team tournaments on Playchess don't work well at all. It all feels much more random to me playing for Star Trek United etc.
I personally prefer a Ficgs Olympiad as William called it..
William Taylor (2009-04-12 23:33:05)
Teams vs Olympiad
Nick: I haven't played teams tournaments on Playchess but I'd guess they're similar to those on ICC. I agree that they feel rather pointless, but I think that's just because they're over quickly and you won't play in the same team with the same people again. Getting a (perhaps starting annualy) team tournament or league going on FICGS would be quite different I think, with longer time controls, hopefully well-established teams and perhaps prize money. Maybe there's room for a team tournament and an Olympiad - if not either would be nice.
Tano-Urayoan Russi Roman (2009-09-28 22:21:17)
Promotion
The promotion has centered around the new interface(GUI)and the new pemium membership for playchess. About the engine they just said "new stronger engine" but no numbers given.
Seems they emphasize the GUI and Shredder 12 the new human levels. Not as much the engine strenght as they gave up in chasing Rybka. I agree with Garvin I doubt Fritz will be close to Rybka 3
Garvin Gray (2009-10-27 14:09:09)
Playchess
I am wondering, how many of our players here are also on playchess. Care to share identities?
Scott Nichols (2009-10-28 02:43:53)
Sure
On Playchess, I'm Dolmol, who are you Garvin.
Dmitry Domanov (2009-11-22 15:06:57)
very sad news
I have played one game against Marc in far 2003 on the playchess.de server. The game has been begun by Marc's favourite 1.Nc3! His nickname was Comcat there.
Rest in peace, Marc...
Thibault de Vassal (2009-12-11 20:32:59)
Rybka + a lot of MIPS
That's not the same thing, it may be worth it in playchess events.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-12-29 19:50:45)
RobboLito vs. Rybka 3
What are RobboLito, Ippolit and Igorrit ? It looks like these names are invading computer chess forums... As you may have read in the discussion mentioned below, the Rybka 3's source code may have been compromised and these engines "may" be clones of Rybka 3 (everyone does not agree on this). Good or really bad news, anyway this open source chess engine may have many consequences on the computer chess world, and correspondence chess as well...
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=forum_read&id=8031
From the wikispace mentioned below :
IPPOLIT : Intellectual Persons Promotion Of Leninist International Tradesunions (!??)
Q. What is RobboLito?
A. RobboLito is the version of IPPOLIT that now contains endgame tablebases, the RobboBases.
A few links on RobboLito 0.085f1a, Ippolit & Igorrit (says it all IMO) :
http://ippolit.wikispaces.com/
http://ippolit.wikispaces.com/RobboLito
http://ippolit.wikispaces.com/Igorrit
http://ippolit.wikispaces.com/FAQ
see also : ippolit.wikispaces.com/Clone+(Question)
http://ippolit.wikispaces.com/News
-> IPPOLIT banned from chessprogramming wiki!
PlayChess banned IPPOLIT from use online also.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r_V_QkmHjo
http://www.chesslogik.com/robbolito.htm
http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/free-chessengine-robbolito-is-1-at-swisstest-rybka-2?lc=1
http://www.cyclonechess.com/rybka3.htm
"RobboLito is an open-source UCI chess engine by: Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin, Igor Igorovich Igoronov, and Roberto Pescatore."
RobboLito does not yet support: multiPV, own book, egbbs, tablebases, multiple CPUs/cores, chess variants
Estimated rating: ~ 3300 ELO
Available versions:
RobboLito 0.085g3 w32
(optimized windows 32-bit executable and source code)
RobboLito_0.085g3_w32_no_SSE2
(optimized windows 32-bit executable - for older CPUs that don't support Intel SSE2 instruction set)
RobboLito 0.085g3_x64
(fast windows 64-bit PGO executable
compiled by peterpan)
RobboLito 0.085g3l_x86
(optimized linux 64-bit executable and source code
ported to linux by unisky)
http://www.cyclonechess.com/robbolito.htm
http://www.cyclonechess.com/rybka3.htm
http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1261597025/4
http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1258991841
http://queenchess.blogspot.com/2009/11/fritz-12-vs-robbolito-e2-latest-version.html
http://lefounumerique.xooit.com/next?t=663 (french)
Thibault de Vassal (2010-03-16 10:37:01)
Interview with E. Kotlyanskiy
Congrats again to Edward Kotlyanskiy, new FICGS chess champion after beating Xavier Pichelin (2577) in the 12 games final match of the 3rd cycle.
Edward kindly accepted to answer a few questions on his match and correspondence chess in general :
_________________________
> Hi Edward, first of all congratulations for winning this 12 games match against the former FICGS chess champion, Xavier Pichelin. You had to score at least one point more than your opponent, what was your strategy when the games started?
Knowing that I had to score at least +1 against Xavier, I had to try to get the games into complex positions where there are many options to play for both sides. At the point when the games started, I was the underdog to Xavier (mainly due to the face that I was rated about 200 points lower). In part, I think that one of the reasons why Xavier allowed the games to reach such complex positions is due to the fact that his rating was undoubtedly higher than mine and therefore he probably assumed that he could “outplay” me. Although this was simultaneously a brave and admirable choice, I think an option that many other players would have pursued would have been to play “drawish” lines with the hope of having all of the games ending in draws. I have great respect for Xavier due to the fact that he didn't choose such a path and allowed us to put on a hard fought show that was worth watching.
> What could you say on the hot moments of the match?
The first game in which I thought I had very good chances to win was game 34739. In this game (particularly on move 18) Xavier played the move Nb8?? Looking back at the move, I realized that the game was lost for him. I assumed that Xavier probably underestimated the threat of f5. There were no good responses and/or countermeasures for the move f5. For example, if 19) gxf5, I have 20) Nxh5 Nc6 21) Rc3! Bxh4 (Qd8 was also possible) 22) Qf4 Be7 23) g4! His king is just clearly caught in the attack! 19) exf5 also fails to 20) e6 f6 (trying to keep the king safe) 21) Bxh5!! gxh5 22) Nc6 Rc3 and therefore it’s easy to see that it is just a matter of time. Xavier did try something better although even that failed due to some nice moves. I believe that 21) g7 came as a surprise to Xavier (or that at least he hadn't seen this move when playing Nb8). After Nxh5 (another neat move), another line that I thought Xavier would enter (which is also losing) is 22) Qxc2 23) Qxc2 Rxc2 24) Nf6+! Bxf6 25) exf6. Clearly my pawns are just too strong! Knowing that I am winning after the mentioned alternatives, the other games (although I won three others) were just necessary to hold without falling for any tactics/tricks.
A second game I want to briefly comment on is game 34729. I played a very nice (although I am not sure if it is winning just yet) move known as 17.a4! It was a very nice way to open the position on both of our kings. In all honesty, the move that I think was winning in this situation 25) Rd3, I did not even consider too highly until the position reached that very move. After a relatively short analysis, I was indeed pleasantly surprised to see that; overall, it was completely winning for me.
> What could you say on the advantages and inconveniences of this 12 games match format played at a quite fast time control?
From the days when I first starting playing correspondence chess, I have always been accustomed to making moves rather quickly. In fact, when I first started playing, in some games I made moves within 10 minutes of looking at the position. Although I take a lot more time to analyze now-a-days, I still consider the speed of my play to be relatively faster compared to most other correspondence players. Playing 12 games simultaneously can have drawbacks as not having enough time to properly analyze; however, I didn't have such a problem. With the exception of a few games that I was playing on IECG at the start of the FICGS Championship, the 12 game series was my main concern.
> Without revealing your secrets, how would you define modern correspondence chess as a centaur (playing with chess engines)?
These days, it is impossible to play correspondence chess on a high level without consulting the engine. It is also unlikely that one can achieve a lot of success just by following the engine blindly (even after a long analysis). Personally, I know that some of my friends believe that in correspondence chess you are just following the engine but I believe that most “high level” correspondence players know that it just doesn't work that way.
In my opinion, one of the most important skills that a correspondence player should have is having some sense of where the engine he is analyzing with is faulty. To give a well known example, many people know that there are certain endgame positions that an engine alone can't be trusted in (a simple case is the wrong color bishop). In essence, knowing the strengths and weaknesses of whatever engine you are analyzing with is critical to playing correspondence chess at a “high level”.
> Why did you choose to play correspondence chess, do you play OTB (over the board) chess as well?
Before starting correspondence chess, I played OTB chess for quite a few years. When my schedule became busy, I realized that I wouldn't have much time to play OTB in clubs. I came across correspondence chess and got hooked on it very quickly. Also, I began to enjoy more of the subtleties of the game; something that is just lacking in OTB blitz games. I imagine that some people prefer to play practical chess (OTB) in which a move order wouldn't make much of a difference; however, I guess I am a perfectionist and believe the game should be played on as high of a level as possible.
> How many correspondence games do you usually play at the same time (on different chess servers or by email)? Would you say that it is an addiction?
Usually, I played about 5 to 10 games on average on all different sites. I did play via email on IECC but wasn't fond of playing by email therefore I went back to server only sites (IECG, FICGS, Schemingmind).
I can definitely say that correspondence chess is an addiction. All too often, I catch myself analyzing games when I really should be doing something much more time sensitive. Well, at least I can say that this addiction paid off in that I am the new FICGS champion!
> Are you interested in other games?
As far as board games go, chess is primarily the only game I play. At times I do play games like monopoly and scrabble with my friends. Another interest that I have is billiards.
> The next challenger for the FICGS chess champion title is SM Eros Riccio (winner of several PlayChess PAL freestyle tournaments). Do you think that you'll play him? What does this perspective inspire in you?
I can't wait to play Eros! I believe that he would be my toughest opponent yet (although I have played GM Leităo, Rafael (fide elo: 2619) and managed to draw). Eros is like an unstoppable juggernaut in corr chess. That said, I look forward to our games and I am certain that they will simultaneously be challenging and entertaining.
> Thanks and best of luck in your future games!
Josef Riha (2010-03-29 08:53:24)
Immediate start of tournaments
Hello Thibault, is it possible to start a tournament immediately when more then one player has signed in? At playchess.de it works very well.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-03-30 21:17:07)
Playchess PAL tournaments winners
Hi everyone, does anybody know where I can find the list of all winners of Playchess PAL tournaments ?
Thanks ;)
Samy Ould Ahmed (2010-03-30 22:16:43)
Playchess PAL tournaments winners
http://www.freestyle-chess.com/tournaments.htm
Thibault de Vassal (2010-03-30 22:35:35)
Playchess PAL tournaments winners
Thanks Samy, so the list of winners so far :
1. ZackS
2. Zor_champ (Hydra)
3. Rajlich (Rybka's author)
4. Xakru (Jiri Dufek and Roman Chytilek)
5. Flying Saucers
6. Rajlich
7. Ibermax
8. Ultima (Eros Riccio)
Sebastian Boehme (2010-10-31 20:11:04)
Creating an opening book
Hi Garvin,
Book making ia for example in my case always been a very time-intense and manually tuned process. I never do import any outside games to my book.
Guidelines on how to starting out in creating an opening book you can find (or probably have already found), here:
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=11798
That site got some useful links
General rule of thumb, work on each system one by one. My favourite example: I as white play 1. e4 and Black replies 1....f5, so the Elephant Gambit arises.
Now I want to find good white moves for it, so I enable in my Book allow move adding and check my Correspondence and Playchess Games database for the replies of white. Also I see what major engines think about the moves offered by the database in say 1-2 minute analysis and what these engines themselves gotta offer. This way a reply to the elephant gambit (or maybe more) for move 2 of white can be found.
Also not in any case 1-2 minute analysis will be sufficient. You need to figure this out for yourself.
The less time intensive process: Create a database where you import games filtered by very well chosen criteria (for instance recent games i.e. 2008-2010). Then import the database games into a new empty book.
That's all I know about how it could be done.
Sebi
Kamesh Nookala (2011-02-06 04:14:32)
Segregation of Games on this Server
Thib,
I will tell why i face the difficulty with my database. I have one single database, which is a collection of games from everywhere, be it Correspondence or be it games from playchess. Then, whenever i download games, i happen to merge them into my main single database. Everytime, i have to run a doubles check.
There is also a funny thing which i noticed. The game file for these games from FICGS is always chess.pgn. I have to create a new DB with crap name (remember: not identical to any name of the DB from which i earlier merged games to my single DB, reason is though the games are different, based on the import database name, the games will be marked doubles) and then merge them to the single DB. Again filtering applies. So, we can help you a bit with ideas to create a collection of games, as I hope everyone deletes the LINE games, which are still underway :)
Dmitri Mamrukov (2011-02-10 08:45:13)
playchess.com
Anybody plays Advanced Chess on playchess.com? I use the standard interface that comes with my paid membership. But in the Engine Room I can't play such chess because I'm told that I can't taskswitch (otherwise, their anti-cheating mechanism would be triggered, even though it's not human chess at all). For that, I need to buy some ChessBase product like the Fritz interface or ChessBase. Is there any way to legally play Centaur games? Anybody tried doing it on 2 computers: on one to make moves (in the standard playchess.com interface) and on the other to analyze with your favorite engine? Thanks.
Kamesh Nookala (2011-02-12 04:26:06)
playchess.com
You cannot play as Centaur in the Main Playing Hall. There is an Engine Room, where you have to press on Edit - Playing Mode - and then choose Centaur Option. Only then you will be able to play as Centaur. Playing as Centaur using the assistance of engine and taskswitching is not permitted in the Main Playing Hall or any other place, except the Engine Room
Kamesh Nookala (2011-02-12 11:50:42)
playchess.com
Okay, in order to play as Centaur, you need a Fritz GUI, which comes with any of the products that are sold by playchess.com. You can check their store. You cannot play as Centaur using the Free Client. That's a Big No. If you shell out about 50 USD you can get the Fritz 12 GUI
Regards
Kam
Dmitri Mamrukov (2011-03-06 22:30:23)
playchess.com
Thanks. I did have to shell out some handful of money for the Fritz GUI. Too bad there are very few centaurs on playchess.de...
Jimmy Huggins (2011-11-28 10:57:39)
WBCCC 2 sign up and WBCCC 1 review
Another great piece in the article is that of Nelson Hernandez. Who probably not many of you know of. He has been part of a 2 man team that has been very success in freestyle chess. He won one of the major championships know as the PAL/CSS which was sponsored by playchess (chessbase). Anyway to those who know him. He has a vast book that he has been working on for years and is a very respectable member of the Rybka Forum.
The game insight he gave in the article. That of 2 long time members of FICGS Kevin Planet and Sebi Boehme was very well done to say the least.
Scott Nichols (2012-05-18 16:44:21)
Private chat?
Maybe this has been discussed before, I don't know. Sometimes we just want to have a small chat with a particular person. Here there are three options, chat in public for all to see, go thru a series of e-mails (yuk), or leave the site to go somewhere this is possible. e.g. Thib, come to FB, Scott come to Playchess. Is it possible to do something like this?
Thibault de Vassal (2012-05-30 23:44:03)
Freestyle chess interfaces
Oh... didn't see this article before.
Well, I guess that a good freestyle interface should allow the use of an engine just like Playchess does. Playchess interface is not exactly a website though. But anyway there is so much that could be done yet to improve it :/
Michael Aigner (2012-11-06 15:34:52)
The very unofficial World Championship
Hello everybody,
the computer chess enthusiast of the CSS forum are trying to organise a match "Houdini 3 versus Rybka Cluster".
The initiative came from the maintainer of the renowned IPON rating list. His estimation for two long games is 864 ducats. There more the better. I didn't observe how much was donated already, but quite a lot, and there is big enthusiasm about it. It seems that very good hardware for the Houdini side, and a way to collect the ducats at Playchess, have already been organized.
For details, see http://forum.computerschach.de/cgi-bin/mwf/topic_show.pl?tid=5093
(I guess Google translation can help if required, with the usual quirks.)
If somebody likes the idea it would be easy to participate there too.
All the best, Michael
Garvin Gray (2012-12-13 16:52:12)
WBCCC 2013
This information is in regards to the World Blitz Correspondence Chess Championship for the year 2013.
It is held on Rybka Forum www.rybkaforum.net.
There is a full sub forum located on that forum that explains a lot of the rules, current list of players and specifics of information.
For a general run down, read on:
My name is Garvin Gray and I am the organiser and arbiter for this event. This event attempts to bring as many strong correspondence and freestyle players together from all the different playing sites, such as iccf, ficgs, playchess, lss and many other sites.
As the title says, this is a blitz event, meaning the time controls are short compared to normal correspondence play. This requires players to devote a greater share of their focus to these games than would normal correspondence play.
This event has been held for two years now, with the 2012 version still in progress. Feel free to browse the 2012 sub forum to see the games and how the structure works.
In the two years of this event, I feel that many new discoveries have been made and advanced freestyle chess knowledge has certainly been increased, to the benefit of all. Those who have participated in both events have gained a lot from their participation and I want to see this continue.
To allow this event to start and finish in one calendar year, we start in mid January and for 2013, it will finish in mid December. The format requires that you will play one game as white and one game as black in each round. There are 10 games in total.
Each round is paired as an individual swiss using the dutch pairing rules, but accommodations are made because each person must have one white and one black game per round.
Kibitizing is allowed and encouraged, but discussions about future positions, game analysis or anything else that could affect the result of the game is not allowed. Feel free to read the thread on game commentary.
There will also be a thread for each round that allows discussion of events during the round, general discussion about games or other general chit chat.
We do seek to provide a friendly, but competitive environment for those who want to advance their freestyle skills, or test themselves against other players from the different sites. This event will take up quite a bit of your time as the time control is fast, the play is difficult and the enjoyment factor high.
This is not meant to be a deterrent, but I feel I should make it clear that you need to be dedicated and willing to play each and every game/round.
Withdrawing or timing out mid game is not acceptable and will see you removed from the event. If you think you can not complete a particular round, it is better to contact me and have you withdrawn from that round. You are free to rejoin the event in these circumstances, but will receive zero points for those two missed games.
I hope to see more entries and good freestyling to everyone.
Cheers,
Garvin Gray
WBCCC 2013 Organiser
Garvin Gray (2013-01-16 17:37:51)
FICGS admin scam me
Computer chess, in terms of players just letting their engines play against other engines (playchess for instance) can be lazy, but the centaur version we play on here is anything but lazy.
I would go as far to say that calling centaur/freestyle chess on here LAZY is the most ignorant statement ever made in these forums.
Big call, but I think I can back it up :)
Thibault de Vassal (2018-05-11 01:54:44)
New domain names for FICGS apps
Quite good news for FICGS !
As you may know, .app domains are available for a few days... I was not able to take the very best domain names (chess.app & ajedrez.app), but very good ones anyway. I hope more players will come from Google to the following:
playchess.app (english)
jugarajedrez.app (spanish)
xadrez.app (portuguese)
echecs.app (french)
These ones should be online with the Chess Trainer app within a few days... By the way I also bought:
pokerholdem.app
playgogames.app
It is really hard to find good keywords in english for the Go game... Maybe baduk.app & weiqi.app would have been better but not so sure.
William Taylor (2018-05-13 22:11:04)
New domain names for FICGS apps
You may be able to sell playchess.app on to ChessBase for a decent amount.
There are 0 results for playchess in wikichess.
FICGS : playchess , Wikipedia : playchess , Dmoz : playchess , Google : playchess , Yahoo : playchess
I thought the most common mistake [in chess] was the first one: Learning the game :P (Garvin Gray, FICGS forum)
Of Chess it has been said that life is not long enough for it, but that is the fault of life, not Chess. (William Ewart Napier)
In blitz, the Knight is stronger than the Bishop. (Vlastimil Hort)
Back to FICGS , Wikichess