prize
FICGS - Search results for prize
There are 226 results for prize in the forum.
Patrice Verdier (2006-04-10 22:19:36)
Possibility Job
I have been club chess president. I can organize tournaments, proceed rating calculator, write rules, doing relation with others organisation (ICCF, IECG,...). I have some ideas also for tournament with fee and prizes
Thibault de Vassal (2006-08-08 12:09:40)
Suggestion (sponsors)
Hi Dinesh.
I'm looking at everything of course, it would be great to get sponsors and prizes for free tournaments ie. WCH... The more success, the more chances, so still working. It will take time anyway...
In a near future : Tournaments with entry fees & money prizes should start in October, I have many new ideas to make it attractive for the most, titled players as beginners, and it should bring something to the whole site.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-06 15:43:12)
FIDE WCH : Kramnik vs. Topalov
Do you believe it ? .. now it's most probably almost sure :-)
We'll have a new FIDE-Classical world champion in a few weeks !
A reminder : This will be a 12-games match, taking place from September 21 to October 13 in the capital of Kalmykia (whose president is FIDE president : Kirsan Ilyumzhinov himself), Elista. In case of equality, four rapid games will be played, if equality again two blitz games will be played and finally a sudden death blitz game. The prize fund of one million US dollars will be equally divided between Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov, whatever the result. The looser won't play the next world championship tournament (quite strange).
Anyway, that's a great thing for chess, even if I'm not very optimistic for the next FIDE world championship cycles, particularly if the world champion has to play a knockout tournament, instead of a classical 12 or 24 games match...
My favourite in this match is still Kramnik because of his style, but Topalov is really getting stronger IMO... It will be a hard match !
Any predictions about the result & games ? .. Will Vladimir Kramnik play his Berlin defense in the Ruy Lopez again...
Dinesh De Silva (2006-09-10 13:02:14)
Suggestion: A best game prize in future
I suggest there should be a BEST GAME PRIZE in the future (if Money Tournaments are a success in the future, which I'm sure it will be. That itself might generate some extra cash needed for this). A prize of.... say....US $ 100+ would be nice! Contenders for best game should be judged by a competent panel appointed by FICGS. Best Game could be selected once every month or once every two months. I think only one game should be submitted per each player, so that there's time enough for the panel to make a proper evaluation of the submitted games.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-10 14:13:09)
Re: Best game prize
Hi Dinesh !
Of course, there are many things like this to envisage.. ie. Wch prizes. It will all depend on money tournaments (working on) & eventual sponsors.
However, I'm not so favourable to such suggestive results... We'll see. If the idea is plebiscited in the future, I just say why not...
Thibault de Vassal (2006-09-11 14:40:57)
Chance & casino games
Hi Dinesh.
Problem is FICGS shouldn't become a casino.. (with stud poker, blackjack, roulette or whatever chancy game like this :)) It's legally difficult already to organize tournaments with prizes for "mental sports"... Adding confusion may create some problems.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-02 15:06:33)
Chess / FIDE
Why did Kramnik accept to continue this match... Becoming a chess (FIDE) hero ? Prize ?
Finally I would prefer the prize reason... :)
It seems he just resigned the psychological battle against Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, unless he's sure he can contest the final score once the match is over, but it would be harder for sure.
It will be just harder for him to play now... Anyway, the result in this match is not so important, the real issue is future of world chess championships, but in the 'other match' that just began, FIDE scored one more point.
Dinesh De Silva (2006-10-02 16:33:57)
Re:
Thibault, I'm sure Kramnik is continuing the match NOT mainly for the prize money, because if information I've gathered is correct, the prize money is financed from Kramnik's side. By managing to draw the 6th game, Kramnik has shown that he certainly ain't pyschologically down because of his opponent's antics. If Kramnik goes on to win the championship, the majority of the world is bound to accept him as the one true champion.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-10-30 08:54:15)
Re: JUDIT POLGAR
Hi Dinesh.
Seems to be a question a money ?! .. If I remember correctly, Sergey Karjakin was to play Topalov with a 1 M$ prize fund (?), so why not a Judit Polgar vs. Vladimir Kramnik match...
She (probably) only needs a good sponsor and a serious preparation to create such an interesting event... I'm sure Kramnik would play it. I don't remember Judit playing a 6+ game match, but I feel it would be hard for her, first because of Kramnik style (& Judit's).
Anyway, great performance at Essent with a 2-0 mini-match against V. Topalov and I. Sokolov !
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.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-11-19 17:56:13)
Retire and come back.
Hello Dorel.
I'm very sorry about that, but actually Charlie just said everything.
"It is just one of the drawbacks of having a free site on the internet."
This was only an obvious example, but the problem is quite more complex... What about a player who just looses a game on time and continue his other games. Farther, why a player should draw to another one and win to a third. Any result in any round-robin tournament is partly 'aleatory' and depends on many other factors than chess, particularly rules.
It also happens in over the board tournaments to get prizes, it can happen everywhere and at ICCF too... That's why I prefer knockout system. Of course, I'd like to solve all problems, but no rules are perfect. (by the way all suggestions are welcome)
The original post was in 'temps de réflexion' thread :
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=forum_read&id=1453
Best wishes.
Lionel Vidal (2006-11-20 21:57:03)
Go handicap and rating
Is handicap Go really nonsensical in rated tournaments?
While it seems so in a world championship, where the aim is to determine the stronger player in an absolute sense, why should it be so in a tournament, where the aim is to determine the best player in a relative sense... hum, not a very clean or clear sentence, but I hope you got the idea :-)
In face to face Go, in most amateur tournaments, it is not a problem, and you can win or loose a tournament, win or loose points, playing with an handicap (some tournaments set a limit lower than 9 in the number of handicap stones). I do not know the formulae used to compute the knew ratings, but in practice it works well. (and the same thing works also in Shogi tournaments)
Before WWII, even pros played with handicap (one or two stones at most, more commonly with a fixed color and no komi) and that *for money*!! Nowadays this is not the case anymore: maybe the increase of pro-tournament prizes change the noble way to be the best of two players fighting *their best* at their *respective* level!
Anyway, I think such an idea may be interresting to motivate players: when weaker, I will fight my best because I have a chance to win, and when stronger, I *have* to fight well :-)
We could think of a rating system where you play your first, say, 20 games without handicap to get a starting rating, and then to receive or give handicaps automatically in tournaments. We could then consider a rating as fixed after a bunch of 20 more games...
Or any other system that will always generate tense and dangerous games! That will be, at least for me, a great motivation to play more :-)
(but then I do not care much for my rating :-))
Thibault de Vassal (2006-12-03 22:10:26)
Google Adsense
Hello to all.
You probably noticed these ads under the search field and on the chat bar.
Google Adsense could work with such a site with more than 24,000 pages viewed per day and constantly increasing, so I try. The idea is quite clear, if Google can sponsorize the server and FICGS championships prizes, they are welcome IMO. Google Adsense is an intelligent system, and adverts are quite relevant.
However, this is a test only ! .. Let's see.
Feel free to tell me what you think, is it unbearable, is it useful ?! .. Thanks for feedback !
Thibault de Vassal (2006-12-16 04:05:26)
Topalov vs. Kramnik v2, is it worth ?
Responding to myself, according to FIDE rules there could be a match about every 6 months (WCH tournament or Prize funded)...
Obviously good for world champion (and for FIDE), but maybe that's also good for chess after all. What disturbs me more is last result against Deep Fritz :/
Elmer Valderrama (2006-12-30 12:11:08)
Quad_Silver?
Would it be a money 4-game tournament? if so, what's the money prize?
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')
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-09 14:27:34)
Money in Go game
I just read on AGA e-journal that the top pro Go players (Takao Shinji 9P, Yamashita Keigo 9P, Gu Li 9P, Cho U 9P, Lee Changho 9P, Hane Naoki 9P, Park Jungsang 9P, Lee Sedol 9P...) in 2006 won a total of prizes between 330,000 $ and 750,000 $
Not so bad (I guess) compared to top 10 chess players...
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-15 12:18:28)
Go : Korean awards
Korean awards 2006
Best player of the year: Lee Sedol, 9-dan
Fighting spirit prize: Seo Bongsu, 9-dan
Best junior master: Paek Hongsuk, 5-dan
Top female prize: Rui Naiwei, 9-dan
Best Korean amateur: U Dongha, 7-dan
Most popular male and female players: Lee Changho, 9-dan and Park Chiun, 6-dan
Korean records 2006
The highest number of wins: Lee Sedol, 9-dan, 78-28
The highest winning percentage: Paek Hongsuk, 5-dan, 77%
The longest winning streak: Lee Sedol, 9-dan, 14 games straight (2.13.2006 -3.21.2006)
From IGN "Goama" newsletter - http://gogame.info
Thibault de Vassal (2007-01-21 13:48:44)
Go and chess, IGN Goama newsletter
From IGN Goama newsletter by Alexander Dinerchtein - http://www.gogame.info
Go and Chess Two Games, Shared Experiences
Chess and go show are similar in many ways, yet it's always strange to see how the masters of each game try to "invent the wheel", instead of benefiting from the knowledge of their colleagues.
Let's consider sharing experiences!
These ideas can be useful even for strong Asian Go professionals:
1. Currently, only a few pros use Go databases and programs for studying. It is easy to find commentaries, written by 9-dan masters, which state that a move is new and has never been played before. Yet if one checks such moves in Go databases, one can sometimes find up to 100 examples from professional games. How can they cheat the readers who study these commentaries?
Once in Korea, I showed the Bigo Assistant program (similar to GoGod, MoyoGo and SmartGo) to Lee Sedol's brother Lee Sanghun, 5-dan, who is the director of a large children's Go school. He was surprised and said that the program looked very useful, and he added that he had never met this kind of program before. He even suggested deleting all amateur games and games played on Go servers, because of their low quality. I promised to order the programs and to install them on the school's computers if he liked this idea, but he did not follow up. Lee Sanghun, 5-dan was not able to break the traditions of his forefathers …
2. Even such top chess players as Kasparov, Kramnik and Topalov enlist the support of trainers during important tournaments and matches. During the Communist era, almost every Russian grandmaster worked on behalf of world championship candidates. Our government forced them to help, to show them new moves and ideas. Those who refused to help were punished severely: for example, sometimes a player would be prohibited from playing in tournaments abroad and would be refused foreign visas.
We do not see this in Go. Everyone thinks only about his or her own self. Do you know who is currently assisting Lee Changho? I don't know, either!
3. I would like to say a few words about playing technique. Chess players often used to write the move on paper first and then make it on the board. This helps to avoid impulsive moves and to prevent blunders. Go masters record the game afterwards, and so one can often find terrible mistakes, such as overlooking ataris and recapturing ko without playing a ko threat first. As an example you may see Black's move number 271 from this game:
http://www.go4go.net/v2/modules/collection/sgfview.php?id=10828
I am sure that if a player looked at their move at least twice before they write it on paper and after they would not make such mistakes.
4. Even top Go tournaments are usually run by the knock-out system so we often see sensational results. Mightn’t it be reasonable to think about increasing the number of games in each round? If rounds were best-of-three (in case of time constraints, it would be possible to use blitz time controls for the third game), it would help to minimize sensations.
How about organising a definitive World Go Championship? Chess players have contested one for more than 100 years, and competitions for this World Championship have revealed the very best players of each generation. In Go it's harder to tell which player is true champion. In 2006, for instance, one international tournament was won by Lee Changho and another one by Lee Sedol, while Cho U won the largest amount of prize money. Whom can we call the World Champion? Who can say which tournament is the most important : LG, Samsung, Fujitsu, Chunlan or another? We don't even have a unified rating system …
If we determined a single World Go Champion, he might earn the same degree of popularity as Garry Kasparov achieved in chess, and this could have a very positive influence on Go popularity around the world!
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?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-01 00:35:38)
WCH prize fund - EUR 30,000
Hello to all.
A great news ! .. This is now confirmed just before the start of money tournaments, a german bank joined FICGS to guarantee a prize fund that just increased from EUR 2,000 to EUR 30.000 for the winner of the 2nd FICGS chess world championship !
Ads for both current sponsors will be displayed permanently in a few days on the site, thanks again to them, it will give a new dimension to this chess competition for sure ! .. Still looking for a second sponsor for the FICGS world Go championship, at the moment a japanese firm offers a prize fund of $1,500
Best wishes and have good WCH games !
Farit Balabaev (2007-04-01 02:51:49)
WCH prize fund - EUR 30,000
1st April
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-01 03:03:28)
WCH prize fund - EUR 30,000
Oh, yes... That's a pity, I just started to believe it myself.. :>
Don Groves (2007-04-01 05:47:37)
EUR 30.000
Here in the backward US, EUR 30,000 would be a big prize -- but 30.000 isn't worth so much ;-)
Mikhail Ruzin (2007-04-09 15:40:07)
Go movie
"The Go Masters" (Mikan no taikyoku) 1982. Prize of the Ecumenical Jury on Canadian Film Festival (1983)
"The Go Master" (2006)
The member of 44th New York Film Festival.
The subject of the film is the legendary Go player Go Seigen.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-04-11 18:21:53)
Free Lightning chess ?
I suppose FICS (not FICGS :)) / ICC do it very well already. In my opinion, FICGS should stay a correspondence chess [meaning CC time controls] server first. Money blitz & lightning games will be offered to the players who look for more excitement only :) .. thus it should be a casual spectacle, and of course the way to help the server and to provide prizes for championships...
By the way, money games should start in the very next few days. (last step with french administration :))
Jason Repa (2007-04-23 03:43:01)
win against Anand
Did you receive any prize/award?
Marc Lacrosse (2007-04-23 09:43:40)
prize/award ?
Not at all, and this is normal : it was a charity action intended to raise funds for handicapped children in India.
My main reward was quite a few congratulations and a also some bitter accusations regarding computer cheating by myself ...
These are not easy to answer ...
How can I prove that I did not use computers ?
Marc
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.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-05-12 15:44:08)
Money chess and Go tournaments
FICGS money chess & Go tournaments will be open today !
At last, after the next update (in a few hours) including legal informations (home page / rules) and the 'My account' page, the money chess & Go games can start.
Players interested are invited to read rules (updated) in its entirety, particularly 04. Entry fees, 05. Prize money, 06. Warranties, 07. Money transfer ...
http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html
Feel free to discuss rules for entry fees and prizes in this thread, some points may have to be clarified yet. It's a long time I think about these rules to make them most interesting at the same time for the players and the server, according to french taxes & laws.
Of course, all free tournaments will remain free. As FICGS becomes a commercial server, the more players will enter money tournaments, the more ads on the internet so the more players :)
Time controls for money chess games & tournaments are 30 minutes + 1 minute / move (lightning), 2 hours + 2 hours / 40 moves (blitz), 30 days + 1 day / move (rapid), 40 days + 40 days / 10 moves (standard). Thematic chess money games will be played at blitz time control.
Time controls for money Go games & tournaments are 30 minutes + 1 minute / move (lightning) and 30 days + 1 day / move (standard).
Nick Burrows (2007-05-12 20:45:57)
money
Im not sure that i follow the formulas correctly.
If i enter a 2 player gold tourney for 100 e-points, and win. Do i recieve a 150euro cash prize and 47 e-points?
What are the alternative payment methods to moneybookers? as i dont have a credit card.
Cheers, nick.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-05-12 21:18:01)
money
If you do not ask for a money prize, you'll get 197 E-Points. If you ask for a money prize, you'll get 150 Euros. Your choice...
About Moneybookers, it is possible to send money to and from your bank account (so without a credit card).
See also Moneybookers frequently asked questions :
http://www.moneybookers.com/app/faq.pl
Thibault de Vassal (2007-05-12 23:16:53)
rake
Actually, ie. for a Gold blitz game (chess) the rake is 3 E-Points for White and 0 E-Points for Black !
There are 2 different rakes, a one-time rake on money entry fees (or money prizes) and another one, much lower, on E-Points entry fees : If you play only one game (a win) and ask for a money prize, the rake is the money prize one, 25 Euros (let's call it 'money prize rake') but the more games you play before asking money prizes, so applying the E-Points rake, the more the global rake will tend to the 'E-Points rake' which is much lower.
"Money prizes have to be compared to E-Points prizes that are much higher : A win in a Gold blitz game is worth 197 E-Points, meaning the more games you play before to ask for a money prize, the less charged games are. In example, if you buy 3 Gold tickets (3 x 100 Euros), you'll get 300 E-Points, then you play 30 Gold blitz chess games (15 as White and 15 as Black) : 29 draws and 2 wins with White. Finally you have 300 - (30 x 100) + (15 x 100) + (13 x 97) + (2 x 197) = 455 E-Points. At the end, if you ask for a money prize for the last game you won, you'll get a 150 Euros money prize and your E-Points account will be 455 - 197 = 258 E-Points"
Quite complicate to visualize but as FICGS is not a casino, there's a normal value added tax on money entry fees in Europe (that's why money prizes for gold tournaments can't exceed 150 euros). This way, I think the rule is quite interesting for players who play at least 10 games... Trying to write it in a clearer way.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-06 05:51:55)
E-Points + 25% , affiliate links
Hello to all, now trying to promote tournaments with entry fees & money prizes :)
You may have seen in rules that there are 2 'rakes' for money tournaments, a one-time 25% and a 'rake' per tournament which is very low... From now and until september 31, you'll be given 25% E-Points more when buying E-Points through Moneybookers or Paypal (see "My account" page), which nearly cancels the main rake !
Also it is now possible to win E-Points by becoming an affiliate & helping to promote FICGS... All details in "My account" page : For each new member refered by your link on the web, you'll be given E-Points (now 0,5 per member)... Of course urls and new members are verified, but anyway it is quite easy to reach the 10 E-Points silver ticket !
There could be E-Points prizes for free tournaments (class SM & class M) soon...
It is also possible to post your websites in FICGS directory :
http://www.ficgs.com/directory.html
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-12 19:11:21)
More rating lists ?
What about more rating lists at FICGS ?
- Correspondence chess active & inactive players lists
- Blitz & lightning rating list
- Big chess rating list (class tournaments !?)
- Go rating list
Also there could be casual blitz & lightning chess tournaments with entry fee & prizes, blitz & lightning games with a tiny entry fee (no prize) and more ways to win E-Points...
Feel free if you have any comment or idea...
Dan Rotaru (2007-06-17 13:47:10)
New tournaments
Hi Thibault,
What about organizing some Swiss tournaments? I think that a Swiss for Money tournaments would generate a lot of interest because the more players participate the bigger the prize fund would be. I would also enjoy playing a Correspondence chess Swiss tournament let's say: “FICGS Annual Open Tournament”. Therefore players from different rating brackets can play against each other, apart from the WCH. Right now in the class tournaments I keep playing against few players again and again.
Viktor Savinov (2007-06-19 15:34:04)
GM_FICGS__CHESS__RAPID
GM_FICGS__CHESS__RAPID
(type : rated round-robin, time : 30 days, increment : 1 day / move)
entry fee : 100 , prize : 894
Let's play in such structure:
Savinov, Viktor;
Atalik, Suat;
Balabaev, Farit;
Figlio, Gino;
Sumets, Andrey;
de Vassal, Thibault;
Vovk, Andrey;
Schuster, Peter;
+1
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-19 17:57:07)
GM_FICGS__CHESS__RAPID
Hello Viktor.
Well, it would be great to organize such a tournament :) .. But GM Atalik did not connect for at least 1 year.
See active players list - http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=rating_lists
Anyway, if the other players agree, why not (prize would be inf. to 800 E-Points with 8 players)... Also I'm sure that many players would be interested to play a 2, 4 or 8-games match with an entry fee / prize with you.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-22 01:51:23)
Lightning and Blitz Time Controls
That's an idea, but I'm making some changes to help to find opponents more easily. I hope it will help...
First, experience shows that rating rules are still too hard IMO : A player winning or drawing against another one rated 350 points more most often means the lower rated player should be rated higher, not the contrary... A few games only are concerned, but with provisional ratings such results are still not fair, and many players rated 2100 to 2300 fear to lose points in the chess WCH, even if they win their groups. This rule should allow strong players not to fear (too much :)) to play against anyone in rated tournaments without rating restrictions, like blitz & lightning ones.
Consequently, the rule "In case of a loss or draw against a player rated more than 350 points less, the opponent's rating considered in calculation is : Elo - 350" will be changed to "In case of a loss or draw against a player rated more than 200 points less, the opponent's rating considered in calculation is : Elo - 200" in a few hours.
The entry fees & prizes (E-Points) will change also, most important is to attract more players to start more advanced chess games.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-23 18:12:34)
FICGS freestyle cup
Hello to all.
You may have noticed new changes in the waiting lists & tournaments pages. Trying to create more interesting tournaments with entry fee & prize, with different time controls.
The FICGS chess freestyle cup (I did not find a better name yet :)) will be a 6 rounds swiss tournament played from time to time (every month would be great) at a very fast time control : 10 minutes + 20 seconds / move, see the rules in the tournament page in waiting lists. All rounds will be played the same day, about 1 round per hour.
Blitz tournaments have been gathered with lightning ones under the category advanced chess lightning tournaments.
Feel free if you have any idea or suggestion !
Thibault de Vassal (2007-06-27 06:19:40)
Bullet games & prizes
Hello to all.
A few new changes and one more time control in lightning tournaments category :
- Bullet games (available for chess & Go), 10 minutes + 20 seconds / move.
- Bronze bullet Go games are available... Everyone can test it for free.
- Bullet & lightning Go games are now rated (same rating list).
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
Thibault de Vassal (2007-08-14 03:22:05)
General comments
Hi Don.
I fully agree with this... The same problem may happen in OTB swiss tournaments when a few strong players agree results in advance to share the money prizes. That's probably very hard to avoid it, that's why I prefer knockout tournaments. And after all, according to the current rules, nothing prevents to ban systematic abusive players, which is probably enough...
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-14 02:33:32)
FIDE World Championship 2007
The FIDE World Championship 2007 just started in Mexico. A double round-robin tournament with 8 players and a US $1.3 million prize fund. Players are Vladimir Kramnik, Peter Svidler, Alexander Morozevich, Levon Aronian, Viswanathan Anand, Boris Gelfand, Alexander Grischuk and Peter Leko.
Round 1, all games drawn... Any favourite ?
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-19 14:02:54)
longer time control
Definitely I need more players opinions about that. Two days is probably a lot of time for many players, as there's no big prize added to the entry fees yet, I'm not sure it would work...
Any opinions ? :)
Andrew Stephenson (2007-09-20 19:32:38)
chessfriend
I dont think its plausible that the rule inspired anyone to lose Thibault -it was for a memorial tournament and although there were (supposedly) cash prizes (which never trasnpired)I think it just inspired the people with the higher rating to try to win. As for your explanation as to why you just bailed out on 4 games its difficult to respond other than to say it doesn't show you supporting your own concept of an 8 game match or the importance of the FICGS "world championship" stage that you had reached. I guess you will take the IECG "world championship" more seriously. I think having 2 game play offs at a fast time rate to a decision is a better way to go.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-20 20:39:56)
chessfriend
As far as I can remember, this way to break the tie was used in most Chessfriend round-robin money tournaments. I have no doubt that some players would have sacrificed their ratings for more chances to win cash prizes... Highest rated players were attracted anyway because they were invited.
About my match, I was simply glad to get these 4 draws easily with the black pieces, it gave me more time to try to win with White (I was in time trouble at this moment). GM Farit Balabaev is a strong correspondence chess player, even if I lose the match, I have no regret about it. Surely I won't play my FICGS WCH games less seriously than my IECG WCH ones :) .. By the way I still hope to play the first candidates final against Gino or Peter :p
Hannes Rada (2007-09-20 22:37:49)
Chessfriend and money
I received 2 times money for winning and for 2nd place in a chess friend round robin tournament.
But this was only small money about EUR 100,00 :-)
And there was no tiebreak at these tournaments. In this case the players hat to share the prize money.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-24 02:13:51)
1st FICGS freestyle cup
Dear chessfriends,
The 1st FICGS freestyle cup waiting list is open ! .. This advanced chess or more commonly said "freestyle" (computers, teams, everything allowed) swiss tournament will happen on 2007 October 20 & 21 (14 pm, 17 pm, 20 pm server time), time control : 1 hour + 15 seconds / move. Entry fee is 10 E-Points (10 Euros), prize is 100% of E-Points (see rules/membership).
Thanks to players who broadcasted the news on the web already !
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-28 02:56:48)
E-Points
A summary about E-Points has been added to the terms and conditions :
http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#epoints
"E-Points : To summarize previous Entry fees and Prize money sections, you can buy E-Points (1 E-Point is worth 1 Euro, see My account after you connect to the server) then play money tournaments with entry fees and prizes (bronze, silver, gold) with low rakes in E-Points, finally ask for money prizes instead of E-Points for the tournaments you choose : According to the prize won, you'll be paid 0,75 Euro per E-Point remaining in your account. Consequently the more tournaments you play before to ask for a money prize, the lower is the cost per game (prizes in E-Points reach up to 99 % of the entry fees, 100 % for the chess freestyle cup)."
Feel free to tell me if it is not clear enough... I've also updated the Help section about how to enter the freestyle cup & E-Points.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-28 03:01:14)
Invitation to FIDE, FICGS, ICCF GM & IM
Just added to the FICGS chess freestyle cup rules :
"FIDE GM & IM, FICGS / ICCF GM, SM & IM are invited to enter the waiting list for free until one week before the start of the tournament ! .. Please just send a message to webmaster through My account page to register. You may be asked to send a copy of your passport or ID card."
Strong titled players may be interested in winning the title & prize, other players may be interested in playing them...
Tano-Urayoan Russi Roman (2007-09-28 08:09:33)
Question about e-points
A quote from the rules:
"When you buy tickets, a virtual account in E-Points is created (or modified) with a limited lifetime of 2 years, meaning the account will be emptied at the end of this period. Member's account lifetime will be reconducted each time tickets are bought by the member. The number of E-Points added to the account is the amount in Euros paid to FICGS. Tickets are not paid back."
This means i lost the E-Points after 2 years?
So what i do with E-Points if:
"Tickets for tournaments (E-Points) can't be sold to other members, exchanged with cash money or paid back"
In the summary that you wrote you said:
"... then play money tournaments with entry fees and prizes (bronze, silver, gold) with low rakes in E-Points, finally ask for money prizes instead of E-Points for the tournaments you choose"
This is not clear. For example, I join a gold tournament i must choose before hand if i want E-Points or a money prize.
Also why i want to play more tournaments before redeeming a money prize if i could do nothing with my remaing E-Points (see above)
Any help in my queries will be appreciated.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-28 11:23:24)
Tickets / E-Points
Ok, I'll clarify that. It means that you can choose AFTER a tournament to ask for a money prize (exchanged with E-Points as a prize, not a redeeming). About the 2 years, it means that you have to ask for money prizes if you don't buy more E-Points until this delay - there must be such limits in time, but the aim is surely not to apply such a rule - anyway if you buy ie 10 more E-Points, the account lifetime is reconduced.
In brief, tickets are E-Points you buy, prizes are E-Points or money you win after a tournament.
I'll update it today.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-09-29 13:37:42)
2-player match?
Hello,
It is possible, but limited... With the 2 free E-Points, you may play 20 bullet (10 min+ 20 s.) or lightning (30 min+ 30 s.) bronze games.
There are no 2-player match without entry fee & prize at standard & rapid time controls.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-10-19 22:18:09)
Freestyle cup starts tomorrow, 2 pm.
10 players entered the waiting list !
As we still need more players, titled players (GM, SM, IM) may register for free until saturday 1 pm. server time, please email me. Prize is 80 E-Points at the moment.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-10-21 01:07:45)
Go freestyle tournament
What do you think about a Go freestyle tournament, just like FICGS chess freestyle cup ?
A problem is to define the best time control and number of rounds... With about 100 to 120 moves per game & per player, time control 30+10 means 2 hours per round. As there's no draw at Go, 5 or 6 rounds played in a single day could be ok to find a winner. Any opinion ?
Another question is : Are there players interested to play it ? .. Entry fee would be 10 E-Points / 10 Euros, prize 100% entry fees in E-Points (or 75% for a money prize). It may attract some strong players for interesting games :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-11-11 17:53:24)
2nd FICGS chess freestyle
The 2nd FICGS chess freestyle cup waiting list is open. This 6 rounds swiss tournament will start on november 24, 15:00 server time. Time control is 1 hour + 15 seconds / move. Entry fee is 10 E-Points (10 Euro). Prize is 100% of the entry fees in E-Points.
FIDE GM & IM, FICGS / ICCF GM, SM & IM are invited to enter the waiting list for free, please just send a message to webmaster through My account page to register (you may be asked to send a copy of your passport or ID card).
Definitely we need strong players to rivalize with SIM Eros Riccio :)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-11-19 01:52:29)
how to start a Go game
Hello Xuan.
This server is mainly a correspondence chess & Go server, then a real time chess & Go server.
You may enter a tournament in "Waiting lists", Go tournaments are below chess tournaments. "Advanced tournaments" are real time tournaments, but most are tournaments with entry fee & prizes, you can play 20 "bronze" games free with your 2 E-Points.
Feel free to enter a Dan, Kyu III, Kyu II, Kyu I tournament, according to your provisional rating.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-11-26 23:36:46)
Wilkes-Barre Furor
The next thematic tournament is a very interesting line of the Sicilian poisoned pawn variation : 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.e5
See in Waiting list >> Special chess tournaments
If you want to play a "one-game" match with Ilmars, you may try in Advanced chess tournaments >> Bronze lightning .. and play Traxler, if you don't care about your blitz chess rating :) .. or Thematic lightning but with entry fee & prize (10 E-Points) & White must win rule.
Thibault de Vassal (2007-12-16 16:22:18)
Conditional Moves
Indeed, it has :) .. Conditional moves still brings many questions but I'm still opposed to the idea.
Anyway a new wish list is a good idea ! .. The main issue I'm working on these days is money prizes for WCH & freestyle tournaments, but ideas for improvements are always welcome.
Gino Figlio (2007-12-17 19:53:21)
MPT
Hi Glen,
There is one type of ICCF tournament where conditionals are officially allowed, the money prize tournaments (MPT). Their time control is 10/30 and it was found reasonable to activate conditionals in order to allow players save some time.
Best regards,
Gino
Glen D. Shields (2007-12-18 06:24:08)
Thanks Gino
Thanks Gino for the clarification. The ICCF prize tournaments are a new offering and I've not updated myself on the tournament details. I need to do that!
May you and yours have a wonderful holiday season :-)
Thibault de Vassal (2007-12-20 18:44:21)
Kramnik vs. Anand 2008
Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand, FIDE & UEP (Universal Event Promotion) have come to an agreement : The next FIDE World Chess Championship will take place from October 11 to 30, 2008 in the National Art Gallery in Bonn (Germany). Reigning world champion Viswanathan Anand will play challenger Vladimir Kramnik in a twelve-game match. The prize fund is 1.5 Million Euro, the main sponsor is an industrial enterprise, Evonik Industries, located in Essen (Germany) which was the exclusive sponsor of the 2006 World Chess Challenge between Vladimir Kramnik and the most famous chess program distributed by Chessbase, Deep Fritz.
Any predictions ? .. (may Anand lose his title before that date ?)
Thibault de Vassal (2008-01-08 00:50:55)
Incomes of top Go players
One more interesting article from the IGN "Goama" newsletter - http://gogame.info
Incomes of Top Korean Professionals in 2007:
1. Lee Sedol - $600.000
2. Lee Changho - $400.000
3. Park Yeonghun - $360.000
4. Cho Hanseung – $180.000
5. Kang Dongyun - $150.000
6. Mok Jinseok -$148.000
7. Lee Yeongku -$122.000
8. Won Sungjin -$116.000
9. Yun Junsang - $113.000
10. Kim Jiseok – $113.000
Japanese players, even who is not famous on international arena, makes more money, but it's still hard to compare their tournament incomes with top football or hockey players.
Maybe better to compare chess and Go players:
"As sports go, chess is not lucrative for the average professional.
The well known top players who have been able to achieve millionaire
status (Karpov and Kasparov) are the exceptions. Aside from them,
there are only about 20 players world wide who do well financially
from chess ($100,000+ per year income), and another 100 or so that
make a comfortable living ($50,000+). The next 1,000 players, on
average, come out about even -- earning in prizes what they incur in
entry fees and expenses. Then come perhaps 10,000 players who invest
several thousand dollars more per year than they earn." -- from "GM
RAM: Essential Grandmaster Knowledge" by Rashid Ziatdi and Peter
Dyson, PROChess LLC, New York, 1998
Thibault de Vassal (2008-01-16 04:03:45)
bronze / silver / gold
Hi Garvin.. Of course bronze / silver / gold games will remain. Prizes may change for bronze games, nothing more. But I'll probably find other ways anyway :)
Thibault de Vassal (2008-03-30 07:25:30)
Freestyle cup : Rules & start
There was a small conflict in the rules, now corrected : The first game will start at 13:00 server time, not 15:00
Current rules :
FICGS advanced chess "freestyle" cup is a 6 rounds swiss tournament with entry fee and prize, played in a single day. Entry fees are E-Points that you can buy in 'My account'. Read carefully terms and conditions, particularly Entry fees & Prize money sections before to play tournaments with entry fees.
All games are played in 30 minutes + 15 seconds / move. Norms are not possible.
The first round will start at the date and hour (13:00 server time) indicated as "deadline". Next rounds will start at 15:00, 17:00, 19:00, 21:00 and 23:00 server time. Please register carefully as it is not possible to retire from the waiting list. It is strongly recommended to display the chat bar to communicate with the tournament director.
If several players obtain the best score and the best Sonnenborn-Berger, they will share the prize. It is possible to forfeit all next games (that will be unrated for the advanced chess rating list) during the tournament.
FIDE GM & IM, FICGS / ICCF GM, SM & IM are invited to enter the waiting list for free.. Please just send a message to webmaster through My account page to register. You may be asked to send a copy of your passport or ID card. The tournament might be cancelled if less than 7 players registered before the deadline, in this case entry fees will be given back to the players.
An extra fee, usually 30% of the entry fee, will be added to the entry fee 2 days before the start of the tournament.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-05-19 06:35:14)
Major update (may 2008)
Hello to all, a new update including :
- Regular tournaments with prizes (see thread "Free tournaments with prizes")
- Norms, titles and prizes are now announced by email.
- Players with Epoints are shown in the connected players list (My messages).
- Affiliate links : For each new player referred by your link (see My account) posted on the world wide web, 1 Epoint will be added to your account.
- Search games function improved : You can now search games by opening and by rating (White & Black)
All feedback welcome :)
Thibault de Vassal (2008-05-19 06:49:44)
Free tournaments with prizes
Hello to all.
You may have noticed that some free tournaments now have prizes :
FICGS__CHESS__CLASS__SM : 15 Epoints
FICGS__CHESS__CLASS__M : 5 Epoints
FICGS__CHESS__CLASS__A : 1 Epoints
FICGS__CHESS__RAPID__SM : 7 Epoints
FICGS__CHESS__RAPID__M : 2 Epoints
FICGS__CHESS__RAPID__A : 1 Epoints
FICGS__BIG_CHESS__TOURNAMENT__M : 15 Epoints
FICGS__GO__TOURNAMENT_PRO : 45 Epoints
FICGS__GO__TOURNAMENT_DAN : 15 Epoints
FICGS__GO__TOURNAMENT_KYU_III : 5 Epoints
FICGS__GO__TOURNAMENT_KYU_II : 1 Epoints
Membership and Help sections have been updated, see :
http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#prize
"When a player wins a free tournament with a prize in E-Points, the current prize displayed for that tournament when the winners list is updated is added to his FICGS account. Prizes may change (most probably increase) during free events at the tournament director's discretion."
Previous chess class SM winners and a few others have received these prizes already.
It is also possible to win free Epoints by posting your affiliate link (see My account) on the web. For each new player referred by this link, 1 Epoint will be added to your account.
Thanks to all, I hope prizes can grow in the near future, also for the WCH cycles :)
Best wishes, Thibault
Thibault de Vassal (2008-05-19 17:05:27)
Class GM
Hi Benjamin, I can't provide a 45 Epoints prize for 2500+ free tournaments at the moment and we still need more 2400+ players to start class SM tournaments, so class GM is still like closed at the moment.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-05-20 00:19:42)
Prizes updated
Prizes for tournaments with entry fee have been updated (increased, now typically 99% E-Points per game).
Benjamin Block (2008-05-22 16:03:24)
Understand right?
If i win a free prize tournament i get E-points. But if i want money i need to play in silver or gold tournaments?
Thibault de Vassal (2008-05-22 16:06:51)
Understand right
That's right. One win in silver/gold tournaments and you may ask for a money prize.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-07-17 14:14:25)
New idea
BTW it may be possible in the future to choose exactly how many E-Points to play but (thinking like a lawyer, Normajean ;)) french laws are still quite hard and fuzzy. There's a difference between entering a tournament with an entry fee & money prize and betting money on a game.
To choose how many games before to decide the result may be possible but there's some work yet... About the lowest and highest rating, I may add this option in a few weeks. Finally about time control, I may add it but is it a good and necessary thing ? I'm not sure.
Thanks for discussing new ideas anyway :)
Thibault de Vassal (2008-10-15 23:49:23)
Game 2
GM Anand (2783) - GM Kramnik (2772) [E25]
WCh Bonn GER (2), 15.10.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.dxc5 f5 9.Qc2 Nd7 10.e4 fxe4 11.fxe4 N5f6 12.c6 bxc6 13.Nf3 Qa5 14.Bd2 Ba6 15.c4 Qc5 16.Bd3 Ng4 17.Bb4 Qe3+ 18.Qe2 0-0-0 19.Qxe3 Nxe3 20.Kf2 Ng4+ 21.Kg3 Ndf6 22.Bb1 h5 23.h3 h4+ 24.Nxh4 Ne5 25.Nf3 Nh5+ 26.Kf2 Nxf3 27.Kxf3 e5 28.Rc1 Nf4 29.Ra2 Nd3 30.Rc3 Nf4 31.Bc2 Ne6 32.Kg3 Rd4 1/2-1/2
The prize fund (1.5 million Euro, not bad :)) will be equally split between Kramnik & Anand.
Time control : 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and 15 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move.
Garvin Gray (2011-02-20 12:22:55)
Silver chess games, W/B balance
I do not think adjusting the prize breakdown will make the slightest difference to how many blitz silvers are played on here.
The issue is more about people's willingness to, rather than they are deciding not to because they are protesting the prize breakdown.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-11-16 21:09:54)
Kamsky vs. FIDE
The match continues... Only the board changed, and the "prize" may increase whatever the way.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5015
Thibault de Vassal (2008-11-22 12:56:48)
Poker rating
Hello Ben, I've updated your poker rating.
To answer your question in the chat, it is possible to win epoints by winning some free chess or Go tournaments with epoints prizes... (see Waiting lists details) See also 'My account' page for other ways.
Thibault de Vassal (2008-12-12 15:56:50)
Now Michael Adams...
Open Letter from Michael Adams
"I have regretfully withdrawn from the whole Grand Prix series. Some of the reasons I took this decision are the sudden switch of venues at very late notice, the replacement of players whose results thus far will affect the results of the whole Grand Prix both in terms of prize money and World Championship qualification and the fact that when I made my decision the status of some of the future GP events was still unclear.
The changes to the World Championship cycle also concern me as making major changes to a cycle in progress in such a sudden manner is very undesirable. There also seems to be no guarantee that further changes will not be made in a similar manner in the future. The changes are obviously immediately very negative for all Grand Prix participants but also in general it seems to me that the rewards for success in such tough events as the Grand Prix or the World Cup are now much too minimal."
Michael Adams
11th December 2008
Next ?
Gultekin Gumusyazici (2008-12-28 18:18:43)
Thibault de Vassal
Just Remember Kasparovs's complain about deepblue (bot-robot). He cried "This machine steals my photographic memory and plays as me."
Chess game with common rulez has turned game determines winners whose memory realizes most likely picture of usual games. This is bot behaviour.
Cheating is about neglecting improvements that is not common at pictures adopted as most likely winner moves.
I always try unusual moves to surprize bots. At start I success but then bots
leads game to other direction where most likely picture occurs by not doing move they fail. That is bot cheat. As Atalik has taken moves back.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-01-06 22:18:38)
Social networks & money
Hi Marc, thanks for your comments.
It is true that I'm trying to make money with the site now, also to increase significantly the prizes offered in the future, but I did not sell my soul & the site will remain a chess server before everything else ! Money can do so much too, before it becomes too much ;)
About the other social networks, well... of course a new social network is created every week but most of them are dedicated to a particular function (couchsurfing, viadeo, reunion, facebook, myspace, hi5 & so on...) and are not exactly in concurrence. Let's see how this one will go in this sea, I have many features to add yet :)
About the core of the site, I already thought about removing the ads in the chess server... It may happen very soon if most players agree that it would be a significant improvement. The ads will remain in the general forums... Believe me, I'll do the necessary, that's why your comments & suggestions are always welcome here.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-01-29 12:33:51)
FICGS
Hi Francisco, these important points need to be discussed for sure.
1) As it has been said here on another point, I shouldn't try to protect players from themselves, but I've to protect players from other players (speaking of the quality of the games, general forfeits & so on - or the posts of Garvin & Josef in this thread). You can play poker all over the internet, it's up to you only. I'm not sure I should feel responsible of players addictions, the whole world (commercial issues) is about addictions that exist anyway. In my experience, I was not really addicted to poker as a gambling game, I never played it in casinos but I like competition and that's the way I introduced poker here, quite different from the casino games (by the way a few "pro" poker players here do not even understand it).
2) "Play poker heads-up one to one, is bored, the winner is not always the best", so chess, so Go... of course. I may be wrong on the poker games format (3 winning rounds / 100 chips), we'll see it in a few months as the rating list will evolve.
3) "Poker insults chess", I don't agree with this but I understand & respect this opinion (that could probably be "Poker insults" in some cases). Only 1 player cancelled his membership because of this at the moment. I'm sorry about this, I can't satisfy everyone when making updates but be sure I'm working for FICGS firstly as a chess place and thanks to poker (even with no money), we welcome more players & the prizes (for chess tournaments) will increase a lot in the next months. That's quite good for the site in my opinion. Anyway if I realize I'm wrong, no doubt I'll change it.
Anyway, that's an interesting & important discussion and I'll listen to all your points.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-02-14 13:29:46)
Topalov vs. Kamsky
The match between Veselin Topalov & Gataulla Kamskiy (Gata Kamsky) is about to start, a former challenger of Vladimir Kramnik and a former challenger of Anatoly Karpov in the FIDE World Championship, quite surprising.
Both usually make amazing performances in top chess tournaments, but not exactly as regularly as Garry Kasparov. Who do you expect to win such a match ?
The prize fund is $250,000, the winner should play current FIDE world champion Viswanathan Anand later this year.
More to read in an interview with Veselin Topalov in Chessbase news, particularly on the Lvov bid, originally of $750,000.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5207
Thibault de Vassal (2009-02-25 15:37:38)
BCcard cup World Baduk Championship
Just read in the IGN Goama newsletter by Alexander Dinerchtein :
BCcard cup World Baduk Championship will be the first open tournament in Go history !
The tournament will take place in Korea, the first prize should be about $300.000 and the real point : Everyone can take part in it.
Nice to see such news in the small world of Go, I would participate for sure (just to see it) if I could :)
Thibault de Vassal (2009-03-17 20:50:44)
Epoints with a SMS or phone call
Now it is possible to buy Epoints (thus also supporting FICGS & sponsorize tournaments - the prizes have just increased in most categories) by entering a code after sending a SMS or with a phone call.
More informations in "My account" page, see the window on the right of the chat bar.
Here is a free code for 3 Epoints : X358F876 , let's see who will be the first one to try Allopass :)
William Taylor (2009-04-12 20:04:06)
I still like the idea
I still like the idea of country teams and an Olympiad-like format. I've read Marc's post and can't imagine nationalism would be a problem on a friendly site like FICGS.
However, it would be a shame for countries which only have one or two players at FICGS not to be able to play. How about a team championship along the lines of other chess team championships such as the Russian one which has just finished? i.e. teams are made up of invited players from all over the world. Anyone could be a team captain and enter a team if they could get one together. There could be an entry fee and captains might even then pay a fee to top FICGS players to be on their team in an effort to win the FICGS team trophy and prize money. ;) I'm not saying an entry fee would be a good idea - just mentioning it as a possibility. Anyway, I think a team championship of some kind, Olympiad-format or not, or both, would be interesting, exciting, and good for building the sense of community on FICGS.
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.
Thibault de Vassal (2009-05-26 17:30:46)
Thanks :)
There's no problem with to-do lists.. actually it is just absolutely necessary.. I can't think about everything. I still have many things to improve, this year I developped much more the "other side" of the site and this was very exciting, I learnt a lot while doing this.. that will be useful for future improvements and it brings more and more visitors [the current statistics are about +10% every week for a few months (that's good :))] on the server (I try to redirect as many as potential players as possible here).
Speaking of the server, I'm not afraid of crisis or whatever, the statistics are just better and better now, that helps the site to distribute Epoints (potential money) prizes. Almost nobody claims for real money prizes but that's the finality (to distribute money prizes in free tournaments).. There are plenty of "successful" sites on the internet that offer money prizes (or costly services) for free but all of them are built on unrealistic views IMO, so they implode or cheat in a way as soon as they encounter success. Most of us know about the Facebook case that still lose money. FICGS grew very slowly during 2 or 3 years but IMO it was based on realistic views so don't worry, the site will survive after both of us, I'll take care of that :)
Thibault de Vassal (2009-08-04 19:20:34)
Karpov vs. Kasparov rematch
You are probably aware of this promising rematch between former world chess champions Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov. (Valencia - Spain, september 21-24, 2009)
What do you think about the possible games ? Is Karpov now too old, is Kasparov able to concentrate on chess only again ? What can be their state of mind during such a match, 25 years after their first match that became legendary...
It should be a great event anyway, maybe even more interesting than the last FIDE chess championships. (By the way I don't know if there will be sponsors and/or prizes)
Thibault de Vassal (2009-08-26 19:21:42)
Stan Vaughan vs. Varuzhan Akobian (WCF)
Many of you probably saw this strange banner in a Chessbase news article, with this title :
"THE WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP"
World Chess Federation, Inc.
WCF "WORLD CHESS CHAMPION" Stan Vaughan
vs. WCF official challenger Varuzhan Akobian in WCF TITLE MATCH 2009 (starting on December 1st, 2009 at Riviera Hotel Casino, Las Vegas)
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5717
The Chessbase article says that when FIDE stripped Fischer of the title in 1975, he set up the WCF which sanctioned his "World Championship" rematch with Spassky in 1992 (with a record of five million dollars prize). After winning the event, Fischer was scheduled to play WCF official challenger Stan Vaughan, but he retired.
Well well... I cannot even find a page on Wikipedia on Stan Vaughan, but the article on Chessbase also mentions that Vaughan would have been 29 time US Champion of the American Chess Association, retaining the title at 2008 Robert Fischer Memorial and also, but not least :
* 1988 US Correspondence Chess Champion
* 1989, 1995 Mensa World Correspondence Chess Champion
* 1995-2007 WCCF World Correspondence Chess Champion
* WCF “The World Chess Champion 2001-present 2009
* Retained the title in 2007 with an 11-0 title match victory over Francisco Metz, an International Master from Mexico and former 1975 USCF's US Amateur Chess Champion
To finish, Garry Kasparov would have turned down the opportunity to play him in a match for 5 million dollars in 2008 - not a big surprise.
Does anyone have more information on all this and eventually games played by this un-unknown correspondence chess champion ?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-10-06 20:17:49)
2nd FICGS chess freestyle cup
Hi all,
Finally, I'll have some time to organize the 2nd FICGS chess freestyle cup during the next weeks !
The entry will be free for players rated over 2000, the prize will be 200 Epoints.
Three possibilities (swiss pairing) :
a) 6 rounds (1 hour + 15 sec/move), 2 rounds played each day - monday, tuesday, wednesday
b) 6 rounds (1 hour + 15 sec/move), 2 rounds played each day - friday, saturday, sunday
c) 6 rounds (30 minutes + 15 sec), 6 rounds played in a single day
Case a) could be organized next week or the week after, case b) couldn't be organized before about 1 month, case c) could be organized quite easily.
In cases a) & b), the best time for the daily 2 games remains to be found... IMO 8pm & 11pm server time or 1pm & 4pm server time are good choices, what do you think ?
Thibault de Vassal (2009-12-04 13:09:53)
E-Points
Hi Scott, well actually there are tournaments with entry fee (silver, gold.. as you know). By winning some tournaments with entry fee & prize, you may ask for a money prize... This is the only way to spend E-Points at the moment, but any idea is welcome.
I should be able to play lightning games in a few weeks... still waiting for a large broadband at home :/
Alexander Blinchevsky (2010-02-26 12:29:28)
E-point tournament
I like this idea too. Agreed with Scott on Rapid format and 1st and 2nd place prizes as well
William Taylor (2010-03-03 15:21:08)
E-point tournament
Good idea. I'd definitely play tournaments with 1-2 e-point entry fees, and would be quite likely to play higher ones too. I like Scott's prize structure.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-03-21 01:13:54)
Freestyle Cup: April 2010
Dear chessfriends, the next FICGS chess freestyle cup waiting list is open until april 3. This 6 rounds swiss tournament will start on april 3, 13:00 server time (first three rounds, every 2 hours) and on april 10, 13:00 server time (last three rounds, every 2 hours). Prize is 100% of the entry fees in E-Points + 100 E-Points. FIDE GM & IM, FICGS / ICCF GM, SM & IM are invited to enter the waiting list for free, please just send a message to webmaster through My account page to register.
To enter the waiting list :
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=entry_tournament&tournament=ficgs_chess_cup
Feel free to reply here if you have any suggestions, I hope that this format (2 consecutive saturdays, 3 rounds per day) will be ok for the most !
William Taylor (2010-03-26 14:47:19)
Freestyle Cup: April 2010
What's the planned prize structure for this tournament? Just a 1st place prize? 1st and 2nd? 1st 2nd 3rd? Or will it depend on the number of entries?
Thibault de Vassal (2010-03-26 15:40:02)
Freestyle Cup: April 2010
Maybe I'll change that next time... The current rules are "If several players obtain the best score and the best Sonnenborn-Berger, they will share the prize.", in other words: The winner takes it all.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-10 22:18:47)
Prize : 170 Epoints or...
David also won the total prize in this tournament, 170 Epoints (100 Epoints + 70 Epoints of entry fees as 3 titled players on 10 total entered the waiting list), or 100 Epoints + 75% of 70 in real money according to the rules, at the winner's discretion.
http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#prize
Congrats :) .. let's hope the next freestyle tourney will be free of all these problems with access providers!
Scott Nichols (2010-04-12 03:59:40)
Freestyle Cup: April 2010
First of all, thanks to Thibault for having this tournament. I have some ideas for the next one for us to kick around. First and foremost we know the connection issues need to be resolved. Second, the time control. I've played both 30 & 60 minutes with 15 second increments and my preference would be the 60+15, but 30+15 is ok also, not a big deal for me. As for the time to have it, (days of the week, hour of the day), I think there is no way to satisfy everyone because of the wide range of time zones, so you just have to make a time and we will find a way to make it. -----The main new idea I have is to make it an open tournament. This means anyone can join, but only those who pay the entry fee will be eligible for prizes. The reason is to get many more players involved, but only the highest entry-paying player will win prize money. Since there are far more players here without any E-points than those with. It might even inspire more to buy points.
Garvin Gray (2010-04-12 06:02:19)
Freestyle Cup: April 2010
I would certainly prefer only one or two games per night a longer time control.
I am strongly against the idea of allowing free entries whilst other pay. With allowing free entries, they have not done anything to show their commitment to finishing the tournament and could just withdraw/not show up at any stage.
While this can also happen for those who have paid an entry fee, at least these players would lose their entry fee.
Also, I am strongly against this idea of free entries and no chance to win prizes as it means some players can just play risk free with no concern for their overall tournament standing, whilst those competing for prizes have to be mindful of their tournament position.
In effect it will create two different mini tournaments and some players will be adversely affected.
I would rather a smaller tournament, but where all the players are playing under the same conditions ie time control, entry fee, ability to win prizes.
Garvin Gray (2010-04-21 21:30:59)
Wider rating range tournaments
Returning to the 400 rating range will not help for two reasons.
1) Players have shown with both the 400 and now 200 rating ranges that they will not join a tournament if most of the other players are rated below them, even if e-points are offered for winning the tournament
This will not change by going back to 400 point rating bands.
2) The only time players participate in tournaments where they could lose rating points is in the World Champ tourneys, where the prize (qualifying for next round and six games against strong opponents) is greater than the risk of losing rating points.
Hence why I have at least brought up the idea of another set of tournaments. The idea would be every one enters, players are allocated to groups (each group is as equal as possible), then the winners of each group go through to another round robin final group.
The difference between this and the World Champs is that there is no knockout stages and everyone starts from stage one. This means even the 2400's would have to play in stage one to win the tournament.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-24 17:02:39)
Entry fee for higher class tournament
Tano-Urayoán just posted an interesting idea in the following discussion:
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=forum_read&id=8507
I was totally opposed to this idea at a first sight, but after a while I found some real advantages.
The idea : Any player could pay an entry fee to enter a high class chess tournament (e.g. 20 Euros for class M, 40 for class SM, 60 for class GM), whatever his rating.
Of course what we all see first is : Anyone can pay to make increase his rating faster, that is just unfair!
But let's imagine that a player rated 1800 pays an entry fee of 40 Euros to enter the class SM waiting list.
1) The waiting list will be filled faster!
2) If this player is actually stronger than its rating show, he'll find its place faster (the other players will not lose so many points because their ratings are protected - see rating calculation rules).
3) There could be such an extra rule: Players who are already in the waiting list or who will play the tournament may share 50% of the entry fee in Epoints, which would be a kind of compensation for them.
4) These entry fees will help to have more prizes in free tournaments (another compensation) and bigger prizes in e.g. freestyle cups, although I don't have any idea on how many players would be interested in this, so the site will become more popular and so on...
Anyway, please share your views if you have any idea to improve this one, and your opinion is needed here of course!
Thibault de Vassal (2010-04-25 02:52:37)
FICGS
I understand you Wayne, I don't want to make such mistakes and that's why we talk so much about these changes in this forum :)
On entry fees for a higher class tournament, I agree on the main point of course, but some advantages had to be discussed. The success of this site is also money and money prizes in the future IMO so I prefer to discuss such ideas than to do nothing.
That was the first point. Then there are some other points that remain to be discussed IMO : 1) Maybe correspondence chess ratings should increase (in average) as engines become stronger. 2) Titles calculation rules should probably be harder as a consequence, maybe it should have been changed already.
Correspondence/Advanced chess is constantly evolving, our marks move fast, so rules may have to change. I don't think that FICGS can turn into a kind of Yahoo chess (I did not ever play there btw), the most important thing is the atmosphere and I know that if I make a mistake, someone will let me know very quickly as it happened once a few months ago. We all make that success in that way!
Thibault de Vassal (2010-05-08 21:08:51)
New proposition
Here's a new idea, based on the fact that I don't think I'll have time (before a while, at least) to implement a script that would allow 1 or 2 tournament's winners to enter a higher class waiting list... many particular cases, not so easy.
The idea :
We could allow one (actually 2 would be still ok IMO) tournament's winner to enter a higher class waiting list for 10 Epoints (not Euros, big difference as most Epoints are won in free tournaments and cannot be cashed out if not played in tournaments with entry fee). I would place the players in the waiting lists by myself but finally it may satisfy everyone -> A player rated 1900 could enter a 2000+ waiting list but could not enter a 2200+ waiting list, the server can offer more Epoints prizes (that just increased for chess tournaments, by the way), and players could find their place more easily in the ratings.
Any opinion?
Thibault de Vassal (2010-05-11 18:01:16)
Entry fee for higher class tournament
Hi Michel! Thanks again for discussing it.
> What's next? Next FIDE world championship challenger is going to be the one that brings the largest bag of money to the table?
I don't know if this was designed to be humor (I guess, but maybe you meant FICGS instead of FIDE?) but in the context of current FIDE rules I find it very funny :) .. by the way if the same rules were applied at FICGS, anyone could challenge the champion for the title for $500,000 or something like this. Of course that would be great for FICGS and the current champion may appreciate such a prize as well, but that's not the point here.
However yes this FIDE rule may be compared to my suggestion, at a very different level though (the basic idea is the same: to build prizes for more interesting [free?] competitions), in my opinion an entry fee of 10 Epoints is quite different from what I suggested before already. Note that even if FICGS was not free, it would not justify such special entry fee more (not saying it cannot be justified!), after all there's an entry fee in the vast majority of OTB tournaments, if you don't pay it (but GM/IM that are generally invited to play for free - and most often take the prize), you cannot improve your rating, the problem is that the entry fee depends on the tournament, and the entry fee for closed tournaments (the main/only way to get norms) is often much higer.
I agree that things are somewhat different here as the main idea of FICGS is to be completely free. So the real question is : "Is FICGS still 'free' if a tournament's winner can choose to pay an entry fee in a virtual money (by the way it is quite easy to get Epoints without having to pay anything) to enter the next tournaments category".
- If despite of all the answer is "no", then FICGS is NOT free right now anyway as any player can play a rated 2 games match RAPID SILVER with an entry fee against a higher rated player to have more chances to win elo points. This way even IECG was not free (chessfriend), and even if something is really 100% free, it still doesn't mean fair, which is the main point here. Even if a tournament's winner could enter the next tournament's category for free, such a rule would NEVER be completely fair, as I described the particular cases.
Quite complex :)
Finally I'm not saying you're wrong in any way. Free or not free is a really complex question IMO, in my point of view, FICGS will remain free as noone needs to pay to become champion or to achieve the highest ratings (unlike FIDE). But if it is 99% free only while offering money prizes, I'd choose it anyway for sure.
Daniel Parmet (2010-05-11 19:25:22)
Entry fee for higher class tournament
I am very much in favor of the winner of his/her own class tournament earning as a prize the right to play one up class. This actually brings a relevant prize to the tournaments! Up until I have had no reason to care if I won a tournament or not. Why? What do I get? Pride? Ego? Bragging Rights? Epoints? I get nothing! Now I earn the right to player stronger players! A true prize indeed!
I don't agree if two players tie though that one just mystically be given the prize and the other not. I understand you don't want to dilute the rating pool... but you can force one person to wait til waiting list fills and each person can sit in it one at a time.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-05-11 19:37:04)
6 options
So, to be clearer here are the 6 options :
1) Tournaments winners may entry the next category waiting list according to the conditions described a few posts above and for 10 Epoints.
2) Tournaments winners may entry any higher category's waiting list for 10 to 100 Epoints according to his rating (e.g. 10 Epoints for the next category, 30 for 2 categories above, 60 for 3 categories above, 100 for 4 categories above).
3) Any player may entry the next category's waiting list for 10 Epoints.
4) Any player may entry any higher category's waiting list for 10 to 100 Epoints according to his rating (e.g. 10 Epoints for the next category, 30 for 2 categories above, 60 for 3 categories above, 100 for 4 categories above).
5) Any player may entry any higher category's waiting list for 10 to 100 Euros [not Epoints] according to his rating (e.g. 10 Euros for the next category, 20 for 2 categories above, 40 for 3 categories above, 100 for 4 categories above).
6) No change.
Please choose :)
As for me, while choice #2 looks like a non-sense between my first proposal (choice #5) and my last proposal (choice #1), I feel that choices #1 and #4 could be ok, the #4 may help to build bigger prizes while the #1 is the most fair (after choice #6 of course).
How would you rank these choices?
Daniel Parmet (2010-05-11 19:39:23)
Entry fee for higher class tournament
I very much like option 1. I would also point out that this is the appeal of the WCH tournament. You get to play some stronger players and if you manage to win your group... your prize is even stronger players!
Daniel Parmet (2010-05-12 20:25:24)
Entry fee for higher class tournament
I think option1 is the best. But I completely agree with Garvin. Why not try it? We tried those silly rating band idea even though we knew it was bad. Why not try this? I think its a good idea. I agree that options 2-5 are silly.
Right now as it stands, you get nothing for winning a tournament, you might not even get many points either. If you are 1990ish and beat 6 1800s. They might have been much stronger than 1800 but the results also came in slowly 1/1 for each rating period... you don't stand to gain very many points maybe not even enough to get you to the next rating band... but you would be guaranteed to play the next rating band for sure because you won the tournament. I think you'll see alot of the invitations into the rating bands helping people out that are only missing it by a few rating points anyways. Besides its a REAL prize for winning the tournament, right now all we give is a pat on the back!
Thibault de Vassal (2010-05-20 23:48:59)
Updated !
As you may have seen, the FICGS rules have been updated with the rule that was discussed here...
http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#tickets
This is still an experiment, let's see the benefits (for waiting lists & future prizes), it may be changed yet.
If you just won a tournament, you should have received an email explaining all this.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-10-20 21:32:25)
Freestyle Fun
You said it all Scott, thanks for this very nice presentation :) Let's hope that a few of our italian freestylers will try to shake the tournament! The prize increased to 150 Epoints + Entry fees this time, not so much yet but always trying to offer more & more Epoints in all tournaments...
A small word about the connection, I noticed that when http://www.ficgs.com is not available, the internet access providers often let you reach https://ficgs.com , think about it if you encounter such a problem (whenever by the way), just like it happened to Mauro who courageously played half the tournament on a smartphone during the last event, the trick may have helped him :/
Jimmy Huggins (2010-10-22 10:25:55)
Strong Tournament at Rybka Forum
Hi to all the FICGS players! In the last few days there has been in the works a strong tournament on the Rybka Forum. I know that most of you play a lot of games not only here but on others sites. I have been looking into the interest of having a type of World Chess Corr Blitz Championship. With the time controls being 2 to 3 days per move. There will be a time out or some kind of extra time system in place to get you a chance to AN critical positions. As of now there are discussions on the Rybka Forum for a Tournament Format that would be comfort to most of the players who play. I have been talking to the person who does the web design there and would are working out a new sub forum to keep this tournament organized and working a clock system so everyone can keep track of there time. I'm also having a prize fund organized to the top 10 finishers. Not so much for give money to the players, but as more a means to keep all the players interested and not have any problems with aborted games. This tournament will have 3 TD's to help with any problems that may come up. We are planing on having the tournament just after the new year. I have the interested of Wayne Lowrance and Ruben Comes has said he will play. If any are interested in playing in a World Chess Corr. Blitz Championship or if you have any questions or comments. Let know on here or your can leave a message on the rybka forum my user name is "thehug"
Jimmy Huggins (2010-10-25 08:28:18)
Strong Tournament at Rybka Forum
Thanks Thibault, My hope is to finish the details within the next 2 weeks. No not a round-robin, because that would simply be to much and to long. So I have gone with Vytron idea of a type of Elimination/Knockout tournament that is currently being discuss. As you are good about getting tournaments formed if you can read the current discussion and give some feedback on here or the rybka forum I would be grateful! It is in the corr chess section on the rybka forum.
Here are some of the key points and some interesting ideas that are being thrown around.
As I know most of the FICGS players play a lot of games so I have made a system that you play a 2 game match per round (One white and One Black). This would usually be a bad idea because of CC high draw rates. But we are thinking of using a unique draw odds system. Thought to many this may sounds a little strange its actually a great idea to inspire fighting chess for both sides. The idea was given by FICGS player Gino Figlio
"The scoring system idea- to draw with white (0.4), draw with black (0.6), win with white (1.0), win with black (1.1), loss with white (-0.1), loss with black (0.0)"
Another thing we are working on is the pairing system. As of now the only idea is to use a swiss pairing system after the first round.
Time Control- Since this is going to be called a "World Blitz Correspondence Chess Championship" The time controls are going to be a little faster than normal corr chess. It will be 48hr per move. But there will be a bluff time in here to help AN critical positions. This is also being debated. Right now we are looking at something between 1 weeks to 2 weeks(168 hours to 336 hours).
I had announce on the Rybka Forum in the last couple of days that a prize fund was being offer. I haven't had all my sources comeback to me yet. But as of know the fund is $1500 USD. It could be more, but I'll make official amount known before the tournament will start. I would say the winners share will be between 500 to 750. It all depends on what info I get back. I'm going to try and make all the prizes reasonable. And try and make it for the top 8 or 10 players. Also the winner will be announced the "World Blitz Correspondence Chess Champion"
I will be trying to finalize the details of the tournament in a quick fashion so I can figure out if the players interested would want to play or not. The tournament will begin just after the new year. It will be flexiable so get all the players in and know who they are playing.
The final details are that we are working hard to make the Rybka Forum really to play this kind of tournament. There is a new sub forum that will be made to help with out the traffic that would be going on with all the games. There is almost plans on getting a clock system work out. As at these time controls that would be critical.
Thanks in advance for any feedback form Thibault de Vassal and any other FICGS player!
Jimmy
Scott Nichols (2010-10-27 05:17:18)
Strong Tournament at Rybka Forum
May I ask who may we thank for putting up the prize fund?
Daniel Parmet (2010-10-27 05:21:09)
Strong Tournament at Rybka Forum
what is the prize fund?
Jimmy Huggins (2010-10-27 05:53:42)
Strong Tournament at Rybka Forum
@Scott-Myself and a couple of other friends who love chess. By the way I send you a message on the Rybka Forum to help with game details. If you have other questions let me.
@Daniel- Right now I its 1500 USD total, but I don't have all my sources bact to me yet. So it will probably be more. I'm planing on having prizes down to 8 to 10 players, with the winner most likely will win 500 to 750 depending on final numbers. Also the winner will the World Blitz Corr Chess Championship or so I dubbed.
Kamesh Nookala (2010-10-27 06:53:20)
Strong Tournament at Rybka Forum
I just expressed my opinion Jimmy. You are trying to organize a major event. Am commending ur efforts. Keep pushing. Especially, am flattered when ya said ya and few others wud be sponsoring the prize fund. Who does that? So, ya too made ur impression.
All the best Jimmy, go go go go ....
:)
Scott Nichols (2010-10-27 19:47:48)
Strong Tournament at Rybka Forum
Thibault is also offering a generous prize for freestyle tournament this weekend. We would welcome any Rybka forum players to come and compete!
Kamesh Nookala (2010-10-27 20:15:05)
Strong Tournament at Rybka Forum
I will only play to win if the prize is an EVGA SR-2 mobo and 2 Xeon processors :-p
Thibault de Vassal (2010-12-17 17:36:47)
7 players tournament with fee & prize
Hi, 2 players recently asked for a 7 players tournament with entry fee & prize... Initially there were one in waiting lists but no players enough to play it, but it was years ago.
Would you be interested to play it? (just trying to see how many interested players one can find)
Scott Nichols (2010-12-17 18:07:34)
7 players tournament with fee & prize
I would play in a second, I wanted this long ago...
Jimmy Huggins (2010-12-17 19:16:31)
7 players tournament with fee & prize
How is this any different than a normal round robin?
Thibault de Vassal (2010-12-17 20:43:24)
7 players tournament with fee & prize
Ah, good question actually... well now that there is an Epoints prize in several free tournaments, the interest is a bit different.
The prize would be near 100% of the entry fees, so about 70 Epoints for a tournament with a 10 Epoints entry fee. As the rules state that players have to win a tournament/game with an entry fee to cash out a prize in real money, this is the other interest. Well, the main thing is probably always the "stakes" as an excitement after all.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-12-17 20:45:40)
7 players tournament with fee & prize
... and there wouldn't be any rating range there like in class tourneys. So another question is : must these tournaments be rated or not.
Scott Nichols (2010-12-17 20:59:08)
7 players tournament with fee & prize
Make it "not rated", just play for the cash, :)
Jimmy Huggins (2010-12-17 21:06:59)
7 players tournament with fee & prize
By the way Thib I've read a few threads here today about prizes and classes for tournaments. And how you would want to win a tournament to move up in a tournament class or that was the debate. With that thinking, I wonder if that is part of the reason. Why my tourney is as popular as it is. It gives some players of lesser rating a chance to play higher rated players. An as you said in your next line. My tournament will technically not be rated. Even tho ratings will be used for pairing purposes. With the system in place. I believe a lot of the lower rated players will get a chance to play players 200 rating points or higher at some point in the tournament. Anyway thanks for the explanation. Getting excited with less than 2 weeks to go before pairing and 3 weeks after that before the tournament is underway. I've had a couple more names to my list and was happy to hear kam was going to play.
Thibault de Vassal (2010-12-18 20:22:34)
7 players tournament with fee & prize
Good luck with the tournament Jimmy, definitely I cannot play, but be sure that I'll keep an eye on it! I'm quite certain that it will be very instructive.
Patrice Gosteli (2010-12-22 14:35:43)
7 players tournament with fee & prize
Hi!
I wonder since my ''initiation'' to your site if a lot of members enter the fee systen. I have belived it was mostly for the poker fans.
I supose you think of a tournament with fee & prize to the big majority of chess players.
What about a GO tournament with same conditions?
Thibault de Vassal (2010-12-22 14:50:42)
7 players tournament with fee & prize
There are GO tournaments (2 players matches) with entry fee & prize, not really (or really not) popular yet, so we probably do not have Go players enough for such 7 players tournaments :/
Saurav Mahato (2011-01-01 09:48:12)
Free tournaments with prizes
how can we ask for money? By requesting through paypal
Thibault de Vassal (2011-01-01 23:18:48)
Free tournaments with prizes
Hello Saurav, all explained here :
http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#prize
In a few words, just send an email by specifying the tournaments with entry fee & prize you won you'd like the money prize for.
Peter Unger (2011-01-03 00:26:00)
Private messages to the webmaster
I cant get to the following tournament - why - the accepted participants have no ELO 2300+
FICGS__CHESS__RAPID_SM__000008
(type : rated round-robin, time : 30 days, increment : 1 day / move)
7 players, 6 game (1 game against each opponent)
entry fee : 0 , prize : 20 (E-Points)
elo : 2300+
POL Broniek, Mariusz Maciej 2106
SVK Gazi, Miroslav 2289
USA Nichols, Scott 2200
Thibault de Vassal (2011-02-17 16:46:15)
Silver chess games, W/B balance
Just an idea... as the Epoints balance for White and Black may be not fair enough (as a reminder the current rule for e.g. bullet/lightning/blitz is: "1 game match (regular) - In case of a draw, the prize is divided, however player Black will fully get back his E-Points whereas player White will get the rest."), what would be a better system according to you?
On the basis of 19.8 Epoints at the end of the game, maybe we could try:
If result is 1-0, W+ 19.0 / B+ 0.8
If result is 1/2-1/2, W+ 9 / B+ 10.8
If result is 0-1, W+ 0 / B+ 19.8
or...
If result is 1-0, W+ 18.0 / B+ 1.8
If result is 1/2-1/2, W+ 8 / B+ 11.8
If result is 0-1, W+ 0 / B+ 19.8
Any idea?
Thibault de Vassal (2011-02-21 13:58:24)
Silver chess games, W/B balance
You're right, the main problem is obviously that we are too busy by games played at standard time controls but it is not a reason to try to improve the prize breakdown :)
Peter Unger (2011-04-19 23:34:25)
You can't enter this tournament
Why? There are players with 2145etc. in the waiting list?
See the following?
FICGS__CHESS__RAPID_SM__000008
(type : rated round-robin, time : 30 days, increment : 1 day / move)
7 players, 6 game (1 game against each opponent)
entry fee : 0 , prize : 20 (E-Points)
elo : 2300+
You can't enter this tournament :
Your chess rating : 2166 , is out of the restrictions.
Waiting list :
POL Broniek, Mariusz Maciej 2152
SVK Gazi, Miroslav 2272
USA Nichols, Scott 2184
DEU Wosch, Arkadiusz 2145
KAZ Alaguzov, Maxat 2415
PRT Pessoa, Francisco 2528
Jimmy Huggins (2011-04-29 11:23:50)
WBCCC-New stuff and Round 2 Update
Hello everyone! Its been a while since the last time I have updated. I would like to talk about recent happening. Then I will give an update on the games for this round.
I have had some talks with a few players. And I would like to announce that starting next year there will be more prizes. Besides the money prize next year. I haven't decide yet how many of these I will have yet. And its possible there could be more ideas to come by. Please also know that there will be money prizes still this is just something on also to add to the interests.
1.Subscriptions to annotated games. For example Chess Today, Chessvibes, chesspublishing.com and Opening Master. There can be others, these are just examples. If you have other good ideas here please post. Most likely this will be a combined prize here.
2.Rental time on the new Rybka Cluster- Not sure how exactly this one would work. It could be a lot different in a years time for the Rybka Cluster. But I think this would have some interests.
3.Hardware- Again not sure how I would do this. But I would probably have it as a middle to high end setup for a prize. Hardware is always a every changing process its hard to know what is good at that time.
Any other suggests are welcome. Probably the best realistic prize is the first one. If I have multiple prizes like this. The way it would probably play out is like a lottery system. Start with the winner and work your way down. On what they want and go 2nd, 3rd etc...
The last prize to talk about.(And maybe the best) I have had talks with the people of chesspublishing.com and next year. Whatever game is voted for "best game of the round". Will have there game analyzed, by one of the titled players on that site and have the game published. I will try and have it open to everyone that follows the games for the WBCCC.
The next thing of interest for next year. Is that we will have a conditional move system in place. It was thought in a blitz setting to be a great asset to have. For example if your opponent is in a different time zone than you and the next move to you would be a force move. It would be nice to have this option to make the forced play. Without having to say up late at night to make this obvious move. This is all the new stuff. Round 2 Update to come.
Jimmy Huggins (2011-05-15 13:08:49)
WBCCC Round 3 links and more
Here are the links for Round 3. Plus I have a quick announcement. I have talked to Garvin and I'm in the running to consider adding a 2nd tournament to the WBCCC. Probably called the WBCCC Inv. -> Invitational. This will be more of the standard style of blitz tournament. Something like 14d+1d per move, I don't want to set exact time control yet, I will probably open this discussion up after WBCCC 1 is over. What details I will give is this. What over the prize is next year will split with the other tournament plus a plaque to the winner. My hope is to have another drawing card for the WBCCC and I know this will probably bring more top players in.
Anyway here are the links for you to follow the games you wish to watch this round.
As always we will start at the top boards and work are way down. This time I will just do both of each board at the same time.
B=Board
B1- CumnorChessClub (Kevin D. Plant) vs Fulcrum2000- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21828
B1- ppipper vs CumnorChessClub (Kevin D. Plant)- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21814
B2- Kamesh vs ppipper- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21829
B2- Fulcrum2000 vs Kamesh- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21815
B3- jitan vs Sebastian Boehme- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21830
B3- National12 vs jitan- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21816
B4- Loboestepario (Gino Figilo) vs WeirwindleX- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21817
B4- David Evans vs Loboestepario (Gino Figilo)- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21831
B5- Sebastian Boehme vs David Evans- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21818
B5- Weirwindle vs Banned for Life- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21832
B6- ralunger (Ramil Germanes) vs National12- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21833
B6- donkasand vs ralunger (Ramil Germanes)- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21819
B7- tomski1981 vs donkasand- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21834
B7- parmetd (Daniel Parmet) vs tomski1981- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21820
B8- Banned for Life vs Ruben Comes- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21821
B8- indrajit_sg vs parmetd (Daniel Parmet)- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21835
B9- Keoki010 (George Clement) vs Indrajit- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21822
B9- Mark Eldridge vs Balabachi- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21837
B10- Wayne Lowrance vs Stephanie- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21838
B10- Balabachi vs Wayne Lowrance- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21823
B11- StephanieX vs Mark_Eldridge- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21824
B11- Omprakash vs Keoki010 (George Clement)- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21839
B12- natmaku vs Scott Nichols- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21825
B12- Ruben Comes vs deka- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21840
B13- deka vs Omprakash- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21826
B13- Scott Nichols vs Schachmatt (Matt O'Brien)- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21841
B14- Schachmatt (Matt O'Brien) vs TheHug (Jimmy Huggins)- http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21827
B14- TheHug (Jimmy Huggins) vs natmaku http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=21842
Before I get off, I would like to thank Thib for letting me ask his great players to play in my tournament. Best wishes to all and enjoy this next year!
Jimmy
Thibault de Vassal (2011-05-21 23:53:26)
E point encouragement
Well, fortunately it doesn't work this way :)
http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#prize
Don Groves (2011-05-22 04:36:48)
E point encouragement
I'm not talking about prizes, I'm talking about when a member wants his or her money back from FICGS. If you don't keep track of how many of each member's ePoints are paid for and how many are bonus points, you will be paying back more than you received.
Thibault de Vassal (2011-05-24 02:41:34)
E point encouragement
Actually that's the case for a while :) .. And that's the aim... I hope to offer more and more prizes (Epoints or Money) in the future, even if it is quite slow for the moment. So I think that Garvin's idea is compatible with the current rules (by the way I offered many times up to 25% Epoints more when buying some)
Alvin Alcala (2011-08-10 11:30:23)
Ideas for a Freestyle tournament
In free style cup section why not make an option of a freestyle tour so anyone online can immediately arrange a tour with entry fee of say 10 e-points or even bronze. Then the format would be minimum 2 players or even number of players. Money prizes will be broken down accordingly. I loved to play advance chess a lot but it will be more exciting if you will play more people.
Thibault de Vassal (2011-08-19 11:43:45)
Rybka banned from ICGA
Clone or not clone, I'm not sure if this question is worth something in computer chess but ICGA did it: Rybka was banned and stripped of titles...
I just partly read RybkaInvestigation document, a few points are particularly ridiculous (like 2.2 "Sudden Strength Increase"), I have no idea on the other ones and I'm not sure if this is really important in the real world.
Finally, the punishment:
- to strip Rajlich of all ICGA Tournament Titles and,
- force the return of trophies and prize funds to the ICGA and,
- ban his programs from future competitions until he can satisfy the ICGA that they are no longer derivatives and that he has satisfied the conditions of any other penalties the ICGA imposes.
- encourage other tournaments (Leiden, Paderborn, CCT, TACCL, etc.) to disallow the entry of Rybka until it is proven “clean”.
ICGA Panel Members
The Secretariat members:
Robert Hyatt - (Crafty, Cray Blitz, World Computer Chess Champion in 1983 and 1986)
Mark Lefler (author of Now)
Harvey Williamson (part of Hiarcs Team)
Panel members:
Albert Silver (software designer for Chess Assistant (1999-2002); currently editor of
Chessbase News (2010-present))
Amir Ban (author of Junior: World Champion 2002, 2004, 2006, World microcomputer
Champion 1997, 2001)
Charles Roberson (author of NoonianChess)
Christophe Theron (author of Chess Tiger)
Dariusz Czechowski (author of Darmenios)
Don Dailey (author of Cilkchess, Star Socrates, Rex, Komodo)
Eric Hallsworth (part of Hiarcs Team, Publisher of Selective Search magazine)
Fabien Letousky (author of Fruit)
Frederic Friedel (Chessbase.com)
Gerd Isenberg (author of IsiChess)
Gyula Horvath (author of Pandix, Brainstorm)
Ingo Bauer (Shredder team)
Jan Krabbenbos (Tournament Director of Leiden tournaments)
Kai Himstedt (author of Gridchess and Cluster Toga)
Ken Thompson (creator of Belle Chess Machine, World Computer Chess Champion
1980, Turing Award winner 1983, creator of B and C programming languages,
Unix and Plan 9 developer).
Marcel van Kervinck (author of Rookie)
Maciej Szmit (assistant professor at Technical University of Lodz)
Mark Watkins (MAGMA Computer Algebra Group, School of Mathematics and
Statistics, University of Sydney)
Mark Uniacke (Hiarcs, World Microcomputer Champion 1993)
Mincho Georgiev (Pawny)
Olivier Deville (Tournament Director of ChessWars)
Omid David (author of Falcon)
Peter Skinner (Tournament Director of CCT--the major annual online computer chess
tournament)
Ralf Schäfer (author of Spike)
Richard Vida (author of Critter)
Richard Pijl (author of The Baron)
Stefan Meyer-Kahlen (author of Shredder, multiple world champions from 1996-2007)
Thomas Mayer (author of Quark)
Tord Romstad (author of Stockfish, Glaurung)
Tom Pronk (ProChess, Much)
Vladan Vuckovic (Axon, Achilles)
Wylie Garvin (game Programmer at Ubisoft Montreal)
Yngvi Björnsson (The Turk)
Zach Wegner (author of ZCT and Rondo, an upgraded version of Anthony Cozzie’s
Zappa program, which was world champion in 2005)
ICGA Board
President - David N.L. Levy
Vice-President: Yngvi Björnsson
Secretary-Treasurer: Hiroyuki Iida
Programmers Representative: Rémi Coulom
WCCC Tournament Director
Jaap van den Herik
http://www.chessvibes.com/plaatjes/rybkaevidence/RybkaInvestigation.pdf
http://www.chess.com/news/rybka-banned-and-stripped-of-titles-3798
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQshTNJ4pSM
Alexis Duenas (2011-12-24 03:00:03)
money prize tournaments
by paying 30 euros entry fee a tournament should be created with 11 players and 2 prizes,ficgs could take a % and earn money
Thibault de Vassal (2011-12-24 17:42:57)
money prize tournaments
Hello Alexis,
Yes, it would be very easy to create such tournaments. We had no players with Epoints enough a few years ago for this. Maybe it is time now.
Who would enter such a waiting list among these possibilities?
1. Rated 7 players single round robin tournament, no rating range, 20 epoints entry fee
2. Unrated 7 players single round robin tournament, no rating range, 20 epoints entry fee
3. Rated 5 players double round robin tournament, no rating range, 30 epoints entry fee
4. Unrated 5 players double round robin tournament, no rating range, 30 epoints entry fee
Both rated & unrated options have inconvenients IMO... Any better idea? The prize would be about 96 to 100% entry fees.
(by the way, this may partly solve the problem of the other discussion about double round robin tournaments)
Scott Nichols (2011-12-28 21:21:04)
5 player double round robins
Another idea which I brought up a while back is to replace the unpopular Rapid_Silver 2-man with a Rapid_Silver tournament. There would be an entry fee, say 10 E-points, with the prize money going to the winner or the top 2. It would be unrated, only need e-points to join. No rating restrictions. Players like me and Ruben and others would jump right in. It would give lower rated a chance to play the top guns. I bet a lot of them would go for it, even if it cost them some money, it could be considered like a "lesson". Plus, I'm sure the top players would go for it also, easy money! You could make it from 5 up to 11 players.
Thibault de Vassal (2011-12-29 14:48:20)
5 player double round robins
I agree on "if it's not rated, it's not real" but the fact is that many players are afraid to lose many points against maybe strong 1800 players... Actually the rules evolved about 2 years ago to avoid this, ratings are quite protected (never enough) in such cases but it looks like it is not well intergrated yet.
On the other hand, if there's an entry fee & prize, it's even more real... If we start with that idea, maybe it can be unrated. I'm still not sure...
Your opinion for a double round robin with entry fee & money prize, should it be unrated or rated?
Garvin Gray (2011-12-29 15:56:04)
money prize tournaments
My vote is 3,1,4,2
Scott Nichols (2011-12-29 16:37:53)
money prize tournaments
I also vote 3,1,4,2
Don Groves (2011-12-30 02:36:43)
money prize tournaments
I would enter either 1 or 3.
Sebastian Boehme (2011-12-30 03:01:59)
money prize tournaments
Yes I also think, if such tournaments are held then they should be rated in my opinion. So 1 or 3 ....if not then I prefer option 4 to option 2
Cheers,
Sebi
Thibault de Vassal (2011-12-30 20:28:59)
money prize tournaments
Thanks for your answers :)
I think we'll try option 3 very soon....
Alvin Alcala (2012-01-01 01:25:49)
money prize tournaments
I go for 3 ;)
Thibault de Vassal (2012-01-12 01:47:31)
5 player double round robins
I didn't forget! The waiting list for the 1st DRR (rated, with entry fee & prize) will be open tomorrow ;)
George Clement (2012-01-12 17:59:39)
money prize tournaments
Heck, I'll go for 3,1
Thibault de Vassal (2012-01-12 21:04:58)
Standard open : DRR with entry fee/prize
Finally, this discussion to replace the two following discussions that ended on about the same conclusion and to have opinions on this new chess tournament : CHESS STANDARD OPEN (rated double round robin for 5 players, with entry fee 30 epoints & prize 145 epoints, no elo restriction)
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=forum_read&id=10165
http://www.ficgs.com/user_page.php?page=forum_read&id=10127
Don Groves (2012-01-15 12:42:40)
Standard open : DRR with entry fee/prize
The first games have begun !
Garvin Gray (2012-01-18 16:48:48)
Standard open : DRR with entry fee/prize
I think 30 euro is too high an entry fee.
Garvin Gray (2012-01-18 16:52:39)
Standard open : DRR with entry fee/prize
And to add, I really am disappointed about the general direction this whole discussion has taken.
It was not my intention to create a tournament of this style when I asked for double round robin. It was my intention to get one of the standard or rapid's to change over to Double round robin, which has not occurred.
I am really starting to get the feeling that this site is starting to move away from the free part and is moving towards a paid site.
More and more tournaments are having entry fees attached to them, which is fine, but then if that is case then the free part of FICGS should be dropped.
Alexis Duenas (2012-01-18 16:54:50)
Standard open : DRR with entry fee/prize
30 euro entry fee could be hight 10 euro every one participate
Thibault de Vassal (2012-01-18 17:03:41)
Standard open : DRR with entry fee/prize
Well, I really don't mind if the entry fee is 10 or 30 euro... it could be even free, but would it work? As we had silver & gold games, I just tried to find something between (and it had to be of interest for strong players to play lower rated ones).
The path towards a paid site (as far as I know, much more Epoints are given than taken) will be very... very long :)
The reason for this tournament was mainly that you asked for such a tournament so that more games can start & more quickly, it is also a good experience before to make such drastic changes to modify a whole tournaments category. I'm still not sure it would be a good idea!
Scott Nichols (2012-01-18 17:37:40)
Standard open : DRR with entry fee/prize
I agree to the idea to change it to 10 Euro entry fee, 30 seems a bit high.
Thibault de Vassal (2012-01-18 18:19:13)
Standard open : DRR with entry fee/prize
IMO strong players will have no interest in this, but well... we can try it.
Scott Nichols (2012-01-18 20:57:37)
Standard open : DRR with entry fee/prize
Hmmm, I must not be as strong as I thought, :) J/k, I know what you mean. BUT, the whole idea was to get a more variety here, all the free games haven't gone away, you just added something new, which IMO was sorely needed. If you look at the stats Thib, probably last year my games here dropped off, not because I wasn't entering, but because it was hard to find a game. Plus the WBCCC had an impact, at least IMO, I don't know the stats. I still play for the home team as always will as long as you are here Thib, but I also admit, I learned a lot at that forum.
Thibault de Vassal (2012-01-20 16:11:36)
Standard open : DRR with entry fee/prize
I meant 2400+ players, those who will surely lose elo points against you in this open tournament :) Epoints had to be a kind of compensation for those players (if they win btw), that was the idea. And 10 Epoints is really few for 8 standard games, meaning much efforts. Just my opinion of course...
George Clement (2012-01-20 17:12:38)
Standard open : DRR with entry fee/prize
When will we try the 10 E-point entry?
Garvin Gray (2012-01-20 17:45:57)
Standard open : DRR with entry fee/prize
I do not think a few e points either way are going to make a difference to the 2400 players. What most likely matters to them is winning tournaments and titles.
So either way they were not going to enter these events.
Just to start stratching the record ;) my original idea was for these double round robins was for one of the divisions to be replaced with them, not to create a whole new division.
As it currently stands, I really do not see the point of this change as it feels like duplications of other areas of the site.
Thibault de Vassal (2012-01-21 15:26:16)
Standard open : DRR with entry fee/prize
I partly agree with you Garvin, but if only one of them is interested in money, it will make these open tournaments quite interesting. I'm still not sure which entry fee is best but it's worth a try with 30 Epoints IMO. By the way I don't think that these tournaments will start so often due to the time control. Let's wait and see.
About changing a whole division, I'm still not so favourable to this. Actually best would be to have 4 divisions (rapid DRR, rapid SRR, standard DRR & standard SRR but we have no players enough for this) but I'm not even sure if class DRR tournaments would be a good thing.
I prefered single round-robin from the start because it was the best way to prevent cheating, it is really hard to win points even with 3 or 4 accounts.
Still thinking about it anyway. (I know, it means delayed for a few months but I don't have a better idea right now :/)
Scott Nichols (2012-01-23 17:29:37)
Standard open : DRR with entry fee/prize
Another thought: With 30 E-points invested it makes you think before entering. The only reason is if it takes a while for the tournament to fill up, that 30 points could be tied up for a long time doing nothing.
Thibault de Vassal (2012-02-02 00:47:23)
Standard open : DRR with entry fee/prize
Well, finally the most seems to want a change of the entry fee & prize. I'm not sure if it's a good idea but let's do it...
For technical reasons the entry fee & prize for the 1st tournament will change too, the 5 players just got back 20 Epoints each.
Don Groves (2012-02-02 07:36:59)
Standard open : DRR with entry fee/prize
Thib: This is probably a naive question, but do you think any players here have multiple accounts and are trying to win games or ELO points that way?
Thibault de Vassal (2012-02-02 15:28:34)
Standard open : DRR with entry fee/prize
Why naive? Actually I saw many many cheaters on other servers before to run FICGS, that's why I preferred single round-robin tournaments and I hope that is the reason why cheaters are rare here!
Anyway the answer is yes, a few players had several account and as far as I know they realized very quickly that cheating would take them more time than becoming GM :)
Thibault de Vassal (2012-05-12 13:41:03)
Playing poker for e-points
Epoints system for chess is the same than participating in an OTB chess tournament with an entry fee & prize. I guess (I hope) that this is authorized even in US.
But anyway you're right Peter, it took me much time to be sure of what it was possible to do or not. Actually FICGS could have started about a year earlier without that problem :/
Anyway there are many ways to turn around laws, e.g. if prizes are not money & so on... Maybe I could envisage something like that.
Peter W. Anderson (2012-05-12 14:34:35)
Playing poker for e-points
Yes, of course, I was being dumb. If the e-points were for prizes as opposed to pots, then I think this would probably be legal in the US.
Thibault de Vassal (2012-05-12 16:16:06)
Playing poker for e-points
Actually the prize is either Epoints or Money. Maybe there could be Epoints only for poker but it is quite easy to convert it to money by playing chess games so I'm not even sure if it would be legal in France (and it is really hard to know).
Thibault de Vassal (2012-05-12 23:26:19)
Playing poker for e-points
Actually the problem really exists in the opposite way... You'd be surprised! French departments really tried to discourage me to organize chess tournaments with money prizes, by making comparisons to gambling games! (and actually I also think that the limit is not so clear) - The problem is that there is no clear law on that issue.
I also know that the previous french government (Sarkozy's one) was to try to make it even harder to do that because of the success of some sites that offer skill money games. So I try to follow all this...
Paul Campanella (2012-05-14 17:00:28)
Playing poker for e-points
What about playing for some other kind of prizes?
Yoppy Paulus (2012-08-23 17:44:11)
money prize tournaments
I want to join this tournament please
Michael Rogers (2012-08-24 20:47:47)
money prize tournaments
Very good idea, Thibault. This would certainly create more interest in the tournaments. I prefer one and two but would accept three and four.
Garvin Gray (2012-08-25 20:44:17)
money prize tournaments
Hello Michael,
This concept has now evolved into the standard open tournament and has been running for a few months.
Daniel Parmet (2012-08-25 23:43:21)
money prize tournaments
3,1,4,2.
I would definitely pay if it was a strong tournament.
Peter W. Anderson (2012-08-26 14:07:57)
money prize tournaments
Any of these as long as they are rapid speed. My preferance would be for 1 or 3.
This would be an interesting development. Would we get some of the 2400+ players playing at rapid speed I wonder?
Garvin Gray (2012-08-26 14:40:22)
money prize tournaments
Would be? This tournament is already offered. It is called STANDARD OPEN!!!!!
Horatiu Adrian Petrescu (2013-01-16 00:23:43)
FICGS admin scam me
This admin is a big liar and scammer. I post here all story.
In 2010 I ask him how I cashout if I wish to.Bellow is our conversation :
"Re : cashoutMonday, January 4, 2010 3:25 PM
From: This sender is DomainKeys verified"Thibault de Vassal" - ficgs at yahoo . com - Add sender to Contacts
Hello,
There's no button, you just have to ask me :) How many Epoints do you want to convert in Euros ?
Please specify your email at Paypal or Moneybookers.
Best wishes,
Thibault
Hi!
I don't see the button for cashout! Where is it? "
He didn't tell me nothing about some condition.Why? Because that time
was not specified.
Bellow is our conversation in the present time :
"Hi, I wish to cashout my 7,14 Epoints, to my Paypal account.Thank you.Regards.
Hello ,
You have to win at least one silver/gold tournament to cash out Epoints, feel free to read the conditions here:
http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#prize"
...and on chat:
petrescu horatiuadrian :
you are a charlatan
(2013-01-15 23:46:58)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
I lost more than 7 euros,My deposit was much more
(2013-01-15 23:32:03)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
I just ask my money only ,not a profit or an interest
(2013-01-15 23:31:13)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
not crook.
(2013-01-15 23:29:42)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
you think I care about 7 euros ,I have checked you if are or
petrescu horatiuadrian :
you are a bank,but for you only
(2013-01-15 23:26:30)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
you are just a liar
(2013-01-15 23:25:15)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
your rule
(2013-01-15 23:24:44)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
you told me about L511 ,I checked and write nothing about
devassal thibault :
This is a games server, conditions are clear on this...
(2013-01-15 23:17:12)
devassal thibault :
I would have told you to deposit? So, to be a bank for you?
(2013-01-15 23:16:07)
devassal thibault :
This is only a misunderstanding, obviously. sorry about that
(2013-01-15 23:15:09)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
You lied to me to make deposit here
(2013-01-15 23:14:01)
devassal thibault :
.. and let's see what others think...
(2013-01-15 23:13:59)
devassal thibault :
Just publish this email on the forum...
(2013-01-15 23:13:43)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
you think I am naive?then why you lied me then,in 2010?
(2013-01-15 23:12:10)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
ahaha,you are not lawer ,you are liar,liar, liar
(2013-01-15 23:09:24)
devassal thibault :
I'm not lawyer, but a lawyer told me what I can or cannot do
petrescu horatiuadrian :
from the law
(2013-01-15 22:39:35)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
ok ,tell me the article of legislation or give me the link
(2013-01-15 22:39:27)
devassal thibault :
french laws... but I guess that's the same in most countries
(2013-01-15 22:30:41)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
tell me which laws ,yours laws?or what
(2013-01-15 22:25:52)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
which laws?
(2013-01-15 22:24:57)
burrows nick :
ah!
(2013-01-15 22:02:52)
devassal thibault :
as money prize, by winning silver/gold tournaments
(2013-01-15 21:57:38)
burrows nick :
how is money recouped?
(2013-01-15 21:40:31)
devassal thibault :
FICGS cannot be a bank... that's you ask for
(2013-01-15 21:15:02)
devassal thibault :
In one word : because of laws...
(2013-01-15 21:13:32)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
or you don t want because the terms?
(2013-01-15 20:59:26)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
speak clear
(2013-01-15 20:58:33)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
I don t understand why u cannot,because the server?
(2013-01-15 20:58:24)
devassal thibault :
That's the point of this server after all
(2013-01-15 20:40:34)
devassal thibault :
Anyway, winning one silver game would solve the problem...
(2013-01-15 20:40:10)
devassal thibault :
.. but the fact is that I cannot do this & never could
(2013-01-15 20:39:11)
devassal thibault :
We can even discuss it in the forum if you want...
(2013-01-15 20:37:09)
devassal thibault :
That's specified in the conditions... just read it
(2013-01-15 20:36:18)
devassal thibault :
The number of Epoints had to be a multiple of tournament fee
(2013-01-15 20:35:59)
In my country exist many charlatans but I see in France too.France is beautiful country but "there are lees to every wine".
Horatiu Adrian Petrescu (2013-01-16 02:10:00)
FICGS admin scam me
petrescu horatiuadrian :
why you lied to me in 2010?
(2013-01-16 02:05:18)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
question
(2013-01-16 02:04:26)
petrescu horatiuadrian :
thib ,I will not insult you if you answer me at my last
(2013-01-16 02:04:17)
devassal thibault :
that's the same here, but you can win money prizes...
(2013-01-16 02:04:11)
devassal thibault :
when you buy something, is this still your money?
(2013-01-16 02:03:53)
Thibault de Vassal (2013-01-16 15:39:18)
FICGS admin scam me
That's nonsense Horatiu, since this site authorize computer chess, it is perfectly honest to play with machines, and of course I don't have to implement anything to avoid that...
About your money, you bought Epoints... You cannot ask for money just like this, you have to win silver/gold games to claim money prizes according to terms & conditions. You accepted this when registering.
Continuation of the chat:
devassal thibault :
[Remove this comment] you just had to click the link...
(2013-01-16 14:18:23)
devassal thibault :
[Remove this comment] the conditions are in the link
(2013-01-16 14:18:04)
devassal thibault :
[Remove this comment] this is the right email! with correct date
(2013-01-16 14:17:39)
Thibault de Vassal (2013-01-16 17:14:06)
FICGS admin scam me
Well, obviously you do not have any idea about what computer chess is... there are thousands of fans all over the world, full forums only about that, even the very best chess players in the world like to play it (Kasparov, Anand, Polgar, Ivanchuk...)
You still do not understand that this has nothing to do with avarice. Noone here wants to see such a system to be implemented.... first of all because it cannot be 100% sure (it would be very easy to cheat anyway), then everyone would suspect everyone to cheat... FICGS is a peaceful place (without counting 2 or 3 players out of hundreds/thousands) so this is fine like it is. For information we also offer NO_ENGINES_TOURNAMENTS for those who want to play with their brain only, but it is not rated... for the same reasons.
We have no problem that a few players cannot understand it at the end, but we do not need to hear again and again that computer chess is "lazy" or "dishonest", that is just untrue and insulting.
About your 7 euros, all has been said, I've nothing to add. This is not a bank, if you want a money prize, you know what to do (starting to read the terms & conditions).
Thibault de Vassal (2013-03-13 13:12:49)
Announcement
Hi all,
The 5th FICGS freestyle tournament will happen on april 6 & 7 (2013) - three rounds each day at 13:00, 15:00, 17:00 server time. The format will be the same (30 minutes + 15 seconds per move) than for the previous edition.
Entry fee : 10 Epoints, prize : 100% Fees + 70 Epoints
Deadline : 2013 april 6 - 12:00 server time
This time, just like other players, IM, SM & GM will have to enter the waiting list by themselves (entry fee : 10 Epoints), but they will recover their Epoints if they play all rounds.
Best regards,
Thibault
Scott Nichols (2013-06-18 20:44:03)
Playing activity top 20 players
I have a couple of thoughts. First is ICCF is not better for me than anywhere. The games just take too long. More to Daniels taste for sure. To help this site out, I will say it again, there needs to be at least one fast playing category. Like 10 days, with 1 day increment. This time control is very popular at other sites. Blitz CC is the wave of the future, even in OTB they don't play that slow chess anymore. Another idea is large cash prizes, :), to draw in the big guns. People are willing to pay more to get more. A couple of small things you could do Thib is offer a 2 e-point prize for most active player in a rating cycle and one for the player who improved the most in that same cycle for all 3 categories, chess, go and poker. Just some ideas...
Thibault de Vassal (2013-06-21 19:48:27)
Playing activity top 20 players
@ Alvin: you mean Iccf events?! what are Fide rapid events if not games played in less than 1 day?
@ Robert: for 1v1 we have rapid silver tournaments, but there is a stake of 10 epoints (or it would be unrated for obvious reasons).
@ Scott: 10 days + 1 day/move does not seem very different from 30 days + 1 day/move, I doubt it can bring more players. Standard time control remain even more popular here. On large cash prizes, I agree for sure :) ...
Garvin Gray (2013-09-20 09:25:56)
Poker for e-points?
I see this debate/topic quite often. In most countries the only way poker can be played for currency is if it is in tournament style.
Just like chess, tennis anything. As long as the prizes at the end go to the best performers.
Garvin Gray (2013-12-05 01:44:30)
WBCCC 2014 Entries Open
Entries for WBCCC 2014 are now open at www.rybkaforum.net.
For those not aware of our event, quite a few of the players here can speak about their experiences in the event, but as organiser I can say that many of the regular players have gotten a lot out of their participation, have improved their play and a lot has been learnt about freestyle correspondence chess in the three years that this event has been running.
Prize money is offered, but how much is determined by players and others willingness to sponsor.
Feel free to contact me by replying to this message, sending me a pm at rybka forum or private message here. A private message here is the least reliable.
Full tournament rules:
1) Tournament will be single round robin, meaning every person will play each other once.
2) A players seed position will be determined by their order of entry. The earlier you enter, the higher your number. The first person to enter will receive number 1. The seed position determines which number a player is in the round robin.
3) Entries open December 1 2013
4) Entries close January 6 2014
5) Play begins January 13 2014
6) Each round will be paired at the start of the event, with the pairings for the entire year published at the start.
7) Each round will have a maximum of four games, most likely two games (just like 2011, 2012 and 2013). The number of games will always be kept to a bare minimum
8) There will be a maximum of six paired rounds.
9) The minimum time control will be 30 days plus 1 hour per move. If the number of games per round needs to increase from 2 to 3 or 4, the time control will be lengthened. For instance, if we have 21 players, so needing 4 games per round to keep the number of games even and use five rounds, instead of the six rounds in 2013.
9) Pairings for future rounds are subject to change due to withdrawal of players and unforeseen circumstances.
10) If a player withdraws, or their games time out without an explanation that is accepted by the arbiter, all their games will be removed from the event. In effect they are no longer a participant in the event and no effect on the final placings.
11) There will be an official entry form that all players will be required to fill out before their entry will be accepted. This is so in case of emergency the organisers have a method of contact outside of Rybka Forum. It will include also include a person other than yourself to contact. Whilst I understand this might seem unnecessary to some, I do hope that events from 2013 (death of Salvador Signes and our inability to get in contact with the family) do show the need for better communication methods.
12) Xfccplay- Xfccplay is the official software provided for WBCCC 2014. Xfccplay is provided for the free use for participants whilst in the event. A user name and password will be provided once registered. Also download instructions will be provided by private message and these must be followed to install the program. The program is provided by chessok and is not to be passed on to anyone and is provided for the sole use of playing in WBCCC. All moves, draw offers etc in WBCCC 2014 must be played on this software.
13) New entrants will be required to play a couple of test games on xfccplay before entries close so that the arbiter is certain that all players are familiar with the software and its features. The organisers do not want to see players withdrawing after the event has begun because they find that they are unfamiliar with the software and get upset because their clock is running. Entries are open from December 1 to January 6. That is over a month to become familiar with the software. The organisers will not accept entries from players who have not tested the software.
Garvin Gray (2013-12-12 16:41:31)
WBCCC 2014 Entries Open
Did I mention that prize money is offered?
Garvin Gray (2013-12-24 11:01:28)
Withdrawal from all standard time events
Josef: I would prefer not to talk much about unrated events. In terms of priorities for players, unrated events will always be last. So they will be shuffled to the end.
So time priorities for unrated games can always be excused as they are given the least amount of time after, in rough order of importance:
WCH games
Divisions where you have a chance of a norm
Divisions where you have a chance of winning, so win a prize
Division where you can gain points.
Games where you are doing well, which is a vague criteria.
And then everything after that.
As a key supporter and one of the original creator of the standard open events, I would like to see those change to rapid time control from now on. Most of the players in those divisions rarely would need all the time that is offered.
It would also mean more cycles could move quicker.
Peter W. Anderson (2014-07-13 10:54:56)
FICGS WCh results summary updated
I have given the question of the format of the WCh matches a lot of thought.
There is no doubt that having the advantage of the draw is a huge advantage at correspondence chess, much more so than at normal chess, simply because the draw rate is so high amongst strong correpondence players.
However, there are disadvantages to other formats. It is true that a tournament final gives a better chance of having a new champion. But the outcome is dependent upon the results of players who are not necesarrily fighting hard for the prize (perhaps they have an early loss, perhaps other parts of their lives become too busy). You might hope that in the final this would not happen, but if you look closely at the games in the round robin finals you will see some strange results, clearly drawn games being lost etc. If it can happen in the round robin final it could happen in a championship final.
Having more games in the final is a very logical option. However, as Thib has pointed out, this will create a big workload. It would make it almost impossible for a serious challenger to enter consecutive championships without having to withdraw from later ones if they reached the final (this is already very difficult witouht more games!).
Another option would be an advanced chess play-off. I would be concerned that this would be too dependant on who had the biggest hardware with less chance for human skill.
Finally, there is the chance to decide a tied match with a toss of a coin. Not a great way of picking a champion.
This problem is not so much an issue with the format as with the game itself - chess is almost certainly drawn with sensible play and as engines get stronger it is going to become harder and harder to win games.
All in all, I think the current format is very reasonable, perhaps the best.
One final observation re Neel's comment that a top player can draw a game if he wants. Perhaps, and if this is 100% true then the draw problem is realy severe. However, I am a little more hopeful. Eros Riccio sometimes beats even very strong players playing the same openings he plays - it is not as if the openings he plays are guaranteed draws in practice. He finds ways of putting them under pressure and sometimes they make a mistake. Perhaps eventually he will do so too (we may have to wait for him to get old!). Or to put another way, chess is almost certainly drawn but it is not an easy draw even at correspondence if white plays really well!
Ilmars Cirulis (2014-08-15 17:02:41)
Friendly thematic games or discussions
Does anyone want to play Sokolsky-Orangutan opening (1.b4) with white? For any theoretical, practical or other reasons - without any prizes, just friendly game for purposes of exploration.
Also I want to explore such variation of Traxler counterattack: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 5.Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 7.Ke3 Qh4 8.g3 Nxg3 9.hxg3 Qd4+ 10.Kf3
Two will be enough for me now.
P.S. Sorry for disappearance some time ago with lots of unfinished games.
Nick Burrows (2014-08-26 20:06:27)
Ficgs is a money trap * BEWARE *
Garvin: This is the paragraph Thibault referred me to -
b) "When a player wins a tournament with an entry fee (not null) and prize, he can choose after the game(s) to keep E-Points (by default) instantly added in his FICGS account or, if he has E-Points enough in his account, a money prize. Entry fees and prizes in E-Points are published on the tournament page in "Waiting lists". If games in such a tournament have not been really played for a win, for example if a participant obviously lost quickly one or several games only to allow his opponent to get the money prize (and particularly if it happens several times), these tournaments will not be considered as win and the player showing this behaviour may lose his E-points involved in the tournament at the referee's discretion."
looking at it now, this doesn't even seem to cover my specific circumstance, as is this an instance of a player "not playing for a win"?
I always thought Thib was a nice guy, but his greed in this instance has really surprised me, and left a bad taste in my mouth.
Garvin Gray (2014-08-30 07:46:33)
Ficgs is a money trap * BEWARE *
Had some more time to think about this. Read the rules, read them again. Especially about where if a person asks for a financial payout from e points to Euro (and then converted to their currency.
They receive 75% of the stated e point amount.
So by my calculations-
David Evans paid 100 euro to enter the waiting list.
Nick Burrows paid 100 euro to enter the waiting list.
The advertised prize for winning the match is 196 e points.
So lets say that this match was played on merit and Nick won 2-0. He would receive 196 e points in his account. That is already 4 e points that FICGS is keeping for itself.
Then if Nick decided to 'cash out' those 196 e points, he would receive 75% of that- so 147 EURO.
This means that FICGS has received 200 EURO originally from these two entries, and paid out 147 EURO to Nick for his win.
Now, in the circumstance that has occurred here, the rule mentioned is more designed for multiple player tournaments to stop rating manipulation (sandbagging and the like), not for this circumstance.
Also, this rule states- For example if a participant obviously lost quickly one or several games only to allow his opponent to get the money prize (and particularly if it happens several times). This would then be saying that David Evans deliberately lost both games on purpose to attempt to give Nick the prize (even though David paid the money out of his own pocket). Why wouldn't David just give the money straight to Nick?
If FICGS really does believe that part rule I have quoted has been violated and that David has engaged in game fixing, will FICGS be taking strong against David Evans, including suspensions or banning him from this site. It would be the logical conclusion for game fixing. Since this is the rule being quote to deny a payout.
Now the only other circumstance that I can think of why FICGS has attempted to deny a payout if that FICGS believes that Nick only entered the GOLD match, believing that David would not play the two games. That is a risky strategy for Nick to take, considering David is an active player, especially for 100 euro and 2 games.
Considering that even if FICGS pays out the money on this two game match, the site still makes 53 euro from a 2 game match, and I do not see a rule that justifies not paying it out, this money should be paid out.
A further question now is- Are these fees fair? A 53 euro profit from a 2 game match?
Alexis Alban (2014-08-30 17:18:00)
Ficgs is a money trap * BEWARE *
Nick should get the prize money, it was David's responsibility to be present when he entered the advanced chess match.
Thibault de Vassal (2014-08-30 22:44:50)
Ficgs is a money trap * BEWARE *
I have to specify here that the rule mentioned is absolutely not about rating manipulation (by the way, there is already another rule for this), it is about money prize in 2 players matches only, maybe with 3+ players in unlikely cases! It was added when a player got a money prize after getting a few free Epoints and without playing any move... Of course, that was not acceptable (the prize was paid though, following the rules) as games recorded -especially silver/gold tournaments- should be worth to watch. So these are the reasons for this rule: To avoid empty games, to punish the player who didn't play (by taking Epoints, which is a obviously strong act in this particular case) and to redistribute Epoints to players who deserve it. Just like the rating rule, why a player should get a money prize by winning games without fighting?
I don't think that suspension or banning is necessary here (it would be really hard according to me, anyone can have good reasons for a long absence, but I'll consider this option if many players complains on this point).
To answer the last point, I don't and I cannot know if Nick entered this match believing that David would not play and I don't think that should be the point. As always, we need undisputable rules, as fair as possible, and I do think this one is a good one.
One important thing: The site does not make 53 Euro from this match, at most the site makes Epoints (on the other hand, most are offered by the site, by far). That makes a big difference!
Finally, if I understand Nick's point well, the way to understand "if a participant obviously lost quickly one or several games only to allow his opponent to get the money prize" may be ambiguous so it could be not possible to make the decision (who can know if David really wanted to play these games, wanted that Nick or anyone else get the prize?). So I probably should make it more clear to avoid such situation - even if I doubt that players realize about this rule before entering a silver tournament.
Garvin Gray (2014-08-31 10:53:40)
Ficgs is a money trap * BEWARE *
From what I have read here from your response Thibault- I see no grounds AT ALL to not pay the prize.
The rating rule is there for the best interest of the site, because ratings are meant to be the way we all judge what standard of play we are and what divisions we can enter.
So comparing a rating argument with this argument is drawing a rather long bow indeed.
Just like the rating rule, why a player should get a money prize by winning games without fighting?
Already answered about ratings. About winning games without fighting (or playing), Nick entered under the conditions believing the match would take place.
If he entered the match believing it to not take place and David did play, then Nick has taken a risk that has backfired.
The point is that it is not Nick's fault the match did not take place. From my reading of the rules, there is nothing clear that says you can not pay out the prize.
Remember, you are making an absolute ruling here that applies FOREVER. This means that in effect you have taken 100 epoints at least out of Nick's account, his original stake, for just entering a match.
I would ask as site admin. Why would ANY player on this site want to support paid matches after this event and circumstances?
When the site admin can in effect, I was not happy with your match conditions that it was played under, I don't really have anything to point towards, but I did keep your cash anyways.
I for one will not be supporting any matches or tournaments from now on whilst this practice remains in place. I do not want to enter a match, have it not take place and then the site admin say, tough luck, not your fault the match did not take place, but I am keeping your cash.
The more I look at this and type, I am finding it hard to not say that Nick Burrows has been robbed of his cash. These events are real.
Thibault de Vassal (2014-08-31 16:36:03)
Ficgs is a money trap * BEWARE *
Once again Nick, you didn't buy a particular match, you bought Epoints without any certitude to play this match (that could have started without you, then you'd have asked a refund, I guess)...
And saying FICGS keeps Euros on this case is not exact, FICGS keeps Epoints just like those that are distributed in free tournaments prizes.
You seem not to realize that FICGS is not a casino and cannot be one. When you participate at a tournament over the board and cannot play the opponent you wanted to play, there is most probably no refund. If there is no other participant showing, there could be a refund (because no other match would be possible) but I doubt that you get the whole prize, nevertheless the tournament would probably keep some fees. That's quite the same spirit with this rule.
Finally, I think that players may want to buy Epoints to really play games and casually win and get a money prize. As explained in the rules, the 25% rake should be balanced with the results after a certain number of games. Things can go very fast with bullet or lightning games. If you really want to get a money prize, it can take a few hours after you find an opponent... Didn't you think about it?
About business models, believe me: FICGS is not a good one in France. I did not make it and I don't run it for money. By the way, as far as I know, even poker sites have difficulties under french laws.
Thibault de Vassal (2014-08-31 20:50:58)
Ficgs is a money trap * BEWARE *
That's wrong, it is specified in the My account page (within days):
"Please send us a message through the form below after any payment on FICGS account, mentioning your name, address, country, account (email) at Moneybookers, the number of tickets you bought and the amount transfered. Your account in E-Points at FICGS will be updated within days."
Anyway, definitely I do not have to know that you bought it for this specific match or to act according to this view.
On the casino-like point, I invite you to contact the french government like I did, they will explain you why it is either the same or different in so many ways that it is impossible to know for sure at the end. At least I'm sure that the part of random is not the same in poker than in chess and that I have no right to act like a casino: all prizes must be related to tournaments, there's no possible "cash out" there.
Nick Burrows (2014-09-04 16:33:51)
Ficgs is a money trap * BEWARE *
1. Why didn't he say as much.
2. The taking of the prize money from my won game, was a choice and not an obligation. This choice was based 100% in greed.
Thibault de Vassal (2014-09-05 01:25:46)
Ficgs is a money trap * BEWARE *
I must say that Dominique explained some things much better than I could... Thank you! On the second point, I guess that I'll have to deal repeatedly with this "doubt" for ever or for a moment as I tried to update the code for the prizes according to this rule but was not able to do it without making it too heavy, so I'll continue to take Epoints from winner's account each time in such situation before I rewrite the whole thing.
Finally I have to say that reasons for such rule remain at the same time fuzzy (I'm not able to justify it by specific points in the law - that is fuzzy itself) & personal because I want to avoid any risk and because I do think it's fair, which is subjective of course! As I already said, Epoints are taken there, others are offered there... So yes, I could have made another choice, I could even delete this rule (whatever it implies), you can think this is greed on this specific act, but at the end it fits the rules [in despite of the human factor at that time, which is now fixed] and that's the most important thing IMHO.
Thibault de Vassal (2015-01-09 20:46:20)
Eros Riccio on his win in 9th chess WCH
Eros Riccio kindly accepted to answer a few questions after his win in the 9th FICGS correspondence chess championship. Once again, his answers are worth to read... including probably a few surprises and valuable informations for most of us!
_____________________________
- Hello again Eros. Congratulations for this new win! So you played Jeroen for the second time in a row, this time in the 12 games format. There were 12 draws but it does not mean a lot. How did things go?
--> Hi Thibault! Nice to answer your questions again :-) I managed to resist again Van Assche's assaults, this time he was well-determined to win, as he made me really suffer in a couple of games. The first game was a semislav, me as Black. He played a rare variation (starting with 14.Be2 followed by 15.Qd3) that was new to me. At first the engines were giving 0.00 evaluations, but after the move 22.Qg3 they started to realize that Black's position was difficult, and they kept increasing their evaluation in White's favor move after move. That was quite a scary thing to see, and I really thought that I could have lost the game. I had to use all the thinking time (leave included) to be able to resist. This new variation impressed me so much that I decided to use it as White myself as a surprise weapon, and in fact it allowed my engine on autoplay on my old I7 980x to win a lot of games as White and a 500 dollars prize getting first place in a strong tournament on Infinity Chess. The second game was a Spanish, me as White. After his 7...0-0 I decided to avoid the Marshall (that would have probably happened if I had played 8.c3) trying the AntiMarshall variation 8.d4. I am now convinced that this variation gives nothing good to White, but I didn't know that yet when I played it! Already after the rare strong move 11...c5! things were starting to get difficult for me. He simply continued with c4 and d5, getting space advantage with his Pawns on the Queenside, while I could find no attack at all on the Kingside. Again I had to be very careful to escape with a draw.
- What can you tell about your other results this year, particularly at ICCF where you're now ranked #9 with an outstanding rating of 2639 ?
--> My ICCF elo in the past few years has raised. Slowly, but it has raised. I had no defeats and a couple of wins in the Olympiads and European team tournaments started in 2012. I am satisfied of that, as winning nowadays in top correspondence tournaments is very difficult. Important is to remain undefeated.
- Last year, you said that you felt like your play was getting weaker each day because your machine was getting older, did you finally upgrade it? But maybe this is a secret...
--> No. As I wrote earlier, I haven't updated my machine. Fortunately cpu's general speed has kept increasing not as quickly as in the past, so my I7 980x can still compete.
- Did your vision of computer chess evolve after these last 18 months? What do you expect for the next years? Do you plan to become a chess cyborg? ^^
--> Fortunately for our hobby, computer chess isn't rushing towards the "all draws" situation that I talked about a couple of years ago. That's because, fortunately, increasing cpu's power and engine's strenght is getting more and more difficult. Yes, some main lines already lead to all draws often, but chess gives so many openings options that to avoid that, you can simply play subvariations. When played a lot, also subvariations will become main variations. Then again, when the draws rate gets too high, you just pick another less played opening. It will take many years to cover every opening to a high draws rate.
- Your next challenger is Peter W. Anderson, who made a convincingly path through the round-robin cycle before to defeat SM Igor Dolgov 5-3 in the 10th candidates final (by the way he's also playing the 11th candidates final). It seems that you never played him before. How do you feel this match? Do you have any words for your opponent before that the games start?
--> I am happy to play a new player! We have just started our match, again, all my first moves as White were 1.e4. What to say... it's up to him to avoid main lines as Black (he already did it answering with 1...g6 in three games) if he wants to try to win with the black pieces. But the real challenge for him of course will be to try to win with the White pieces. It will be interesting to see if he can find holes in my Black repertoire like Van Assche was able to do. Let's wait and see!
Scott Nichols (2015-07-10 20:56:39)
Wch Match Tie Break Rules
IMO the only true tiebreak is a playoff with the time controls shortening after each 2 games until one side wins. I know this is not possible with most tournaments. Certainly someone who "tied" for first, but lost the prize on tiebreaks is not going to tell people they finished second. Lots of sports have playoffs, golf, football etc. Because for the romantic, a tie is like nothing, it's not a true win.
Alvin Alcala (2015-10-29 16:55:49)
5th Centaur Weekend Tourney (CWT)
Announcement
5th Centaur Weekend Tourney (CWT) November 6-8 at Infinity Chess Server
Grand Prix Series (8 tours)
Swiss System.
7 Rounds.
Time control: 45m + 15s.
Play modes: centaur + engine only.
Rated tour for centaur vs. centaur games.
Privately sponsored tour, but open to all.
Schedule:
1st game Friday 6th November, 21:00 server time
2nd game Friday 6th November, 23:30 server time
3rd game Saturday 7th November, 17:30 server time
4th game Saturday 7th November, 20:00 server time
5th game Saturday 7th November, 22:30 server time
6th game Sunday 8th November, 17:30 server time
7th game Sunday 8th November, 20:00 server time
Registration requires full and correct name in your profile.
Registration is free of start fee, if you play just for fun.
If you play for a money prize ($400, $200, $100) you have to pay a start fee.
For details see: http://infinitychess.freeforums.org/viewtopic.php?t=243
Registration closes on Thursday 5th November, 23:55 server time.
For reports on previous CWT see our website: http://infinitychess.com
NEXT TOUR DATES
CWT 6: December 4th - December 6th, 2015
CWT 7: January 8th - January 11th, 2016
CWT 8: February 5th - February 7th, 2016
GRAND PRIX PRIZES (sponsored by Jojo & friends)
(GP Points = 4 best tournament results of each player, who paid a start fee for those tours)
1st Prize 600 USD
2nd Prize 300 USD
3rd Prize 200 USD
4th Prize 100 USD
The best 8 centaurs according to the final Grand Prix table will be nominated for the next official Freestyle event by InfinityChess in 2016/2017.
Sergey Zemlyanov (2015-11-16 22:09:27)
FICGS chess cup : proposal
Hi all. I try to express my opinion.
The main idea of mass round-robin tournament is good but
I think that the strong players might reject it.
As it seems, I see 2 different ways here:
1st. To have a strong tournament with top players.
2nd. To have a mass tournament just for fun.
In order to organize the 1st tournament you should do the next things:
1. To set up money prizes for winners (more prizes -> more top players might be interested in).
2. To send out invitations for players by email and etc.
3. The time control should not be too fast here if you want a qualitative games
and good tournament.
4. About splitting into the groups.
4.1 Semifinal stage.
I offer to play several qualifying semifinal rounds with 2-3 chessplayers coming into the Final stage.
For example, we have 50 players. So we can create 5 Semifinal groups with 10 players in each with 3 coming out places for the Final.
The time control here I offer 10+2/21 with vacation.
4.2 The Final stage.
I offer 15 players for the Final stage and 14 games for everyone,
or, another variant is 7-8 finalists and 14-16 games with color change for everyone.
About the 2nd tournament my opinion is:
1. To set up money prizes depending on entry fees, for each player.
2. To play mass round robin tournament with 1 game against each player
with faster time control, 10+1/21 for example.
In 1st variant you need to find a contributor to organize the tournament.
But it should be interesting. The 2nd variant with entry fees is interesting too, I think.
AMICI SUMUS,
Sergey Zemlyanov.
Thibault de Vassal (2015-11-17 02:34:49)
FICGS chess cup : proposal
Why not a deadline... with a few more opinions, I think it will be possible (if it goes in one direction more than another)!
Anyway, we see that new opinions bring more and more questions and differences :)
On Sergey's points: First of all, I must say that if I could have brought bigger prizes for tournaments, there wouldn't have been such discussions, the whole thing (WCH particularly) would probably work better... but this is not the case, unfortunately :/
As I already said, multi-rounds tournaments are not compatible with longer time controls, and that's a pity. That's why I proposed a 1 round big tourney with a longer time control, but many players seem to be used to the rapid (or even faster) one. Finally, the schedule you propose looks like Garvin's one.
Firhan Firhansyah (2015-11-19 01:02:25)
FICGS chess cup : proposal
I like a tournament with short time control about 1 - 3 days per move. And i more like with big prizes
Roger Llull (2017-01-22 13:07:38)
FICGS chess cup : proposal
*Prizes* is what I meant, not prices...
Alvin Alcala (2017-04-02 14:23:20)
Ultimate Challenge Tour 2017, USD 20k
If you finish the tour fair and square then your eligible to get $100 as fair play prize.
Thibault de Vassal (2017-10-09 02:21:20)
Ficgs is a money trap * BEWARE *
Hello Sergey,
First of all, my congratulations for this score in such a tough match. I understand your concern, but FICGS cannot be a bank and/or a casino, there's no refund or "epoint conversion/cashout"... FICGS organizes chess games with entry fee & money prizes, but players have to win a tournament/match to justify and get a money prize.
My suggestion is to find an advanced chess opponent so that the games do not last days/weeks/months. Surely a few ones would play you!
Thibault de Vassal (2017-10-09 21:29:57)
Ficgs is a money trap * BEWARE *
Well, I understand and I'm very sorry about that... if it can avoid such problems, be sure that I'll copy this part of the terms in the page "My account" where it is specified:
"Before to buy any ticket for tournaments with entry fee and money prizes, please read the terms and conditions, and more particularly entry fees, money prizes and money transfer sections."
And as you may guess, FICGS is much much more a pleasure to run for me than a money thing... Actually, the money prize part represent about nothing here and has always been a problem more than a solution at the end.
Your proposal is very generous anyway, otherwise many Epoints are free prizes so it may help to add ones, but you may also play other nice games and why not get this money prize at the end.
Thibault de Vassal (2017-10-09 22:08:13)
Ficgs is a money trap * BEWARE *
I have added the following text on the "My account" page, let's hope it will avoid such problems in the future:
"First of all, please note that FICGS does not work like a bank or a casino, you have to win tournaments to get a money prize, otherwise it is not possible to "cashout" or convert Epoints into money. If you didn't do it yet, have a look at the rules (textlink) on this specific point."
Steven DuCharme (2018-03-29 21:47:52)
Daily Chess World Champ.
I have sent my request via PM. This is self organized. One entrant per site. One total entrant thus far. No prize other than mention across my sites and forums. Original intent was top player of each site would battle for internet supremacy but I'll take whoever I can get :)
Thibault de Vassal (2018-04-09 03:55:44)
Real Poker Game
Hmm hmm, that's an interesting idea to dig! But there are many instant questions, starting with legality :) FICGS cannot organize any poker tournament with money prize, real or not. But there may be other ways.
And such a meeting wouldn't be easy for sure as we're quite far from each other (not speaking about me, out of the top 10 :))
About promotion, I just don't know if FICGS is kind of a "real" poker site but one thing is sure, it was time to come back to fundamentals (chess). Now that things are going better, I'll focus this way for the moment to attract more and more players, then the next goal will be to increase prizes (a lot).
John Hadden (2018-04-12 09:54:00)
Design
Hi... don't want to be annoying to the developers - in general the new style is more inviting than the old - but it is still pretty busy. I had to search for quite a while to even find what was going on. Still not quite sure if it is possible to have a game outside of a tournament - or how the tournaments work. Fair play for making tournaments with prizes... but Im not likely to pay to join if I don't know what's going on...
PS... I had to press post twice there...
Thibault de Vassal (2018-10-20 03:06:28)
No engine tournaments, no, no
I understand but in my opinion we have to accept this... This kind of tournament is a question of fun (to make mistakes as well) and honor (not to win but to play it by the rules!), no need to shame anyone publicly or to bring a climate of suspicion as everyone can make an opinion by watching/analyzing the games. But yes, it is possible/probable that a few players use engines even there... why, this is quite a mystery but it is always possible to cheat in this kind of tournaments.
As there's no prize or rating points to win, best is to ignore it IMO.
Thibault de Vassal (2020-05-22 23:26:59)
Pointless To Play The Kings Gambit ?
Hello Tim,
From FICGS start, I always had the same politics for "no engines" tournaments:
- It is possible to punish obvious cheating, but it will not be possible to prevent intelligent cheating... There's always a way to round the system.
- There are no prizes or "titles" in these tournaments, only the dishonor that other players think that one can play with engines.
Knowing that, I think that honest players can play for fun anyway, I tried it and enjoyed to lose :)
As a conclusion and to make it clearer, no action is taken in any case of using an engine in no engines tournaments. Allowing obvious cheating will help players to make their opinion on their opponents.
Herbert Kruse (2021-06-16 18:53:22)
What is the longest game of Big Chess?
b) When a player wins a tournament with an entry fee (not null) and prize, he can choose after the game(s) to keep E-Points (by default) instantly added in his FICGS account or, if he has E-Points enough in his account, a money prize. Entry fees and prizes in E-Points are published on the tournament page in "Waiting lists". If games in such a tournament have not been really played for a win, for example if a participant obviously lost quickly one or several games, these tournaments will not be considered as wins and the player showing this behaviour will lose his E-points involved in the tournament, that will be taken from the winner's account if necessary.
If you ask for a money prize, the tournament prize in E-Points will be taken from your account, then you'll be paid 70 % of the total entry fees in Euros, divided according to the number of winners in the tournament, ie. if you win your game(s) in a Gold 2-players tournament : 70 % of 200 = 140 Euros. This ratio may evolve anytime. (!!!)
is the last you are waiting for?
its 11 days since the first checkmate and my opponnet did not resign
Juri Eintalu (2021-09-09 02:09:40)
Venezuela has been dismissed from ICCF
ICCF announced:
"Venezuela was dismissed from the ICCF (2021-028)."
The number is the number of the proposal accepted by Congress.
In the proposal, it was said that the Venezuelan organizer of several correspondence chess tournaments had vanished with the prize money:
"presumably absconded with the promised prize money".
(https://www.iccf.com/Proposal.aspx?id=1341 )
I know that Venezuela organized several correspondence chess tournaments "in support of Venezuela". There are also rumours that because of the US sanctions, Cuba and Venezuela have difficulties with international money transfers.
Juri Eintalu (2021-09-09 19:32:44)
VENEZUELA HAS BEEN DISMISSED FROM ICCF
Of course, there are a lot of questions.
- Whether Venezuela politicized sport when organizing the correspondence chess tournament "in support of Venezuela"?
- Whether the International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) has provided any evidence that the Venezuelan chess organizer has escaped with the prize money?
- Whether the country can be punished solely because of the behaviour of one sports official?
- Whether the problem was actually about the economic sanctions on Venezuela, hindering international money transfers?
- Whether the dismissal of Venezuela from ICCF has hidden political motives?
Thus, there are many questions for chess historians.
Garvin Gray (2021-09-11 11:56:08)
VENEZUELA HAS BEEN DISMISSED FROM ICCF
Juri - Quite a few of your questions contain quite a lot of accusations, or at least a tone of accusations, or that those who took actions in dismissing Venezuela has some kind of hidden motives.
The decision to dismiss Venezuela was made by the National Delegates of each Federation of ICCF, after considering all the evidence before them.
This included unpaid prize money, where entry fees were charged, over at least two years, unpaid affiliated fees to the ICCF (same time period) and the National Delegate of Venezuela was offered many opportunities to pay back the money.
The National Delegate ran the tournaments, handled the money through paypal and in the end was in debt to the ICCF and the players of their tournament to the tune of roughly 7 to 10 thousand euros.
So, yes, ICCF has provided plenty of evidence that the 'organiser' took off with the entry fees of the players and did not pay out the advertised prize monies.
Multiple attempts were made by the ICCF Executive Board to reach a satisfactory compromise with the National Delegate, but in the end the National Delegate cut off all communications and went completely silent to everyone.
All Federations pay an affiliation fee to be part of ICCF. This amount is levied in part based on the number of members a Federation has, and also that countries economic position (GDP).
After reading all this, what other option was there for the other National Delegates to vote for?
In another proposal, which you have not referenced, the ICCF Executive board has promised that the prize money that was not paid out by the Venezuelan National Delegate would be covered by the ICCF, which will cost roughly 10,000 euro and will be paid out to the players.
So, to answer your questions after all this information:
1) No. This issue and your question are not related at all. It is not even certain if the Venezuelan National Delegate lived in Venezuela.
2) Yes, plenty of evidence was provided. Players had also reported that they had not received their prize money. I can report this as fact as I got burnt as a player in one of their events. So I know first hand that this occurred.
3) This has nothing to do with 'sports'.
This is a common misunderstanding about how ICCF works. ICCF is an association of Federations ie ICCF only recognises Federations. Therefore, officially ICCF can only take action formally against Federations and only works with the National Delegate from that Federation.
How the Federation conducts their business 'behind the scenes' is up to them and is none of the business of ICCF. It would be highly improper for ICCF to have a say in how any individual Federation ran their Federation.
What now occurs is that the remaining Venezuelan players are treated as isolated players. They can not represent Venezuela in team events, by they are free to play in any individual events.
Some of these players might be picked up by other Federations, if another Federation wants them.
4) Money transfers - As I already alluded to, it is not clear if the Venezuelan ND was even in Venezuela, but anyways, he had no trouble receive the entry fees, so money transfers by paypal were no issue.
If there was an issue, then they should not have run prize money tournaments
5) No political motives - This was a straight up case of whether the Venezuelan ND had taken off with the entry fees of the players and failed to pay out the prize money from many tournaments, as well as the Federation failing to pay their affiliation fees, as well as being in debt for other fees as well.
These are basic responsibilities for all Federations. Even if you want to lay all the blame of the Venezuelan ND, a case can be made as to ask what happened to any oversight from anyone else?
Or was the Venezuelan ND just a rogue operator?
This experience has left a sour taste in everyone's mouth and remedy steps have been taken to try and avoid this occurring again.
See other proposals.
Garvin Gray
Australia ICCF National Delegate
A. T. S. Broekhuizen (2022-02-28 12:29:24)
FICGS support to Ukraine
Let me explain about the idea of a beneficiary tournament: the entrance fee, will ensure immediate money for refugees. While there could be no prize.
Thibault de Vassal (2023-01-02 03:18:49)
poker reflection time
The prize is the one specified in the WCH waiting list page at the time it is awarded... it never changed so far so it will be 100 epoints.
Wow, different matter but I realize I never took the time to made the change discussed before. Thanks for the reminder.
Alan Ludgate (2026-04-01 05:26:40)
Post-tickets FICGS
Thanks for this post. Here are my ideas.
The problem for the 2400+ rated players is:-
most have left or stopped playing (not sure why) - so those who want to play have to reduce their activity or (probably) lose rating points. This is leading to a downward spiral.
To get more games played, how about:-
1. Award rating points as prizes.
And/or 2. Allow players to buy rating points, say 30 per year, provided they play at least say 10 games that year.
And/or 3. Players who play no games in a year to lose say 30 rating points. Players who play say 10 or more games in a year to get 30 rating points reward.
Adjust the numbers after a trial period.
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