http://www.ficgs.com/forum.html Last messages in FICGS forum http://www.ficgs.com/forum_read_7422-Minimum-rating-idea.html I should have said 'the threat of a death penalty'. The death penalty itself would certainly stop you from stealing!! http://www.ficgs.com/forum_read_7422-Minimum-rating-idea.html A common problem encountered in correspondance chess is that of strong players forefitting several games and their rating dropping by hundreds of points This spoils the tourny for lower rated players who often have a 2200 rated player in their group with a misleading rating of 1600. It also de-stabilises the ratings across the whole site as many players grades are false. Lastly, and of least concern because players who made the drop deserve some handicap - the artificially low-graded player has a whole year of uncompetitive matches as he waits to regain points. In o.t.b tournaments in England, a method employed to stop rating cheats is that a player who has won a certain class of tournament previously, cannot re-enter at that level. The equivalent here would be that your rating has a minimum value, equal to the highest rating requirement of a tournament class you have previously won. This seems to solve the problems experienced by many on this site. It may be said that the rating drop is a necessary deterrent to prevent players from doing this. My experience is that it occurs from factors out of one's control (illness) and any deterrant is irrelevant - just as a death penalty doesn't stop heroin addicts from stealing! What d'yall think? http://www.ficgs.com/forum_read_7416-My-chess-site.html More, more :) By the way it could be interesting to gather every chess blogs maintained by correspondence chess players... http://www.ficgs.com/forum_read_7416-My-chess-site.html Very nice! http://www.ficgs.com/forum_read_7414-The-Scheming-Mind.html I played it once, and got beaten by following the instincts from regular chess. Strange and slow game. It's much more a simulator of a battlefield than a game. http://www.ficgs.com/forum_read_7414-The-Scheming-Mind.html well 'the scheming mind' seems to be a no-engines no-tablebases site. But, for ficgs v 'the scheming mind' engine-use a matter of negotiation.. http://www.ficgs.com/forum_read_7414-The-Scheming-Mind.html Maybe we should try a FICGS vs. Scheming Mind match :-) http://www.ficgs.com/forum_read_7416-My-chess-site.html ... has been rejuvenated and I intend to add content more regularly. Address is still http://chessbazaar.mlweb.info I hope computer chess and correspondence chess fans will find some interesting info there. There is a linked blog where comments and suggestions are welcome. Marc http://www.ficgs.com/forum_read_7414-The-Scheming-Mind.html This is a well known website ! I did not know how to play "Shatranj", but it is fully explained on Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shatranj Maybe it is worth a try. http://www.ficgs.com/forum_read_7414-The-Scheming-Mind.html I provided a quote from Arthur Conan Doyle where Sherlock Holms says that excellence at chess is a mark of a scheming mind. Voila, there is a correspondence site called 'the scheming mind', and its motto is precisely that quote! http://www.schemingmind.com/ . This offers some variants also; it is the only site I have seen which offers the 7th century persian chess 'shatranj' at correspondence time controls.. [engines won't help in that one!] http://www.ficgs.com/forum_read_7412-FIDE-rating-list-july-1st-2009.html Ivanchuk lost a lot of rating points, but it would have been OK if FIDE had recognised a tournament he won convincingly, in which case he would have had almost 30 points more. Perhaps this is a hidden punishment from FIDE for Ivanchuk's doping incident during the chess olympiad in Germany earlier this year. Pity how politics can influence our game. http://www.ficgs.com/forum_read_7412-FIDE-rating-list-july-1st-2009.html The new FIDE rating list is out, Veselin Topalov (2813) still tops it 25 points ahead of FIDE world champion Viswanathan Anand (2788), in third place Magnus Carlsen (2772)... All players rated over 2700 : 1 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2813 2 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2788 3 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2772 4 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2768 5 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2760 6 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2759 7 Leko, Peter g HUN 2756 8 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2756 9 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2755 10 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2751 11 Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2740 12 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2739 13 Wang, Yue g CHN 2736 14 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2733 15 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2732 16 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2727 17 Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2721 18 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2717 19 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2717 20 Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2717 21 Eljanov, Pavel g UKR 2716 22 Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2716 23 Dominguez Perez, Leinier g CUB 2716 24 Alekseev, Evgeny g RUS 2714 25 Akopian, Vladimir g ARM 2712 26 Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2710 27 Motylev, Alexander g RUS 2710 28 Malakhov, Vladimir g RUS 2707 29 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime g FRA 2703 30 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2703 31 Rublevsky, Sergei g RUS 2703 32 Bu, Xiangzhi g CHN 2702 33 Ni, Hua g CHN 2701 http://www.ficgs.com/forum_read_7404-WCH6.html Right, Robert :) Usually, I change the number later.. I just did it. WCH 7 .. already ! http://www.ficgs.com/forum_read_7404-WCH6.html At least stage 1 has been played. How could anyone sign up for this event now, if it is already between stages 1 and 2? http://www.ficgs.com/forum_read_7368-Suggestion-for-thematic-tourny.html Good idea, I think http://www.ficgs.com/forum_read_7368-Suggestion-for-thematic-tourny.html Is the Budapest gambit a good choice, or is it a choice that refute white as Yugi would say ? http://www.ficgs.com/forum_read_7404-WCH6.html Thank you so very much Thibault, sorry for my impatience, my bad, as usual Wayne http://www.ficgs.com/forum_read_7404-WCH6.html Hi Wayne, it is too early yet to open the waiting list, I only set the date to announce it but that's right, it may be not clear enough. You won't miss it anyway :) http://www.ficgs.com/forum_read_7404-WCH6.html I want to enter, it says deadline nov 1 2009, but it says's closed. whats's up mate ?. (second request) Wayne http://www.ficgs.com/forum_read_7404-WCH6.html Thibault. Why does it say closed ? Wayne