Correspondence Chess, Poker & Go server rules

Membership

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FICGS.com - Terms and conditions.

01. Preliminaries
02. Services offered
03. Membership
04. Entry fees
05. Prize money
06. Warranties and limitations of liability
07. Money transfer
08. Security and privacy policy
09. Laws
10. Change history

Annexes

11. General rules

11.1. Netiquette
11.2. Regulations

11.3. Playing rules

11.3.(a) Chess, Chess 960
11.3.(b) Big Chess
11.3.(c) Go
11.3.(d) Poker Holdem

11.4. Time rules
11.5. Adjudications
11.6. Withdrawals

11.7. Rating rules

11.7.(a) Correspondence chess rating
11.7.(b) Advanced chess rating
11.7.(c) Big chess rating
11.7.(d) Go ranks
11.7.(d) Poker holdem rating

11.8. Titles

12. Tournament rules

12.1. Chess championships
12.2. Chess freestyle cup
12.3. Go championship
12.4. Go freestyle cup
12.5. Poker Holdem championship
12.6. Poker Holdem freestyle cup

01. Preliminaries

This document describes the "Terms and Conditions" of FICGS, detailing services offered by FICGS and usage of these services by the members. FICGS may change these conditions whenever necessary. Members will be notified about these changes on the website. As the main part of the site is written in english and can't be traduced, it is required to understand english language to register for an account. Members recognize they're able to understand written english.

The members understand and agree to these conditions when :

- they fill in the registration form for new members and send it to FICGS.
- they continue using the services of FICGS after changes are done.

It is required that players review, understand, accept and agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions and recognize the decisions of the site's administrators as final, before participating in any game or tournament. Members shall periodically review these Terms and Conditions at a rate not less than once monthly. Please read them in their entirety.

When a member doesn't agree to the conditions (or changes to the conditions) anymore, he's free to cancel membership by sending an email to .

02. Services offered by FICGS

FICGS provides the correspondence chess server (www.ficgs.com) to the members for playing correspondence chess, Go and poker tournaments. Members access the server through the internet. A member must provide all equipment, including a computer and modem, necessary to establish a connection to the World Wide Web. Additionnaly he must provide an access to the World Wide Web and pay any telephone service fees associated with such access.

Before entering a waiting list, please ensure that the game you want to play (with or without entry fee, particularly Poker Holdem) is authorized for your age in your country, e.g. Algeria, Iran, Jordan, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Palestine, Yemen, South Korea.

FICGS organizes correspondence chess and Go server tournaments, administers and distributes money prizes for FICGS tournaments with entry fee and referees all tournaments played on www.FICGS.com.

FICGS offers technical support for members and answer questions about the website on the forum. FICGS edits, publishes and controls FICGS tournament rules.

FICGS may, whenever it likes, expand, change, or partially discontinue these services. But the correspondence chess server itself must stay operable and all running tournaments must be allowed to terminate normally.

FICGS products and expands the server software. Member may propose new features of the software on the forum, but members couldn't require certain features. The features offered by FICGS are regarded as the optimum considering costs and effects.

Among features offered by FICGS :

- Games : Go, Chess, Chess 960, Big Chess, Poker Holdem.
- Instant tournament registration, automatic tournament creation.
- Rated class standard and rapid chess tournaments.
- Special events.
- Money tournaments (also 2 players matches, standard and thematic).
- Free tournaments with prizes.
- Real time countdown in seconds for each game.
- Encryption forms and other security features.
- Wikichess, the open chess repertoire project.
- Open Chess, Go and Poker encyclopedia. Forum, blog and chat.
- Graphical interface available for each game (see Help).
- Email notification (own and / or opponent's moves).
- Vacation (45 days per year), maximum accumulated time for each game.
- Player statistics, future chess rating calculation in real time. Rating history.
- Different appearances of the game board, multi-language interface.
- Live games (rss available), full database available for all members.
- Correspondence Chess rating calculation every two months.
- Advanced chess, Go, Poker holdem, Big chess rating calculation in real time.
- Move entry by clicking on pieces and destination fields, or plain text format.
- Vote for the best games played on the server.

... and many other features !

03. Membership

FICGS membership is free of charge and for life (except for suspension, cancellation or expulsion). Every member gets a username by FICGS and, in some cases, also a password. The member could change his password whenever he wants. To cancel membership, just send an email to

Every member must register with his real name. Double registrations are not allowed and are automatically detected. FICGS will close member accounts, when a member violates FICGS rules badly or acts against FICGS. If the member provides then no reasonable explanation for his behaviour, FICGS will close his account permanently. Please note that closing or cancelling an account means the account will be inactive, not deleted. It is not possible to close an account then to open another one, particularly with the same name.

Titled players (GM, SM, IM chess players, 5 dan & higher ranked Go players) may be asked in some cases to send a copy of their passport or their organization ID card when registering.

The site reserves the right to terminate any account or decline or limit your participation in any site activity for any reason, including, but not limited to, harassment of other participants, posting of offensive material, making libelous statements, or any breach of the terms of the agreement between you and the site. By registering for an account and/or participating in any tournament offered on the site, you consent to allow the site administrators to access your account information and, if necessary only, your conversations with other players that are stored on the server, to investigate complaints or other allegation of abuse.

When a member cancels his membership or FICGS closes him out, all his ongoing games will be rated as a loss for him. FICGS will not pay back any unused tournament entry fees on his account. By registering for an account, you agree that FICGS can keep all players informations, statistics and games played by the member in the database and display it online. By registering, a member recognizes to accept emails sent by FICGS server and won't regard them as Spam-mails.

By choosing a ISO-3166 country code, any member accepts that corresponding flag is displayed for him, in an informative way only. See the countries directory for more informations.

04. Entry fees

Note: the following feature is not available on the applications (Android...):

FICGS.com offers a peer-to-peer internet destination where participants can play a variety of free skill-based games and / or can compete in fee-based multi-player tournaments. Just like in real land-based tournaments, the players pay an entry fee for participation in online tournament events, and may win cash prizes. Please note that faster time controls (correspondence blitz, lightning and bullet) are available in money tournaments.

There is no chancy game (e.g. Poker holdem for money) with an entry fee and prize at FICGS, thus according to the definitions and laws in France and in most countries at least, there is no gambling.

Every member has an E-Points account at FICGS. If the member doesn't buy tickets for tournaments with entry fee, his account may be empty, but usually he's given a few E-Points so that he can try for free some server features that are eventually not free.

E-Points : To summarize Entry fees and Prize money sections, you can buy E-Points as tickets (1 E-Point is worth 1 Euro, see My account after you connect to the server for more details) then play tournaments with entry fees and prizes (silver, gold) with low rakes in E-Points, finally ask for money prizes instead of E-Points for finished won tournaments : According to the prize won in each tournament, 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 % and more for the chess freestyle cup).

All members can enter for free FICGS tournaments without entry fee, but tournaments organized on invitation by FICGS and tournaments that require a rating that doesn't fit with member's one. Also it is not possible to enter new rapid or standard tournaments (but world championship cycles and tournaments with entry fee) if your number of running games - rapid or standard - exceeds a certain limit of games. Tournaments with a faster time control are unlimited.

Tickets for a higher class tournament : However, when you win a rated tournament (only after that you receive an email specifying it or when the tournaments list shows your name as winner or co-winner of the tournament) or if your rating is at most 50 points below the low rating limit of the next class tournament's waiting list, it is now possible to buy a ticket for the next class tournament's waiting list (for example if you win a chess class A tournament, you may ask for a ticket for the next class M tournament) for 10 Epoints if the following conditions are filled : 1) No more than 2 players obtained the best score in the tournament. There's no winner otherwise. 2) The player's TER must not be more than 200 points below the low rating limit of the tournament's waiting list. 3) At most 2 players may buy a ticket to enter the same waiting list. 4) Five players at least must have entered the tournament's waiting list already so that you can buy a ticket for this tournament. 5) The possibility to buy a ticket is valid after the official end of the tournament [when the tournaments list shows winners, not leaders of the tournament]. 6) As the price for any ticket is 10 Epoints, the player's account must be credited of at least 10 Epoints.

Any member who wants to enter a tournament with an entry fee must have E-Points and eventually buy or win tickets in E-Points for such tournaments while respecting laws of his country (and state). FICGS tournaments with entry fee are not open to players of a country in particular, players who choose to enter fee-based tournaments do so at their own discretion and risk. As in any money-based game, there is the risk of loss of money. Player fully understands that he/she can elect to play free games that are also available at FICGS.com

Please note that in the case a player forfeits during a silver (or gold or platin) game, particularly when no move is played from his part, Epoints won by his opponent will return to the server. Consequently it is useless to accept a challenge from a player who forgot to cancel it to win Epoints. Any championship prize will return to the server as well when no move is played during the last stage.

FICGS makes no representations or warranties, implicit or explicit, as to your legal right to participate in any tournament offered on the site. You are subject to all laws of the state, province and/or country in which you reside and from which you access the site and are solely responsible for obeying those laws. You agree the site cannot be held liable, if laws applicable to you restrict or prohibit your participation.

Age restriction for fee-based tournaments : Fee-based tournaments are designed as entertainment services for adults and are therefore restricted to individuals of legal age. As a typical guideline for the United States, players must be over 18 years old. However, if the player resides in Nebraska or Alabama, he/she must be at-least 19 years of age, and if in Mississippi, over 21 years old. All minors in their respective jurisdiction are strictly forbidden to play fee-based games.

There is no difference between games played at FICGS and chess or Go tournaments or other skill-based games that have been played for cash or prizes in the offline world for hundreds of years. The outcome of all FICGS games is based upon the players' skill. This is in sharp contrast to lotteries or bingo games typically found in casinos, where every player ultimately faces the same random odds. Although the distinctions between skill-based games and games of chance are clear, there are countries and a few states within the U.S. that wouldn't have yet permitted skill-based games to be played for cash and/or prizes. For those places, FICGS tournaments with entry fees can't be played.

By using FICGS.com server, players agree to be bound by the following :

- Player is at least the age of legal majority in the jurisdiction in which player resides.
- Player understands that he/she may play FICGS games free, or participate in fee-based tournaments.
- Player does not find games played at FICGS or fee-based events offensive, objectionable, unfair or indecent.

You agree to hold FICGS, its employees, officers, directors, licensees, affiliates, partners, subsidiaries, advertising, promotion or other agencies, and agents completely harmless and fully indemnify them from any and all costs expenses, liabilities and all damages whatsoever that may arise as a result of player's entry or use the web site, use of any materials at the web site, entry or participation in fee-based tournaments, participation in the games, or, incurring losses or the acceptance of any prizes.

Tickets (Silver : 10 E-Points = 10 Euros, Gold : 100 E-Points = 100 Euros - including value added tax if there's one) are sold to members on the website on the page "My account". It is also possible to win E-Points by becoming an affiliate (see the page "My account") or by winning free tournaments with prizes. When you buy tickets, a virtual account in E-Points is created (or modified) with a limited lifetime of 10 years, meaning the account in E-Points will be emptied at the end of this period, after at most two warnings to the member, asking him to retire his money prizes. Member's E-Points 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. You can't have more than 5000 E-Points in your account, in this case you must ask for money prizes. Please note that it is no more possible to play Epoints against a player using the same internet address, this to avoid some possible abuse.

05. Prize money

a) 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 during free events at the tournament director's discretion.

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.

Please note that in case of a draw in 2-players regular chess tournaments, the prize may be divided : Player Black will fully take back his E-Points while player White will take the rest. In this case, it will be announced on the tournament page before you enter it.

Consequently, there are two types of charge according to your choice to get a money prize or a prize in E-Points. Money prizes have to be compared to E-Points prizes that are much higher : The more games you play before to ask for a money prize, the less charged games are (quickly near to zero).

Tournaments with entry fees are commonly called "Bronze", "Silver" and "Gold". "Platin" tournaments may be open for special events only. Please note that there are no money prizes for money thematic tournaments in case of a draw, as E-points gained may vary according to the opening.

Tickets in E-Points can't be sold to other members or paid back. You have to win prizes to exchange your E-Points with cash money. Money prizes will be paid to prize winners of a tournament after all games of the tournament are finished. Money prizes will be paid through Paypal only.

For accounts reasons, FICGS may once per year stop to sell tickets for tournaments with an entry fee during a few weeks, and empty at the end of this period (usually at the end of december) all E-Points from any account. In this case members will be paid according the current ratio.

If there are taxes or social fees in the home countries of the prize winners, they are responsible for these payments. It's up to the members to declare the amounts won on the site if necessary.

06. Warranties and limitations of liability

Members agree that using the server and our services is at members sole risk.

FICGS makes no warranty that the service will be uninterrupted or error free. FICGS will repair server damages as fast as possible. If possible and when the problem duration is known accurately (and not too short, usually > day), server down times will not be recorded for the thinking time of the players. In example, games lost on times because of an interruption that lasted less than 24 hours will not be restored, consequently it is strongly recommended to keep more than 1 day on your clocks.

Members can't make FICGS liable for server downtimes or data losses. It's strongly recommended to FICGS shall not be liable for what members will do, particularly if they don't respect these "Terms and Conditions", for what members will publish in the forum, news, comments or messages to other members, or for other informations automatically generated and published, including links to other websites.

07. Money transfer

Tickets for tournaments with entry fee must be paid on FICGS accounts (see below). When you send us money, please remind us your last name, first name and member id (number displayed in "Preferences") and send please a short email to with these informations and which account you've paid which amount. If there are any bank fees for the transfer, the member has to pay them.

When buying tickets for tournaments with an entry fee, you are required to enter the following information in "My account" (please use the form) : Permanent residential address, country, phone number and informations about the account (ie. an email for a Paypal account) from where you will send and receive money. You represent and warrant that all information you supply to the site is complete and accurate. Knowing submitting incomplete or inaccurate information will result in immediate termination of your account and forfeiture of any prizes to which you are otherwise entitled.

Members must keep their personal account information (including password) strictly confidential and are solely responsible for their account transactions. It is your direct responsibility to securely login through SSL encryption forms and logout FICGS.com to prevent any unauthorized access to your informations. You agree that the site is not liable for any loss caused by any unauthorized use of your account informations or other method of payment by a third party in connection with this site.

Any attempt to defraud the site through the use of credit cards or other methods of payment, regardless of the outcome, or any failure by you to honor legitimate charges or requests for payment will result in immediate termination of your account, forfeiture of any prizes to which you maybe otherwise entitled, and civil and/or criminal prosecution.

By registering for an account and/or participating in any tournament offered on the site, you agree that FICGS is not responsible for any damage, loss, or injury resulting from tampering, or other unauthorized access or use of the site or your account. Any attempt to gain unauthorized access to the site systems or any account, interfere with procedures or performance of the site, or deliberately damage or undermine the site is subject to civil and/or criminal prosecution and will result in immediate termination of your account and forfeiture of any all prizes to which you may have been otherwise entitled to.

To send money (entry fees) to FICGS or receive money (prizes) from FICGS, the easiest and cheapest way is to create (if necessary) and to use a Paypal account :

Paypal is a tool that allows you to safely and instantly send and receive money via email. You can send money from your credit/debit card, transfer money to and from your bank account. Paypal is one of the best solutions for international money transfers, it accepts most currencies.

It is also possible to make a bank transfer to send money to FICGS. If there are any bank fees for the transfer, the member has to pay them. To receive money from FICGS, please use a Paypal account.

More informations, FICGS bank account and FICGS account at Paypal are displayed at the "My account" page after you login. Usually your account in E-Points will be updated a few hours after your payment, but it may take up to 15 days.

08. Security and privacy policy

When using the applications "Chess Trainer", "Blindfold Chess", "Chess 960" or "Random Chess" (or other ones delivered on parallel websites such as Playchess.app, Echecs.app, Jugarajedrez.app, Xadrez.app or also Pokerholdem.app and Playgogames.app ...) for Android, iOS or Facebook, no registration is required, it may be optional though. No personal data is retained by FICGS server. Cookies are used only to memorize your rating and options like 3D.

However, every member can register with his real name at FICGS server. Therefore FICGS will ask for personal data at the registration dialogue and save it. FICGS uses this data for internal use only. FICGS will publish on the web some informations such as the name of the member and his country. Optional informations may be published such as his birthdate, last connection date and photo. The member agrees with that by saving his data and/or using the FICGS services. No personal data is used by the website for an advertising purpose or to select people in any way. Any member can see and change or ask to change or delete these data anytime by sending a message to the webmaster by email or through the form in "My account".

When it's possible, FICGS provides SSL data transmission, combined to other security features that offer maximum security for your data exchanges with the server. Your browser must support HTTPS protocol to use this feature, also you will have to accept and save FICGS auto-signed certificate. It's up to the member to use SSL encryption forms to guarantee the best security for data transfers, in this case verify the URL starts with https://. It's strongly recommended to use passwords at least 8 characters (letters & numbers) long and to change it regularly. Also you should activate Javascript on your browser in order to use all FICGS features. Please note if you login with the right form and if URL doesn't start with HTTPS, then your password will be directly sent through the internet, which is not secure. Passwords are hashed (md5 function + salt) in the database, so that no-one can retrieve your password, even the webmaster.

A few users may have their IP address changing constantly. They will probably get an error message by using the secure form (with or without HTTPS protocol). When using the secure form, your password will be hashed before to be sent through the internet, but SSL encryption is enough to secure your data. To them, it is strongly recommended to use the SSL encryption right form.

FICGS will never ask you to enter your password in an email form, if such a thing happens please contact immediately the webmaster. Please always connect to FICGS by typing the complete address in your browser ie. http://www.ficgs.com , https://ficgs.com/login.html or http://www.ficgs.com/login.html . This avoids phishing, a well known method used by hackers who could try to steal your login and password by redirecting you on another website.

FICGS respects the privacy of the players data saved on the server. FICGS will not disclose member information to other third parties then mentioned above, especially not for advertising purposes.

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09. Laws

This agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of France, the member agrees to submit to the personal jurisdiction of France for any cause or action arising out of this agreement. In the event that any portion of this agreement is deemed by a court to be invalid, the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.

Intellectual property :

If not specified, the general structure, texts, images, graphism, documents, databases and every element of the site are the exclusive property of FICGS. This site is governed by french and international laws for author's rights and intellectual propery. Names and trademarks mentioned on the site are the property of their owners respectively. Any use or copying, partially or in its entirety, of the site, elements of the site and/or informations included in the site, is a counterfeiting punished by intellectual property laws. However, as chess and Go games shouldn't belong to anyone, it is allowed to copy games while the source remain in the game informations (PGN format).

Hypertext links :

FICGS authorizes any web site to link to a page in www.ficgs.com, however can forbid these links for any reason. Mirroring this website is strictly forbidden. FICGS declines any responsability for the content available on any website pointed by links on FICGS. Any access to a website pointed by a link on FICGS is at user's own risks. FICGS declines responsability for the content available on any website where can be found links to www.ficgs.com

Cookies :

When the user connects to the site, a "cookie" may be installed in his browser. This data allows him not to enter his username and/or password each time he connects to the site. The user may refuse these cookies by desactivating this option in the browser's parameters..

Declaration :

According to the law 78-17 of 1978 january 6 about data processing, files and liberties, the processing of nominative data made on the site has been declared to the CNIL (Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés) on 2007 may 14 under the number 1233567 v0. To access or correct data according to the site's regulations, please see contact below.

FICGS - Skill games competitions organizer.
Siret number 49780213200017 - RCS Guéret

Contact : Thibault de Vassal
Email :

Address : Jupille 23600 St Pierre Le Bost, France

10. Change history

Last update : 2012, september 24

11. General rules

11. 1. Netiquette

Computer assistance is authorized, as any other kind of help but in the "no-engines" tournaments.

It is possible to leave public comments for your games and to send private messages to other members. No player may post in forums or send to another member any voluntary message that contains abusive, insulting, provocating, advertising, vulgar, foul, racist, sexist or other discriminatory or politically sensitive content. Also, no player will make draw offers repeatedly, particularly several times in a row. Doing so may lead to get blocked by your opponents, finally to get a limited access to the server (until to solve the problem).

If a player receives such a message, he may use the "report" link and accepts to use the "block" link that appears then (when playing a move) rather than replying to it. Responding to a provocative message is strictly forbidden and may lead to get a limited access to the server during a few weeks, at the moderator's discretion. In this case, please just warn the moderator or webmaster in private.

To maintain a friendly community, any cheating complaint should be addressed to the referee and should not be made publicly in games comments or in the forum, otherwise with the same consequences. Please note that no time will be added to any clock in any case, the game will continue in all cases, in example arguing to wait for the referee's decision will not be accepted. Finally, you agree that the webmaster, administrator and moderators have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic, comment or message at any time should they see fit.

Publication of a private message without the authors expressed permission is strictly forbidden.

As a user you agree to any information you have entered in the registration form and while using the site being stored in a database, as well as your ip address in order to prevent cheating & hacking. While this information will not be disclosed to any third party without your consent, FICGS cannot be held responsible for any hacking attempt that may lead to the data being compromised. Your email address is used for confirming your registration details and password, for sending new passwords (should you forget your current one), your moves played in your games, your opponents comments and moves and other informations sent by FICGS.

11. 2. Regulations

All chess play shall be in accordance with The Official Rules Of Chess as defined by the Federation Internationale Des Echecs (FIDE). The latest version can be found on the FIDE Homepage. If there is a conflict between those rules and these, the FICGS rules and regulations shall take precedence.

All go play shall be in accordance with The Official Rules Of Go as defined by the International Go Federation (IGF). If there is a conflict between those rules and these, the FICGS rules and regulations shall take precedence.

The rules assume that FICGS referees have the necessary competence, sound judgement and absolute objectivity. Too detailed a rule might deprive the arbiter of his freedom of judgement and thus prevent him from finding the solution to a problem dictated by fairness, logic and special factors. FICGS appeals to all its members to accept this view.

11. 3. Playing rules

All moves and other communications shall be transmitted through the server. Graphical interfaces are only used as assistance to write the moves, but it's up to the player to send a valid move, using correct notation. Moves are verfied by the server though, but if you manage to send a wrong move, your opponent can claim the point by calling referee (or referee can adjudicate the game himself). Verbal draw offers are not valid, only draw offers by checking the draw offer box must be considered by your opponent.

Moves sent cannot be taken back in any case (but a server problem), even if both players agree to do it, this rule has been discussed in the forums and chosen by most players to avoid various problems. Also, there is no way to stop the clocks, players cannot claim that they stopped to play after they called the referee for any reason to ask for more time on their clock. The game must continue in all cases, the referee will act as soon as possible (please use the form in the 'My account' page if there is any urgency) and may give a time penalty, for example in case of harassment of the other player.

a. Chess (and chess 960) moves require the use of English algebraic notation using PGN (Portable Game Notation). However, some rare ambiguous moves must be written their easiest way to read. It is advised to let the graphical interface generate the move. But on the Chess Trainer, Blindfold Chess, Chess 960 & Random Chess apps for Android, the 50 moves rule is not implemented (it is nonsense at correspondence time controls), please call referee if an obvious draw is not accepted by your opponent. Please note that a forced checkmate in more than 50 moves won't be considered as a draw. Here is an example of a game :

[Event "FICGS__CHESS__CLASS_B__000001"]
[Site "FICGS"]
[Date "2006.3.8"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Rambo,John"]
[Black "Balboa,Rocky"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 exf4 4.Bb5+ Bd7 5.Nf3 Bxb5 1/2-1/2

b. 'Big chess' games are played on a 16 x 16 chessboard. Moves are given by 'origin square'-'destination square' with coordinates a1 to q16 (e.g. : m15-m13). Please note that i letter doesn't exist on the graphical interface, so any move with letter i won't be understood, consequently the move is false. You just have to let the graphical interface generate the move. See the complete big chess rules. Here's a game :

[Event "FICGS__BIG_CHESS__MATCH__000001"]
[Site "FICGS"]
[Date "2006.3.8"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Rambo,John"]
[Black "Balboa,Rocky"]
[Result "*"]

1. k2-k4 m15-m13 2.*

c. Go games are played on a 19 x 19 goban. Go moves are given by coordinates a1 to t19 (e.g. : s13), as showed on the go viewer. Please note that i letter doesn't exist on the viewer, so any move with letter i (e.g. : i5) won't be understood by the viewer, consequently the move is false. Please let the graphical interface generate the move. Komi is 7.5 points. Please note that you can pass, just entering 'pass'.

Rules for Go are chinese rules, as defined by the Chinese Weiqi Association. Both players must play until one resign, both players pass without agreeing the result (then call referee) or game is adjudicated. It's up to the players to discuss the score at the end of the game, so calling referee should be exceptional. Scoring method is area scoring with chinese counting. Positional superko rule apply, it's impossible to repeat a previous board position ('incorrect move' message would be displayed). Please call referee only if there's a disagreement. Here's a game :

[Event "FICGS__GO__TOURNAMENT__000001"]
[Site "FICGS"]
[Date "2006.3.8"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Rambo,John"]
[Black "Balboa,Rocky"]
[Result "*"]

1.k13 c8 2.j3 c16 3.g10 h12 4.*

A move is legal if it fulfils the international federation laws of the game. An illegal or ambiguous move provokes the loss of the game. Mirroring moves : It's strictly forbidden to play simultaneously the same game with black on a board and white on the other, against two different players or the same one, playing black moves like the opponent in the game with white and playing white moves like the opponent in the game with black.

d. Rules for Poker Holdem (or Poker Texas Hold'em) are official rules. Both players must play until one resign, or game is adjudicated (when one player wins 3 rounds). A poker holdem game is played in 3 winning rounds of 100 chips by player, played in "no limit" mode, meaning that the first player to get 3 points wins the game. Each point is won when a player has no chips when finishing a hand. The minimal bet is always 1 chip and does not depend on the blind's value. The small blind's value is doubled after the 50th hand, then after the 70th, 80th, 90th and 100th hand (the big blind then is 64 chips) of each round. At FICGS, the shortcut "raise" is used to call then bet two times the difference in the pot, the shortcut "bet" is used to bet half the opponent's pot, but in all cases you can bet from 1 chip (if possible) to "all in". If you try to bet more chips than your opponent has, you actually bet his number of chips left. Here's a game :

[Event "FICGS__POKER_HOLDEM__TOURNAMENT__000001"]
[Site "FICGS"]
[Date "2006.3.8"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Rambo,John"]
[Black "Balboa,Rocky"]
[Result "*"]

1.1 2.check check 3.4 4 4.*

A move is legal if it fulfils the laws of the game.

11. 4. Time rules

Any move in any game shall be played in a maximum period of 60 days, otherwise the game will be adjudicated on time. If the remaining time for your next move is less than your remaining total time, an additional clock will be displayed between brackets next to the regular one. Time accumulated in a game can't exceed 100 days (60 days for poker holdem). Please don't call referee since you see your opponent's clock 'Out of time', you just have to wait a few hours a robot automatically adjuges the game.

Please be aware that it's possible sometimes your internet provider or a point between the server and you may block the connection between the server and you, or block an email. Even it's a rare thing, it's strongly recommended to always have several days left at your clock. No result will be reconsidered or time added due to such a technical problem. Also, although you should receive an email as soon as a money blitz, lightning or bullet game starts, it is strongly recommended to check the chat bar and "My games" page every minute after you entered a waiting list and before the game starts. If you cannot do this, you should retire from the waiting list as specified on the tournament page, before to leave. No result will be reconsidered if you lose a game on time without having played a single move.

Vacation : It is possible to take a maximum of 45 days leave per year, called vacation. During this time, your clocks are frozen and it is no more possible to play, in order to reduce the effects on time controls. It is not possible to take vacation during a blitz, lightning or bullet game (time control : less than 1 day + increment) and it is not possible to entry a blitz, lightning or bullet tournament waiting list during a vacation period. Each january 1st, the server sets the number of days to 45 for all players.

Please note that the time limit per move clock still runs during vacation. Take your days carefully, as it's not possible to take back or displace your leave dates. However you can add days leave during this period.

During blitz , lightning or bullet games (time control : 1 day or less + increment), the page "My games" will be auto-refreshed frequently, a pop-up window will automatically appear when your opponent play a move. To use this feature, please verify that Javascript is activated in your browser and pop-up windows are authorized for domains ficgs.com and www.ficgs.com by your browser. Also when you play a move, you may click on the (Wait) link that will redirect you to the auto-refreshed viewer page. A pop-up window will appear when your opponent play a move and you'll be automatically redirected to the 'move' page where you'll have to play your next move.

Notice : In waiting lists, blitz, lightning and bullet games are in advanced tournaments category. What is called blitz at FICGS is actually a "correspondence blitz game", with a standard time control in common chess language (1 hour + 1 minute / move). What is called lightning at FICGS is actually a "correspondence lightning game", with a rapid time control in common chess language (20 minutes + 30 seconds / move). What is called bullet at FICGS is actually a "correspondence bullet game", with a fast time control in common chess language (5 minutes + 15 seconds / move).

11. 5. Adjudications

In some cases, the game continues but the result is obvious.

If time control is superior to 1 day and if a player doesn't want to resign (or accept draw) and obviously last the game, his opponent may report to referee a first time. If the player takes 30 days more to finish the game, his opponent may call referee another time, then the game will be adjudicated. An analysis submitted by a player should contain sufficient information so that no doubt is possible. This may include a sequence of moves, but in some circumstances it may be sufficient to claim a win or a draw on the basis of material or positional advantage. Final decision belongs to referee.

If time control is inferior to 1 day and if a player doesn't want to resign (or accept draw) and obviously last the game, his opponent may report to referee. As it is not possible to referee all advanced games (blitz, lightning, bullet) in real time, it is asked to the players to discuss the result, eventually with other players in the chat bar. Finally, if players do not agree the result, please let the clock run out of time, a referee will confirm or correct the result later. If there's an entry fee for the game, it is strictly forbidden to play other games with an entry fee before the referee confirm or correct the result. All games played in such conditions will be canceled and the member could be banned from the site.

There is no time limit for games else but the clocks, but it may be announced that certain multi-stages tournaments will have one. At the end of this time limit, a referee committee will adjudicate games.

In the sad case of the death of a player that we might learn by a way or another, his/her ongoing games will be adjudicated but will not be taken in account for his/her next rating. The player's account will be permanently closed then.

11. 6. Withdrawals

There is no withdrawal, from any tournament, however in the case of multi-stages e.g. world championship tournaments, the games won't be rated if a player warns the referee before the tournament starts and at most 15 days after a new stage started but the first one, then a replacement will occur if possible (this special rule is particularly dedicated to players surprisingly invited to an advanced wch stage, as it would take too much time to wait for confirmations from all qualified players). If a player forfeits rated games in a multi-stages tournament without a reason, his qualification for the next stages is cancelled. All games are played until a player resign, accept draw, or lose on time. Games are not rated for the winner if less than 10 moves have been played by his opponent (most probably forfeit, silent withdrawal or obvious cheating) or in global forfeit cases, including losses on time whatever the context in a 2 players tournament, ie. chess championship's 8-games matches, except games where an advantage is obvious, in this case at most 2 of these games will be rated.

Any player who forfeits (by resignation or silent withdrawal) his games in an equal or winning position, without giving an explanation to referee in a rated chess tournament could lose his other games in the tournament, get a limited access to the server and couldn't enter waiting lists anymore during a period of 2 months, at the referee's discretion.

A special case could occur in the multi-stages tournaments (ie. FICGS chess world championship), a player who did not play any move in 15 days (at his clock) could be replaced. Games wouldn't be rated as a loss for him in this case.

11. 7. Rating rules

a) Correspondence chess rating

The correspondence chess rating list takes account of rated chess games played at a time control superior to 1 day, usually rapid (30 days + 1 day / move) and standard (40 days + 40 days / 10 moves) time controls.

The established rating list displays players who finished at least 9 rated games (or who obtained an established rating in another organization) and who connected during the last 2 years. The preliminary rating list displays players who finished at least 1 rated game, less than 9 rated games and who connected during the last 2 years. The complete rating list displays all registered players. The active players list displays players who connected during the last 2 months.

The FICGS rating scheme is a numerical scheme, in which percentage results can be exchanged into rating differences, and rating differences into percentage performance probabilities. It is mainly based on the principles of rating calculations of prof. Arpad Elo.

The rating formula :

New Elo = ((Coef x Elo) + (Games x Performance)) / (Coef + Games)

Coef = 16 - (9 - P)

P is the number of rated games played at FICGS, P=9 (max) if rating is established.

Performance = Average Elo (TER) opponents + Bonus

Bonus is given by the Percentage (100 * Points / Games) obtained :

%	Bonus	%	Bonus	%	Bonus	%	Bonus
--		87	322	74	184	61	80
99	677	86	309	73	175	60	72
98	589	85	296	72	166	59	65
97	538	84	284	71	158	58	57
96	501	83	273	70	149	57	50
95	470	82	262	69	141	56	43
94	444	81	251	68	133	55	36
93	422	80	240	67	125	54	29
92	401	79	230	66	117	53	21
91	383	78	220	65	110	52	14
90	366	77	211	64	102	51	7
89	351	76	202	63	95	50	0
88	336	75	193	62	87	--

If the percentage is < 50, just replace % by (100-%) and Bonus by (-Bonus)

Please note that Bonus is limited to 470 points. Also, during an inflation period, any negative bonus is divided by 2.

The rating calculation does not take account of wins obtained by a stronger player when the Elo difference is greater than 350 points, the same with losses by a weaker player.

In case of a loss or draw against a player rated more than 100 points less, the opponent's rating considered in calculation is : Elo - 100.

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

A player has an established rating if he finished at least 9 rated games before the last rating calculation, otherwise his rating is called provisional. A new player with an established rating (and title) from ICCF or IECG automatically gets an established equal rating (and title) on FICGS. A new player with an established rating (and title) from FIDE or USCF gets a provisional equal rating (and title). Titles recognized by FICGS not from FIDE / ICCF will be renamed as FICGS titles. A new player with a rating > 1800 from other organizations gets a 1800 provisional rating. (up to 2000 in certain cases - if the player uses a chess engine)

b) Advanced chess rating

The advanced chess rating list takes account of rated chess games played at a time control inferior to 1 day, usually bullet (5 minutes + 15 seconds / move), lightning (20 minutes + 30 seconds / move) and blitz (1 hour + 1 minute / move) time controls.

You have to play at least one rated advanced chess game to appear in the rating list. Advanced chess ratings are first estimated from current correspondence chess ratings (current rating), then adjusted in real time after each result :

Performance = Opponent Current Rating if the game is drawn, + 350 if the game is won, -350 if the game is lost.

The following bonus / malus applied to White and to Black makes ratings fair, as it is not possible to force a player to take White or Black before a game :

(White) Performance = Performance - 50
(Black) Performance = Performance + 50

If there's a winner and if his rating is below 2400, his new rating his :

New Rating = ((18 x Current Rating) + (2 x Performance)) / 20

Otherwise :

New Rating = ((19 x Current Rating) + (1 x Performance)) / 20

The rating calculation does not take account of wins obtained by a stronger player when the Elo difference is greater than 350 points, the same with losses by a weaker player.

In case of a draw or loss against a player rated more than 200 points less, the opponent's rating considered in calculation is : Current Rating - 200. A player who wins a game cannot lose Elo points, a player who loses a game cannot win Elo points.

Tournament Entry Ratings (TER) are displayed in an informative way only.

c) Big chess rating

The big chess rating list takes account of rated big chess games played at any time control, usually rapid (30 days + 1 day / move) time control.

You have to play at least one rated big chess game to appear in the rating list. Big chess ratings are first estimated from current correspondence chess ratings (current rating -300 points, with at least 1400), then adjusted in real time after each result :

Performance = Opponent Current Rating if the game is drawn, + 350 if the game is won, -350 if the game is lost.

If there's a winner and if his rating is below 2000, his new rating his :

New Rating = ((18 x Current Rating) + (2 x Performance)) / 20

Otherwise :

New Rating = ((19 x Current Rating) + (1 x Performance)) / 20

The rating calculation does not take account of wins obtained by a stronger player when the Elo difference is greater than 350 points, the same with losses by a weaker player.

In case of a draw or loss against a player rated more than 200 points less, the opponent's rating considered in calculation is : Current Rating - 200.

Tournament Entry Ratings (TER) are displayed in an informative way only.

d) Go ranks

The Go rating list takes account of rated Go games played at any time control, usually rapid (30 days + 1 day / move) time control.

It is possible to specify your Go rank in order to appear in the Go ranking list. Only official Go ranks (ie. from EGF, AGA, Zhongguo Qiyuan, Hankook Kiwon, Nihon Ki-in, Kansai Ki-in...) will be taken in account if greater than 10 kyu. Other ranks (from servers DragonGo, IGS, KGS or self-estimated...) will be limited to 10 kyu.

Go ratings are first estimated from Go ranks (n kyu give a 2100 - 100 * n rating, n dan give a 2000 + 100 * n rating, n dan pro give a 2630 + 30 * n rating), then adjusted in real time after each result :

Performance = Opponent Current Rating + 350 if the game is won, -350 if the game is lost.

Case of a win (rating > 999) : New Rating = ((9 x Current Rating) + (1 x Performance)) / 10
Case of a win (rating < 1000) : New Rating = ((8 x Current Rating) + (2 x Performance)) / 10

Case of a loss : New Rating = ((9 x Current Rating) + (1 x Performance)) / 10

The rating calculation does not take account of wins obtained by a stronger player when the Elo difference is greater than 350 points, the same with losses by a weaker player.

In case of a loss against a player rated more than 200 points less, the opponent's rating considered in calculation is : Current Rating - 200.

Tournament Entry Ratings (TER) are displayed in an informative way only. A player who did not enter a Go rank when subscribing starts with a minimal rating of 0 (21 kyu). There's no negative elo rating (22 kyu and under).

e) Poker holdem rating

The poker holdem rating list takes account of rated poker holdem games played at any time control.

If you have no poker rating, you have to play at least one rated poker holdem game to appear in the rating list. Poker holdem ratings are adjusted in real time after each result :

Performance = Opponent Current Rating + 350 if the game is won, -350 if the game is lost.

Case of a win (rating > 1999) : New Rating = ((39 x Current Rating) + (1 x Performance)) / 40
Case of a win (rating < 2000) : New Rating = ((38 x Current Rating) + (2 x Performance)) / 40

Case of a loss : New Rating = ((39 x Current Rating) + (1 x Performance)) / 40

The rating calculation does not take account of wins obtained by a stronger player when the Elo difference is greater than 350 points, the same with losses by a weaker player.

In case of a loss against a player rated more than 200 points less, the opponent's rating considered in calculation is : Current Rating - 200.

Tournament Entry Ratings (TER) are displayed in an informative way only.

11. 8. Titles

Chess titles, like ratings are calculated by FICGS. Titles are obtained with 3 title norms. Titles are :

FICGS Grand Master (FGM)
FICGS Senior International Master (FSM)
FICGS International Master (FIM)
FICGS Email Master (FEM)

It is possible to update the best title obtained from FIDE, USCF, ICCF or IECG just by sending an email to

There can't be any confusion between FICGS titles, that begin with F letter, and official titles delivered by the chess and correspondence chess federations.

Titles are displayed in the rating list only for players with a rating > 2200 points.

A title norm (FEM, FIM, FSM, FGM) can be achieved in a chess tournament (time control > 1 day) with at least 7 players and 6 games played per player. This table shows the required percentage to gain a title norm in a tournament according to the rating average :

Average rating	Category	FEM	FIM	FSM	FGM

2201 - 2225	-1	73
2226 - 2250	0	70
2251 - 2275	1	67	76
2276 - 2300	2	64	73
2301 - 2325	3	60	70
2326 - 2350	4	56	67	76
2351 - 2375	5	53	64	73
2376 - 2400	6	50	60	70
2401 - 2425	7	47	56	67	76
2426 - 2450	8	44	53	64	73
2451 - 2475	9	40	50	60	70
2476 - 2500	10	36	47	56	67
2501 - 2525	11	33	44	53	64
2526 - 2550	12	30	40	50	60
2551 - 2575	13		36	47	56
2576 - 2600	14		33	44	53
2601 - 2625	15		30	40	50
2626 - 2650	16			36	47

12. Tournament rules

All tournaments created automatically follow the same algorithm for the selection of colours. The first player in the waiting list plays first against the second one. Then colors are alternated. Please note that the referee may change the rating ranges if a tournament takes too much time to start (such cases are quite rare).

Groups (round-robin tournaments) of the FICGS chess world championship are built by an algorithm in order to obtain similar elo averages : Players are ordered by rating, then placed in groups following a linear distribution, ie. if there are 5 groups to build : #player-#group , 1-1 , 2-2 , 3-3 , 4-4 , 5-5 , 6-5 , 7-4 , 8-3 , 9-2 , 10-1 , 11-1 , 12-2 ... and so on.

If a player forfeits without playing a single move in a tournament, a replacement may occur.

FICGS CHESS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP :

FICGS chess world championship is a 5 stages tournament. The 8 players with the strongest established ratings at the start of the tournament play first a 3 stages (quarter-final, semi-final, final) knockout tournament. The others play a 3 stages single round-robin tournament (stage 1, stage 2, final). All games during the whole cycle are played in 30 days + 1 day / move. As a reminder, the use of chess engines (Rybka, Fritz, Shredder...) is allowed and encouraged in wch chess tournaments. Norms are only possible in the round-robin tournaments.

Quarter final 1
-------------------
Quarter final 2
-------------------
Quarter final 3
-------------------
Quarter final 4
-------------------

Stage 1 group 1
---------------------
Stage 1 group 2
---------------------
Stage 1 gr. 3,4...
---------------------
Stage 1 gr. M
---------------------
Stage 1 gr. SM
---------------------
Semi final 1
----------------
Semi final 2
----------------

Stage 2 gr.1
------------------
Stage 2 gr.2
------------------
Stage 2 gr.3,4..
------------------

Knockout final
--------------------

R. robin final
-----------------

Candidates
----------------

WCH final
--------------

Round-robin tournaments are groups of 5, 7, 9, 11 or 13 players, there will be double round-robin tournaments for 5 players groups only. The winner of each group is qualified for the next stage. In case of equality, the player with the strongest tournament entry rating (TER) is qualified for the next stage. Groups are built grading all players by rating and distributing them to obtain similar elo averages. If possible, players with a rating superior or equal to more or less 2150 will play 1st stage in class groups, SM for the highest rated ones & M for the lowest rated ones. The 2 players with the highest scores (or TER if necessary) in SM groups & the winner of each M group will be qualified for the round-robin final (stage 3), at most half the players in M groups will play stage 2 while the players obtaining the lowest scores will be eliminated. The player obtaining the lowest score in SM groups will be eliminated as well while the others will play round 2. Winners of round-robin stage 2 tournaments will play the round-robin final. Players may be invited to complete a group or to replace a forfeiting player.

The knockout tournament is played into 8 games matches. The special rule (avoiding short draws) is that in case of equality (4-4), the winner is the player with the strongest tournament entry rating if all games are draw, the player with the lowest tournament entry rating if not all games are draw. The winner is qualified for the next stage.

Knockout tournament winner will play round-robin cycle winner in a 8 games candidates final match (stage 4). In case of equality (4-4), the knockout tournament winner is qualified for stage 5 if all games are draw, the round-robin cycle winner if not all games are draw.

At last, the player qualified is the challenger for FICGS world champion title. If current world champion defends his title, they will play a 12 games match. In case of equality (6-6), the winner is the former world champion.

In all cases, if tournament entry ratings are equal, previous ratings (from the most recent to the older ones) will be taken in account. In the case of a withdrawal, the games won't be rated if a player warns the referee before the tournament starts and at most 15 days after a new stage started but the first one, then a replacement will occur if possible (this special rule is particularly dedicated to players surprisingly invited to an advanced wch stage, as it would take too much time to wait for confirmations from all qualified players)

FICGS CHESS CUP CHAMPIONSHIP :

FICGS chess cup championship is a 2 stages round-robin tournament. As a reminder, the use of chess engines (Stockfish, Komodo, Houdini, Chessbase engines...), databases & tablebases is allowed and encouraged in these chess tournaments.

Round-robin tournaments are groups of 5 to 13 players, according to the registered players. There will be double round-robin tournaments in case of groups of less than 7 players. Groups are built grading all players by rating and distributing them to obtain similar elo averages. The highest rated player will be seed 1 and placed in group 1, second highest rated player will be seed 2 and placed in group 2 and so forth for seed 3, seed 4, etc. till all players have been allocated to their respective groups. The winner(s) of each group is (are) qualified for the next stage, or declared cup champion at stage 2. In case of equality, players with the highest number of points are all qualified for next stage. There won't be any replacement of forfeiting players in these tournaments.

In the case of a withdrawal, the games won't be rated if a player warns the referee before the tournament starts and at most 15 days after a new stage started but the first one.

FICGS CHESS KING SUPERTOURNAMENT :

FICGS chess king supertournament is a big 1 stage round-robin thematic tournament. For this unrated tournament, engines & databases are strictly forbidden, just like any other kind of help. Your own creativity & endurance will be your only weapons :)

For even more fun, the opening is the famous King's Gambit in its main line (1.e4 e5 2.f4). This special event played just for fun (unlike FICGS chess WCH & CUP) is also dedicated to players who use the applications on mobile phones. Time control is 30 days + 1 day/move.

Be aware that according to the number of players, this marathon tournament can bring a huge load of games during a while. It is recommended to use the fast interface with "next" option activated in Preferences to jump faster from one game to another. Also, you'll be warnt when engines are not allowed in a game.

In case of equality, players with the highest number of points are all declared winners. There could be replacements if withdrawing players warn the referee before the tournament starts and at most 15 days after it started.

FICGS CHESS FREESTYLE CUP :

FICGS advanced chess "freestyle" cup is a 6 rounds swiss tournament with entry fee and prize, played during 2 consecutive days. 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 three rounds will start at the date indicated as "deadline" at 13:00, 15:00 and 17:00 server time. The last three rounds will start at 13:00, 15:00 and 17:00 server time the next day. It is possible to enter the waiting list until the end of the tournament (please also warn the tournament director). Please do not try to create any game by yourself as all games will be created by the tournament director.

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 now have to enter the waiting list by themselves (with an entry fee), but they will recover their Epoints if they play all rounds. 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 50% of the entry fee, will be added to the entry fee 2 days before the start of the tournament.

FICGS CHESS STANDARD TOURNAMENTS :

FICGS correspondence chess standard tournaments are single round-robin tournaments involving 7 players, double round-robin tournaments involving 5 players or 2 games matches involving 2 players (on the website only). 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 40 days + 40 days / 10 moves. As a reminder, the use of chess engines (Rybka, Fritz, Shredder...) is allowed and encouraged in standard chess tournaments. Norms are possible in round-robin tournaments.

If there's a prize :

Round-robin tournaments - In case of equality, the prize is equally shared by the winners.

2 games matches - The prize for each game is half the total prize. 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.

FICGS CHESS RAPID TOURNAMENTS :

FICGS correspondence chess rapid tournaments are single round-robin tournaments involving 7 players or 2 games matches involving 2 players (on the website only). 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 days + 1 day / move. As a reminder, the use of chess engines (Rybka, Fritz, Shredder...) is allowed and encouraged in rapid chess tournaments. Norms are possible in round-robin tournaments.

If there's a prize :

Round-robin tournaments - In case of equality, the prize is equally shared by the winners.

2 games matches - The prize for each game is half the total prize. 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.

FICGS CHESS BLITZ TOURNAMENTS :

FICGS advanced chess blitz games with or without entry fee are 1 game matches, involving 2 players. 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 1 hour + 1 minute / move. Title norms are not possible.

The player who entered the waiting list first will play White, it is possible for him to withdraw his entry by clicking on the arrow beside his name on the tournament waiting list page.

Do not forget to retire from the waiting list if needed as the game will begin as soon as there are 2 players in the waiting list. It is no more possible to withdraw once the game started.

If there's a prize :

1 silver game match (regular) - According to the result :

(White wins) 1-0 : Epoints for White: 18 - Epoints for Black 1.8
(Black wins) 0-1 : Epoints for White: 0 - Epoints for Black 19.8
(Draw) 1/2-1/2 : Epoints for White: 8 - Epoints for Black 11.8

1 gold game match (regular) - According to the result :

(White wins) 1-0 : Epoints for White: 180 - Epoints for Black 18
(Black wins) 0-1 : Epoints for White: 0 - Epoints for Black 198
(Draw) 1/2-1/2 : Epoints for White: 80 - Epoints for Black 118

FICGS CHESS LIGHTNING TOURNAMENTS :

FICGS advanced chess lightning games with or without entry fee are 1 game matches, involving 2 players. 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 20 minutes + 30 seconds / move. Titles norms are not possible.

The player who entered the waiting list first will play White, it is possible for him to withdraw his entry by clicking on the arrow beside his name on the tournament waiting list page.

Do not forget to retire from the waiting list if needed as the game will begin as soon as there are 2 players in the waiting list. It is no more possible to withdraw once the game started.

If there's a prize :

1 silver game match (regular) - According to the result :

(White wins) 1-0 : Epoints for White: 18 - Epoints for Black 1.8
(Black wins) 0-1 : Epoints for White: 0 - Epoints for Black 19.8
(Draw) 1/2-1/2 : Epoints for White: 8 - Epoints for Black 11.8

1 gold game match (regular) - According to the result :

(White wins) 1-0 : Epoints for White: 180 - Epoints for Black 18
(Black wins) 0-1 : Epoints for White: 0 - Epoints for Black 198
(Draw) 1/2-1/2 : Epoints for White: 80 - Epoints for Black 118

1 game match (thematic) - In case of a draw, the side for which the opening is not favourable will win the whole prize (see examples below). Consequently the prize will never be divided. Opening may change from time to time, so please look at the opening carefully before to enter the waiting list :

Warning: These conditions are available only if you enter the CHESS THEMATIC SILVER or GOLD waiting list.

In case of a draw, White will win the whole prize if the opening is :

1) e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 Bc4 Bc5 b4
2) Nf3 d5 Ng1 e5

In case of a draw, Black will win the whole prize if the opening is :

1) e4 e5 Nf3 f5
2) e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 Bc4 Nf6 Ng5 Bc5
3) e4 Nc6 d4 Nb8

As only one thematic opening can be available at once, you may ask the webmaster for a change.

FICGS CHESS BULLET TOURNAMENTS :

FICGS advanced chess bullet games with or without entry fee are 1 game matches, involving 2 players. 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 5 minutes + 15 seconds / move. Titles norms are not possible.

The player who entered the waiting list first will play White, it is possible for him to withdraw his entry by clicking on the arrow beside his name on the tournament waiting list page.

Do not forget to retire from the waiting list if needed as the game will begin as soon as there are 2 players in the waiting list. It is no more possible to withdraw once the game started. You can save some precious time by choosing the touch-move option in Preference to send you moves without having to press the Send button after each move.

If there's a prize :

1 silver game match (regular) - According to the result :

(White wins) 1-0 : Epoints for White: 18 - Epoints for Black 1.8
(Black wins) 0-1 : Epoints for White: 0 - Epoints for Black 19.8
(Draw) 1/2-1/2 : Epoints for White: 8 - Epoints for Black 11.8

FICGS SPECIAL BIG CHESS TOURNAMENTS :

FICGS big chess tournaments are rated single round-robin tournaments, involving 7 players.

FICGS big chess is a chess variant, on a chessboard 16 x 16. Coordinates are a1 to q16 (no letter i). Please use only 'xy-xy' notation generated by the graphical interface. The special rule is no castling is possible. See rules for more information.

All games are played in 30 days + 1 day / move. Norms are not possible.

FICGS SPECIAL CHESS 960 TOURNAMENTS :

FICGS chess 960 tournaments are unrated single round-robin tournaments, involving 7 players. Start position for all games is given by the board 'chess 960' showed in help section.

All games are played in 40 days + 40 days / 10 moves. Norms are not possible.

FICGS SPECIAL THEMATIC CHESS TOURNAMENTS :

FICGS correspondence chess thematic tournaments are unrated single round-robin tournaments, involving 7 players. The first moves are announced.

All games are played in 40 days + 40 days / 10 moves. Norms are not possible.

FICGS SPECIAL CHESS NO ENGINES TOURNAMENTS :

FICGS chess no engines tournaments are unrated single round-robin tournaments, involving 7 players. The special rule for these tournaments is that chess engines, databases and opening books are strictly forbidden.

All games are played in 40 days + 40 days / 10 moves. Norms are not possible.

FICGS GO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP :

FICGS Go world championship is a 2 stages tournament. First stage is a single round-robin tournament, involving the 9 highest rated players who entered the waiting list. The winner of this tournament is the challenger for FICGS world champion title. In case of equality, the player with the strongest tournament entry rating (TER) is qualified for the next stage. If tournament entry ratings are equal, ratings when the next stage begins will be taken in account. If current world champion defends his title, he will play a 5 games match (3 games with Black, 2 games with White) against his challenger.

All games are played in 30 days + 1 day / move. Komi is 7.5 points. Rules for Go are chinese rules, as defined by the Chinese Weiqi Association. Both players must play until one resign, both players pass (then resign or call referee) or game is adjudicated. It's up to the players to discuss the score at the end of the game, so calling referee should be exceptional. Scoring method is area scoring with chinese counting. Positional superko rule applies, it's impossible to repeat a previous board position ('incorrect move' message would be displayed).

Please note that you can pass, just entering 'pass', but one player has to resign or call referee to end the game.

FICGS GO FREESTYLE CUP :

FICGS advanced Go "freestyle" cup is a 6 rounds swiss tournament with entry fee and prize, played during 2 consecutive days. 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 + 10 seconds / move. Komi is 7.5 points.

The first three rounds will start at the date indicated as "deadline" at 13:00, 15:00 and 17:00 server time. The last three rounds will start at 13:00, 15:00 and 17:00 server time the next day. It is possible to enter the waiting list until the end of the tournament (please also warn the tournament director). Please do not try to create any game by yourself as all games will be created by the tournament director.

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 Go rating list) during the tournament.

Players ranked 3 dan or higher are invited to enter the waiting list for free. Please just send a message to the webmaster through My account page to register. 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.

Rules for Go are chinese rules, as defined by the Chinese Weiqi Association. Both players must play until one resign, both players pass (then resign or call referee) or game is adjudicated. It's up to the players to discuss the score at the end of the game, so calling referee should be exceptional. Scoring method is area scoring with chinese counting. Positional superko rule applies, it's impossible to repeat a previous board position ('incorrect move' message would be displayed).

Please note that you can pass, just entering 'pass' but one player has to resign or call referee to end the game.

FICGS GO STANDARD TOURNAMENTS :

FICGS Go standard tournaments are single round-robin tournaments involving 7 players or 2 games matches, involving 2 players (on the website only). 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 days + 1 day / move. Komi is 7.5 points.

Rules for Go are chinese rules, as defined by the Chinese Weiqi Association. Both players must play until one resign, both players pass (then resign or call referee) or game is adjudicated. It's up to the players to discuss the score at the end of the game, so calling referee should be exceptional. Scoring method is area scoring with chinese counting. Positional superko rule applies, it's impossible to repeat a previous board position ('incorrect move' message would be displayed).

Please note that you can pass, just entering 'pass' but one player has to resign or call referee to end the game.

If there's a prize :

Round-robin tournaments - In case of equality, the prize is equally shared by the winners, rounded to the superior number if needed.

2 games matches - The prize for each game is half the total prize.

FICGS GO LIGHTNING TOURNAMENTS :

FICGS Go lightning games with or without entry fee are 1 game matches, involving 2 players. 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 20 minutes + 30 seconds / move. Komi is 7.5 points.

The player who entered the waiting list first will play Black, it is possible for him to withdraw his entry by clicking on the arrow beside his name on the tournament waiting list page.

Do not forget to retire from the waiting list if needed as the game will begin as soon as there are 2 players in the waiting list. It is no more possible to withdraw once the game started.

Rules for Go are chinese rules, as defined by the Chinese Weiqi Association. Both players must play until one resign, both players pass (then resign or call referee) or game is adjudicated. It's up to the players to discuss the score at the end of the game, so calling referee should be exceptional. Scoring method is area scoring with chinese counting. Positional superko rule applies, it's impossible to repeat a previous board position ('incorrect move' message would be displayed).

As it is not possible to referee all Go lightning games in real time, results and accounts may be corrected after the game ended if players don't agree the result, in this case please let the clock run out of time, it is strictly forbidden to start another game with an entry fee before the referee confirms or corrects the result.

Please note that you can pass, just entering 'pass' but one player has to resign or call referee to end the game.

FICGS GO BULLET TOURNAMENTS :

FICGS Go lightning games with or without entry fee are 1 game matches, involving 2 players. 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 5 minutes + 15 seconds / move. Komi is 7.5 points.

The player who entered the waiting list first will play Black, it is possible for him to withdraw his entry by clicking on the arrow beside his name on the tournament waiting list page.

Do not forget to retire from the waiting list if needed as the game will begin as soon as there are 2 players in the waiting list. It is no more possible to withdraw once the game started. You can save some precious time by choosing the touch-move option in Preference to send you moves without having to press the Send button after each move.

Rules for Go are chinese rules, as defined by the Chinese Weiqi Association. Both players must play until one resign, both players pass (then resign or call referee) or game is adjudicated. It's up to the players to discuss the score at the end of the game, so calling referee should be exceptional. Scoring method is area scoring with chinese counting. Positional superko rule applies, it's impossible to repeat a previous board position ('incorrect move' message would be displayed).

As it is not possible to referee all Go lightning games in real time, results and accounts may be corrected after the game ended if players don't agree the result, in this case please let the clock run out of time, it is strictly forbidden to start another game with an entry fee before the referee confirms or corrects the result.

Please note that you can pass, just entering 'pass' but one player has to resign or call referee to end the game.

FICGS POKER HOLDEM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP :

FICGS poker holdem world championship is a 2 stages round-robin tournament. All games are played in 30 days + 1 day / move.

Single round-robin tournaments are usually groups of at least 5 players, there may be double round-robin otherwise. The winner of each group is qualified for the next stage. In case of equality, the player with the strongest tournament entry rating (TER) is qualified for the next stage. If tournament entry ratings are equal, ratings when the next stage begins will be taken in account. Players obtaining the best score in the final stage share the title and prize. Groups are built grading all players by rating and distributing them to obtain similar elo averages. Players may be invited to complete a group or to replace a forfeiting player.

Rules for poker holdem are official rules. You may find more information about the FICGS betting structure here. Both players must play until one resign or game is adjudicated. One game is played in 3 winning rounds of 100 chips by player played in no limit mode. The minimal bet is always 1 chip and does not depend on the blind's value. The small blind's value is doubled after the 50th hand, then after the 70th, 80th, 90th and 100th hand (the big blind then is 64 chips) of each round.

FICGS POKER HOLDEM FREESTYLE CUP :

FICGS advanced poker holdem "freestyle" cup is a 6 rounds swiss tournament with entry fee and prize, played during 2 consecutive days. 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 + 10 seconds / move.

The first three rounds will start at the date indicated as "deadline" at 13:00, 15:00 and 17:00 server time. The last three rounds will start at 13:00, 15:00 and 17:00 server time the next day. It is possible to enter the waiting list until the end of the tournament (please also warn the tournament director). Please do not try to create any game by yourself as all games will be created by the tournament director.

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 poker holdem rating list) during the tournament.

Players rated 2200 or higher are invited to enter the waiting list for free. Please just send a message to webmaster through My account page to register. 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.

Rules for poker holdem are official rules. You may find more information about the FICGS betting structure here. Both players must play until one resign or game is adjudicated. One game is played in 3 winning rounds of 100 chips by player played in no limit mode. The minimal bet is always 1 chip and does not depend on the blind's value. The small blind's value is doubled after the 50th hand, then after the 70th, 80th, 90th and 100th hand (the big blind then is 64 chips) of each round.

FICGS POKER HOLDEM STANDARD TOURNAMENTS :

FICGS poker holdem standard tournaments are single round-robin tournaments involving 7 players or 2 games matches involving 2 players (on the website only). 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 days + 1 day / move.

Rules for poker holdem are official rules. You may find more information about the FICGS betting structure here. Both players must play until one resign or game is adjudicated. One game is played in 3 winning rounds of 100 chips by player played in no limit mode. The minimal bet is always 1 chip and does not depend on the blind's value. The small blind's value is doubled after the 50th hand, then after the 70th, 80th, 90th and 100th hand (the big blind then is 64 chips) of each round.

If there's a prize :

Round-robin tournaments - In case of equality, the prize is equally shared by the winners, rounded to the superior number if needed.

2 games matches - The prize for each game is half the total prize.

FICGS POKER HOLDEM LIGHTNING TOURNAMENTS :

FICGS poker holdem lightning games with or without entry fee are 1 game matches, involving 2 players. 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 20 minutes + 30 seconds / move.

The player who entered the waiting list first will play first, it is possible for him to withdraw his entry by clicking on the arrow beside his name on the tournament waiting list page.

Do not forget to retire from the waiting list if needed as the game will begin as soon as there are 2 players in the waiting list. It is no more possible to withdraw once the game started.

Rules for poker holdem are official rules. You may find more information about the FICGS betting structure here. Both players must play until one resign or game is adjudicated. One game is played in 3 winning rounds of 100 chips by player played in no limit mode. The minimal bet is always 1 chip and does not depend on the blind's value. The small blind's value is doubled after the 50th hand, then after the 70th, 80th, 90th and 100th hand (the big blind then is 64 chips) of each round.

FICGS POKER HOLDEM BULLET TOURNAMENTS :

FICGS poker holdem lightning games with or without entry fee are 1 game matches, involving 2 players. 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 5 minutes + 15 seconds / move.

The player who entered the waiting list first will play first, it is possible for him to withdraw his entry by clicking on the arrow beside his name on the tournament waiting list page.

Do not forget to retire from the waiting list if needed as the game will begin as soon as there are 2 players in the waiting list. It is no more possible to withdraw once the game started. You can save some precious time by choosing the touch-move option in Preference to send you moves without having to press the Send button after each move.

Rules for poker holdem are official rules. You may find more information about the FICGS betting structure here. Both players must play until one resign or game is adjudicated. One game is played in 3 winning rounds of 100 chips by player played in no limit mode. The minimal bet is always 1 chip and does not depend on the blind's value. The small blind's value is doubled after the 50th hand, then after the 70th, 80th, 90th and 100th hand (the big blind then is 64 chips) of each round.