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Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-08 13:10:47)
Things to be implemented...
Hello to all... and thank you for your confidence in this very new server (when no game started yet ! maybe today...)
I expected a high average rating, but not so much :)
The last update provoked the first bug -> in this forum. Sorry to all who tried to post here. It should work now.
Here are things to be implemented in the future :
- Vacations (until, time limit by move is 2 months)
- Conditional moves
- A better interface for the forum...
Don't hesitate if you have ideas to improve the website !
Best wishes.
Hannes Rada (2006-04-08 13:20:52)
Thank you !
Thank you Thibault for this great job of creating a chessfriend clone. Chessfriend had definitely the best and most convenient user-interface for server play. I Hope many chessfriend-players will migrate to this server. Once again thank you for your work and support of the correspondence chess community ! Furthermore -There is an overlap in the class tournaments concerning the minimun elo requirement. Can you clarify this ? - No holiday entitlement is mentioned in the terms and conditions hannes
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-08 13:37:17)
Class tournaments overlap
Hello Hannes. Thank you for support :)
The overlap offers the possibility for players to register to several class tournaments, at least to choose. I think it won't be used a lot, but it could be something more for the stronger players who will choose to register to "under-class" tournament as well as other players who may play sometimes with stronger players.
Feel free to tell me what you think.
Thibault
Hannes Rada (2006-04-08 13:58:53)
Elo Overlap
Thibaut, I think this "feature" is okay. I just was a little bit confused about it and could not decide which tournament to choose.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-08 14:49:23)
FICGS titles
As you may have read on TCCMB forum, ICCF officials reacted when they learnt about FICGS titles. My idea was it first to be informative (titles from ICCF/IECG/FIDE), because I think players like to know who they play against, particularly if their opponents are titled. It seems obvious to me that FICGS titles are FICGS ones, not "official", not ICCF or FIDE.. even if words are quite the same (titles are FICGS IM, not IM).
I would like to know what you think about that. Do you think FICGS titles should be renamed (ie. FEM, FIM, FSM, FGM), or do you think there's no possible confusion between FIDE/ICCF/IECG/FICGS titles ? This is an interesting debate I invite you to follow :
http://pub11.bravenet.com/forum/924995304/fetch/552912/
Thank you for your advices.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-08 17:02:06)
First tournament started !
A small bug delayed (1 hour) the start of the first FICGS tournament (class A) ! Sorry to the players. It's fixed now.
Have good games :)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-08 17:51:15)
Drag & drop...
... isn't implemented yet ! The interface to play is a click & click one.
Go to "My messages", choose a game (click Game # or the rook)... the board appears.. click on the piece to move, wait the page loading, click the destination square, then submit.
Feel free to give me your impressions about the interface. Thank you in advance.
Thibault
Hannes Rada (2006-04-08 19:06:49)
Vacations
The most important issue to be implemented is imho the vacation. I think otherwise many potential players (me included) will be prevented from joining a tournament. How many days a year would you allow ?
Hannes Rada (2006-04-08 19:12:59)
Titles
I thing titles provide an incentive for players and their wording is not really important. To avoid potential conflicts with other bureaucratic organisations you should maybe rename them to FEM, FIM, FSIM, FGM ...
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-08 19:18:26)
Vacations
I think 40 days for vacations is right. What do you think about ? (it may depend on tournament category, ie. rapid tournament shouldn't allow vacations)
Hannes Rada (2006-04-08 19:32:44)
vacations
40 days is fine for me. I've 31 days leave in a year and I ususaly use them all for travelling and visiting foreign countries. I had no experience with rapid tournaments on the cfc - server. However they also allowed 40 days in a year. Maybe otherwise many player would not participate. I for one had to go several times on business trips for a few days and in this case it would risk losing games in a rapid tournament if there is no possibility for taking leave.
Per Lea (2006-04-08 23:03:27)
Vacations
In this modern world, not even travelling abroad will stop you from being able to play: you will probably find an internet cafe near by. Or you may have internet access in your hotel room, or if you visit business colleagues, they will probably give you access to a PC. Too bad if you're TOO dependent on Fritz, of course, but....
Hannes Rada (2006-04-09 00:43:50)
Travel destinations
>In this modern world, not even > travelling abroad will stop you from > being able to play: you will > probably find an internet cafe near > Or you may have internet access in > your hotel room, or if you visit > business colleagues, they will > probably give you access to a PC. > Too bad if you're TOO dependent on > Fritz, of course, but.... Normally I spend my holiday far away from the so called civiliations. Destinations like Papua New Guinea, Micronesia or Ethiopia are my favorite places. So there is no chance for communications and also no interest for playing chess. In 2 weeks I am heading to Vanuatu .....
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-09 10:16:50)
Duplication
Hello Marc ! I thought players (I first) precisely would appreciate something different and this totally "live" concept. I don't think many correspondence chess players will try to cheat this way... Furthermore, I already did implement processes to DETECT 'double' games.. and rules clearly forbid these methods.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-09 11:12:49)
FICGS council / staff
Hello to all.
As I just said on TCCMB about the server, I clearly don't want to reproduce the Chessfriend waste... For obvious reasons, I won't administer alone the whole server forever. That's why I want to create a council-staff and to turn FICGS at least partly towards a IECG-like structure...
Feel free to tell me if you're interested to take part of the adventure !
Best wishes.
Per Lea (2006-04-09 11:41:46)
Rating improvement...
2141? Now you mention it... I had simply forgotten the latest list! (Hooray! I am 5 points stronger than I thought! Everyone in A_000001 beware!)
Per Lea (2006-04-09 11:50:32)
Vacations
OK, Hannes, you're right. When you leave "The modern world" my comments no longer apply... And, by the way: I fully support the idea of some sort of "vacation". After all, not everyone is obsessed with chess 24 hours/day. There are other valuable things in life as well! Often, it can be fun just to relax, and forget all about difficult middle-games, irritating colleagues at work and the disappointments of your local football team and just go away - to Vanuatu (wherever that mey be)
Per Lea (2006-04-09 21:51:02)
Suggested improvement
When clicking on "My games", only a list with one line representing each game should appear (as on ICCF, Chessfriend and I think all other servers I have encountered - and there are quite a few!) With many games running, a short overview is sufficient. Now I have to scroll down to a particular game, even though I only have 6 games running. I definitely think you should look to ICCF and Chessfriend to get some good ideas in this respect.
Hannes Rada (2006-04-09 23:21:02)
games overview
> and just go away - to Vanuatu >(wherever that mey be) Between the Australian East Coast and the Fiji Islands :-) And I agree with Per's proposal to have only a short line with the most important game data, instead of the whole pgn-data (under my games and under tournaments)
Per Lea (2006-04-10 01:32:41)
Games overview
Thibault: Thanks for quick and positive response. Hannes: thanks for the support (I've also had support from Håkon Anda, in a personal mail)! I hope others agree as well.
Per Lea (2006-04-10 09:52:36)
Games appearing in short list
Thanx for obeying my wish - now the "My games" list is much easier to read. But why can't I just click on one of the games in this list when I want to make a move? If you prefer, you could put a symbol (such as the white or black rook) next to the games where it is my move, to make it easier to see where it is my move. Then there is really no need to list the games (where it is my move) under "My messages" as well.
Patrice Verdier (2006-04-10 13:43:36)
Status of the games
It will be interesting to indicate the status of the game in the list of current games. It's important to know who must played. Example : "You turn", "Not your turn"
Hannes Rada (2006-04-10 21:57:30)
Job specification
Generally speaking I am interested. But what about a job specification :-) To be honest, I've no idea about go ..:-) But I've experience in administrating a phpbb - Forum. Hannes
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-11 05:18:57)
FICGS council / staff
About job specification, as I said, I would like FICGS to be a place that fits to the most, and not under a dictatorship (even mine :)), so the idea to create a council with all members who want to be part of it, voting all decisions relating server rules, tournaments, wch cycles, titles... (or simply opinion poll on the website ? or both...)
The FICGS staff should be able to manage the server (registering new members, moderating the forum, referees...) Nothing difficult, just needs motivation. Most important is that it could completely work without me. Of course, if developers want to help, making a drag & drop interface ie. or improving whatelse..) About "go", we'll see later, Hannes :) (it's a fine game, you should learn !)
Anyway I'll send an email to all players responding in this thread soon. We will discuss about that.
Best wishes & thank you !
Karlheinz Weber (2006-04-11 06:12:34)
Download of games
Is it possible to load down my own games, and if yes, how does it work?
Hannes Rada (2006-04-11 10:25:04)
Software ?
Unfortunately there is no download possibility. Which software are you using ? In case of Chessbase the following trick should work: Mark all moves of the game - rightclick and "say" "copy". In ChessBase "say" "paste" and the game should appear at your virtual board. hannes
Marc Lacrosse (2006-04-11 10:36:45)
Computer accounts ?
Just an idea : as computer use is explicitly allowed on FICGS, it could be nice to offer chess program authors the possibility to have a "semi-official" account for their latest beta babies on FICGS.
Some of them would surely like the idea of having quite a tough test against good correspondence players ...
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-11 13:28:13)
Download
Hello Karlheinz & Hannes.
I'll arrange that. But indeed that's the way I developed the "Search games" page. Copy/Paste PGN games should work. (but it may become too big later to display all games in one page)
Patrice Verdier (2006-04-11 14:06:50)
French Interface in preferences
In Preferences when I choice the French langage, only list in left of the page (Mes messages, mes parties,...) are writed in French Why not all the site ?
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-11 14:54:36)
FICGS titles
Hello to all.
I would like to have players opinion !
As you may have noticed, I already changed FICGS titles to FEM, FIM, FSM, FGM. (not titles obtained elsewhere) Do you agree with titles appearing this way ?
I thought several other ways : EFM, IFM, SFM, GFM, or only to mention norms obtained ! (not titles) At last, of course, we can suppress definitely titles from FICGS, a bad idea in my opinion. What do you think about that ?
Thank you in advance for your responses.
Henri Muller (2006-04-11 16:48:16)
langage
I choice also the French langage if it is possible !!
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-11 18:33:13)
Bug fixed...
Many improvements in the send move process... It should not be possible anymore to make a wrong move. Stalemate detection is implemented. In checkmate case, nothing else should be possible than resigning. Thanks for your feedback.
Jose Carrillo (2006-04-11 23:28:13)
Chess960 Challenge
I'm new to the site, and learning how to use it. Anyone interested can challenge me to a Chess960 game. Thanks.
Daniel De Noose (2006-04-11 23:46:29)
FICGS council/staff
I'm interested too. I don't have always lot of time but I have lot of holidays ! ;-) You can see my description on echecsemail.com (login : danideno)
Carlos Guzman (2006-04-12 06:30:26)
CARLOS GUZMAN
HOLA: Jose Solo queria saber de donde eres ?, Yo soy de Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico
Dinesh De Silva (2006-04-12 07:24:22)
TITLES
I think the answer is obvious. FICGS titles should be named FICGS EM, FICGS IM etc, so that it's clear from where the titles are got from. By putting the organization's name in front of the title this way, I don't see any problems. I think the majority are bound to agree, and there won't be any sorta arguments with other organizations. After all, the world is a very big place.... there's enough room for everybody! I find FICGS a very friendly place. Also, organizations like IECG, ICCF, LIAPE etc. are very hardworking, dedicated organizations too, and I enjoy playing in them too. My thanks to you all.
Patrice Verdier (2006-04-12 09:47:09)
Tournaments formulas
I am agree with De Silva. I think that already tournaments are slow. 10 moves for 40 days or 30 days is a good formula. Perhaps it will be interesting to create blitz tournament for players who like this (example : 1 move by day) Also it will be interesting to create tournament with Cup System.
Marc Lacrosse (2006-04-12 09:57:10)
Tournament formulas : not too many .
Personally I do prefer playing a small number of games simultaneously at a relatively rapid pace instead of a larger number at slower pace.
But I can understand that some prefer the opposite. So why not.
One caveat : I think you should wait a little bit before multiplying categories.
As long as we are not a larger number of active players there is a risk that there will be a small number of players waiting for long before a sufficient number of players will join for starting a tournament in a given category.
Marc
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-12 12:46:22)
FEM, FIM, FSM, FGM
About titles obtained on FICGS, it would be the same ones. We have choice : We could add a special letter, from the organization the title comes from (very confusing I think : IIM.. IECG / ICCF) .. or consider EM, IM, SM, GM are "official" titles, and FEM, FIM, FSM, FGM are the other ones, including FICGS ones... Probably not perfect. Any idea ?
Dinesh De Silva (2006-04-12 12:52:51)
FEM,FIM,FSM,FGM
How about contacting IECG, ICCF etc and reaching an amicable solution regarding how to name the titles on FICGS?!
Dinesh De Silva (2006-04-12 14:15:16)
Solution...
I have 2 suggestions which might be viable..... *The FICGS decision making committee should make a decision regarding it. OR *Have some sorta poll/voting on FICGS to decide on it.
Hannes Rada (2006-04-12 21:35:40)
Opening statistics
Incredible - The whole world plays Sicilian ... :-)
Michal Holes (2006-04-13 10:26:04)
ein Turnier
Hallo! Kann ich bitte fragen, wann beginnt das Turnier ´´FICGS__CHESS__CLASS_C__000001 ´´ Danke fúr die Antwort! Michal
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-13 15:46:55)
New Titles
Hello Paul-Iosif.
Interesting new idea. In my opinion, there are too many titles & titled players already from official & "non-official" organizations. I think this is a mistake from FIDE / ICCF they couldn't remedy anymore. Titles from other organizations and particularly IECG are not really a problem "more", cause they are hard to achieve (rare), but I don't think this could be so attractive for players. To get a title is a reward itself. Maybe even EM title shouldn't exist.
But I think that ie. a KM title (over GM) could be an interesting idea !
Anyway, I'm ok with the commission idea, we'll vote that too.
Another interesting & controversial idea is (as IECG do) titles not to be awarded for life ! If player's rating decrease, he could lost his title... but I don't think this is very fair.
Michal Holes (2006-04-13 20:56:38)
ich kann nicht spielen
Warum ich kann nicht spielen..? Ich spiele Turnier ´´C´´ , aber ich kann nicht dem Zug machen.... Warum? Ich bin schwarz. Er hat e4 gespielt, und ich e5- und es geht nicht. Ich bin schon trostlos. Danke für die Antwort
Michal Holes (2006-04-13 21:01:05)
schon kann ich spielen
Schon kann ich spielen, danke..
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-14 04:54:25)
Proposal from a visitor (anonymous)
" >>> Hi Thibault
Congratulations for the launch of your new CC server! I fully support your initiative and hope I will join very soon.
Meanwhile I would like to share some ideas about the Ficgs Titles, which I also fully and unconditionally support.
My proposal is to adopt/or "recognize" any title awarded by FIDE/ICCF/IECG as a FGM, FSIM, FIM, FEM titles. (e.g. not just IECG IM = FIM, but all others too).
That is, a ICCF GM should be named FGM much as a FIDE GM, or IECG GM (or SIM, IM or EM for CC). There shouldn't be special treatment to those players with a title from FIDE/ICCF
Then, to differentiate them, there could be a color scheme or a footnote explaining the procedence of the title: FGM (ICCF) ...FSIM (IECG) and simply FSIM for the truly SIM title obtained at FICGS.
In adition, those players who do not have a title, but have norms either at FIDE/ICCF/IECG (my case ;) either will have them "homologated" (as the titles are) or better, when/if the title has been awarded later, his Ficgs title will be "updated" to the newly awarded title (by FIDE/ICCF/IECG), which must be the highest of them all (as in IECG SIM > ICCF IM > FEM ..etc)
This way FICGS will be the first organization to homologate norms and titles in CC world ;) <<< "
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-14 05:16:26)
re: Proposal
What do we call "legitimacy", "official" ? This is quite subjective. In my opinion each organization can create his own titles and choose to recognize titles from other ones. IECG titles are recognized by FICGS, but it's obvious titles from FIDE / ICCF have more value in players mind (legitimacy is not the subject), and players from everywhere could appreciate this distinction. Anyway the FICGS council will discuss about that.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-14 13:19:38)
Registrations, best of :)
Among players who tried to register with a false name, some of them have a great imagination. I'll post their most funny "contributions" here. If they finally succeed to skirt the filter (me), I'll just say "ok, you won... great. now, what about a game ? :)"
Fischer, Bobby (2900)
Holycron, Kieron
Håkon Anda (2006-04-14 16:52:42)
Some wishes
I think this server works great after so short time online. However I think there are som possible improvements that could be done: 1. Option that can disable e-mail notification of one own moves. 2. It should be possible to take leave. 3. A better list of our own games, like when last move was done, reflection time left and so on. 4. A flag for every player that shows the nationality and other information that could be found in the rating list. Best regards, Håkon Anda
Walter Rattay (2006-04-14 22:01:49)
Last moves and coordinates on board
When opening our games, the game boards do not show the last moves. We have to scroll down to learn our opponent's move, then scroll back to view the board. Also, because there are no coordinates on the board, we are more likely to make a mistake, especially when playing black.
Per Lea (2006-04-14 23:43:10)
Coordinates
I didn't even notice that there were no coordinates until I read your posting! If you move directly on the screen, this should be no problem. I do not see any reason to maintain the option of entering your move by writing it in English notation instead.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-15 03:16:38)
English PGN notation
Writing the move may be a bit faster than clicks. (2 steps instead of 3)
About the last move, you're right Walter. Maybe it should be only an option, I'm not sure all players would appreciate a special color for the last piece moved. (?)
Dinesh De Silva (2006-04-15 06:19:08)
Money Tournaments
How much is 1 EURO compared to a US $ ?!
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-15 06:31:33)
Depends on rates...
... and rates are constantly changing. I'll have to clarify things about that. Money tournaments won't begin before 2 months from now.
http://finance.yahoo.com/currency?u
Heinz-Georg Lehnhoff (2006-04-15 16:46:29)
Vacation
I agree with Hannes. And I would like to take a leave in one or another but not necessarily in all of my tournaments.
Hannes Rada (2006-04-16 09:52:16)
time and vacation
>There's objectively no difference >between "vacation" & time for move... >Rules on other servers There is a difference. If the player does not have the time on the clock, because he is involved in many tournaments .... I think we should start a poll about this issue.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-16 10:12:09)
Right
You're right, Hannes. That's different. In a way, we should call this "reserve" more than "vacation". So it only depends on rules -> depends on council. Not sure it is an obvious thing but anyway, we'll vote that too very soon.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-16 11:58:58)
IECG & ICCF webserver
Hello to all.
Congratulations to Ortwin Paetzold who just started with success (src. IECG forum) the new IECG webserver.
Feel free to compare IECG, ICCF & FICGS servers (if you already played on) in this thread, it may help me to feel future improvements, as I have no more time to play on the other ones :(
Thank you for feedback.
Glen D. Shields (2006-04-16 12:15:33)
A Couple More Suggestions!
Thank you Thibault for your prompt response to my suggestions. Here's another one that you may not be able to do easily. Can you add an option to make the board a little bit larger? And maybe eventually give us chess piece choices or board color choice? My eyesight plays tricks on me as I get older and bt experimenting with the colors, sizes and piece choices it sometimes helps. Just a suggestion! None are big ones. Thanks!
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-16 12:21:01)
Håkon & Glen
Håkon, you're right (no need to receive his own moves). It will be changed this hour.
Glen, you can change board color in preferences. At least you have choice : Grey, Red, Blue, Green. About the size & other pieces, not impossible, I'll see that.
Glen D. Shields (2006-04-16 12:33:44)
Comparisons
Hello Thibault - first thanks for creating this server. I'm happy to see so many members joined up so quickly. I just started on Ortwin's server (IECG) yesterday. Too early to compare, though one initial item I like better on Ortwin's server is that I can easily change board colors and chess pieces there. Would like the board a little larger (or maybe be adjustable) on both sites. Easier for old eyes! Two items I like much better here than at ICCF are the time rules (ICCF's are much too long) and the tournament sign-up procedure. I can not sign up for an ICCF tournament on-line. I have to do so by printing a form and mailing a check to my NF. A old process for a modern method of play!
Heinz-Georg Lehnhoff (2006-04-16 15:54:24)
No need to receive his own moves?
Dear Thibault, sorry but I would like to receive my move as mail, especially if I add a message to my move. And in the case of a server-crash it could be helpful to have the total protocol of my games on my computer. Don't you think so?
Henri Muller (2006-04-16 18:14:39)
some whiches/qqs souhaits.
Pourquoi pas songer aussi à des matches entre DEUX joueurs ?? ( nombre de parties au choix et à déterminer au début !?)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-16 18:33:01)
Adjudication
Déjà ? :)
So, about games "obviously lost" (somewhat subjective), the council may decide special rules so that referees can grant games that drag out. What do you think is best ? That's a recurrent problem in correspondence chess, and an original policy could make the rating more accurate, as some players may finish "good games" very faster than others... Quite subjective indeed, and not obvious. Where's the limit ? Maybe correspondence chess players should first accept this idea that their "won" games may finish much later...
Glen D. Shields (2006-04-16 18:57:19)
60/10 Too Slow for Me
I'm in the group that thinks 60/10 is too slow. Like Mr. LaCrosse, I like fewer games at a faster pace. Only way 60/10 might work is to set a REASONABLE limit on days per move. ICCF's 40 days is too long and some TD's are much too lenient about extending it. I hope this doesn't hijack your thread Thibault, but The opposite question I'd like to ask is how many server players find the opening game too fast and like a blur? I make a move and there's a reply waiting 5 minutes later. It won't be long before someone writes a script and connects it to ChessBase to cut the time down to seconds :)
Dinesh De Silva (2006-04-17 09:47:09)
Quite a good answer
Thibault, that was quite a good answer. We'll have to wait and see if there's any more thoughts on the subject by Glen.
Glen D. Shields (2006-04-17 19:01:10)
Thanks for the Comments Guys
Dinesh - since computer use is allowed I have no problem if someone uses a "script" to automate moves. I don't think that would be fradulent. Actually I think it would be clever :) The point I was trying to ask is anyone concerned (besides me) that we created a chess medium (server chess) where it's so easy to make moves that the games move too fast? I dread the start of a new section, particularly large sections with 10+ players. It's impossible to keep one's inbox empty for even a minute. I know I should show more discipline and walk away, but it's almost like an illness "just one more move then I'll stop" and I don't! One practice I've been using lately is to make a move in a notebook and sit on the move for a day or two before sending it. That helps slow things down. I wonder if a delay send option on the server would make any sense? One could make a move and then click a delay send button for 24 or 48 hours. One would be charged time during the delay, but it would automate the slow down and make tournament startups a little less hectic. Maybe I'm the only one who sees this as an issue> If so, then label this just one crazy man's thoughts :)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-17 19:25:06)
New features...
Coordinates & last move have been implemented... Now the "live games" concept of the site extends to the home page :)
Also, player informations are 5 successive pages (informations, elo history, title norms, tournaments, games), reachable just by clicking on "ELO" (to improve yet) after clicking the magnifying glass.
Patrice Verdier (2006-04-17 23:09:08)
Holidays
I inform all my opponents in my tournament CLASS - M - 00002 that I am in holidays from 17/04 to 22/04 Thanks
Paul-Iosif Guralivu (2006-04-18 00:25:05)
Explaining
I put that quesion more like a joke... Put on the other hadn I asked it, because you didn't let Holycron to join....
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-18 00:39:05)
Sorry, Paul-Iosif
But I don't understand.. (must be tired :)) Is there a play on words in your american name ? Kieron Holycron (Quieron holy crown) is ok but...
Paul-Iosif Guralivu (2006-04-18 13:15:10)
Let's forget every thing.
Talkative means 'the one who speak a lot'.
Glen D. Shields (2006-04-18 21:39:57)
A Suggestion
Thibault my e-mail notification will be turned off :)
I'd encourage you to re-consider your 60 day ruling. I can foresee individuals getting late in a game and accumulating hundreds of reflection days. Not many, but a few players could go 59 days per move 2 or 3 times in a row just to irritate their opponent. Not everyone is a "good sport" unfortunately :(
IECG does it right by limiting time to 30 days max per move. You violate the limit once, game is over no questions asked. ICCF does it half right and half wrong. They set the limit at 40 days, but then make the person waiting beg the TD to do something. If the TD refuses to enforce the rule, the violating player can stall as long as he wants :(
This is your chance to pick and chose from the best things done in other organizations. Either set a limit on the number of accumulated days so it doesn't go into the hundreds or set a reasonable limit on the number of days per move. Just don't let both become large. Also don't be wishy washy on the limit. Set a limit and enforce it, no questions asked. No hard reasonable limit and too many accumulated days is an infrequent, but irritating problem in the making. There won't be many, but sadly there will be those few "bad losers" who think it's "cute" to string their opponents along. Don't let that happen at FICGS!
Just my two cents :)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-18 23:26:06)
Live games
Hello to all.
I don't know (I hope) if the "live" concept is somewhat a reason for this, but I'm quite surprised to see already Alekhine defence played 6 times (and King's gambit the same). I wait for more accurate statistics, but no : everyone don't play Sicilian and that's great :) Spectacular & original games are welcome, I'm to install a "best game" poll script.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-20 11:59:21)
Cheating / Forfeiting
Hello to all.
The website detected 2 'probable' cheaters registered (one playing), with a 1400 rating.
Of course, FICGS will face problems encountered by all correspondence chess sites but I think it will be minimal here, as I'm enforcing detection rules so that aliases couldn't register anymore.
Important : Games forfeited without a valid explanation won't be rated, and the account for the player closed. A player who may forfeit should send an email with explanation to : ficgs (at) ficgs.com
Thanks.
Graham Cridland (2006-04-19 21:37:23)
Silly me
Thought all the magnifying glasses were pgn boards.
Hannes Rada (2006-04-19 22:58:34)
starting date and ending date
Thank you Thibault, But how can I define the starting date and ending date of my vacation ? I can only specificy the number of days.
Glen D. Shields (2006-04-20 01:47:29)
Congratulations!
Thibault - I don't know if FICGS is the first server to do so, but it's the first server I play on that has made the intelligent decision to limit accumulated time. Hopefully you will set a trend that other servers will follow :)
60 days max for one move may be too much, but with a 100 day limit, abuse will be minimal.
Good job :)
Elmer Valderrama (2006-04-20 14:52:47)
search by ECO code
Wonderful feature to have all on-going games available just one click away (an old request to Reimund @chessfriend). Even more interesting to be able to search games by player name. Now would it be too much to ask for a search by ECO? --similar games would be identified in a second, a good thing; and information for choosing different variations would be available..
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-20 23:18:32)
Vote for the best game
A funny feature has been implemented : You can vote for the best game played on FICGS. I hope it will reveal great games... :)
The votes have a lifetime.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-22 05:39:05)
Not sure...
Might be useful, right... But what to do if people's schedules change once the games started ? I made this way to reduce forfeits, players shouldn't enter waiting list if they are not sure to play the games until the end... Feel free to tell me what you think about that.
Marc Lacrosse (2006-04-22 15:39:05)
Conditional moves ?
I cannot figure how to propose conditional moves. Is this feature implemented yet?
Maybe I did not read the rules accurately...
Marc
Elmer Valderrama (2006-04-22 15:44:16)
bug?
Dear Thibault On-going game 49 has "6.Nb5" although both knights (from c3 and d4) could move to b5 (correct is either 6.Ncb5 or 6.Ndb5)
Anyway, the interface (or the player Ghisi) moved the knight from c3 (more obvious was to move the knight from d4, according to theory at least) and, as a result, the move 7...e5 won a piece..(can't see a post from the concerned players so it could have been played as intended, but the "Nb5" needs correction for sure)
Graham Cridland (2006-04-22 17:47:39)
Fair point
Just a suggestion, I'm honestly not sure which way of handling it is superior, I just noticed the lack of an option and thought I'd mention it.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-23 06:15:48)
Hmm...
That's a point. But live running games are much more interesting to follow. Maybe this feature should be renamed "spectacular game".. Too long for the menu :)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-23 12:33:40)
Checkmate / Stalemate
Note : Checkmate and stalemate are not automatically converted as a win or draw, your opponent has to resign or accept draw before.. I thought it was a more friendy way, and you have the possibility to send a last message with your move.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-23 17:03:16)
Spanish / Deutsch (help...)
Hello to all.
As you can see, the home page is now "translated" (thanks babelfish :)) in 4 languages... It would be helpful if players speaking well spanish and deutsch can tell me about the faults... Please email me : info (at) ficgs.com
Thanks in advance :)
Michael Höppenstein (2006-04-24 15:45:19)
Referee - Checkmate
That's not quite all right, I think. In case a game is won by checkmate, the game should be over - that is: without referee and without me waiting for my opponent losing on time. Would you consider changing this? Just a suggestions.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-24 15:59:32)
Checkmate
I considered that there wasn't so much difference : Generally players resign before being checkmated. Whoever playing until checkmate "quickly" will probably resign quickly... A player who wants to last a game will do it before checkmate... I really think it's only more friendly (and original).
Anyway, if too much players or council think otherwise, I'll change it. Thanks for your feedback.
About checkmate, I just fixed a bug that prevented players to resign if they were checkmated. (hum :)) That's why 2 players called the referee.
Stefano Ghisi (2006-04-24 16:08:59)
Other languages
Thanks for the translation in german, french and spanish Can we hope to have an italian version too?
Michael Höppenstein (2006-04-24 18:13:20)
Checkmate
I think I was one of those payers. I won the game a few days ago but my opponent has not as yet resigned the game.
Michael Aigner (2006-04-24 20:20:09)
Spanish / Deutsch (help....)
Hello Thibault! I had a look for the german parts of the website and I have unfortunately to say the babelfish german is horrible. You can (if you like) send me all the english text you like to have in german and I will translate it for you. michael10013@lycos.com Give me please an mail adress where I schould send the translation to. Have a nice day Michael
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-24 21:07:06)
e7-e5
This bug is fixed and shouldn't happen once more.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-24 21:08:33)
Spanish / Deutsch
The home page has been updated in the four languages. Thanks to YOU ALL ! :)
Graham Wyborn (2006-04-25 13:13:52)
Condition Moves?
I have played on another site which uses conditional moves. The Conditional Move is only operated after you opponent moves, therefore you are unaware of your opponents offer. Also players can turn the feature on or off. So if one player has it turned off, the opponent cannot use it. Conditional moves are good time savers. especially when making a capture and the opponent has only one good reply. It saves time. Hope Conditional Moves are coming to this site too!
Glen D. Shields (2006-04-25 16:48:28)
Another Opinion
I have mixed feelings on 'conditional" moves. I agree they save time, but they also can be irritating. Depends how they're sent and who sends them.
We all have those opponents who play whatever Fritz plays. When one gets in a rather simple series of moves, those opponents like to run out a string of 3 or 4 conditionals in a row. Opponents like that are like leeches. You can't get them off your skin without yanking them off and eradicating them :)
Time saving versus irritation. Considering the options, I vote for time saving. The faster I can get rid of Fritz opponents, the happier I am.
Just another opinion :)
Michael Höppenstein (2006-04-25 17:15:18)
Opponent does not resign after checkmate
The bug might be fixed but my opponent won't resign. Do I really have to wait 48 days - I've just checked - till he forfeits on time? How do I make him resign?
Graham Cridland (2006-04-25 17:22:16)
Hmm.
Well, I see your point (I have an opponent like that) but what you're really objecting to is their failure to use their time, not conditional moves (or even fritz). And I can't imagine that forcing people to use their time will be popular. Just have to NOT send the move back right away, sit down at the board, and figure out where Fritz goes wrong. Our German friend isn't all knowing (especially at the 14-16 ply people only give him much of the time). So you should generally win those games.
Glen D. Shields (2006-04-25 20:39:39)
Hmmm ... yup
Graham - I think you summed it perfectly. I have no objection to conditionals nor do I care how much time folks use. What I find "irritating" (the word used in this thread) are those situations where you move and ten minutes later you're back on the clock again. Overused conditionals contribute to the "irritation," but hardly are the root cause.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-25 23:15:07)
Links (& emails) recognition !
The forum now recognizes links and emails. No tags or whatever, just enter the link & it will appear correctly... (for connected players, not from the home page)
Graham Wyborn (2006-04-25 23:29:20)
Yawn........... Yawn............Yawn
Still no game. Anyone know the song, "Why are we waiting". As 6 out of the 7 have joined, could not some of the games start. We are all not going to this opponent! Just a thought......
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-26 01:33:22)
Finally...
Less than 2 hours later, the second Class C tournament started :)
I hope the first CHESS 960 tournament will begin soon. (Special tournaments category) See the Help section to see the start position. More about Chess 960 / Fischer Random on Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer_random_chess
Quad tournaments and other categories will appear later, but feel free if you have any idea for special events (teams from countries, other clubs or websites etc...)
Daniel De Noose (2006-04-26 15:57:55)
How to join ?
How can I join the chess 960 tournament ? I don't see it !
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-26 19:42:16)
Russian, Italian, Chinese, Dutch....
The Babelfish versions of the FICGS home page in other languages are at the bottom of the home page... Quite funny :)
If players from these countries have time to help to translate, feel free to send me an email to info (at) ficgs.com ! Thanks.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-04-28 02:06:16)
Next month...
... will be much more interesting ! I've worked to make FICGS appear in good places on search engines and link directories. The results should happen in two weeks from now.
Anyway, that was a quite good start (actually the most difficult for a chess server), so... many thanks to you all :)
Jose Carrillo (2006-05-01 01:34:24)
Other Chess960 opening positions
Thibault, When will other Chess960 openings be available? In FRCEC, we prefer to run tournaments where every game in the tournament begins with a different opening position. It avoids repetition. Let see how this tournament develops. Cheers, Jose
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-01 14:27:08)
"Repetition"
Thinking about it... I like the idea where all start positions are the same in the whole tournament.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-01 17:09:08)
Okay.
It should work now. I have an update more to do for ambiguous moves. Thanks for feedback.
Amir Bagheri (2006-06-13 11:22:45)
FICGS
this site looks like a great site just cant wait to get started...Nice to see that Suat Atalik is there as i am of to turkey next month and hope to meet him in his club in taksim (istanbul)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-02 17:43:05)
Who beats Garry Kasparov ?
Funny :)
http://www.ibeatgarry.com/
A "Kasparov number" of 3 for Patrice Verdier, great ;)
Other winners : Janos Helmer, Christian Koch, Farit Balabaev, Marc Lacrosse, David Angeli... Finally everyone beats Garry :))
Jose Carrillo (2006-05-03 00:19:03)
Repetition???
Why? It defeats the purpose of Chess960. Everyone in the tournament is just playing a Chess960 game, not the same opening position. Using the same opening position simulates a regular chess tournament (i.e. repetition). Anyway, at least it should be an option to have differnt opening position per game in the same tournament. It's more in line with the "purpose" of Fischerandom Chess.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-03 04:41:09)
Start positions
It seems to me that changing the start position from classical chess is "sufficient"... The purpose was, according to Fischer, to avoid databases and to favour creativity.. The same positions in the whole tournament allows to compare & analyze a bit deeper, maybe understand better the position. The start position will be different for the next tournament (working on). There are "only" 960 positions, there will be repetitions anyway... And what do you think about the Fischer rules ? Seems strange to me. I wonder if everyone knows how to castle in other start positions (king or rooks at different places)
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-03 14:15:54)
Chess 4000 ?
About Fischer Random Chess / Chess 960, the king' start position must be between the rooks to allow this strange castling. Why ?! Wasn't it ok to forbid this unusual (non-sense) move in these other cases... The number of positions should increase a lot. Does anyone knows the number of positions resulting ?
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-04 17:25:27)
FICGS statistics
2006 may 4
Dear chessfriends, the first FICGS statistics (1 month after server start) are displayed on the informations page : http://www.ficgs.com/informations.html
Google just reacted (today), so I hope for new players coming from search engines soon...
Jose Carrillo (2006-05-05 00:32:18)
Chess 4000 ?
Forbid what unusual (non-sense) move? Castling? Chess960 was meant to be the bigger picture, where regular chess is just one of the openings. Regular chess has castling and so does Chess960. About Chess 4000, without King placement restrictions, and without castling... Sure... I'm sure there are players that will play it. There are hundreds of chess variants. Some more popular than others... In FRCEC we only play Chess960, the bigger chess picture!
Jose Carrillo (2006-05-05 00:34:33)
Re: Update - Chess 960
Excellent news! How do I set up a one game match against somebody?
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-05 15:19:03)
FICGS world championship
Hello to all.
Please post here all your questions / suggestions about the FICGS world championship rules.
There are many answers to bring yet : about the building of groups, who exactly will play which stage, etc...
It seems that many players like this scheme : knockout / round-robin tournament, that is more fair and much more interesting than a pure round-robin cycle. The final match rules are particularly hard (24 games, 30 days + 1 day / move), but I think it's a good way to make it different and give value to the title. Rules are not far from the old classical world championship, the champion will only play the next final match against the challenger...
FICGS WCH Rules :
http://www.ficgs.com/membership.html#tournament
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-05 16:35:18)
Question...
... from a player :
Who (how many players from each tournament) will play the next stages of the wch ?
Indeed, rules are not clear enough yet, I'll bring changes soon. About "how many players", from ie. a 11 players round-robin tournament : It's stated only one, the player with the highest rating in case of equality. Maybe that's not fair enough, I have to simulate other possibilities.
As June is very near already (too short delay), if there are no players enough at this time, we could pass the first stage but I think it would be better to wait, postponing (one month or two) could be considered...
Jose Carrillo (2006-05-05 18:37:09)
Re: 2 players matches
Don't we need only 2 players for a two-game match? Why do we need to create a whole tournament? I'm only interested in playing one other player. Are all the games in FICGS tournament based? Are there no individual matches?
Trent Parker (2006-05-06 17:15:28)
Best games
I personally think that only finished games should be considered for best games. Or a panel of high rated players should vote for best games. Also i think players should not be able to vote for their own games.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-06 18:32:03)
All is possible...
Maybe players shouldn't be able to vote for their own games... But in most cases, interesting games are first known by the players themselves. We could miss something.
Anyway, I think only really interesting or spectacular games will obtain many votes. We'll see... I also think about mini-sites / kind of blog, or shared wiki-like pages for players who want to discuss & analyze games in depth together.
Henrik Dinesen (2006-05-07 16:35:13)
I'm lost here...
I log in, but I can't find a way to start a game, or enter a tournament. Should I leave imidiatly becaurse stupity or "blindness"? "Anything" I see seem to indicate the first, but ??
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-07 21:14:00)
"Help"
Hello Henrik. Sorry if this is not clear enough. Maybe try first to read help section, then take a look at the waiting lists : choose a tournament category, ie. "class tournaments", then click on a tournament name and follow the instructions. (you enter a waiting list after 4 clicks)
Have good games...
Konstantin Konuhov (2006-05-07 21:25:15)
Mate
Game 255. Help. Game is check and mate, but it is no end. What to do with it?
Trent Parker (2006-05-08 01:19:43)
re: Mate
Hello Konstantin! your opponent has to resign. Hey Thibault. Could i suggest that you send a message to everyone in regards to this issue? I suspect that quite a lot of people do not read these forums regularly. Just a thought. Cheers, Trent Parker
Stefano Ghisi (2006-05-09 15:24:48)
wrong move
I made a wrong move in game 49. Now I can't make the right move (to me) that is c2-c3 How can I make?
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-09 16:46:25)
Qualifying
I didn't know this system !? Is it really efficient ? How to designate the (4) winners of the round-robin cycle ? Then the semi-final (players bye :/) seems to be a stage more... Means at least 6 months more to end the cycle.
I think the combined round-robin / knockout cycle is fast and fair enough... The 2 first players (designated by the highest ratings in case of equality) of each round-robin tournament will be qualified for the next stage.
The rules for world championship have been updated.
Trent Parker (2006-05-12 00:31:30)
Banned players
Hi Thibault! I noticed that there is a banned/deleted player who has entered the world championship. You might want to fix this before the closing date :D.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-12 07:39:04)
Re: Qualifying + Banned players
Hello Jose. You said : "There is still the possibility of the 1st and 2nd place in the round robin to play in the final match."
Actually this is the case, 1st and 2nd qualify for the next stage. How your system works for a 3 stages round-robin tournament cycle ? We can't add 2 extra-stages to designate who qualify from each round-robin tournament...
Hello Trent. There are 3 players who unregistered (not banned), they still appear in the WCH waiting list but they will be automatically removed when building groups.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-12 07:49:43)
Building groups
I suppose the following method is quite reasonable... (if you have a better idea...)
So, building WCH round-robin tournaments groups : Grading all players by elo. Starting from the middle of the list. The first 2 players, one above the middle, one below, play in the first group, the next 2 players in the second group, the next 2 in the third group etc.. Finally, elo average for each group shouldn't be far from each other. What do you think ?
Marius Zubac (2006-05-13 00:08:19)
Please remove my name
I have opened an oening topic by mistake 1.e4-e6 2.d4-d5 and now my name has been added to the original author. Please remove my name (Marius Zubac). Thanks
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-13 07:14:14)
Contributors names
It seems you succeeded in removing your name by yourself... Actually, you just have to delete it. Then your name will only appear as the last contributor who modified the article, you just have to wait a new modification and it won't appear anymore...
Heinz-Georg Lehnhoff (2006-05-13 17:58:51)
Swiss
Hello Thibault, Chessfriend.com has started the Championship as a 3 rounds Swiss tournament. Why don't we try this form under the name FICGS-CUP? I have liked the mode. Heinz-Georg
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-13 20:27:05)
Swiss : 3 rounds ?
Hello Heinz-Georg.
Interesting, but how exactly did it work ? Only 3 rounds, but how many games per round and against who (I didn't know that swiss system allowed to play several games per round...) ? Thanks in advance for enlightening me.
Heinz-Georg Lehnhoff (2006-05-14 00:47:20)
Swiss
Hello Thibault these are the "rules" (see at http://www.chessfriend.com/ and then Tournaments-CFC World-Championship-CFC Championship 2003)
Modus: 3 rounds Swiss à 10 games each. ... Every player is allowed to participate in all 3 rounds. Pairings of the 1st round are based on rating. We will build equal groups where possible. In the second round we will do the pairings so that be build at first 3 groups depending on score and rating. Among this three groups we will build new tournaments which should be of about equal rating.. Third round will be paired in the same way with the exception that the first group will be the strongest (score and rating). Normally two players should play during a championship cycle only one game. If it will be necessary in a following round that two players play a second game, this game should be played with revised colours.
I will send you more information.
Thibault de Vassal (2006-05-14 16:07:16)
"Blitz" cup...
Thank you Heinz Geor