The FICS SR team is glad to present:
August 2000
Free Internet Chess Server (FICS) News
What's New? - FICS would like to welcome the 1,385 new players that have
joined the server in the month of July. Among the highlights in this month's
newsletter is the announcement of our newest Tournament Manager Chief - innocentone. You will find our server is now accepting applications for Tournament Managers or TM's. A special thanks goes out to DChessmaster(SR) and robbo(SR) in helping make this newsletter a success this month.
Be sure to read the rest of the August monthly newsletter for more FICS news items and other chess related information. Plus, don't forget to check out the link to our previous Newsletter issues, July 1999 to
present. You may find a lot of useful information in our previous newsletter's 'Server Tip of the Month' sections.
New Chief Operating Officer of Mamer - innocentone
Please welcome our newest Chief Operating Officer (COO) of mamer -- innocentone. Mamer is an automated Tournament Director on our chess server. Please contact innocentone if you have questions related to mamer's operation. Currently, the Tournament Manager(TM) list is being reviewed for new TMs right now, if you would like to apply for a TM position on FICS, please read 'help mamer_tm'. If you have any questions, you can send a message to the account TMApplication when online. You may view current demand for TMs online by typing: "finger TMApplication" on FICS. Please note, you can send in your application at any time, demand for new TM's fluctuates, but it is best to have your application on file.
SuperMamer
SuperMamer, the future generation of mamer is now online for you to see. Some features that our current tournament director - mamer, lacks will be used. For instance, KOTH is now replacing KOTHbot. For now, mamer will be handling the server's tournaments because SuperMamer is not yet finished. However, you can check the progress done and/or make suggestions. Use the commands: "tell SuperMamer help" or "finger SuperMamer" while online for more information. If you have suggestions, "message mamerSuggestion ..." can be used. Be advised, there are not many help files yet, we are still developing and help files will be created soon. You can use the command: "tell SuperMamer ShowCommandInfo" (or "sk" for short) to show the commands available.
ChessMachine
ChessMachine - a new interface for Win95/98/NT/2000. The current version is 0.76, a beta release that is really HOT. It has some known bugs and does not support bughouse yet, just wait and see! You can download ChessMachine from our Download button on the left, or from the ChessMachine homepage. Online here at FICS, the author's handle is Stormbringer. Please message Stormbringer with bug reports, suggestions, etc.
Would you like to donate to FICS?
FICS is always trying to raise funds to continue running the server, but without help it is very hard. If you want to contribute with a donation, please email Binford. Other ways to help us is by visiting our homepage and click on the banners. We don't get much for each click, but everything helps. Thank you all, Binford.
The World Open
GM Joel Benjamin: World Open Champion. The World Open staged in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from June 28th-July 4th 2000. The tournament finished with eight players tying for first with 7 points. GM Benjamin became the World Open 2000 Champion by winning a single round robin blitz tournament among the winners. Ivanov and Fedorowicz didn't participate in the playoff.
More information is available at the official website for this event: http://www.worldopen.com.
International Open Tournament in Castellaneta - Italy
The International Open Tournament in Castellaneta - Italy will be held on August 29-30-31, 2000 in Castellaneta - Taranto, South Italy.
The event comprises 5 tournaments: Master: Elo Fide-FSI more than 1899, National A: for Elo 1700-1899, National B: for Elo 1699-1600, National C: for Elo less than 1600, Beginners: no Elo. Three boards will be broadcasted by FICS and there will be a webcam available. The site for this event is, ex St. Chiara’s Convent, a deconsecrated Convent, age 1600 about. Prizes total 30 million Italian liras.
The English version internet site for this event is at: http://digilander.iol.it/gigitroso/00cast_eng.htm.
The Italian version internet site for this event is at: http://digilander.iol.it/gigitroso/00castel.htm.
International Chess Festival in Montecatini Terme
The Montecatini Terme international chess festival takes place July 28th to August 6th 2000. This festival features players such as Alexei Shirov, Vassily Ivanchuk, Evgeny Bareev, and many more. Game histories as well as other information can be found at:http://www.italway.it/associazioni/cssurya/ix/tornee.hstml.
The Biel Chess Festival
The Biel Chess Festival takes place July 24th to August 4th 2000. The main event is a 6 player 10 round event. Players include: Peter Svidler, Boris Gelfand,Loek Van Wely and more. Details and game histories can be found at the official website: http://www.schachfestival-biel.ch .
North American Open 2000
The North American Open at Bally's Las Vegas will award $100,000 in prizes this year, the biggest prize fund ever awarded in Las Vegas! The dates for this event are December 26-29, 2000. Keep posted for more information on this event in the future.
"Nightly 5 0" tournaments: These are tournaments held every night
at 10:00 PM server time. As the name implies, they are played with a 5 0 time
control and the tournament is a 5-round Swiss paired event. You do not have to
participate every night to win.
The Nightly is an open tourney and all are encouraged to participate. The tourneys also last a little over 1 hr so plan ahead! For more information, "finger nightly" online. You may also find more information on the Nightly web page at: not available.
The NEW Nightly 5 0 Tournament Series
NEWS FLASH - Win CASH prizes! The NEW Nightly 5 0 series of Tournaments begins August 1, 2000. The series will feature TWO tourneys in one, with CASH prizes for each section winner! "Finger Nightly" to find out more about how your favorite tournament has changed, and don't forget to log on at 10:00 pm server time every night for the action!
Suicide on Saturdays (SOS): The SOS (Suicide On Saturdays) is a tournament run each
week on FICS by WarHawk(TM). The tournament is held every Saturday at 10:00 am
server time (CST). The score is kept for each player who plays in 1 or more
tournaments. The weekly tournament is a 5 0 Swiss consisting of 5 rounds.
There is also a quarterly Suicide Championship held for all qualifying participants in the
previous three months. Lastly, there will be an Annual Suicide Championship 4 player
5 0 double round robin! The quarterly championships will be a qualification
tournament for the annual tournament.
To qualify for a quarterly tournament, you must be in the top 4 scores in the over 1800 section or top 2 from the under 1800 section. If a player is forced to withdraw or is unable to attend, a wildcard slot will be available to the next qualified player from their division. The winner of the under 1800 section gets a lesson from Haley (2344). More information about this event may be obtained by e-mailing timp(TM), contacting him on FICS, or visit the SOS web site at http://www.kingscourt.cjb.net/.
The FICS Grand Prix!!!
The 1999-2000 FICS Grand Prix! This is a 'standard tournament' competition that extends throughout the entire year and keeps score based on scheduled standard tourneys run on FICS. The FICS Grand Prix cycle lasts 52 weeks: Tuesday, September 21, 1999 through Monday, September 18, 2000. During the course of these 52 weeks, a number of Grand Prix events will be held. At the end of the year there is a $150.00 (US Dollars) guaranteed prize fund. You will find information for frequently asked questions, events listings, standings and a complete player list on the Grand Prix website at: http://www.angelfire.com/wi/EscapeArtist/FICSGrandPrix/index.html
The top three participants in a field of 334 players are listed here, bigbad maintains the lead!
Rank |
Name |
GP |
# of |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
1 |
bigbad |
3733.47 |
93 |
28 |
31 |
14 |
2 |
SGV |
2115.64 |
34 |
19 |
2 |
11 |
3 |
Killerman |
1569.76 |
27 |
14 |
2 |
5 |
(The following point totals reflect events posted as of the publication date of this newsletter.)
Click here for more FICS tournament information!
The FICS Chess Academy provides a medium for the interaction between strong and weaker chess players. Chess advisors, designated by the symbol (CA), donate their time to help weaker counterparts in order to share their knowledge. The most common event is semi-formal analysis of games or positions. There will also be lectures, master challenge sessions, guided group analysis of GM games, and more! Instructors are master or candidate master (expert) strength players and are enthusiastic about helping others improve their chess.
To receive instruction or otherwise participate in the Chess Academy, you should follow these steps:
Channel 65 "Events"
Channel 66 "Examine"
Channel 67 "Lectures"
Use tells to channel 65 during the Academy Hours ('tell 65 I don't understand the Lucena position'). Chess advisers will have (CA) after their handles.
Academy proceedings start in channel 65, but often "follow (CA Lecturer)" is used while examining a game or position. Prepare your questions and interesting games before the Chess Academy hour starts. Game submissions for analysis are welcome, and should be e-mailed to academy@freechess.org and/or saved in your journal, accompanied by a message to Academy.
The FICS Chess Academy weekly schedule for July:
| Day | Server Time |
Academy Event |
| Monday | 13:00 | Group Analysis |
| Wednesday | 15:00 | Group Analysis |
| Thursday | 7:00 21:00 |
Group Analysis Group Analysis |
| Saturday | 15:00 | Group Analysis |
| Sunday | 15:00 | Special Events* |
* Every Sunday at 15:00 server time, the Chess
Academy will hold
Special events such as: team games, simuls and master events.
A total of 1,385 new player accounts have been created for the month
of July.
Currently to date, FICS total size is 68,846 player accounts.
Active accounts in the month of July totaled 11,155.
Active accounts in the last three months totaled 23,010.
August's Server Tip of the Month will introduce the command: Message
FICS offers registered users an integrated message system that is similar to an actual email system. User1 user may send User2 a message whether User2 is online or not using the command "message user2 hello". If User2 is online, they will see a notification informing them of a new message, the message's sender, and the content of the message. The receiving User can now leave the message in his/her message box, delete the message, or forward it to another user.
Basic Message Commands
To view messages in your message box, type in "messages". You will be shown a list of
all your messages along with and index number for each one. To delete a message, type in
"clear #" where "#" is the number of the message you wish to delete. Users can forward
messages by using the command "fmessage user #" where "user" is the name of the forwarded
message's recipient, and "#" is the number of the message you wish to forward.
Complete Command List
"Messages"
When used alone it will display all of your stored messages (those sent to you and not deleted).
"Messages #"
This will display the stored message numbered # in your list.
"Messages m-n"
This displays the messages numbered 'm' through 'n' in your list.
"Messages user"
Displays all stored messages from you to that user and from that user to you.
"Messages user text"
Sends "text" to "user".
"Clearmessages user"
Clears all messages from "user".
"Clearmessages #"
This clears the stored message number "#".
"Clearmessages m-n"
This command clears messages numbered 'm' through 'n'.
"Clearmessages *"
Clears ALL of your stored messages.
"Fmessage user #"
This commands forwards message "#" from you to "user".
Special Notes
If you should you have any problems with our 'Server Tip' that you
cannot resolve,
please email support@freechess.org for
assistance.
Would you like to see previous issues of the newsletter?
It's a great way to locate other helpful
"Tip of the Month" sections
and older news highlights that were covered in past issues.
The FICS Link Exchange Program:
The FICS Link Exchange program is where registered users can submit their homepage to have a link posted directly from the FICS homepage links section. If you have a personal homepage that you'd like to add to our list, then email MAd your web address for approval. It's as easy as that!
To view our links section, press the links button located on the bottom of our menu on the left. From here, you can access the many pages that have already been submitted y our players. Although it is not required, we request you add the FICS banner somewhere on your homepage in order to help promote FICS. More information about our banner is available on the Links section of the homepage.
We are currently looking for users who want to help us in
promoting FICS.
Among things, we are working on is to get the FICS Banner on your local
chess club and personal web pages. If you have time and want to help us
then send an e-mail to binford@freechess.org.
Please send comments and feedback on what you would like to see in future editions.
Edited by: afw and Oxymoron.