The FICS SR team is glad to present:
November 2000
Free Internet Chess Server (FICS) News
What's New? - FICS would like to welcome the 1,893 new players that have
joined the server in the month of October. Among the highlights in this month's
newsletter are the Administrative changes going on with our server. Other notes include the request for JavaBoard input/suggestions from you - the users. The FICS Quarterly Computer Tournament Dates are set. Results of the first-ever WCCCC championship held on FICS. Server code updates for users and interface writers. News and links to the chess tournaments all around the world. Be sure to read the rest of the November monthly newsletter for other FICS news items and 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. A special thanks goes out to Chessty(SR) and knighttour(SR) in helping make this newsletter a success this month.
TheDane steps down as Head Admin
Unfortunately, Dannie (TheDane) has decided to step down as head admin. He has done fantastic job as head admin and it is impossible to thank him enough. He will stay as a regular admin and continue to work for FICS. Until new head admin has been elected by the FICS admins, the FICS Board has approved that Binford(*) handle day to day operations.
Suggestions for JavaBoard
TheDane is currently working on improving JavaBoard. If you have ideas for the interface, please send an email to TheDane with your suggestions. Currently the interface is accessible from: http://www.freechess.org/javaboard. You can also view it by going to our homepage and pressing the 'Login now' button from the menu on the left.
FICS Quarterly Computer Chess Tournament
Get those Hash Tables Tweaked!!!
FICS will be presenting the Quarterly Computer Chess Tournament on Saturday, December 9, 2000 promptly at 11:00 server time. The tournament is a Swiss-paired 5 round event with a 5 8 time control. The eight second increment is done in order to allow for cyborgs (human assisted chess programs) to participate. The tournament will be open to all FICS registered computer accounts. Our previous Quarterly champion was cubebox(C) who managed to beat out Elminster(C) by half a point in our last quarterly event. A suicide computer chess division will also be run which will start 15 minutes after the main event. Contact afw by e-mail, or message him while online if you would like more information about this tournament. If you know already that you will be entering in the tournament, please message him online with the computer account's handle; a short list of entries will be listed in his finger notes.
Computer Accounts:
In order to register a computer, contact the "computers"
account (the team who handles this procedure). E-mail to: computers@freechess.org
with the information contained in "help computer_app". The review process
usually takes a few days. You will be contacted about your request. To see a list of computers registered on the server, type "=computer". Details about these accounts are given in "help computerlist". Computers are designated on "who" lists by (C).
Unregistered computers will be banned from playing rated games.
Computer Crazyhouse Chess Championship (WCCCC) Results
Sjeng(C) and Sunsetter(C) Tie for First Place.
The World Computer CrazyHouse Chess Championship (WCCCC) was held at FICS on Saturday, October 14, 2000. This was the first tournament of its kind! A total of five CrazyHouse computer accounts played to capture the title. Congratulations to Sjeng(C) and Sunsetter(C) in their tie for First Place. The tournament was a double round-robin with a time control of 15 0. Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to all who participated. Crosstables from the tournament can be viewed at: http://www.d2d4.de/wcccc.asp.
According to the owner of Sjeng(C), Garf, "Building a CrazyHouse computer engine is not much harder than writing a normal chess program. The main trouble is getting it to play good. Some of the tricks that increase tactical strength for a normal chess engine will have exactly the opposite effect. The average moves per position is more than 100, vs. 38 for regular chess engines. This makes it a unique variant, as close as it is to normal chess. During the tournament, even the top engines sometimes had trouble looking more than 4 ply (2 moves) ahead".
Server Code updates for Users
Pstat command bugs fixed
The command "pstat" (player statistics) displays the record one user has in chess games against another user. The statistical "pstat" command will not include results prior to FICS version 1.22.0 pstat will only include statistics from your last 2500 games on the server. Please read the help file: help pstat for more information. Here is some information for you to help get you by:
Specifying the "!" character after a handle
Specifying ! after a handle avoids name completion.
For example: tell DAV! hi
If DAV logs off before your tell completes the tell would end up being send to anyone logged in whose handle starts with dav. Specifying the "!" means an error will be given if DAV (and no other person) is not logged in. The character "!" should work in most places.
Server Code updates for Interface Writers
Aliasing the "$" character
From FICS server version 1.23.0 on, if you alias the "$" character it will not work. The character "$" will now be used for interfaces to request that a command cannot be aliased. For example: $[command] now stops command being aliased. All interfaces should take advantage of this when sending commands from the interface to the server. It stops the user breaking the interface by aliasing stuff. Also it can be used when someone reports a command is not working and may have an alias. The downside is the "$" character cannot be used for aliases now.
New Setting - ivar pin
Setting ivar (interface variable) to pin 1 (irrespective of the variable pin's setting) will cause information in the form of who IbslwBzS to be displayed on login (following [wa] and [wd] name on departure. This is to help interfaces that are tracking users lists. who I [ratings] is an interface form of who. The format is [name] [status as on who] [titles] [rating1 + provshow] [rating2 + provshow]. Titles are a 2 byte hex digit that has the following bits: unreg 0x1 computer 0x2 GM 0x4 IM 0x8 FM 0x10 WGM 0x20 WIM 0x40 WFM 0x80.
The extascii ivariable
Setting the extascii ivariable will stop extended ascii characters from getting removed. Extended ASCII (special characters such as copyright symbols) are sent using a three byte sequence. A common protocol for this has not been decided upon yet, so for now don't use it.
New ivars nohighlight and vthighlight
The nohighlight turns off highlighting. vthighlight turns the highlight escape sequences into \v (vertical tab). \v is not used as a vertical tab in FICS so I've hijacked it to turn on and turn off highlight. This may be easier for interfaces than looking for escape sequences.
World Chess Championship 2000
Kasparov-Kramnik
The Kasparov-Kramnik match began Sunday, October 8 in London. All games start at 3 p.m. London Time (14:00 GMT; 9:00 a.m. Server Time). The first game started with Kasparov playing white. The games are every Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday until the end with game 16 on Saturday, November 4. All games are at the same hour and can last up to seven hours. FICS will post information periodically and will keep you up to date. If the match ends tied at 8-8, Kasparov keeps his crown. Users who want to discuss the Kasparov - Kramnik match can use FICS channel 65. There you can share your views, ask for results and comments and anything else connected with the match.
Information is available at the official website: http://www.kasparovchess.com.
More information can also be found at: http://www.chesscenter.com/wcc2000.
The 31st annual National Chess Congress
The 31st annual National Chess Congress will be staged in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from November 24 to 26, 2000. The tournament is a six round Swiss-paired event with time controls of 40/2, SD/1. GM Arthur Bisguier will be available for free analysis of your games.
More information is available at the Continental Chess Association's website for this event: http://www.chesstour.com/ncc00.html.
The 34th Chess Olympiad
FIDE has chosen the site for the site of the 34th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey 28th October - 12th November 2000. The Olympiad will take place at the newly built extension of Istanbul Convention and Exhibition Centre (ICEC). More information and game histories can be found at the official website: http://www.istanbulchessolympiad.com/ .
The 71st FIDE Congress
The FIDE Chess Congress will also be held November 3rd to November 12, 2000. The FIDE congress will have discussion regarding FIDE's direction and agendas for the coming year. The congress will also be meeting at The Istanbul Hilton Hotel located right next to ICEC. More information can be found at the official website: http://www.istanbulchessolympiad.com/ .
2000 U.S. Chess Championships
The Seattle Chess Foundation is organized the 2000 U.S. Chess Championships September 25 to October 6, 2000. Twelve of the best United States chess players competed in eleven rounds for the US Chess Championship. Ten of the best United States female chess players fought in 9 rounds for the title U.S. Women's Championship title. Commentaries were done by IM Jeremy Silman.
Game histories as well as other information can be found at: http://www.seattlechessfoundation.org/2000uschamp.html.
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.
The XXX Rilton Cup
The Rilton Cup brought to you by the The Stockholm Chess Federation in Sweden. The tournament will be in three main groups this year. The dates for this event are December 27, 2000 through January 5, 2001. More information can be found at the official website.
In English: http://home2.swipnet.se/~w-21958/rifoen0001d.htm.
In Swedish: http://home2.swipnet.se/~w-21958/rc2000a.htm.
Krastapov wins the 3 0 Prize tourney!
After game 14 of the Kasparov-Kramnik World Championship tournament on October 31st, FICS held big 3 0 knock-out (KO) tournament. First prize was $40.00 US Dollars. A total of sixty-four players played to capture the prize. Congratulations to Krastapov who won the tournament. He then decided to donate the prize to FICS. Thank You!
Tribute Tournament!
The Tribute tournament is now underway, round four is in progress. The tournament has another two weeks until it ends, this tournament started October 9th, 2000. The tournament is a Swiss-paired 6 round event with a 30 0 time control. The tournament is being held over a period of 6 weeks. Players have a total of one week to complete their game each round, and arrange the time to play with their opponent at both of their conveniences. First place will get $100 US in cash. Each round's pairing will be posted at midnight on Sunday nights. For more information, "finger TributeTD" when online, or you can email questions to: SuperIntellect(TM).
Tornei Italian Online (TIO)
The FICS Tornei Italian Online (TIO) is played online on our server every Wednesday promptly at 20.10 GMT (15.10 server time). The tournament is a 6 round Swiss paired event with a 5 0 time control allowing a 2 round latejoin. Don't miss it! "Latejoin", for those of you who aren't aware with the system, will allow you to join the tournament if you arrive late, so long as you join before round 3 starts. Don't be fooled by the name, this tournament is open to everyone. For more information you can check out the web site: http://utenti.tripod.it/RinaldiF/partite.htm
.
Previous TIO games can be found in the directory: http://utenti.tripod.it/RinaldiF/files. The game collections of the TIO 33 and 34 are complete, other collections may be a partial listing.
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 will receive a lesson from Haley (2344).
Mamer Reminders
FICS newest version of mamer (an automated tournament director) is now online and currently in use. Some features that our previous tournament director (mamer) lacked were added. For instance, KOTH (which now runs through mamer) replaced KOTHbot, and more. Here are some reminders for you to help get by:
Message mamer online to report any bugs, you can find more information available at the mamer website: http://www.freechess.org/SuperMamer.
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 November:
| 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 1,893 new player accounts have been created for the month
of October.
Currently to date, FICS total size is 74,093 player accounts.
Active accounts in the month of August totaled 12,363.
Active accounts in the last three months totaled 18,014.
November's Server Tip of the Month will introduce the variables:
availinfo, availmax, and availmin
The avail variables, or avail_vars, were created to give notification of when a user becomes available/unavailable for a game. In order to utilize this feature, you must be open for matches and not examining a game. Be sure your variable setting for open is on by typing set open 1. You must be available for a match to receive notification of the availability status of players.
There are three avail_vars that can be set:
| availinfo | If availinfo is set to 1, you will be notified when players become available for matches. |
| availmax | This sets an upper limit for blitz ratings of players for notification. |
| availmin | Sets a lower limit for blitz ratings of players for notification. If you set availmin > 0, you will not be notified of the availability of unregistered users or registered users with no blitz rating yet. |
Use the set command to change these variables. For example, set availinfo 1 will start the notifications and set availmin 1 will set 1 as the lowest blitz rating you want to be notified about. It is recommended that you set availmax before setting availmin since availmin cannot be greater than availmax at any time.
You will receive availability notifications provided you are both open and not examining a game. The notification will appear as:
<playername> Blitz <rating #> Std <rating #> Wild <rating #>
Light <rating #> Bug <rating #> is now available for matches.
When a user becomes unavailable, the notification will read:
<playername> is no longer available for matches.
You will be notified when:
Further information on the tzone variable can be found in help avail_vars (or the online version), help v_availinfo (or the online version), help v_availmax (or the online version), and help v_availmin (or the online version).
Special Notes
who a or players will display the users who are available for matches. You need not be open to utilize this command.
help gnotify (or the online version), help notify (or the online version), and help variables (or the online version). Alternatively, you may read about these features in the May issue of the newsletter.
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