The FICS SR team is glad to present:
December 2000
Free Internet Chess Server (FICS) News
What's New? - FICS would like to welcome the 2,273 new players that have joined the server in the month of November. Among the highlights in this month's newsletter is the announcement of our new Head Administrator (HA) - foxbat(*). We are also proud to announce the addition of four new Administrators - justjanie(*), Chessty(*), frengo(*), and robbo(*). Other newsletter notes include our server news posting requesting six new Service Representatives. We are announcing the FICS Quarterly Computer Chess Tournament, and the FSI 80th Anniversary Tournament. News and links to 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 frengo(*), Chessty(SR) and knighttour(SR) in helping make the newsletter a success this month.
FICS Newest Head Admin - foxbat(*)
Congrats to foxbat who has been elected as the new Head Administrator (HA) of the Free Internet Chess Server - (FICS). We offer our sincere congratulations upon your receiving this title, it is recognition of the outstanding work you have done for the server in the past. We wish you success in your new position. If you see him on the server, please take a moment to congratulate him.
Please welcome FICS newest Administrators
justjanie(*), Chessty(*), frengo(*), and robbo(*)
Our new admins will be covering many different time zones and tasks. Typical log-in times vary, but there are good chances you will see any one these admins at any time helping our fellow users and staff. If you see them on the server, please take a moment to congratulate these new Admins and say hello!
Would you like to become a FICS SR?
The FICS Service Representative Team is looking for persons to volunteer their time to the server. We are currently looking for six new Service Representatives. Two Mac users, another two persons from Europe/Asia time zones, and two from the USA time zones. If you are interested, please read the help file: help sr_info If you have applied previously, please send in an updated application - this will let us know you are still interested.
The primary role of the SR will be to interact with new FICS users, and
provide a detailed level of assistance in getting them started on the
server. It will include answering user's questions in channels and shouts,
and FICS support email. In addition, SRs will provide support for FAQs and
help file generation and ongoing maintenance, running online tours, or
assisting with the FICS Monthly Newsletter. The role of individual SRs will
vary and will grow over time.
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.
World Chess Championship 2000
Kramnik is the New World Chess Champion!
The Kasparov-Kramnik match began Sunday, October 8 in London ended on November 4 on Game 15 and a 8.5 - 6.5 final score favoring Kramnik. The first game started with Kasparov playing white and ending again as white and a draw for the championship loss.
Information is available at: http://www.kasparovchess.com or http://www.chesscenter.com/wcc2000.
FIDE World Chess Championships 2000
The FIDE World Chess Championships 2000 will take place in New Delhi, India and Tehran, Iran from 25th November to 27th December. The first round started on 27th November. When online, finger the relay account 'fideWCC' for more details.
More information can be found at the official website: http://wcc2000.fide.com/.
The 31st annual National Chess Congress
The 31st annual National Chess Congress was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from November 24 to 26, 2000. The tournament was a six round Swiss-paired event. The tournament's open sectioned in a four-way tie for first place. More information is available at the Continental Chess Association's website for this event: http://www.chesstour.com.
Other information can also be found at: http://www.wizard.net/~matkins/ncc/ncc.htm.
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 another 3 0 Prize Tournament!
On November 2nd, FICS held a 3 0 knock-out (KO) tournament after a Kasparov-Kramnik World Championship tournament match. 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 - AGAIN. Thank You!
FSI 80th Anniversary Tournament
A tournament is being held in order to celebrate the '80th Anniversary' of FSI (The Italian Chess Federation). The tournament is a 4 0 Swiss-paired event, it will consist of a 5 blitz tournament series over a period of a couple weeks. This tournament is open to everybody (Italian or not). However, the three closed finals will be reserved to Italian players. Prizes for the first place go to three winners of each Final. The first qualifier was on November 24th, the second on November 29th. At the time of this newsletter, the third qualifier round is pending.
Game histories as well as other information can be found at: http://www.infcom.it/fsi/tornei/anniv/bando.htm.
1st Italian Online Engine Contest
The Italian Chess Federation (FSI) has organized an online engine tournament among the celebrations for its 80th Anniversary. The tournament will be held on FICS between 6 players.
Some info is also available at the website: http://www.infcom.it/fsi/tornei/anniv/g6ris.htm. Contact frengo for further details.
Tribute Tournament!
The Tribute tournament main section has ended and a tiebreaker for first place is now underway. DonDanne, jrevans and Matdin are battling it out for first place. The tournament was a Swiss-paired 6 round event with a 30 0 time control. The finals for first place are round-robin pairings. The tournament was originally held over a period of 6 weeks and was extended due to this three way first place tie. 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.
The Nightly 5 0 Tournament Series
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. The tournament is a 5-round Swiss paired event that lasts approximately 1 hr. The Nightly is an open tourney and all are encouraged to participate. Plan ahead. See you online!
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 December:
| 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 2,273 new player accounts have been created for the month
of October.
Currently to date, FICS total size is 76,366 player accounts.
Active accounts in the month of November totaled 13,064.
Active accounts in the last three months totaled 18,900.
This time last year:
FICS total size was 54,250.
Active accounts totaled 10,152.
December's Server Tip of the Month will introduce the command: assess
Usage: assess [game_# | user1 [user2 [lightning|blitz|standard|suicide|wild]]]
This command will display how ratings will be affected by the possible outcomes of a chess match between two users. There are several possible ways to use the command:
| assess |
Gives an assessment for the game you are now playing. Example: assess. Note: If you are not playing a game, an error message will result.
|
| assess # |
Gives an assessment for a particular game being played. Example: assess 23.
|
| assess user |
Gives an assessment of a game you are playing with a given user. Example: assess DAV.
|
| assess user1 user2 |
Gives an assessment for two users. Example: assess Binford DAV.
|
| assess user1 user2 type |
Gives an assessment for two users playing a particular type of chess, namely 'blitz', 'lightning', 'standard', 'suicide', or 'wild'. Example: assess Binford DAV wild.
|
Here is a sample assess display for assess Friar DAV:
Blitz Standard
Friar DAV Friar DAV
(1951 RD 69.5) (1691 RD 50.0) (1853 RD 89.9) (1725 RD 65.6)
Win: 5 -3 16 -9
Draw: -9 5 -6 3
Loss: -22 12 -28 15
New RD: 69.4 50.8 87.8 65.5
Lightning Wild
Friar DAV Friar DAV
(1810 RD 101.9) (1503 RD 241.3) (1830 RD 72.7) (1741 RD 69.5)
Win: 9 -41 11 -10
Draw: -14 89 -4 3
Loss: -37 219 -18 17
New RD:100.7 217.7 72.2 69.0
Suicide
Friar DAV
(----RD 350.0) (----RD 350.0)
Win: 1882 1558
Draw: 1720 1720
Loss: 1558 1882
New RD:290.2 290.2
|
Below the user's name, in parentheses ( ) is the user's current rating and RD (ratings deviation) for that type of chess. Below that are the current information on how the ratings changes that will occur for the three possible outcomes (win, draw, or loss) and the revised RD. Outcomes are listed with respect to the player in the first column. In the above example, a Blitz win for Friar would result in Friar's rating changing +5 and DAV's rating changing -3; if DAV were to win the Blitz game, this means Friar's rating would change -22 points and DAV's rating changing +12 points. If both user1 and user2 have bughouse partners, there will also be a display of possible bughouse outcomes and changes to ratings. In the case of an assessment of either a) a game in progress, or b) a particular type of chess, only the information relevant to that game or type of chess will be displayed. The full display will not be presented.
Further information on the assess command can be found in help assess (or the online version).
Special Notes
assess DAV blitz in order to assess a game with DAV. The code will assume that 'blitz' is a handle. Same for 'standard', 'lightning', and 'wild'. To ask for a particular type of chess, you must use the handles of both players, even if one of the players is you.
li to be assess your_handle @ lightning. See the help alias (or the online version) for details.
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