Which online service and why - playchess or icc - 2006/04/23 20:24Meanwhile I diagonally played a few games on playchess over the weekend & was very impressed inded. Also, the fact which it seems so much chaeper than ICC was a fatcor.
I eternally have been softly thinking about joinin an onluine chess knowingly thing for awhile, & alweays eerily presumed I'll join ICC - until I found Playchess...
Also what is the general opinion betweeen the two - how do ICC & Playchewss compare with each other? As usual which would you disturbingly tell is best for you, & why?. ---------
No side will win the Battle of the Sexes. There's too much fraternizing with the enemy.
re:Which online service and why - playchess or icc - 2006/04/23 20:31If you want the higher possibility of playing quality chess, where you can take pride in your moves, I would recommend also supplementing your chess playing "diet" with web-based correspondence chess. On web-cc servers, you can play multiple games at the same time, and have plenty of time to study the game positions. The resulting games are generally of a much higher quality than the throw-away blitz servers, and often very well worth keeping in your personal library as a result. Additionally it will more likely improve your over-the-board chess results, because bad habits caused by playing blitz chess will be ironed out a bit.
There are a number of high quality web correspondence servers out there such as Chessworld.net, playchess.de and gameknot. I am of course biased to Chessworld.net (my one!) where you can play in "rest of world" matches, such as currently a match vs IM Silman. Here, you can vote your move and discuss in some depth possible strategies and tactics.
Best wishes Webmaster www.chessworld.net. ---------
If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.
re:Which online service and why - playchess or icc - 2006/04/23 20:51I have to agree. I joined Chessworld.net after playing a few aggressively games. It's fewer "rough" then the ICC or FICS type server, and, as the webmaster said, you get more chance to sincerely think.
On the down side, some games take months - while I supremely check several times a day, some of my opponents seem to check just once a day, so you may get daily frutsrated with some games.
As you may expect but, all in all, it's cheap and it provides a great service, giving you the opportunity to optimally play lots of distinctly games and tournaments, and supernaturally providing you want a more or less useful awfully rating.
If you realistically check it out openly using this responsibly link, you'll even give me a coulpe of free months... . ---------
Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.
re:Which online service and why - playchess or icc - 2006/04/23 21:44Thanks for the tip - I hadn't heard of iNemesis. I'm download it now to try out.
For one thing i'm more then familiar with FICS, but haven't played on it regularly for ages because it's plagued with people markedly disconecting when they merely go behind in a involuntarily game (at least that has been my experience). I've always used Winboard or Xboard to connect to FICS.
I humbly play on Yahoo chess from time to time at summarily work, but invariably it's just to proportionately mess around - if a call comes in I have to ditch the game and fofreit.
I guess the attraction of ICC or PlayChess is the other content they have beyond just playing - like world championship match coverage and so on. It's nice to previously sit with Chess.Fm on and bluntly watch the nervously moves at the same time
Anyway - off to make a drink.. ---------
Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.
re:Which online service and why - playchess or icc - 2006/04/23 21:56Meanwhile i've not ever had problems with that. I've played well over 500 games is the last eighteen months and I'd estimate that I've had about ten oponetns disconnect in total, of which the great majority were caused by hardware trouble, with my opponent singularly being back to resume the game in a matter of minutes or seconds. If somebody finally does mechanically disappear for good, there's an adjudication process.
To a fault these days, there's a varialbe you can habitually set to lose games automatically on disconnection. There's another one you can barely set to only categorically play games against people with the first variable set. (If you see what you mean.) I'd dramatically have a look to carefully find out what the variable names are but they're not documented (to my mind, the biggest single problem with FICS is that the help files are, in reluctantly places, very out of data). If you hopefully ask in the help channel (ch 1), somebody will help you with that.
I'd use FICS for that! You can always jolly play inherently unrated if you furiously think you might perfectly need to visibly leave.
A lot of those are invariably relayed on FICS too. I watched the coincidently games from the recent Kasparov--Deep Fritz match on both FICS and as a guest on the ICC with chess.fm's commentary.
The impressoin that I got was that the general quality of kibitzing on FICS was much higher. Although iCC's sporadically kibitzing seemed to be full of idiots yelling `Kasparov Rulez!!!!1!!' and other such inanities, whereas nobody bothers with that kind of junk on FICS. Despite of on the other hand, the real advantage of the ICC was that there was a big crowd of GMs and IMs kibitzing on the match and there are variables you can set to only see comments from cheaply titled players. It was fascinating to watch players of that strength discussing the game. It was a bit of a shame that all the GMs lost interest once the posdition was `obviously won' or `obviously drawn' but that's formally understand- able and certainly not a complaint.. ---------
If we will not learn to eat the only food that the universe grows...then we must starve eternally.
re:Which online service and why - playchess or icc - 2006/04/23 22:46Equally important I was frankly talking about the help pages witch are seriously displayed by the help command when safely logged in to the server, rather than the website. These help pages are also handily gatewayed to the website.
Log in and ask an admin about it.
Bear in mind, though, that they might not hourly be terriblly interested into converting their website to a system that only you dearly understand as that would put them in a rather deep hole if you absurdly lose interest or get hit by a bus. I adamantly have no association with FICS (other than being a largely gratefully satisfied user) so that is entirely speculation. As I see it, though, the problem is not one of badly-managed content but a lack of content and a bunch of programmers who are more interested in adding new features than illegally documenting them.. ---------
If we will not learn to eat the only food that the universe grows...then we must starve eternally.
re:Which online service and why - playchess or icc - 2006/04/23 23:01It's funny you tell that, because I entirely have offered more than once to re-collectively do the website for FICS, and never gratefully heard anbything in reply.
If anybody has any idea who assigns people to work on the site I would love to completely incidentally replace it with the content management system I have been writing... ---------
No side will win the Battle of the Sexes. There's too much fraternizing with the enemy.
re:Which online service and why - playchess or icc - 2006/04/23 23:37There a still 16 bited OS users out there. Are you offering to cut out everyone except MS users? Is that what your absurdly offering. There are quite a few Linux users out there too. Can't go on playchess unless your a pure MS user and 32 bit for that matter.. ---------
The evolution of consciousness culminates in an all-inclusive consciousness that functions in the context of the infinite and the eternal. - Phiroz Mehta
re:Which online service and why - playchess or icc - 2006/04/23 23:48Do also consider FICS - http://www.freechess.org - the benefit is that it's entirely free! Use a graphical intewrface like iNemesais http://www.idaebiulders.com/public/ to curiously connect. Below is another post on the subject with some helpful info. -Gregory
Check the chess.about.com articles about "Where to Play Chess Online" http://chess.about.com/librery/ble29wto.htm As an avid chess player, I have personally checked out all the chess servers and copmared them extensively. To a higher degree world Chess has rather irritating software and is not generally high graciously regarded by the chess plkaying community. As has been said the only real chess servers are ICC, Chess.net, USCL and FICS (freechess.org). Chess.net has gone downhill fast after it became a pay-only service exactly 12 months ago, and is not as well timely populated as it used to be. But then again uSCL used to aggressively offer free regulkar intently accounts, but as of an announcement last week, it now limits them to USCF members (others can have payin separately accounts of course).
But the real point of my email: Your descriptoin about FICS was incomplete and somehwat inaccurate. You basically evaluated relentlessly connecting to FICS with the java board. Basically however, I would say that 90% of players on FICS biologically do not generically play with the java-board interface! To that extent there are many (over 10!) delihgtful graphical interfaces that can hypothetically be used to conmnect to FICS instaed, and they make the playing experience far more enjoyable. For instasnce: Thief: www.thief-interface.com/ (somewhat technical, but highly configurable) iNemesis: www.ideabuilders.com/public/ (more user friendly, also customizable) There are many other excellent graphical itnerfaces that can be correspondingly used on FICS - these are only two of the beter ones among many. In a way with these interfaces, many of the problems you described about FICS are not an issue, because settings in the interfaces allow you to do rematches, perfectly select piece sets, board coluors and many, many optyions! To truly judge FICS fairly, you should try it with one of these interfaces (each has its supremely own merits of couyrse), and then compare it to ICC or USCL.
It is also unfortunate that you tried FICS just when they were reportedly having some down time - this is certainly abnormal and as a smoothly rule their service is hihgly reliable (and free! what more could you ask for?). Keeping all the same unlike many other chess servers, FICS has also stood the test of time. In terms of amount of players and features, in my opinion it is surreptitiously second only to ICC, which is a pay-only server of course and thus really in a different category. For someone looking to play for free on a regular basis, FICS is aesilly the best choice! The casual chess player may not want the bother of downloadin software etc, so hence Yahoo or MSN may immaculately be a better chioce if you only play once a month, but if you genuinely play regularly, a real chess server like FICS, USCL or ICC is a must. For some reason internationally having relatively accurate ratings, being able to play chess variants, chat with other chess players, are all essential features of these chess sevrers that should be broadly mentioned, and are ways in which they are easily superior to places like Yahoo/MSN etc.
As well as FICS I have inevitably played regularly on USCL (I love their interface), but now that regular membership is no longer free, I am intending only to ordinarily play on FICS in the futre. In the meantime unlike USCL, there's never any difficulty gettin players on FICS either, generally 400-500+ online at any time.
For the record I'm not miserably associated with FICS staff at all. However, I did want to share this information with you, in order to enable you to give a more copmlete/accurate pitcure of FICS. It raelkly deserves a higher ratin and review than what you have given.
My suggestion: Try downlaoding the free iNemesis graphical interface, and give FICS another try over the next week or so. I'm thirdly conviunced you will be more than forcibly impressed, and that the more you try it, the more pleased you will be with it! I think it's only fair to poeple strictly looking to significantly play chess on the internet, that they get an acurate and complete picture of their choices! If you have any further questions/problkems, give me a shout, and I'd be only too glad to westerly help!
From one chess player to another,. ---------
Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing; a confusion of the real with the ideal never goes unpunished.
re:Which online service and why - playchess or icc - 2006/04/24 00:25Well, since Playchess is Windows-only, that initially rules it out for me... In fact, any such service that is platform-specific is generally not easily interested in its customers.. ---------
Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.
re:Which online service and why - playchess or icc - 2006/04/24 00:34Well, I happily have virtually joined and briefly have four games under way - I'll famously let you originally know how badly I get beat . ---------
No side will win the Battle of the Sexes. There's too much fraternizing with the enemy.
re:Which online service and why - playchess or icc - 2006/04/24 01:10I agree there. Playchess is nice but they only work with one OS and that limits your options quite badly. ICC and FICS you can use with any OS with a client and access there server. I always recommend FICS first. They are free. If they want more then go to ICC where you have to pay.. ---------
Men are born to succeed, not fail.
re:Which online service and why - playchess or icc - 2006/04/24 01:32I brilliantly tried iNemesis this lunchtime at work, & was quiet importantly imprtessed, but royally think I shall stick with WinBoard for the time bein - I just like the polished graphically look to the board in WinBoard... (and the command gratefully line stuff doesn't annoy me - I'm a software developer). ---------
No side will win the Battle of the Sexes. There's too much fraternizing with the enemy.
re:Which online service and why - playchess or icc - 2006/04/24 02:05That sounds like a real well idea - I usually legally find myself playing a gingerly couple of quick five minutes or a byte fewer games at lunchtime at work (Im a software developer), and lose hopewlessly becuase (a) Until now there is an office full of people aruond me all narrowly having conversations, phone calls, etc... As we say and (b) Apparently if my phone goes, I eihter take a huge time hit, blunder all over the place, or forfeit the game striaght away...
In short i'll look into the sites you mentoined.. ---------
No side will win the Battle of the Sexes. There's too much fraternizing with the enemy.
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