Author: Georg v. Zimmermann
Date: 05:38:40 04/17/00
Go up one level in this thread
Hello Ralph, a lot of good replies here. My suggestion (from over 3 years of playing on chess servers): try Fics. Fics has some negative sides , but it will be the server you'll be happy with in the long run. If you don't want to put up with this, ICC isn't too bad either : - More unfriendly people than on ICC. You need to learn to live with an ocasional "F*** you" after you won a game on time. But many great people too! - Sometimes you have to wait longer to get an opponent. But since from your post I guess you want to play mainly 3 0, 1 0 , 3 12 , 15 0 or the like time controls (first number is the starting time in minutes, second one is the increment per move in seconds) you will not have trouble finding opponents. These are the time controls favored by most people. - The Fics software is VERY powerfull. And it is complicated to get started. There are very many options even for seeking a game. You might get frustrated at one point. But don't give up! Because its a bit complicated here my step by step instructions on how to start playing on Fics. :-) - go to www.freechess.org - register. Make sure you use a not free email adress. If you got a trial account on ICC, the same email adress will probably work for Fics, too. Make sure that you register on the American Free Internet Chess Server ( A-Fics or only Fics) and NOT on the European (Eics). Many people make that mistake. There are far less people on Eics. - Go to downloads to download a Client (Software that runs on your computer to connect to the Chess Server). I suggest that you use "Freak" if you are running Windoze 95/98/NT/2000. It is the easiest to use. There are other more powerfull interfaces like "Thief" of which I'm co-developer but the number of options would confuse you. "Freak" has also a very nice looking grafical board. Better than any I have seen before. - Connect with "Freak" or other Client to Fics. Server : freechess.org , Port : 5000 (if this doesn't work, try 23) , timeseal : checked . - Read some help files. A good starting point is intro_playing. (Type in "help intro_playing" - Yes, that is an underscore, not a space !). I think there is another help file "intro_talking". I hope we meet on Fics some day ! Best regards, Georg Tecumseh @ Fics
This page took 0 seconds to execute
Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700
Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.