FICGS correspondence chess server help

English French See also the complete FICGS rules

Feel free to visit FICGS, using the visitor account :

User : guest , Password : guest

Once you registered and received your username, you just have to enter a tournament waiting list and wait for the tournament starts. If you want to play live games, it is recommended to challenge a player in "My games" rather than to enter to enter an advanced tournament (=2 players, blitz time control) waiting list, in both cases do not forget to retire from the waiting list or challenge before to quit if you don't find an opponent.

Please choose carefully the tournaments you want to play, as you can't remove your name from waiting lists once you entered them (but advanced tournaments). Also it is strongly recommended to play no more than 3 tournaments at the same time as it may be quite time consuming.

Once the games started (you'll receive an email notifying the start of the tournament, also a popup window will warn you in the case of a live game if you are in the "My games" page), please connect to FICGS, select a game marked with an exclamation mark in My games, click on the piece to move then on the destination square (ie. for a chess game), or enter your move in the textfield. At last push send button (fast interface - Javascript), or push move button, finally confirm your move by pushing send (slow interface - HTML). To accept a draw or to resign, just check the box without clicking a piece then send the move. Please note that you have to play a move while offering a draw.

It is strongly recommended to activate javascript in your browser - that is generally the case - and to allow pop-ups for this site. Also you shouldn't use the refresh function, please use text links and buttons only.

Please be sure to have read the FICGS general rules and particularly the Chess & Go playing rules.

F.A.Q.

Question - I registered but I did not receive my username...

If you did not receive your username after a week, an email may have been lost in the internet. Feel free to try to login with username : lastname_firstname. You may also try to retrieve your informations by entering your email here.

Question - I received my username, how do I begin to play ?

First you should enter a tournament waiting list. You may login, click 'Waiting lists' in the menu, then click the tournament you would like to play (according to your provisional rating that you can find in Preferences). You have to confirm your entry, now you should see your name appearing on the waiting list. You'll be notified by email of the start of the tournament.

Question - I've lost my password, how to retrieve it ?

You may generate a new password by entering your email here, then just follow the instructions. You may have to reload the page displaying your password if it doesn't work.

Question - I'm unable to stay connected, why ?

One possible explanation is that you're running a chess engine on your computer. In this case, you may open the taskmanager and set the priority of your browser to high.

Question - Where can I find FICGS app for Android ?

You can find all applications for Android on the english chess homepage and on Google Play Store. Just search FICGS and install your favourite app. Icons may differ but the content is basically the same.

Question - Where can I find my rating an statistics ?

You can see all your ratings in Preferences, click the magnifying glass to find more informations (statistics, history).

Question - What are bullet, lightning & blitz time controls ?

As correspondence "rapid" tournaments are played at time control 30 days + 1 day per move, correspondence bullet, lightning and blitz games must be compared to standard time controls in OTB (over the board) chess. See the advanced chess waiting lists to see details about these time controls. In example a correspondence blitz is played at 1 hour + 1 minute / move time control.

Question - How to start a 2 players game ?

To play "live" against an opponent (unlike most tournaments), you can enter a Blitz, Lightning or Bullet waiting list (advanced tournaments), with a time control of a few minutes or a few hours, your game will start as soon as 2 players are in the waiting list. Please retire your name of the waiting list by clicking on the arrows before to leave if you did not find any opponent. Another way is to send a challenge to a chosen player in My Games, just choose a game by clicking an icon (rook for chess, stone for Go or card for poker), then select a player and press Challenge or All to challenge all connected players at the same time. In this case please withdraw the remaining sent challenges before to leave. Even if the server verifies that you are online, there may be a small lag and you may lose a game on time.

Question - How do I challenge another player ?

To send a challenge for an advanced chess game (bullet, lightning or blitz), see the Challenges form in My games, you have to choose a game (advanced chess, Go or poker), an opponent, the game & color you want to play, then push the Challenge button. Ratings shown for chess are advanced chess ratings, different from the correspondence chess ratings. It is strongly recommended not to hide the chat bar to check in the message box (above the chat bar) if your game started or if you received a new challenge. If this window becomes empty, most probably there was a connection problem, then you should load the "My games" page until it works again.

Also it is recommended to remove challenges by clicking on the arrows just near it or next to the challenge button in My games before to leave.

Question - How to know when my game starts ?

When a game or a tournament starts, you should receive an email (clocks start as soon as the tournament starts), but email is not reliable, as there may be delays and anti-spam filters. In the case of an advanced game - blitz, lightning or bullet - several means may warn you when it starts : 1. A popup window saying it's your turn (only if you allowed popup windows for the site in your browser, which is strongly recommended) with a vocal message. 2. The scrolling message above the chat bar will display your advanced game started. 3. If you're viewing the "My games" page, it will refresh itself with (!) marked at the beginning of its title when you have a new move to play, which is quite convenient if you use several windows. In all cases it is strongly recommended to reload handly the "My games" page every 2 minutes at least to not forget that you're waiting for an opponent, and to cancel all challenges (just click the double arrows in "My games" challenges) after a while if noone can play.

Question - When will my tournament start ?

It will start as soon as the waiting list is filled. Usually 7 players are required to start a new tournament, or 2 players for an advanced tournament.

Question - What will happen if I forget to play in a live game ?

If you enter a Blitz, Lightning or Bullet waiting list then quit before to retire from the waiting list, another player may provoke the start of the game by completing the waiting list also. If you lose the game on time without having played a single move, you'll probably lose some rating points according to your opponent's rating (his rating will not increase if less than 10 moves have been played, see rating rules) and you may lose Epoints if you entered a Silver or Gold waiting list. That's why it is recommended to use the challenges option in "My games", that detects your presence on the server in most cases.

Question - What is the touch move option ?

The touch-move option is a way to send your moves without having to press the Send button. The move, including the message to your opponent and the draw & resign boxes, will be sent as soon as it is actually played on the board. It is a way to save some precious time, particularly during bullet games. Be careful though, no move can be taken back. To activate the touch move, just see your Preferences and check the touch move box (available in the fast moves process - javascript required - only).

Question - How to play the chess freestyle cup, what are E-Points ?

It is possible to buy tickets in E-Points for tournaments with entry fees and money prizes like the freestyle cup. More details about E-Points are available in My account page after you connect to the server, see also the terms and conditions by following this link : E-Points in terms and conditions.

Question - How to get E-Points ?

Three ways : You can get E-Points by buying it (see My account), by winning free tournaments with prizes or by becoming an affiliate simply by linking to FICGS on the world wide web (see My account).

Question - Is it possible to cash out E-Points ?

When you win a tournament with an entry fee & prize in E-Points, you may ask for a money prize, see the complete terms & conditions about E-Points. It is not possible to give or sell Epoints to another player.

Question - How do I promote a pawn during a chess game ?

By default, a pawn is promoted into a queen. If you want a rook (R), knight (N) or bishop (B), please just add the letter after your move using PGN notation, ie c8R, promoting white pawn in c8 into a rook.

Question - What are the poker holdem rules ?

Please read the complete FICGS poker holdem rules.

Question - How do I pass in a Go game, how to end it ?

Please just enter 'pass' in the move text field, then send your move. When both players pass, it's up to the players to discuss the score, then resign (or call referee in case of a disagreement only). Feel free to use the scoring function to estimate the position.

Question - What is the clock between brackets ?

This is the time left for the next move, displayed only if this time is inferior to the time left for the whole game, according to the time limit per move rule.

Question - My access provider does not let me connect to FICGS...

Most access providers regularly have problems with their DNS servers. You may try to enter the url with https:// and without "www." , it may work this way.

Question - Why do I get an error message while using HTTPS pages ?

Most browsers support SSL encryption, this is the best secured way to send and receive data through the internet. FICGS certificate is autosigned, you have to accept and save it, then you won't get an error message anymore.

Question - My opponent is checkmated, why the game isn't finished ?

It may happen in some cases. If he does not resign, he will lose on time anyway (you can call referee if it takes too much time).

Question - My opponent ran out of time, why the game isn't finished ?

Actually, it is finished even if the result is not displayed yet. A robot will adjudicate the game within hours, anyway the game is won.

Question - My opponent resigned, how can I leave him a message ?

You can use the public comment field. Your opponent will be warned by email of any text modification. You may also use the form at the bottom of the page My messages.

Question - I've finished games and my rating doesn't change, why ?

Correspondence chess rating calculation occurs every 2 months, in order to avoid big fluctuations, usually during first days of january, march, may, july, september and november. Go rating is calculated after each game.

Question - How did a player rated 2100 enter a 2200-2400 waiting list ?

He was most probably rated at least 2200 when he entered the waiting list, hen he lost some rating points. Another possibility is that he bought a ticket while filling a certain number of conditions explained here.

Question - I got a FIM norm, why does my profile show 1 FEM norm ?

When you get a norm, it also counts for all inferior norms, ie. if you get 1 FIM and 2 FEM norms, it shows 1 FIM and 3 FEM norms so you get FEM title. Norms are updated about 1 time a month.

Question - Why my clock still runs during my vacation ?

Every move must be played in less than 60 days, consequently the "time per move" clock still runs during the vacation, but your time for the rest of the game is frozen.

Question - My tournament in the list shows "no winner", why ?

When more than 2 players end the tournament with the same highest number of points, the program indicates no winner for display reasons but they share the prize if there's one. Also there may be special rules in the world championship cycle to define a winner, but anyway the tournament will show "no winner".

Question - How to import my Chess games in a chess database ?

There are several ways to import your chess games played at FICGS in a chess database like Chessbase or SCID. 1) You may download the complete FICGS correspondence chess database: Click "Search games" in the menu, right click & save "All games (PGN)". Import the file in your database, then you may filter the games by using your name. 2) You may create a PGN file by going to "My games" (please use the chess filter, click the rook icon if you also play Go or Poker, you may also select pending, running or all games) then clicking the printer icon. You just have to copy/paste the content of the new page into a new text file, then importing it in your chess database. 3) You may download the PGN file of a particular game or tournament, right click and save the "download" link at the bottom of the page.

Question - How do I insert a Chess game in the forum ?

Just enter [PGN] followed by the complete game in Portable Game Notation format or a chess problem in FEN format, then finish with [/PGN]

Question - How do I insert a Go game in the forum ?

Just enter [SGF] followed by the complete game in Smart Game Format format, then finish with [/SGF]

Question - How can I insert a Chess or Go diagram in the forums ?

Just enter in the message the position of each piece following this format :

ChessPosition=WPa2,WRa1,WKe1,BPa7,BRa8,BKe8.
or...
GoPosition=Wd16,Bd4,Bf3.

WP : White Pawn, BK : Black King, WN : White Knight and so on (chess), W : White stone, B : Black stone (Go). Every position must be finished with a point. Please note only one position will be displayed by message.

You just have to play through the graphical interface :

CHESS

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

a b c d e f g h

CHESS 960

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

a b c d e f g h

GO

19

18

17

16

15

14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

a b c d e f g h j k l m n o p q r s t

BIG CHESS

16

15

14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

a b c d e f g h j k l m n o p q

You can also enter your moves in plain text format if you are used to english algebraic notation using PGN (Portable Game Notation) for chess & chess 960. Please note that promotions other than Q = Queen must be written in plain text, by modifying the move generated. For example : e8N will be a knight, e8B will be a bishop, e8R will be a rook.

You'll be notified by email of every move played in any of your games, but if the checkbox 'notification' (in your preferences) is not filled. You should login from time to time, as internet and particularly email isn't a completely reliable way.

If you have any difficulties, feel free to read the F.A.Q. or search the forum with a unique keyword (ie. 'checkmate')

Please speak english only in the forum. Note : Html tags but <br> are not supported.

You can watch and store games with different formats & viewers :

Display CHESS game with a javascript viewer
http://www.ficgs.com/pgnviewer/display_game.php?game=[number]

Display GO game with a java viewer
http://www.ficgs.com/show_sgf.php?game=[number]

View CHESS game in PGN format
http://www.ficgs.com/format_viewer_pgn.php?game=[number]

View GO game in SGF format
http://www.ficgs.com/format_viewer_sgf.php?game=[number]

View CHESS & GO game in RSS 0.92 format
http://www.ficgs.com/format_viewer_rss.php?game=[number]

You can include your games in your own websites :

You can adapt the viewer page as you like in your frames, adding a <body> html tag or simply with parameters in URL.

See how this url to game 1 is made.

Parameters are :

- game : the game you want to display
- board : red, blue, green or grey
- color : background color code
- text : text color code
- pgn : 1 if you want to display the game moves.
- align : 1 to align left (recommended)

A basic example would be :

http://www.ficgs.com/display_game.php?game=1&align=1&pgn=1