Online chess is one of the attractive services available to chessplayers via the internet. It allows players all over the world to interact with one another. All it takes is to telnet to an Internet Chess Server using a shareware known as Chessbd.
You can obtain the shareware (Chessbd) through the Caissa FTP Server. Choose the shareware that corresponds with your Operating System. For Windows user, look for the file slics23j.exe. Note: The version number might be different.
The programmer of this shareware is Don Fong. You can visit his homepage to obtain the latest copy.
Just run slics23j.exe on your Chessbd directory and it will decompress by itself. You can then delete it. Run the Chessbd executable & input the approriate information. You can E-Mail me if you have any problems with the installation.
Now, you must register with an internet chess server. One of the servers you can register with is the FICS (Free Internet Chess Server). You must send an e-mail to chess@caissa.onenet.net. Type Fics Registration on the subject field. As for the body text, type the following precisely:
fics_addplayer <handle> <"Name"> <E-Mail address>
The handle refers to your account name, you will be identified by your handle. It is permanent and therefore choose properly. Make sure it's unique as you will not be allowed to use handles that are already in use. An example of the correct command line is as follows:
fics_addplayer Knightmare "Garry Kasparov" xxx@kkk.jjjf.aaa
Rest assured that your Name & E-Mail address will be kept confidential. You will receive a reply from FICS which will provide you your password. You can now login using your handle & password. Click on the FICS selection under the ICS menu in Chessbd to login to FICS.
Here are several basic commands in FICS:
match <user> <rated/unrated> <time> <increment of seconds for every move> <White/Black>
This command line is used to propose a match. For eg. match Knightmare rated 2 15 White.
accept/decline - to accept/decline a proposal
withdraw - to withdraw your proposal
finger <user> - to get information about <user>
who - list of users logged on
players - list players available
help <command> - display help file on a command
There are times when there is a delay in transmission of your move caused by the network, this can sometimes lead to serious time trouble. Timeseal prevents this by corresponding your actual thinking time with the time control in the ICS.
The latest copy of this program can be obtain through Don Fong's homepage. It is vital to keep your timeseal updated as an error might occur if your copy is outdated.
To install timeseal, unzip the program into your Chessbd directory. Then, edit the FICS profile using Manual Login (ALT+I). Change the ICS host entry to localhost and save the profile using another name.
You can obtain further informations from FICS by using the help command. First of all, type info to view the list of topics available, then type help <topic> to view the files related to the topic.