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Free Internet Chess Server
The Free Internet Chess Server (FICS) is a volunteer-run online chess platform. When the original Internet Chess Server (ICS) was commercialized and rebranded as the Internet Chess Club (ICC) in 1995, a group of users and developers came together to fork the code and host an alternative committed to free access. A rivalry between ICC and FICS persisted for years.
Users download one of several graphical client programs, connect to the server via telnet, and can play chess or variants at a range of time controls. Games played on FICS are stored in a database, which has been used to train chess engines and to support academic studies.
FICS is based in the US, but the user base is international.
In addition to the games themselves, FICS offers chat rooms, pairing systems, analysis tools, and ratings. A relay system displays high-profile tournament games for users to see.
In January 1992, Michael Moore of the University of Utah and Richard Nash started the first online service facilitating live chess games, the American Internet Chess Server (commonly known as the Internet Chess Server or ICS). The initial release, accessible via telnet, was hosted at the University of Utah, but over its first two years it moved repeatedly across American universities, with additional servers opening and connecting to each other through Nash's Internet Ratings Server. The software was coded, supported, and operated by volunteers.
Later that same year, in July 1992, Daniel Sleator, professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, took over operation and improved the code. One of his primary contributions was a mechanism to adjust clock times for the effects of Internet lag. He announced plans to commercialize the service, copyrighted the code in 1994, and rebranded it as the Internet Chess Club (ICC) in 1995, charging membership fees.
Sleator's decision to commercialize the ICS was controversial, outraging members who felt the Internet should be free and open, or who simply did not want to pay for a service that had been free. According to journalist Brad Stone: "Players lost their tempers and were exiled from the server, opposition groups were formed, lawsuits were threatened, ICC administrators were harassed, and plans to erect alternative servers were formed."
Several former ICS programmers saw the move as exploiting their work and, on the day its rebranding was announced, they created a mailing list focused on developing an alternative. Work had been in progress, using Nash's original code, since Sleator initially revealed his commercialization plans. Several developers contributed, led by Nash, Henrik Gram, David Flynn, and Chris Petroff. The effort led to servers in several places around the world and in the United States, with the latter consolidating to form the Free Internet Chess Server (FICS), launched on 5 March 1995. Its tagline is "we do it for the game--not the money".
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Free Internet Chess Server AI simulator
(@Free Internet Chess Server_simulator)
Free Internet Chess Server
The Free Internet Chess Server (FICS) is a volunteer-run online chess platform. When the original Internet Chess Server (ICS) was commercialized and rebranded as the Internet Chess Club (ICC) in 1995, a group of users and developers came together to fork the code and host an alternative committed to free access. A rivalry between ICC and FICS persisted for years.
Users download one of several graphical client programs, connect to the server via telnet, and can play chess or variants at a range of time controls. Games played on FICS are stored in a database, which has been used to train chess engines and to support academic studies.
FICS is based in the US, but the user base is international.
In addition to the games themselves, FICS offers chat rooms, pairing systems, analysis tools, and ratings. A relay system displays high-profile tournament games for users to see.
In January 1992, Michael Moore of the University of Utah and Richard Nash started the first online service facilitating live chess games, the American Internet Chess Server (commonly known as the Internet Chess Server or ICS). The initial release, accessible via telnet, was hosted at the University of Utah, but over its first two years it moved repeatedly across American universities, with additional servers opening and connecting to each other through Nash's Internet Ratings Server. The software was coded, supported, and operated by volunteers.
Later that same year, in July 1992, Daniel Sleator, professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, took over operation and improved the code. One of his primary contributions was a mechanism to adjust clock times for the effects of Internet lag. He announced plans to commercialize the service, copyrighted the code in 1994, and rebranded it as the Internet Chess Club (ICC) in 1995, charging membership fees.
Sleator's decision to commercialize the ICS was controversial, outraging members who felt the Internet should be free and open, or who simply did not want to pay for a service that had been free. According to journalist Brad Stone: "Players lost their tempers and were exiled from the server, opposition groups were formed, lawsuits were threatened, ICC administrators were harassed, and plans to erect alternative servers were formed."
Several former ICS programmers saw the move as exploiting their work and, on the day its rebranding was announced, they created a mailing list focused on developing an alternative. Work had been in progress, using Nash's original code, since Sleator initially revealed his commercialization plans. Several developers contributed, led by Nash, Henrik Gram, David Flynn, and Chris Petroff. The effort led to servers in several places around the world and in the United States, with the latter consolidating to form the Free Internet Chess Server (FICS), launched on 5 March 1995. Its tagline is "we do it for the game--not the money".