CCT 15 - 72 hours left to register

[Peter Skinner]

Hello everyone,

With only 72 hours left to register for CCT 15, it is shaping up to be a fantastic event.

We have 21 participants, and I am expecting at least 8 more that have inquired about getting accounts set up to test their engines. Many have expressed their happiness that we have moved from ICC to H.G.M's server due to how well it works for the monthly tournament he holds, and that spectators will be able to join easily to watch games.

I'm sad to say we haven't reached our goal to obtain GM Maurice Ashley for this event, however the money donated will simply go towards next year's event. I am however still working on a few details to give us something in the way of commentation, but it will likely come in the form of a user analyzing games on a very high end system.

So if you haven't registered, you only have 72 hours remaining to do so. Please ensure you have your account setup by following the procedure on https://cctchess.com/tournament-day/

It's starting to get really exciting for me, as D-Day is just 5 short days away. (For me at least!!). Remember to check your time zone differences as well.

Peter

[Joerg Oster]

It would be great if you or HGM could give a brief description how to follow the games as a guest.
And many thanks for your great efforts!

[hgm]

You mean for people that have no experience using FICS?

[Joerg Oster]

Yes.
I know I can add channel 64 with '+ch 64'.
But where do I see the games? IIRC I can watch a game by typing 'examine ' followed by the game number. But how do I get to know these numbers?

[Peter Skinner]

Yes.
I know I can add channel 64 with '+ch 64'.
But where do I see the games? IIRC I can watch a game by typing 'examine ' followed by the game number. But how do I get to know these numbers?

First thing you will want to do is add channel 64 and 49 with the following commands:

+ch 64
+ch 49

If you want to find information about the tournament, issue the following commands:

tell mamer list (this will give you the tournament number)
tell mamer games (this will list the individual games happening with a number value)

To watch a specific game:

ob # (you get the number from the list of games with the tell mamer games command)

Once watching a game, you can kibitz (talk) to the other spectators/participants. If you require any other help while on the server, you can send me a "tell" to PeterS (tell PeterS Hi). That is my account on that particular server.

Some other easy commands for use:

. - Use the period in front of any text, and it will automatically reply to the last person you sent a tell to.
, - Use the period in front of any text to reply to the last channel you spoke to.

If you have any further questions, I highly recommend you register an account on the server so you can just send me a message or a tell when I am physically on the server.

Peter

[Joerg Oster]

Yes.
I know I can add channel 64 with '+ch 64'.
But where do I see the games? IIRC I can watch a game by typing 'examine ' followed by the game number. But how do I get to know these numbers?

First thing you will want to do is add channel 64 and 49 with the following commands:

+ch 64
+ch 49

If you want to find information about the tournament, issue the following commands:

tell mamer list (this will give you the tournament number)
tell mamer games (this will list the individual games happening with a number value)

To watch a specific game:

ob # (you get the number from the list of games with the tell mamer games command)

Once watching a game, you can kibitz (talk) to the other spectators/participants. If you require any other help while on the server, you can send me a "tell" to PeterS (tell PeterS Hi). That is my account on that particular server.

Some other easy commands for use:

. - Use the period in front of any text, and it will automatically reply to the last person you sent a tell to.
, - Use the period in front of any text to reply to the last channel you spoke to.

If you have any further questions, I highly recommend you register an account on the server so you can just send me a message or a tell when I am physically on the server.

Peter

Thank you, Peter.

[hgm]

Some additional remarks:

When using WinBoard as client, you can save yourself a lot of typing by using the ICS menu instead. This menu will pop up when you right-click in the ICS Interaction window, and is configured to contain a number of frequently used commands.

E.g. to get a list of games currently going on on the ICS, click 'Games':



This sends the 'games' command to the ICS, which will then respond by printing a list of games in the ICS Interaction window.

To observe one of the games, you can also use the ICS menu, by right-clicking on the name of one of the players. You can then select 'Observe (name)', and WinBoard will start observing the game of that player:



When you want to chat with other players, you can do it on an open 'channel' (which have numbers), in connection with a certain game ('kibitz') or privately to a certain person (using his name). You can do all that in an orderly fashion using WinBoard's chat boxes:



Above you see a chat box for channel 53. All messages broadcasted in this channel will appear in the text window, prefixed with the name of the person who wrote it. You can type a message yourself in the line at the bottom, which will then be broadcasted in the channel.

The buttons on top are to call other chat boxes to the foreground. (You can conduct up to 5 chats at once.) In the picture there are also chatboxes open for channel 4 and for 'shouts' (which are system-wide broadcasts that everyone receives, not just those who switched on the channel with a '+ch' command). You could also have a chatbox for 'kibitzes', showing you the chatter belonging to the game you are observing, or with a user name, to conduct private conversation.

To open a new chatbox, you can right-click a player name, channel number, or the words 'shouts' or 'kibitzes' in the ICS Interaction window, and select 'Open Chat Box (name)' from the menu that pops up. This will open the chatbox with the clicked name already in the 'Chat Partner' field. (Of course you could also type it there, but usually you want to jump in a conversation that is already going on in the ICS Interaction window, or reply to a 'tell' that someone sends you, and then the needed number or name is already in the window, ready to be clicked!)

If you look at the ICS menu in the first picture, you see that there are many items that end with '(name)'. In all these commands, the '(name)' would be replaced by the word that you right-clicked to summon up the menu. So you could 'finger' a person (get info about him), 'match' him (i.e. challenge him for a game), send him a 'tell' (i.e. a private message). The latter could be used for a one-time message to a person you don't want to open a chatbox for. Of course you would still have to type what you want to tell him. After selecting the item the tell+name will therefore just be written in the input line of the ICS Interaction window, waiting for you to complete it with a message, and send it away with <Enter>.

[hgm]

Some more instructions:

To start WinBoard as a spectator, you could use the command line

winboard -ics -icshost 83.163.204.254

or use the general Startup Dialog (e.g. by double-clciking the winboard.exe file icon), tick "Use an ICS" and enter the address of my ICS:



(As I recently changed ISP, the correct IP address is not likely to be pre-configured in your WinBoard install. ) As an extra option you could add -autoKibitz (note the capital K!), which will make WinBoard capture the scores and PVs kibitzed by the engines (so they won't clutter up your ICS Interaction window), and display them in the Engine Output window in stead. You can also switch auto-kibitz on from the Options -> ICS... menu dialog after starting up WinBoard:



When using auto-kibitz, make sure the Engine Output window is open. (You can use the View -> Engine Output menu item to open this window.) When observing a game, you will then se the kibitz of the playing engines in separate panes, just like you would when playing the engines locally:



The other normal functions of the Engine Output window will also work. E.g., you can right-click the latest kibitzed PV to play it out on the board (which WinBoard also uses as variation board), to see what the engine is thinking. Just move the mouse vertically to step through the engine's PV, from the current game position until the deepest move it searches! When you release the mouse button, (or when an engine moves), the board will revert to the current game position. The selected PV will be highlighted in black as long as you are walking it.

[hgm]

About logging in:

When you have no registered account, and thus want to logon as a guest,

please do not use the name 'guest'

The ICS will allow you to use any name that is not in use as a registered account. So please pick a name from which others can recognize you, and (most of all, distinguish it from others, which the cannot if you are 'GuestSQPR' amidstdozens of other Guessts), like JohnDoe, JaneOfArc etc.



After the Welcome screen the ICS will prompt you for the user name. After typing the desired name at the bottom of the ICS Interaction window, it will inform you if this name belongs to a registered account, and ask for a password. As a guest you will always type <Enter>, either to be admitted as guest without password, or to enter an invalid password for an existing registered account that was not yours (and thus get a new login prompt for a retry with another name).

[Albert Silver]

Just out of curiosity: are you really saying that pages and pages of diagrams and instructions is what is meant by "easier to join and watch?

You should have talked to me and we could have done it in Playchess. Any guest can view a broadcast, and you do not need to create an account. ICC is the one with restrictions. FWIW, the offer is on the table this very minute.