MadMonkey: I will delete it.

ChessVariant: 30 days should be absolute maximum for a game

Well, that may work if you play most of your games against your buddies at school, who are available to play for about the same hours as you do. But on a global site as BK, any game that moves faster than 1 move/day is a bonus. Even if you spend 12 hours a day, from 9 AM to 9 PM monitoring your game list, moving within a minute if you have games to play, and your opponent also spends 12 hours a day doing the same, there's still no guarantee the game moves faster than once a day. People live in different timezones, and play during different times a day. Some people only play from the office - others do actual work and only play from home.

AbigailII:sorry, I made mistake ... what I meant was: if there is no move during 30 days period game should terminate ... I can't imagine playing one move a month using internet ... my move would go even faster thru Atlantic to Europe using kayak ...

Shogi Database Software is available from this site. http://superheroshogi.blogspot.com/. It uses KIF format. I don't know about psn. The interface is in Japanese but uses mostly kana.
talen314

When I post a game of chess and select the box for alternate colors, I only get 1 game of the color selected, or 2 single games. what am I doing wrong?

Bluefin: Depends on what you're trying to accomplish. Maybe the option you want is to have a match with 2 games? (As opposed to a single game match, the default option).
The check box you mention is for when you create multiple games/matches to have them start in alternating colors (so, if you create 8 games, 4 will start and white and 4 will start as black).

Bluefin: If you choose 12 games with alternate colours, the server will create 12 separate games, 6 with white and 6 with black. If you choose 2 games, it will create one of each.

If you want a match against a single opponent that consists of several games in a row, choose the 4th option (the one just above the chat box).

Thanks for the info. What I wanted was to play a single opponent a two game match ,alternate colors.

Bluefin: If you selected a 2 game match, the second game will start after the first is finished and will automatically alternate the second game to the other color

Bluefin: N game/win matches already alternate colours. No need to specify this again.

Ok, I got it now, Thanks to all

I think I'm going to go insane. My daughter just called and told me that my GRANDSON just DEAD. I don't know what to do he was only 2.

DeaD man WalkiN:God bless you and your family.  Take care of each other, you need each other more than you ever have.

DeaD man WalkiN: If you can, go be with her. You all need each other now.

I'm so sorry to hear about your families loss.

DeaD man WalkiN: [*]

DeaD man WalkiN: my sympathies. Life is so unfair. So sorry...

DeaD man WalkiN: that's awful. I'm so sorry. Go be with your family. You need each other.

DeaD man WalkiN: So sorry to hear that my friend (:

DeaD man WalkiN:
I am so very sorry for you, your daughter and family

DeaD man WalkiN: i'm so sorry to hear that, my deepest sympathy to you and your family.

DeaD man WalkiN: my deepest sympathies to you and your family

I want to let all BrainKing users know that they are entitled to a free membership in the World Camelot Federation.

The WCF is an international non-profit organization that is dedicated to the preservation, popularization, and play of Camelot, one of the finest abstract strategy board games ever invented.

As most of you probably know, both Camelot and its variant Cam are played on BrainKing.

To receive a free WCF membership, please contact me at michael@worldcamelotfederation.com .

There are currently 197 WCF members, spread throughout 14 different countries.  The organization is an informal network of individuals interested in any and all aspects of the game and its variants: Cam, Camette, Chivalry, Grand Camelot, and Grand Cam.

Membership comes with no requirement on your part.  Membership entitles you to a couple of things.  You will receive an occasional informational email
from me regarding subjects like Camelot computer programs, rules questions, editions of sets, legal issues, games, problems, etc.

Additionally, you will automatically receive an invitation to play in the next WCF Camelot World Championship (email) Tournament.  One just concluded two weeks ago.

I hope you take advantage of this chance to learn more about Camelot.

Please visit the WCF website at http://www.worldcamelotfederation.com .

Thanks.

Respectfully,
Michael Nolan (MrWCF on BrainKing)
President & Founder, World Camelot Federation

I love the site and the fact that you can make unlimited moves. The only downside seems to be the amount of people on the site that won't finish a game when they know they have lost. I'd like to earn the achievements and you can't do that when people always resign the game on you. Please just finish it out, who knows, maybe they'll timeout on you and you'll win the game.

tfra11:It is good manners to resign a hopelessly lost game.  You've done all you can do to win at that point, and the rest of the game is just meaningless dice rolls.  There are many people who are annoyed at players who drag lost games out just for the sake of postponing the loss.

tfra11: I consider it very poor etiquette to continue in a game that has obviously been won by the other player.Besides,as a pawn with only 20 games to play at once wouldn't you be annoyed if a player waited until the last minute to play a pointless move in a game they could not win?

tfra11: You want me to drag on a lost game for god knows how long, on the off chance that my opponent may get an archievement? Get real. If that's going to be the effect of archievements, I hope they'll disappear as soon as possible.

I play for as long as I think there's a realistic chance of archieving a result other than a loss. Otherwise, I resign. I'm here for the game play, not for pushing buttons or archievements.

I resign a game that I too know Im going to lose so I don't waste time.. Isn't it still an achievement for the winner if I resign? I thought it was. it is still a win for them

Carl: Okay, i guess things are different in other countries. I was raised to never quit, but if it's poor etiquette elsewhere, i can live with it.

tfra11: It is,nt poor etiquette. It is good manners to resign a game you cant possibly win.

tfra11: Ah. As I got it it is in your ratings advantage to finish the hopeless games sooner as the wins.

tfra11: Bad manners are bad manners regardless of where you were raised.

tfra11:I would say also that there is a difference between quitting and acknowledging the inevitable.  In backgammon in particular, I will resign only when I have no mathematical possibility of winning.  To resign earlier would be quitting.

I would go so far as to say that in other games, such as chess, you should resign a clearly lost position because to play on implies you don't think your opponent has the ability to play out the clear win.  Of course, the question whether a game is "clearly lost" requires some realistic evaluation of the opponent's ability.

alanback:Massacre Chess has this clear advantage that there are no "empty", endless moves ... you either capture or say goodbye ... however, everything can change in the last several moves when situation on the board looks badly ... so, play till the end ...

does anyone know hat has happened to Kardinal?
he is timing out in a lot of games and still has auto vac on .

There's something I really detest: You get a winning position against an opponent, you know you won, he knows you won, and instead of pressing the resign link he lets the time run out. Now that's asocial behaviour!

i usually play on my games until the very end .. although i sometimes already know there wont be a way for me to win anymore

the reason for that is that i like to get a feeling with the end stage of the games .. for example in backgammon i play it on till the end to see wether a gammon or backgammon would be won or what the consequences of the positions would .. and how my opponent handles the end stage

the same for chess games .. i am not a good chess player .. therefore i play it on to see how and end game can be played

in games like dice poker i resign when i am too many points behind .. the same for reversi where i can count out the number of pieces which we will both have in the end

though when i notice that my opponent can reach an achievement then i wont resign and play on
(for example the achievements in dice poker can only be obtained when you win the game and not when your opponent resigns ... so when my opponent has all the bonusses i do play it on till the last move)

i would consider it a bad manner if i would resign such a game .. if i really want to resign i send a message to my opponent if i can resign on the next move ..1 more move wont matter

its good manner and good etiquette do place yourself in your opponent position and think of what (s)he might prefer you to do .. then weigh it against your own wishes .. and make a good decision .. or discuss it with your opponent

Tuesday: Perhaps it's time I posed this question to my sports psychologist:
why are my 2 favorite sports/games (curling and chess) ones in which resignation in the face of virtually certain defeat is appropriate and expected (as opposed to the majority of contests--which are played until time expires, specific goals are reached, or a certain number of points are scored, etc.)?

I'm not sure it's merely a coincidence; this may be more a matter of temperament.

wetware:

I'm sure it's a personal thing and quite sportsmanlike but, nobody ever won a game by resigning....

awesome: Nobody ever won a game that was mathematically impossible to win either.

Carl: not true.... you can always win by a timeout too

Czuch: Yeah, but personally I hate it when I win by timeout. It doesn't feel like a real victory.

If I realise I will lose the game in the next few moves I play it to the end. If I see I will lose but it'll take a long time I resign. What's the point of dragging a tournament just in case my opponent makes a stupid move or times out?

Carl: I don't agree. Here in the USA, if we quit, even if we're mathematically eliminated, we're called sore losers. I will continue to play all my games out to the end. Sorry if that's poor etiquette wherever you live. That being said, i do not wait until time almost runs out before i play again. I finish it right then and there.

tfra11: I disagree with the USA argument. Why do sports series end early if the other team is mathematically eliminated? (i.e. NBA: Lakers won 4-1 in a best of 7, and there was no need to play all seven). Even with Soccer (Futbol), if a game goes to a Penalty Kick shootout, all 5 kicks by each team are not taken if a team is mathematically eliminated before the 5th kick. With board games, I believe it is universally considered "good sportsmanship" to resign a lost cause.

ChessVariant: I agree that some stupid blunders are made, as I have made plenty of them myself. However, the kind of eliminations I am talking about are:

1. Chess Example: King vs. King + Rook. Please resign this game if you only have a king rather than make someone finish it.

2. Backgammon example: If you can see that a player will win if he rolls all 2-1 for the remainder of the game, even if the opponent rolls all double 6's, then it is pointless to continue. Only people who are praying for the winning opponent's computer to explode would keep playing this game.

Actually, I think this has at least as much to do with different game cultures as it has to do with nationalities. In chess, you will sometimes find yourself in a position where:

- you know you're lost
- you know your opponent has the skill to win the game
- but it will still take some 30-40 moves for them to do so.

I suppose that's why experienced chess players have developed this etiquette that you resign when you know you haven't got a chance (unless there's only a few moves left, in which case your opponent might actually be happy to mate you!). I've played chess with people from all over the world on many different sites, and I've never noticed that people from the US were any different in this regard.

The problem, I think, is when people take the game etiquette that they've learned at one game and apply it to a different game and expect it to be universally valid. Which is bound to happen now and then on a site like this. The solution, of course, is to try to tell yourself that whatever your opponent does, he probably means no harm... live and let live... and Fencer, please don't add any more achievements that requires the game to be played out to the end ;-)

tfra11: I'm pretty sure a majority of Americans who play here would disagree. (Only because of the MANY times over the years this subject has been brought up) Most people who care about this issue, I believe, feel it is rude to continue a game that is a mathematical loss. Americans included. But I think many don't care (whatever nationality)

Personally, I'm pretty easy going, and it doesn't bother me whichever way someone chooses to handle it. When I know I am playing someone who prefers you resign when you know for sure you have lost, I resign at that point. If I'm playing a friend, who likes to continue a conversation, and just play it out, I play it out.