Bluefin: Hello Bluefin, and any other Chess variants tournament players.

I have started doing quarterly tournaments occasionally. Currently the only one going at this time is an Embassy Chess tournament. The first round is almost complete, and cannot be joined now. I think next month I will start another tournament, and maybe a couple of other variants, such as Dark Chess. If you'd like to be notified, let me know, and I'll send an invitation your way. I do post the tournament in its matching discussion board. You should check those from time to time for games of your interest. This discussion board is not as good of a place for game notifications.

I use various Fischer clock timing controls to keep the games moving. You usually need to move two to four times a week and can build up a time limit of around 8 days. Some games can take lots of moves, other games are faster with less moves, such as Connect6 which I might also get a couple tournaments going.

ann67: Here's a Google translation I found for this:

И на мен ми се е случвало няколко пъти да не се виждат игрите


It has happened to me several times that the games are not visible

БОРИС: I'm not sure what you mean, Boris. Are you trying to send a message to a member with a game posted in the waiting area?

SL-Mark:

Fencer: Captured pieces ... Sweet.
Your highlighting the move squares and red check lines is a nice touch.

I agree. :)

Fencer: That seems like a good speed.

If that is made a part of BrainKing, will it have pause and backward play?

Nice works: You think I didn't comprehend what you wrote? Right. See ya.

Nice Works: The solution to your problem is obvious. Just block the person and get on with life here on BrainKing. Some people block right fast, but it seems you have tried to set a game playing environment with potential opponents of what you'd like. I understand that as that is what I try to do. I can chat or play without any chatting. Some of the other things you complain about in your profile about a certain player or two I also find unacceptable, so I do not play with the type of person I do not want to play with any more. It ain't that hard to arrange. Give it a try.

As for cheating. A few of us have come across a number of cheaters in Backgammon. I stopped playing them. Fencer has a low interest in Backgammon here on BrainKing. It could be a better game and if you're into Backgammon there's plenty of other places to find it. I play the game, but my interest in it is not as keen as other peoples. As for the cheaters or the rude players that you say run the clock and behave poorly, my advice is, "Don't play them."

I would like Jump Checkers, Ultima, and Rococo.

Aganju: Why don't you mail him the money? That's what I used to do until I bought the life membership. A money order works well. I'm sure they have those in Euros, though I have only used the U.S. dollar.

Though he didn't ask for extra money, I'd also throw in a fiver so he could get himself a beer for his trouble.

Fencer: It is still 2017 here in Colorado.
Happy New Year!

Fischer Clock is how you do it.
Try this:

Start 4 Days 7 hours
Bonus 1 Day 18 Hours
Max Time 11 days 1

A shorter max will definitely force a faster game. These parameters make the players move three or more times per week. Vacations and weekends have no baring on it. And, as always, the fast players can finish the game in a couple of hours. If someone quits the site, the game will end in 11 days. You can use a longer start time to give more time during a round change or series of games for matches.

ketchuplover: I'd write a check for half that if I knew how to run this place.

I have never understood the people who argue against auto-pass, nor Fencer's decision to set up the auto-pass so that those that don't want to use it can shut it off in a game created by someone that wants to use it. I think that If I create a game, then I should have the final say in the options and parameters used, not the person that accepts the game or enters the tournament. If that person doesn't like the parameters of my game, they should either create their own game, or write to me and we can discuss it, or they go pound sand and play with themselves.

I do not play Ludo, but auto-pass is a good thing for Backgammon. Yes, I have come back to a game and seen that I've missed six turns sitting on the bar. What a relief! Why would anyone want to roll and enter a move when your opponent has every point in his home base covered and you have a piece on the bar? And I do not mind when there's points open and auto-pass skips my turn either. I can always scroll back through the moves to see the bad rolls if I really want to see them.

rod03801: So you get a point for each win that an opponent of yours scored if you defeated that opponent? I see the totals now from your explanation. Thank you. And this explains the half point for draws, which for this particular tournament cannot happen. Yes, this tie breaking method is a great one for the computer to solve. Tedious and time consuming to do by hand.

As ThunderGr posts, Fencer should be told so he can restart the tournament with the correct people in it.

And instead it's 8-0-0?
There's a ghost in the machine.
I was thinking you should all have 9 of those S-B points 2 × 4 + 1, but I am not sure how it works. Maybe I'll read the explanation again. After reading it, I am confused and think you should all have 5 points, but that's not right since you all have 5 from wins alone. So I'm going to try to apply what I read and see if I can come up with 11 each. I do know that I am right about you three being equal no matter what it is if each of you defeated the other in a rotation as you have done.

I can't figure it out for 11 points. I'll stick with 9 each, but when I look at the Section 2 score my 2 × 3 + 1 = 7 works, but that could just be a coincidence that matches the correct score. I cannot see how player 4 Faith got only 1 S-B point though she won two games.

Player 1 lost to player 5
Player 5 lost to player 3
Player 3 lost to player 1
These three players won all their other games.
I do not know how the S-B is figured, but it is my understanding of it when the conditions I just stated happen, it is a tie in S-B no matter how many players are in a section. A perfect example of it is section 2 right under it on the page you linked Pedro.

Aganju: Why would it make you make this move? Why did it move for you and as you say what happened to the six? You obviously would have made completely different move. I have never seen the game do something like that. Perhaps there's a ghost in the machine?

happyjuggler0: I likes this revised plan of yours for the tournaments, happyjuggler0.

Aganju: Though my time controls might leave more time on the clock than you or I would use, it doesn't stop us from playing and finishing a game much faster. I try to set the time parameters for the maximums that I'll tolerate.

Another proposal for extending time on a Fischer Clock would be to allow both opponents to stop the clock if they both agreed and let either of them start it again.

happyjuggler0: This is a very good way for getting the time parameters and most of the other things about a game that you prefer. There is one thing that an accepting player can do that I do not like. He can shut off the auto-pass even though you created the game. I have never understood why Fencer set it up this way nor does he have an option to let the game creator decide to allow the auto-pass by turned off or left on.

moistfinger: OK, I have sent you the same game invitations that I sent Dice Cheater. Good luck!

Dice Cheater: I have sent you two match invites and the first paragraph of this post.

Here's a couple of 5 point matches. The time parameters are about 3 moves per week. With the maximum time set at 8 days 1 hour, the game will time out if someone doesn't move in a little over 8 days. With the Fischer Clock in use, the amount of vacation time I or you have left does not matter. The clock keeps running. I usually move everyday and sometimes all day. You and I have played before, though it has been awhile since our last encounter. I only have 11 games currently running, so you won't have to worry about me making hundreds of moves trying to keep from timing out in a multitude of games with other players. Though I like to chat while playing, I also observe radio silence. Just depends on what's happening.

If you turn off the chat feature, I will not play any more games with you. Same thing if you shut off the auto-pass if we play Backgammon.

If others would like to play with similar time controls or longer matches let me know. Though I do not play a lot of different games, I like Dark Chess, Embassy Chess, Backgammon, and a few other games that are listed in my finished games list, if you're interested. I am against what I consider slow play, but I have room for many games and certainly do not want an opponent to time out in a game. It is easy to set up the Fischer Clock as Fencer has the game invite page set up. I always wonder why more people don't take advantage of the Fischer Clock. Especially those that do not like endless games that never end. It takes awhile to get a feel for how you like the time parameters, but it works well for me. My favorite time controls that work well for my life situation and also leave me time to be on extended work assignments are these time parameters:

Initial time between 4 and 7 days
Bonus time 1 day 18 hours
Limit to time 11 days 1 hour

I could play a standard time of 30 days and vacation allowed and I'd still move nearly every day. I won't play with those time controls because I want the game to either be over or to be played.

ScarletRose: Yes, lots of fun in the old Gothic Chess discussion board. I learned some Latin back then, such as "ad hominem". :) Many emotions, different sides, and characters involved, but it has been very quiet after the whole "Bumble Affair" died down.

I still like this site for playing the games. Hard to find Dark Chess elsewhere though IYT has it, and this is the only place that has Embassy Chess. Plus there's lots of other games. I do not visit other sites as this one is enough for me, but I'm sure there's good ones out there. There's features in BrainKing that I'm sure other sites do not have, but I'm just speculating. There's plenty of things here that could be added or improved, but it works for me as is.

I remember this club being formed about ten years ago in response to some of the very things I have been reading on this discussion board lately and someone drafted me into it. I imagine that any of the players still using BrainKing might move regularly.
****** HerculesBeast *****
It was a dedicated bunch at the time and it was not a fellowship so that all members of BrainKing could join it.

I just looked at this club. It seems it is not maintained any more since 2006. Perhaps some of you that want regular or quick moving opponents without having to set short time controls might be interested in doing something similar? And this is the issue, right? Wanting fast moving opponents without setting short time control parameters? I ask this, because it is quite easy to set short time controls or use the Fischer Clock, so what else is all the complaining about? The Fischer Clock has the tremendous advantage of having the game end eventually. Its big disadvantage is when you are going to be away from the computer for many days or weeks. It'd be nice if there was a way to freeze the game while this happens, say something that would require both opponents to agree to it, and then pick up the game when you return, but we don't have that option. As for the other timing method, I know I have 45 days of vacation and weekend days off too and I could take over a year to make 2 moves in a 7 day per move game depending on when my opponent moves.

I only have 15 running games at this moment. Yes, I am a Life Rook Member and I could choose to play hundreds of games. Each of us uses the site in the manner that leads to our enjoyment. My way is different, and it'd be very presumptuous of me to say it is better than someone else's way. Each game site has certain benefits and parameters built into it that might change over time. No matter which site a person is a member of it is up to that person to use the site as he can within the workings the site owner sets up. Fairly obvious, but it seems to get lost in the arguing of what we have as compared to what we think we have. I am no fan of people that use the clock as part of their strategy for winning a game, nor those people that have hundreds or even thousands of games who are more or less forced to let the clock almost run out as they race to move before the time out occurs are aggravating to me for different reasons. So I avoid playing both of these types of clock users. I drop out of joining a tournament when I see one or more of these types of players on the list and the tournament is not timed with a Fischer Clock. Even with just these few games running I often make over one hundred moves in a day, though it is obviously not just me that must move. So if your opponents move too slow, get different opponents or stop playing and do something else.

As for what's wrong with BrainKing. It is easy to spot its decline in fun, especially for those who have much fun using the discussion boards. The creation of the Global Moderators and powers that Fencer gave them. These boards used to be very lively places of discourse and humor, but not since that happened. Stifling self-censorship has made people just not write any more, let alone moderator censorship. This is something that completely changed how I went about posting to these discussion boards. Having one of these people just delete a post of mine without any recourse or remorse. Yes, I'm chancing that with this post, but them's the breaks. With the rise of Facebook and Twitter, I imagine that the writers of us won't be coming back here to this limited audience any time soon.

I suppose the other thing is that Fencer has changed, but we all have things in our lives that change. If I had the money, I might buy the site, but then what? I do not program computers and it'd be a mess until I learned how to.

Papa Zoom: You might. I know I am tied for the least number of icon changes at zero. I am not sure if I have the longest time without one. :)

MadMonkey: Do you know that your question to Artful Dodger of them making unasked for changes and then the new things not working is exactly the one I ask of Microsoft and Facebook?!

speachless: The history of auto-pass on this site is a turbulent one, to say the least. Even Backgammon itself has had much troubles. As for admins, you mean Fencer, whose name is Filip, but goes by Fencer. I believe quite some time ago after Backgammon had been added to the site there was much discussion about adding an auto-pass feature. Somehow the members that oppose using it persuaded Fencer to allow them to turn it off even if they joined a game created with it. I do not follow their arguments for being against auto-pass in the first place, but this compromise such as it is is something I think is a major flaw in the playing of Backgammon. But it is as it is. There was once a time when Fencer stated emphatically that there would never be an auto-pass feature. This was when I stopped playing Backgammon completely about seven years ago. I started again a couple of years ago as there is now a auto-pass, flawed it may be and quite useless for the most part in matches with the double cube, but there it is.

speachless: I have had problems with auto-pass on occasion. It would just stop working in a game that both players had used it in earlier. As I play many more games in matches using the double cube, it is something that doesn't come up very often as the opponent, even with three pieces on the bar, still get sent a option to offer a double. It does come up very rarely in the Crawford Round, and in some cases where I have the double cube and my opponent still has to click the enter move button.

I would still like to have the auto-pass feature as one the cannot be shut off by your opponent or yourself if the game was created with it in use. If you don't like the auto-pass, then don't join a game that has it.

jadarite: I do not see the need for this since you can check your move before you enter it. Just make the move, look at the board, and then decide to enter the move. I rarely just click, move, enter. Maybe if the move is forced or something, other wise I check the move before I enter it as I too have been burned by clicking the wrong piece and not realizing it. If I do that, I just live with it. And I am glad we cannot ask our opponent to take the move back. Just imagine the headaches from having that option. The games with hidden information, such as Dark Chess or Battleboats would be trouble. For regular Chess, let's say you take the move back. Nah, I don't like. I grew up playing you could touch and move any piece and put it back as long as you didn't take your hand off of it and this exactly how it is done here. So don't take your hand off the piece!

Backgammon has a warning when resigning a game in match play. This is a good idea for backgammon in match play as some positions can be worth two or three times the game point. The warning will ask if you really want to resign and tell you how many game points the resignation will cost you.

This draft idea, would it mean something like a surrogate board that had the game set up and all moves, but wasn't connected to the actual game? I already use the game in progress for this, but it has the dangers we are discussing. I don't know if I see the need for it. I know some people set up a position on a real board to help them think of moves, but I just look at the screen and think of my moves, or I used to take notes and that works too.

This site is worth lots to me. I wish Fencer was more active like he was eight years ago, but it's still a great site. I too am a lot less active on this site than I was back then, but I blame that on the creation of the global moderators and some of the things that happened at the beginning of that period. In fact, it was a link by you Pedro that tricked me into ending my personal embargo of this discussion board.

Currency of Thailand.
Looks like it take 31 of them to make 1 U.S. dollar.

XE has all the currencies:
http://www.xe.com/currency/thb-thai-baht?r=1

Fencer: That's true, but I'll be glad when the message box is off my Main Page. For me, a short line is good enough to explain what's happening with the clock and time outs.

BIG BAD WOLF: I also like being told about it. I've read it and wouldn't mind just seeing a little reminder near the top of the page. If I want the whole message, I wouldn't click it.

Fencer: How about having a remove button for this message? Except that when it is clicked the information about when the clock will start running again is put to the right of our handles just to the left of the flags at the top of the page? Placed there it won't take any space that's used and it will be easy to keep track of. Just have the time for the clock re-starting without all the other text in that place after someone clicks the initial message.

King Reza: I'm thinking that editing a finished interview might change it in ways that would defeat the purpose of having the interview in the first place. As for adding questions to afinished interview, it'd be hard to say if that's a good idea or not. Maybe it's best to leave it as it is and have the deadline come. That way you can continue on with the next interview or do other things.

King Reza: There's always the option of adding questions to a finished interview, isn't there? Perhaps dating the newer ones? Or does that ruin the interview?

Ray Garrison: Hi Ray, I'm an Ultima fan myself, but you might want to put this post in the Feature Request discussion board or in the 8 × 8 Chess variants board or other Chess variants board.

I like to play faster paced games, but 1 hour games on a turn based site is not what I like. Until Fencer actually adds live play, I'm not going to play such quick games. A move or two a day with time off when needed works fine for me. The original days per with vacations allowed can be abused readily. Yeah I know, it's within the rules so it ain't abuse. What's within the rules isn't always what's meant when one plays a game though.

After the Fischer clock timing of games was added to the site, I decided to experiment with them. It's taken me awhile to get a feel for how it goes. It's just a matter of figuring out how many moves per day or week you like, starting with some amount of time, and then setting a maximum for when you might be away or a little longer. I think it works very well. It is something that takes getting used to and seeing how it works for yourself. I'm talking about periods of a day to a week with maximums from one week to three weeks. The amount of time the bonus is set for becomes the average time per move after subtracting the starting time of the clock.

whopper: Ah! Thank you. And that certainly fits what I've seen.

While I was checking the rankings of the Dark Chess ratings list I noticed a little square thing after some player's handles. When I hover the cursor over it, it will let my click it and send me to the game invitation for that player. What I don't understand is why some people have this after their handle and most people don't. Or if it looks the same for a different person viewing the same page. Or why some people have it for one game, but don't have it for a different game. I looked around the site for an answer, but I wasn't able to find out what the deal is. Is this something I can turn off or on? Does it involve the Friend's list? Where can I read about it on the information or FAQ page as I didn't find it in either place.

By the way, the "Help" page is a real nice layout. It's too bad there's no information there! Least ways on the links I clicked on I got most blank pages and no help.

CRY ME A RIVER: You lost me here saying this Action Points thing shows me who to play or avoid. I could care less how many of these points I or you may or may not get each day. Does that make me a person to avoid playing? I am one of the faster players of his games, though I don't play in hundreds of games. I think you're confusing quantity of moves with quality of moves. And certain games, if you're trying to win the game as compared to move fast, require more time and energy to make good moves. Dark Chess or Embassy Chess as compared to say Ludo, come to mind.

This is one of the reasons a few of us have requested a speed rating index for total moves in all games and for each individual game. Some type of rating so that I might find someone to play that plays at a similar speed per game. There's plenty of ways to gauge movement. If I clear, and by clear I mean move at least once in every game that I have curently going in a day, say 50 games of which it was my move in 27 of them during that day, this is some ways is equal to someone that clears every game in a day that has 1000 games going and it's their turn in 540. I try to move once a day in every game though I can't if my opponent doesn't move, and sometimes I might not move for a few days. So an average of this speed would give an indication of my average time to clear all my started games. Another type of rating could be based on the actual amount of moves made each day. IN this example I might make 100 moves and the person with 1000 games might make 1500. With these two rating facts in hand, you could easily find players who's use of BrainKing matches your own. There's other ways to rate a player's speed too. Per week, per amount of time used by the time limit of the game, elapsed time while waiting for opponent to move, and etc., etc. All could give you numbers that could help you find compatible opponents.

I also just don't worry about it much. If my opponent moves within the time frame and is playing to win with his moves alone and not using the clock, then that's fine by me. Winning on time is part of some people's strategy for winning. I avoid this type of player when I encounter them, but they are playing by the rules. Those players that have so many games and are forced into playing in this manner are also players I tend to avoid, even if the motive for playing that way is not using the clock. To me, there's more to playing a game than just the playing of the game itself.

alanback: :) I'm still chucklin'

Chicago Bulls: I'm amazed you lost five games on time outs. You've actually used up 60 vacations days in six and a half months? Perhaps you'd better buy another year's Rook membership? :)

tonyh: You'll only have to buy the six month membership once. After that your renewal will be in May or June and then you can go back to buying it yearly. This would seem to maximize how many vacation days you could receive by spreading them out over the whole year in six month allotments. When January 1st rolls around you'll get 30 days. Then you renew for a year in June and get reset to 30 days for the remainder of the year knowing the reset for the following January will get you back to 30 days again.

Fencer: Ah, so it is a joke thing. It will be interesting to see how it changes over time.

As for the news feature, it's kind of neat to be able to go to your opponent's listed country to find topics he might have an interest in while playing a game. I'm thinking I'll not often use this feature, but it doesn't hurt to have it.

Pedro Martínez: I did that as whopper suggested. As it turns out, the top game was one with you in Berolina Chess. It said News under the flag under your handle. I clicked it and it sent me to a page with articles about Czech Republic. I tried it with a different opponent and I was sent to a page with Guatamala news article.

I am curious about the links at the top of these news pages. The one called "Trice sucks" 601 link searches seemed like one to try, but when I went there it had just one article and it was about the Black Eyed Peas and DMX. What are those links for? Are these joke links, or have that many people been searching for information about the space in his head? Very vacuous I've heard and I thought an article about it might help explain it to me.

Skittles: OK, I'll try that. Now if one of my honorable opponents would be so kind as to move for me to give it a try. :)

Fencer: Where is this located on the page? I don't see it on my page, nor do I see a monitoring link.

Eriisa: 30 days seems like plenty of vacation time. Here it is mid July and I have 29 days left. What's the deal with people needing 60 in a year? I'm on vacation now and am still able to move.

As for getting more vacation days out of the yearly reset, why not get a six month membership if your year subscription ends in November or December? Then when May or June comes up six months later and whether you've used up all your vacation or not, you renew at a year long subscription. Now you'll get 30 more days and the following year in January you'll get 30 again and can have the 30 coming the following May or June.

Marfitalu: That is strange, isn't it? What about Fischer Clock games timing out?