This is topic Is anyone interested in correspondence chess? (Functionally complete now!) in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.
I'm thinking that for my summer web project I'll adapt a PHP class I found to add correspondence chess to princeclan.org. It would allow moves to be entered on line, and would notify each person when a move is posted. The games would be public and I'd use the forums for commentary and suggestions. Usually you do one move a day or so, although it can go faster or slower as needed.
Before I do it, I'd like to know I'll have people who would use it besides me and my dad.
So this is just a general interest check - no commitment or anything.
Dagonee
[ July 17, 2005, 11:30 PM: Message edited by: Dagonee ]
Posted by Portabello (Member # 7710) on :
Learning how to really play chess is something that I've been contemplating doing for a while.
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
I'm your huckleberry. I hope my husband doesn't consider it infidelity.
Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
I'd be interested...but I'm not much good. I know the basic rules, but thats about it.
Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
Oooh. Count me in Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I'd like to learn to play chess because I suck at it.
Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
My Dad and I used to play in our heads on long car rides, something that I got an old house mate to do with me. It seems daunting at first until you realize you're doing it anyway when there's a real board in front of you.
I still remember that kid's face. Every year he'd beat me at the provincials. I was second. Every. Single. Year. For like, a decade. I hope the kids at his school beat him up lots, the stupid nerd.
Posted by Portabello (Member # 7710) on :
quote:I'd be interested...but I'm not much good. I know the basic rules, but thats about it.
Cool. That means that there will be somebody for me to play with.
Oh! And Syn as well.
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Learning the basics is simple.
The trick is learning to think three moves ahead with those basics.
Color me potentially interested.
-Trevor
Posted by Choobak (Member # 7083) on :
I like this ! My chess club has a wonderful website with such a way to play by correspondance. Look here (sorry, it's in french)
The game play is very good. But, i am interested by your own site ! I like chess. Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lupus: I'd be interested...but I'm not much good. I know the basic rules, but thats about it.
Same here. Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Wow, do you have to ask?! I'm there! I've only played OTB chess until now, but I think I can adjust...
Btw, Choobak, since this is a chess thread, did you know about the M-Tel Masters in Sofia? (chessbase.com article) I wonder how the "no draws by agreement" rule is going to affect the games...
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
My memory, or lack thereof, precludes the ability to think 3 moves ahead. Plus I prefer suicide chess to regular. So*, really, I'm much more of a speed suicide player. Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Edit: That "So*" is starting to look veeery normal to me. I'm scared that next time I'll start a sentence with "So" in a normal letter I'll add the "*" to it... Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Actually Quid, that's a perfectly valid technique.
And it served Grant well during the American Civil War.
Not nearly as elegant, but if you can dominate the board with superior numbers you have an undeniable advantage.
-Trevor
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
quote:I still remember that kid's face. Every year he'd beat me at the provincials. I was second. Every. Single. Year. For like, a decade. I hope the kids at his school beat him up lots, the stupid nerd.
That's also adorable. I don't think you're even trying to be, either.
Posted by lem (Member # 6914) on :
I am interested in correspondence chess.
Posted by kaioshin00 (Member # 3740) on :
As am I
Posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
me too.
Posted by punwit (Member # 6388) on :
It's been years since I played but I'd consider signing up. I need to flex those atrophied chess muscles.
Posted by solo (Member # 3148) on :
I'm interested. I haven't had much opportunity to play chess in the past few years.
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
I currently play correspondence scrabble on Bugcafe.net. I don't know how to play chess yet but I'd be interested in learning.
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
I didn't know, Corwin. It's a very interesting Tournament. I'm currently following the Etienne Bacrot's performence. He let me out of voice.
Dagonee, when are you realise your site ?
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
Thanks, Trevor! Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Happy to help - but I'm not sure you'll thank me after you get drawn into the game.
-Trevor
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
oh no it's the waggling tongue...
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Gawd, I wonder if this is how a drug dealer feels...
"Pssst...watcha want? I gotchyer rooks, knights...hey, even a bishop for the right price. No, I don't carry boards...see me tomorrow, I treat you right."
"Pssst...no, it's free...try it out...just like a sample - you like it, come back and see me. Don't forget me now."
-Trevor
[ May 14, 2005, 12:56 AM: Message edited by: TMedina ]
Posted by Griffin (Member # 7166) on :
Dagonee,
I've been playing chess for years. I love the game and met my best friend there. Just e-mail me and/or post a link on a forum,
It's your move. Griffin
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Cool. I won't be working on this until summer is more in swing, but it looks like there's sufficient interest to get some good games going.
All levels are welcome. I'm not sure how good correspondance chess is for learning, since a game can take weeks, but as long as people are enjoying it I'll be happy.
Dagonee
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
FYI, I've begun this project and hope to have some tangible results this weekend.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
OK, I have the first go of this up and running. I need people to test it. It appears to allow full game play, except for not stopping you when you get to mate. Also, I'm not sure how to promote a pawn to anything but a queen - I'll have to look into the code some more to figure that out. But other non-normal moves like en passant and castling are supported.
Here's the caveat: I don't have any mechanism built for starting games - I have to go into the database to do so. What I'd like to do is get about 8 people to agree to play a game (4 games total). I'll set it up each game in the database and then game play should be obvious.
Notation is entered in expanded algebraic (e2-e4), but displayed in standard algebraic. Clicking a square will add it to the move box, so no typing is needed.
Anyone interested, please go to www.princeclan.org and create a username and password. If you made a password for the recipe site, you don't need to make another.
Add a post in here including your user name at princeclan. I'll set up the games and let you know how to get to them. If you have a preferred opponent, just make sure both of you have a username and I'll set it up as you wish. If you want, you can indicate your relative strength so I can try to match people to appropriate opponents.
Anyone else can feel free to browse under the chess menu option and look at the games. All games are public.
Please help me out if you're at all interested in chess. Once this is up, it will be very easy to run a correspondance chess club without having to set up an external board.
Thanks,
Dagonee
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Ok, I'm registered there as Corwin. Big surprise, huh? Bring it on! Oh, as for the level, I'm fairly competent, with a little bit of opening knowledge, some tactical skills and close-to-zilch strategical ones. Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
OK, Corwin, as soon as someone else ponies up, I'll set you up with a game. Thanks!
Posted by Haloed Silhouette (Member # 8062) on :
quote:Originally posted by TMedina: Learning the basics is simple.
The trick is learning to think three moves ahead with those basics.
Color me potentially interested.
-Trevor
THREE moves ahead? Think SEVEN! (I can't do more than four.)
Posted by Choobak (Member # 7083) on :
héhé ! Me too ! I'm registered this morning as Choobak évidemment. Enjoy to play !
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Corwin and Choobak, I set you up with a game. Corwin's move. Post any problems here, although I probably won't be able to get to them until tonight.
Thanks,
Dagonee
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
I've just played the first move. Seems ok. Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
I registered as Xavier.
Before you give me a game, what are the expected times per move? Ten minutes, a day, a week, whenever?
Edit: My skill level is hard to really define. I beat my friends pretty consistently, but never play anyone thats really good at chess. I have not studied any chess books or opening moves, and I would have to refresh whatever I used to know about the chess notation. So perhaps a little higher than beginner?
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
By the way, who's towerguy?
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Xavier, I think that's something to work out with the opponent, but I wouldn't expect more than 1 move per day, and many go much less frequently than that.
towerguy is my dad. He's not on Hatrack.
So we need a little higher than beginner for Xavier. MPH, I saw you registered. Are you interested?
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
I'm interested. I'm a beginner -- I can beat my 5-year-old son, but that's about it.
I'll play, but be forewarned that I'll be gone next week.
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
Not a problem for me .
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
OK, Xavier and MPH, I set up a game for you. Xav, your move.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
OK, Xavier, we've got a game going.
I'll put the game into my bookmark list that I check frequently, like hatrack. So every time I check HR or GalicticCactus, I'll check to see if it's my turn in the game.
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
Okay, moved. King's pawn .
Posted by Choobak (Member # 7083) on :
I'll play tonight, Corwin. I've got too much works here !
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
No hurry, Choobak. It's correspondence chess after all. I'm going to play volleyball this evening, so I won't be here until around 10:30 ~ 11.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
Put me out of my misery, Xavier!
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
Haha, I'm trying!
I actually have enjoyed this game a lot . I was uber-aggressive to start, as is my style, and it almost cost me big. I have to learn that a full on attack with only two power pieces developed isn't going to work!
Sorry it took me a while to move, was actually working .
Edit: Oh and its still going to take a while to mate you. You still have your queen after all.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I'm particularly interested to see what the program does when a game ends - that hasn't been tested yet. Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
I registered as....Lupus Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Choobak, whenever you're ready... My volleyball night finished earlier, 'cause the heat got the best of us it seems.
Xavier & mph: Interesting game, you guys! Xavier, you made some very nice moves out there toward the end: 20. Nxd6 and the simple but maybe not so obvious 26. Rxd8. And I don't think that you were ever in any real trouble, although mph had some better moves in the beginning. I was actually surprised by the opening and for a while I couldn't believe that such a normal way of development for black (1... e5, 2... d6, 3... Nf6) could be an error... and it isn't! The problem is black's 4th move: it should have been 4... d5 and if white captures with the bishop then there will be a simple exchange, and if he captures with the e4 pawn black has a number of good moves as 5... h6 (probably the best), 5... Bf5, 5... Bd6 or even 5... Bg4. After the latter white won't gain much by chasing the bishop with f3 and g4 so black should be ok.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lupus: I registered as....Lupus
Aren't we all creative today? Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
quote:The problem is black's 4th move:
I wasn't expecting that either! I usually don't expect my opponent to by as aggressive as I am. But I put him in check (when I wasn't planning on it) as sort of a touche' sort of move .
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
Like I said, I no nothing about chess except trying to not make any stupid movies. ("Doh! I didn't even see that my queen was in danger!")
I've made a few stupid moves in this game, no big stupid ones.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
You live, you learn, mph.
Edit: I'll probably make some annotations for the game in a couple of days, are you guys interested in seeing them posted here?
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
Of course!
Now mph, my end game is notoriously weak. Don't be surprised if I get careless and hang my queen .
But I thought you did just fine. There was a couple points where I needed to protect against a check mate sequence (when you had your queen and your knight on my right side). I was very worried until I castled. Perhaps Corwin can tell me if my fears were justified.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:You live, you learn, mph. [Smile]
Unfortunately, that's not always true. Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
Good game .
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
That's kind of you to say.
As you can see, my endgame is even weaker than the rest. Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Well, after 8. Nf7 which actually was an error, black had 8... Qh4+ 9. Ke2 Nf4+ 10. Kf1 Rg8 and white's extra pawn is compensated by a better piece activity for black. White needs to open the center so that he can attack black's king while black will try to connect his rooks by developing his queenside knight and bishop and perhaps launch an attack against white kingside.
Another line after 8... Qh4+ is 9. Kf1 but this is worse for white, as he has to defend from Ng3+ with a fork to king & rook (white can't capture with the h pawn because it leaves his rook under attack from black's queen), and at the same time find a way to rescue his f7 knight that has no more attacking perspectives.
Anyway, a better 8th move for white was 8. d4 defending his knight and not letting black activate his queen. 8. f4 is also to be considered, I'll try to analyze it later. Even better would have been 7. g4 instead of Bxh5 and now if black captures on f7 white recaptures with the knight but doesn't have to worry about any queen activation as the f6 black knight blocks its way. So: 7. g4 h6 8. Ne6 Qe7 9. Nxf8+ Rxf8 10. Bxh5 Nxh5 11. gxh5 Qh4+ 12. Kf1 or 12. Ke2 and white doesn't need to fear black's seemingly powerful attack.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
OK, it records mate right in the move. MPH, would you mind logging in and telling me if the game is asking for your move?
It's good to know it actually completed a game. Now I need to modify the program to update the status of the game to complete and post the results.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Lupus, I'll set you up with a game as soon as someone else registers, unless anyone already in wants another one.
I'm heading home, so I'll look at this again tonight.
Posted by Choobak (Member # 7083) on :
Ouin !!!! My login has been blocked !!!! why do it happen ? Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I don't know what happened, but it should be fixed now.
Of course, my site management software was originally written by someone from Germany. Maybe he's still holding a grudge about Alsace-Loraine. Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
It seems to be asking for my move.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Thanks, MPH.
I knew end of game stuff wasn't tested. I'm just glad it got through an entire game.
Can you see if it will let you move?
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Choobak, any luck getting in again?
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Well, he didn't play any move yet, so probably no luck...
Edit: Although he found the problem late yesterday and maybe didn't have the time to check Hatrack today. It's "Fete de la musique" (music holliday) today in France, he might just be out enjoying the music. Posted by Choobak (Member # 7083) on :
Sorry, but i was very very very busy (lot of work) ! I managed and play !
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
I guess as long as I am logged onto this computer, I can play. I will be using a magnetic mini board to track the play. I guess I'll go see if I used something mysterious to log in. My log in is, naturally enough, mothertree.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
No problem, Dag was just wondering if your account got back to normal. I saw you're trying a Sicilian! This should be fun! Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
mothertree, there's no need for a magnetic mini board, since Dag's website already has a board to show the moves.
Posted by Choobak (Member # 7083) on :
I hate the common e4 e5 opening. Too passive.
Now sleeping !
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
quote:Originally posted by Choobak: I hate the common e4 e5 opening. Too passive.
Hmm, I guess in "common" you don't include King's Gambit, do you? Since that one's anything but passive! Not that I would've played it anyway...
As for the sleep part, you're right, I'm off to bed too. G'night.
Posted by Choobak (Member # 7083) on :
Right, i don't include the Gambit. But i dislike e5 when i'm black. I prefer c5, d5 or e6.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
I'm not an e5 player myself, but that's because I think it gives white too many good options: Italian, Ruy, Scottish, King's Gambit... And I haven't tried the Petrov that much, but it's on my list of openings to learn. True, there's a lot to study in the Sicilian too, but the main ideas are almost the same in most of its lines: occupation of the c file and counter-attack on the queenside through b5, etc. Or maybe it's just the fact that I started by playing Sicilian?! Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Hey, Dag, you could set up a game between mothertree and Lupus, they haven't played yet. Or you could get mph and Xavier back in the mix too... And btw, I don't mind playing more than one game at a time, so if anyone else is willing to play I'd be happy to. Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
I can play again, but that day I played a move every ten minutes (or even less) was a slow day at work. Tomorrow should be different, perhaps a move every 30 mins.
I love the king's game, because I like open games. I don't think I do as well, but I have lots of fun. Perhaps next time I play white I will play Queen's pawn, cause I haven't played it in a while, and I wonder if I am still good at it (relative to what I am for king's). I admit, I mostly follow the Spanish game setup when I play black, or do d5 when white does d4.
I just haven't studied any black defenses, and it seems to work out for me reasonably well. When I first started playing, I played the Indian defenses a lot. Worked well against other beginners, but not once they got as good as me (would need to read up on them). The French defense makes me utterly claustophobic. The sicilian just looks scary to pull off! I wouldn't even know where to begin. Next time I play I'd like to try something new .
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
My Internet is down at home. I can pop into Hatrack while waiting for Westlaw to download stuff, but I can't set up games unless I get an unexpected break. I will set people up this weekend.
My dad and I are playing a French defense wherein I failed to prevent the black queen from swooping down on b2.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
OK, I added Xavier v. Corwin and mothertree v. Lupus.
My internet is down, so I haven't added any new features yet. The next new feature is an optional "notify via email" feature that will let you subscribe to be automatically notified when a move is made. This will be set for each individual game.
Next feature after that is letting people set up games. The first cut will be someone starting a game with themselves as white, and any registered user accepting. I'll move to personal challenges in a later feature. But once the first cut of the new game feature is working, you all will be able to start games yourself.
Please make suggestions on features or note any bugs. Thanks. I hope you all are enjoying this.
Dagonee
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Hehe, I just saw the games and was going to post about them!
I think the "notify via email" feature is excellent. As for other features, you could include draw handling (offering/accepting/declining) and resigning. Not that I plan to use the latter a lot! Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Corwin, I've added the notify feature. Because I didn't want to send people email without their OK, it needs to be set for each player in each game. However, I haven't written that feature yet, so for now I have to set it in the database. Since you indicated you like the idea, I went ahead and set both your games to notify. Please let me know how it works for you.
I've added draw handling and resigning to the feature list.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Thanks for setting the notification on for me. I'm quite a compulsive checker, so this way I can calm down a little bit... There have been no new moves in either of those games yet, but I'll post if it works as soon as something is played.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
The email notification has only been tested on one account, so don't rely on it exclusively until you know it's working.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Neah, I'm still checking from time to time. But I just got my first notification from my game against Choobak, so it seems it works just fine.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
How do I get it to send me email notifications?
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
You say "pretty please" to Dag! He said he's yet to make it available for each player to set it up, so he has to do it himself from the database for now. And I've just replied to your more.
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
So I guess this would be a typical "Queen's Gambit Denied" opening so far .
*is following a script*
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Xavier, you should be notified starting at Corwin's next move.
I can see I'm going to have to learn some openings to keep up with you guys.
Dagonee
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Only with colors reversed... It probably falls into one of the "Queen's Pawn Game" lines. And it's "Queen's Gambit Declined", not "Denied"! Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Ok, it's "D02, Queen's Pawn Game" according to the ECO code. I've just played a game like this on Saturday, I'll post it with the analysis I made when it diverges enough from this one. Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
I'm leaving the script with my next move. I just didn't want to lose this game because I wasn't familiar with any queen's pawn openings.
Now you I feel we've developed enough that when you beat me it will be because you are better than me Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Well, your "out of script" move sure turned this into an interesting game. I didn't want to give you the option of eventually capturing a knight on f6 and doubling my pawns, so instead I'm rushing forward with my kingside pawns... Maybe not the greatest idea, but at least it looks interesting! Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
I guess mothertree hasn't noticed the game yet.
Anyway...Dag, I found a bug. On some of the active games, if you click the arrow that brings you back to the start of the game, then the "go one move forward" arrow no longer works. However, it then works if you click on one of the links that shows the individual moves. I am using firefox when this happens.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Can you let me know which specific game it is, Lupus? I'll look at it tonight.
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
I'm really liking this game .
This move here though is key. I have it narrowed down to two moves, with both seemingly gaining me positional strength, but I need to compare the two...
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
One of the far future options I'm going to add is the ability to fork a game at a specific move to let you play out different scenarios.
Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
quote:Can you let me know which specific game it is, Lupus? I'll look at it tonight.
Right now, these are the ones that are doing it Corwin v. Choobak started 20 Jun 05 Xavier v. Corwin started 25 Jun 05 Dagonee v. towerguy started 19 Jun 05 Dagonee v. Eve started 18 Jun 05
Oh, when I say the button no longer works...you can still click it...and the page flickers like it is loading, however the move does not advance (it sticks at the first move).
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Fixed. I think. It might blow up when there's only one move in a game. So once MT starts the game, can you test it? It should just have all the buttons disabled, but it might crash. Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
Okay, I'm looking for the linky. I guess it's on page one.
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
There, I went.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Woohoo! My fix seems to have worked.
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
It seems very user friendly, Dag.
Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
It works for me now Dag.
I moved Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Thank you, MT. Do either of you want auto email notification of moves?
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
Huh, I thought it only listed one move. I'll check again. I guess I need to get my password emailed to me.
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
Nevermind, I moved. Not sure if that was the best move Posted by Choobak (Member # 7083) on :
Sorry, Corwin... I am very busy to play more than one move by day. But our party is interesting. I explore this variant of sicilian...
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
He doesn't seem to mind, Choobak. It took me almost two days to make a move this week. I probably will only be able to move once today as well (when I get home from work). That's sort of the great thing about correspondence chess .
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
No problem. Take your time. There's no need to rush it, as it's quite an interesting position and it would be a shame to waste it because of not enough time to analyze.
By the way, this Sicilian variant is one of the most played in top tournaments recently, with a lot of analysis up to move 20 or so (not that I'm familiar with the analysis, mind you). But you have deviated a while ago from the main lines. The strange thing is it has no particular ECO code, since it came to attention quite late, so it is lumped together with all the "1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4" lines...
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Xavier: Indeed I don't mind! I've never played correspondence chess before, and I'm quite thrilled to have so much time for analysis, so I won't be the one rushing others, that's for sure! Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
Dag, I would like the e-mail notifications if possible.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
OK. I'll post here when I get a chance to do it.
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
"bump"
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
OK, I added auto email notify for lupus and mothertree.
I'll be making some changes this weekend. Apologies in advance if it interferes with play. But, the only danger of lost data will be if it crashes when you submit a move. And the only data lost will be that move, plus you'll immediately know if it was saved.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I've made a couple changes:
Notify via email can be set for each game a user is playing. It's a checkbox on the "enter move" form and any change to it will be recorded when the user enters his next move. Unfortunately, there's no other way to do it right now, which means you can't change the setting while it's your opponent's move.
I also added a comments field. The comment is sent via email if notify is on and can be viewed (along with the time the move was made) by hovering the mouse cursor over a move in the move list.
I've tested it, but very likely missed something. Please let me know if you see any problems.
There's a known bug in the pop-up code that positions part of the pop-up off the screen if the move is at the very bottom. This is a bug in the pop-up library I'm using. Until I find a better library, I'm stuck with it.
Dagonee
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
Bump Sorry, my computer at work, one of our home computers, my fridge, my husband's cell phone, and my car's automatic windows all went into comas in a 48 hour span. Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
No apologies necessary - that's why it's correspondence chess.
BTW, you're not allowed near my laptop. Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
I've seen both the notification and comment options, but didn't test them yet. I'll try to check / uncheck the e-mail notification one next time I get to move. Is there anything specific that should be tested with regards to the comments? Like length of the comment, special characters or stuff like that? Anyway, I'll try to do my best to find a "random feature" (read: bug) in it! Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Special characters would be good. I think it handles them well, but more testing is good. Length would be good to test, but I'm not as worried about it.
I've been procrastinating on the new game features. I figure draw offers and resigning can be handled in comments for now as long as people remember to hover and check. Maybe I'll add a visual indicator.
Hopefully tomorrow I'll get that done.
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
I'll move now. I came online to move and 7 threads later...
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I added the feature to allow people to create their own games. Here's how it works:
1. You must be logged in to create a new game. 2. Click "Chess" in the left column. 3. Click "New Game" at the top of the main area. 4. A list of all requests for games that are still pending will be displayed (if there are any). 5. If you don't want to accept any of those challenges, or there are none, enter the color you want to play, whether you want to be notified of moves via email, and any comments. Comments can be used to ask for specific pace (every day, once a week, etc.) or a specific opponent (although this will not be enforced).
Please let me know of any problems and have fun.
Next features: Draw/resign handling.
Dagonee
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Nice! I've already issued a challenge. Hey, if I can get my behind kicked in two games, why not in three?! I've also added a comment to the challenge, just for fun, and it seems to be printed ok. Keep up the good work!
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
By the way, in "My Complete Games" the current comment is "Corwin has no active games."
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
And it's been accepted. I'll be checking in the evening and maybe some mornings (that's U.S. Eastern Daylight Time).
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Oooh, I got me a Dag! Check whenever you like, I'll parry everything! Oh... wait... you meant "check" like in "see if you moved"?! Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
That message should be fixed now.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
And it is. I've added a comment to my latest move, with special characters used in annotations. Looks ok. I've also switched from "e-mail notification" to none and back and it's been taking the modifications into account just fine.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Thanks for all the testing. It's looking decently solid right now, but it hasn't handled much load.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Ok, it has a problem with one of the following characters: @#$%^&*. People aren't very likely to use them in comments, but you never know... I managed to "delete" even the normal date & time part of the comment! I'll try the characters one by one to see which one's causing the problem.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I likely forgot to HTML Encode the comment. I'll take a look at it.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
This comment seems fixed now.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Yeap, it's ok. I've written a 70 character comment (if I counted right, that is) and it worked too. Perhaps I'll try something longer, for example a (fictional) notification that I can't make a move until bla-bla-bla, because of reasons x and y.
And I see you've found a way to notify if there's a comment for a move - good thing.
By the way, IIRC you mentioned the fact that you couldn't promote to something other than a queen, did you get that sorted out?
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Not yet. I need to send an email to the author of the library I use to process moves and figure out the syntax. If it comes up, let me know and I'll see if there's some way to finagle it.
I've never done it once outside a problem. The problems I've seen with it usually have it done to avoid stalemate or get an immediate mate.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
I've done it a couple of times in a specific opening trap, but I think that's all. So I wouldn't worry about it right now, I think draw/resign handling is more important. I just mentioned it because I remembered you talking about it, that's all.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
This is the opening trap I was talking about: 7...fxg1=N+. (the first 7 moves are at the top of the page) It's especially funny to play it over the board (rather than on the internet), 'cause you get to see the person's face when you ask someone for a spare knight! Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Good game, Corwin. I forgot about the pawn. I've made similar mistakes in two games now. I've got to focus better.
But if that pawn hadn't been there, you'd have been toast.
One thing about chess - there's no one to blame but yourself when you lose.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Thanks. This is quite a classical attack plan against a kingside castle. After h5 I was preparing a knight sacrifice on g4 (had you played h3, that is) and thus open the h-file for my queen & rook. The problem with that "sacrifice" is that it's not a forced one, my placing the knight there doesn't mean you have to take it! So the error was Ng5 after which I was able to activate the queen on my own following the bishop sacrifice and the knight check.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
For references about this "Trojan horse" (or bishop), look at these games:
My intent is to add forums where threads can be linked to particular games for exactly this kind of discussion.
The big problem was the delay in playing e4. That would have allowed me access to your queenside. I don't know if that would have sufficed to stop it, but you'd have had to spend some time dealing with it.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
You're welcome.
After a little bit more analysis I think the position was still ok for you had you played 14. e4 instead of 14. g3 and 15. e4. You could thus have launched a queenside AND center attack against my king and it would have been me ("me" or "I" ?) who had to be careful. The h2 square wasn't such a problem since you could bring in the dark square bishop for defense via f4. And at one point I might have been forced to castle kingside myself, 'cause the prospect of living my king in the open like that wasn't very appealing and a queenside castle would have been a little bit risky, since you could open the b and/or c-file with b3 and Rb1. My 9... c4 was made to clear the situation in the center so I could safely start the kingside attack, but it could easily have turned into a target for *your* attack, so I'm not sure how wise it was. I'll try to check this with a chess engine and get back to you when I have some "hard facts". Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Choobak & Xavier, are you guys still out there? Should I start worrying that you found a "perfect" plan and are now checking if it's really perfect?! Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
Lupus- I want to move but my brain is melting. I may be able to move after dinner.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Ok, Choobak's back in the game. Literally speaking.
How about you, Xavier?
Btw, Dag, you didn't tell us that your father was a club & tournament player! I started wondering about that when I saw how he handled the openings in the two games he played against you, but the real surprise was when he went "by the book" in the Sicilian Najdorf in my game! Sure makes for an interesting game though! Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
I keep forgetting to post comments with my moves. Though they will probably be weird. Maybe I'll get the man to sign up. Or possibly Wraithsword.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Hmm, this is odd. When I'm on my work computer I can see the moves with comments highlighted, but not so on my home computer. I use IE on both of them, so I have no idea what the problem is... At work those moves have a yellow background, btw.
I just checked, and the highlighting works on Firefox too - on the work computer. I have Firefox at home, I'll try to see if it works when I take my lunch break.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Ok, so I *can* see the highlighting even at home, the only problem is... it's pale yellow on my screen, so I have to really stretch my eyes! Is there anyway to let us choose the color, or to put something a little more visible?
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:Btw, Dag, you didn't tell us that your father was a club & tournament player!
Yeah, he's pretty good. I've never beaten him unless he's spotted me a piece.
quote:Ok, so I *can* see the highlighting even at home, the only problem is... it's pale yellow on my screen, so I have to really stretch my eyes! Is there anyway to let us choose the color, or to put something a little more visible?
Let me look into it next week. I'm off to a wedding today, so I won't have access (it's why I haven't started another game). towerguy may take a while getting back to your game, too.
Dagonee
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dagonee: towerguy may take a while getting back to your game, too.
I know, he posted a comment along with his last move saying that he'll be out of the town but that he'll try to check his email and move when he can, so I'm not worried.
Anyway, this situation with your father reminds me of a time when I used to play on Yahoo!Games and this guy enters my (virtual) room and wants to play. The problem is, he has only three games played, not even enough for a proper raiting. But - if there's no but why tell the story, right? - all his games are victories. So I tell myself: hey, I should give him a try, after all he might be a good player just starting to play on the Internet or having just created a new account.
Sure enough I get butchered in a Sicilian the first game (me playing black). So, for the second one I switch to the Pirc, which is quite rare among casual players. After a couple of moves he types: "Wow, I love playing against the Pirc-Ufimtev!" (the second name is the one that Russians use for that opening, probably even less known that the opening itself! I happen to know it since one of my books includes it too...) That's when I tell myself that I'm most probably at the wrong board... so I ask him if he's a club player. "Not anymore, but I used to play in a club before I became IM (International Master)." So I go on and take another beating with black, switch to white for yet another defeat, thank him for the lessons and stop playing chess for that day. After all, how many times do you bang your head trying to pass through the wall before you stop?! Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
Dag, I tried to register my daughter and it said the admin blocked the registration. Is that from not having a hatrack handle? I swear, I would only let her play me.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
quote:Originally posted by mothertree: Is that from not having a hatrack handle?
Huh, I doubt that, I don't see how those two can be related. It never asked me to have the same handle as the one on Hatrack, I just chose so. I bet it's just a bug or something...
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
quote:Originally posted by mothertree: I noticed that as well. Whazzup, meh? I guess I should post on the other thread the concept of letting someone take over your chess game. Then again, a new game could be started and the moves mimicked up to the point the other person lost interest. Unless there is a limit on the number of games that can be conducted.
(from the "Hey Xavier" thread)
Here's what Dag said earlier in this thread:
quote:One of the far future options I'm going to add is the ability to fork a game at a specific move to let you play out different scenarios.
I'm not for taking over a game*, but I see how it could be interesting to set up a game with the same first n moves as another one and go on from there. For example, I'm playing a very interesting game against Dag's dad, and there are lots of interesting lines to be explored, so if we decide that we want to have another look at one of the lines not played it would be nice to start directly from there.
*If someone isn't active for a while the game could be shifted to an "idle games" list and resumed at a later date. This way it wouldn't be in the "active games" list to bug me... Just sayin... Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
Oh, we forgot to activate it from the email. We're good to go now. So, do you want to play out the game against me? Is there a limit to how many can be played? Were you white or was Xav?
I'm having multiple stupids in my game with Lupus. I wonder if it's the 2 d format. Hopefully I'll improve with practice.
Oh, I see Xav was white. I'll wait to hear from you before I start that. Unless you want to play Xav.
I think I'm going to use the move playback buttons more in the future.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
No limit, although if people end up having lots of inactive games I'll take action.
I accepted a game w/ Lupus. His move. But I'll be playing sporadically until Wed., so no rush.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Huh, I see a game "Lupus vs towerguy", not against you, Dag. Did you accidentally start a game with your father's username?
mothertree, I'd rather wait and see what Xavier wants to do, and if he doesn't want to continue the game I'd gladly play it against you. I'll give him another two or three days, and then we'll see, ok? Btw, how old is your daughter? I see she's still at the learning phase (as are we all ).
Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
quote:Originally posted by mothertree: I'm having multiple stupids in my game with Lupus. I wonder if it's the 2 d format. Hopefully I'll improve with practice.
Ya, I couldn't quite figure out why you gave me your queen...I thought it might be a trap, but I don't see anything worth giving up a queen for that you have set up. Though, I did that when I was playing on chess live once. I parked my queen right in the path of a Knight when I wasn't paying attention.
As corwin mentioned..."towerguy" accepted my match...I guess dag must have accidentally used that name.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Yeah, he was logged on. I'll fix it in the database when I get back Tuesday night. Sorry about that.
If I make moves in the meantime, they'll be my moves under his name.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I fixed the black user assignment, Lupus, and also moved. Sorry about the mixup.
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
Sorry I have been kind of out of it. I'm hoping my life gets a lot saner starting next week. though I'll have to be careful I don't wind up spending all my extra time online Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
mothertree, I'm still unable to find out what's with Xavier's absence. I've e-mailed him to the address he uses on princeclan and also started that topic here on Hatrack and still got no response. I'll try to contact him until this weekend, and if he doesn't answer you could play the game from there. Maybe Dag will be able to help us and set the position right away, or, if not, we could play through the same moves.
If in the meantime Xavier answers and we continue playing but you have what you think is a better idea of how to play in that position we could also play it, but after I finish at least one of the other games, 'cause four active games would be quite a lot. My game against Choobak is actually heading toward an end - he can force a draw if he wants to - so if that is the case I'll let you know when it's over, ok?
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
If you want to switch users, I'll go ahead and make the change in the database. But I'd like to be sure Xavier has really abandoned the game before I do something like that. How long has it been since he responded?
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Since the first of July. And no, please don't switch users unless he says it's ok. I just wondered if you could do for example a copy of that game with mothertree as white if Xavier doesn't answer until the end of this week. And if not, mothertree and I can start another game and replay the moves, no problem there.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
OK, maybe I'll try to create the game-forking function and you two can test it for me.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
I've opened a challenge for a game, but I put myself as black, not recalling where we were with this.
Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
good game mothertree. You avoided several traps that I set...and it wouldn't have been the same gave if you had not given up your queen on move 14. I am much better at this type of chess than when you have a timer going.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Dag, my game against Choobak ended in a draw. Would you please move it to completed games?
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Corwin, was it an agreed upon draw or stalemate? I could look, I suppose, but what fun would that be?
I'll move it over today, and I'll work on draw offers over the weekend.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
It was a draw by agreement. We talked about it in this thread, that's why there's nothing in the comments on your site.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
OK. I'll set it to draw today, and then we can figure out the best mechanism for offer and acceptance.
I'm thinking type "DRAW" into the move box. If the opponent does the same thing next turn, then it's accepted. Should prevent accidental offers.
Same for resign, but with no acceptance needed.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
Huh. I just logged in and clicked on the "Chess" link, and all I got was "unknown request".
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Try it again. I didn't do anything, but it's working for me.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
OK, it's a draw now. Choobak, can you do me a favor and log in and make sure it's not asking you for a move? Thanks.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
"Unknown request."
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
OK, I'm in now.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
If it happens again, can you copy and paste the URL from the browser address bar into some code tags here?
Thanks.
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
bump
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
OK, I figured out how to promote a pawn to a non-queen piece, although I haven't test it yet. The instructions can be viewed on the new "Help" button next to the "go" button on the add move page.
Note the instructions mention how to enter draw and resign, but that functionality isn't working yet.
Also, if you are logged in, the home page of the site will tell you which games it is your move in and list any available challenges. More after Chocolate Factory. Posted by Choobak (Member # 7083) on :
Sorry, to answer so lately, Dagonee. Unfortunatelly, i can play a move...
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
So I noticed! I was just wondering what the heck happened, if you by any chance reconsidered the draw, Choobak! Phew... Posted by Choobak (Member # 7083) on :
hum, i think it was the third time we are in this position... Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
OK, I'll take a look at that today. Thanks.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Choobak and Corwin, I think I fixed it. Can you test it and make sure there program won't let add a move? It's Corwin's turn, now.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Nope, doesn't ask for a move anymore.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Woohoo! Of course, now I have no choice but to work on the resign/draw functionality.
Posted by Choobak (Member # 7083) on :
Good job ! Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Why does everything have to work so easily, huh? Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
OK, it's functionally complete now. Click Help when it's your move to see how to offer a draw, resign, or promote a pawn to a non-queen.
The draw and resign features have been tested at least twice. The pawn promotion has not.
Also, I have confirmed that three-time position, perpetual check, and move limits for draws are not enforced - only stalemate mandates a draw. It's up to players to look for other draws. Use the comments when offering a draw to tell the opponent if it's mandatory for one of these reasons.
The only rule I haven't confirmed is whether en pessant enforces it only happening immediately following a 2-square pawn move. Other than that, I think this is a complete chess game.
There may be an issue with email notifications. If anyone gets email that seems incomplete, please post it here and tell me what game and what move prompted the email.
Next feature: Fork games (start a game at any position in another game).
I'm also open to any suggestions. I've thought of making it possible to flip the board to see it from the opponent's point of view. Possibly some attached commentary to games from spectators, although that might get annoying. Also maybe a way to categorize games by opening.
All speculative, though. Let me know which features would be useful and make it more fun. But consider the chess club officially open.
Also, feel free to invite people to play. They don't have to be jatraqueros.
Dagonee
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Well, it's not my turn in any of the games, so I can't tell you how the things you've just added work, yet.
If you want to test the pawn promotion we can use the game I posted here where black promotes to a knight. You can set up a game between you and me and we'll just make those moves until the promotion and see how it works, ok?
Oh, and I think that after black promotes the pawn we can easily test the "en passant" rule too.
Some other minor things to add: - the possibility to cancel a challenge (if no one wants to accept it) - a way to download a game when it's finished; or even during the game, I don't know, it might be useful... There's the PGN format that is the standard for chess files, but you can go with a simple text file of your own format if you want. The advantage of a PGN file is that you can upload it in any chess program and replay it in there. (it's still just a text file with a special formatting) - probably you could have a help file on the main page of the chess part of the site, so that people would know how it all works? - attached commentary from spectators might be disturbing during the game. Maybe the possibility to talk about it later? I think you mentioned that you'd like to be able to do that; make it like that chessgames.com forum I showed you. You could have a "general talk" thread where we can talk about ideas, maybe give/receive some teaching, and also threads attached to each finished game in which we can talk specifically about that game.
And remember I told you about that comment highlighting not being "highlighted" enough for me? If you could look into that it would be great.
A sort of a problem I've noticed is that if you have a comment in the last move of the game, and it's just enough to go beyond the bottom of the page, a scroll bar appears. But when you scroll down to see the whole message your mouse isn't on the move anymore, so the message disappears. For an example of what I'm talking about see my game against your dad and try to see the comment on his last move. If you're careful there's not much of a problem, but it is a little bit annoying.
And I think there is indeed a length limit for the comments - I hit it with one of mine and had to simplify it. But that's alright, since we receive e-mails when the other person moves and thus we have their address and we can just send additional stuff through e-mail instead of a comment.
Anyway, I'm just throwing stuff at you here. Pick whatever you want or that seems feasible to you. Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
All good stuff. I'll sort through it this weekend and see what's feasible.
The length limit on the comment is not technically imposed, so I could up it pretty easy.
If I do export (and I likely will, eventually), I'll do it in PGN format for sure.
With the email addresses, I'm considering actually removing the sender's address and just using the site's address. I didn't think of it before, but some people aren't comfortable sharing their email address.
Cancelling a challenge is a good one.
I'll look into the comment highlighting. I'm trying to keep it from looking garish. The problem at the bottom of the screen has come up before in the recipe section. I need to look into that at some point.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Ok, Xavier's missing in action again. In his last post he said that if mothertree wants to take over, she can. So, do you, mothertree? If not, Dag, could you please file the game as a draw? 'Cause Xavier really doesn't seem interested in it anymore. (last move was more than two weeks ago, and he hasn't answered my thread for the past couple of days) And this way I can stop worrying about it and start other games too. Thanks.
Edit: And the game with your dad, Dag, is amazing! Full of complications, strange pawn structures, lots of possibilities. I just love it! Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Hmm, who's bongobongo?! I see we've got another Sicilian fan! Nice! Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Bongobongo is apparently a physicist studying "electrical characterisation of thin ferrouselectrical polymer films." I think he picked up the site from a link I posted on the Mambo (the content management system I use and wrote the game under) discussion boards. First stranger to join the club.
My dad's really enjoying the game. It confuses the heck out of me - there's so much going on.
I switched the game to mothertree, Corwin. It's her move.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Thanks for switching the game.
Is there any way to see details about a user there? Or where did you find bongobongo's job description? Cause I think my profile's actually just my login name and e-mail address. Am I missing something here?
As for the game against your dad, you're not the only one confused! There are so many lines that even with a lot of time to analyze the position it is still hard to be sure you haven't missed anything... I thought I knew what your father was going to move right now, but he chose something else and now I have to wait until I get home to test some new moves. I have at least two or three ideas, but without checking 5 or 6 moves ahead first I'm not going to commit to anything, it's way too risky. Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I googled bongobongo's actual name, which you can't see - there are perks to being the admin. The email address matches the name, so I'm sure it's the right guy.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Ok. No problem, as I said I was just wondering if I'm missing something there. Phew...
Posted by Amanecer (Member # 4068) on :
I just signed up. I went to New Games, and said I would check back every day to see when a game had been started. Am I supposed to be able to see the other pending games and sign up for them? Or does Dagonee take care of all that? Just want to make sure I'm doing it right.
Laura Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Someone will click on your game and accept it. If you selected to be notified via email, you will receive an email notification when it happens.
I don't have to be involved at all.
BTW, you can make your move before someone accepts if you are playing white.
Posted by Amanecer (Member # 4068) on :
I see it now! Thanks!
I'm not too good, so anybody who's not an expert wanna play? Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Your move.
Posted by Amanecer (Member # 4068) on :
And welcome to the club! Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Good game, Amanecer.
Posted by Amanecer (Member # 4068) on :
Corwin-
Dagonee- Thanks for playing me. I'll try and get better, so next time maybe it won't be such a slaughter. Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
If you want some tips, let me know. There are some good basic guidelines for openings that are useful to people like you and me who don't know a bunch of "book" openings.
Posted by Amanecer (Member # 4068) on :
I would love tips! I noticed that you kept your pawns in a defensive line. Is that something that I should try to do, or was it something that just worked for you in this game?
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Pawn structure is complicated and something I don't fully understand. But castling early behind three untouched pawns is a good thing in general, although there will be situations where it's not.
I sum them up this way:
1. Strive to control the center. 2. Strive to develop pieces, not pawns. This means only make pawn moves that aid development. 3. Knights before bishops (at least the knight on one side before the bishop on one side). 4. Castle early behind three untouched pawns, preferably king side. 5. Move a piece once to a good square and leave it there. 6. Don't seek to trade or trap pieces unless it lets you get ahead in development. For example, you might trade one of your lesser developed pieces for an opponent's more developed piece, or trade so that you recapture with a piece that was undeveloped (combining the capture and the development into a single play). 7. No pawn hunting (except center pawns). 8. Don't pull your queen out until it can't be threatened by a developing move.
Realize you will seldom get to do all these things - you have to pay attention to your opponent. But if you know the ideal, you can evaluate moves against that ideal to compare them. Here's a good online summary of opening tips. The first top 10 are really the key - the rest expand on these ideas.
Note how much stronger a knight is in the center than the edges. Also, not how annoying my pawns in the center (e and d files) were. You gave up the center early, and it gave me some freedom to develop in a way that threatened or hemmed in your pieces.
Dagonee
Posted by Rico (Member # 7533) on :
Oooooohhh chess!
*signs up*
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Oh, good. There's a challenge waiting for you right now. Posted by Amanecer (Member # 4068) on :
Thanks for the advice! I'll definately refer back to these tips in future games.
Rico- lol. haven't beat me enough times? jk, thanks for playing me!
Posted by Rico (Member # 7533) on :
lol!
It's always a pleasure
Come on, you can beat me!
[ July 19, 2005, 06:44 PM: Message edited by: Rico ]
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
Corwin, I just found the game that was transferred to me. (Thanks Dag) I should have time to run through it tomorrow, sorry things are a little tight for time at home.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Hey, as long as you don't take another... hmm... two weeks to move, we're ok! And of course you should take your time to get through the moves and find a plan.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
I was just thinking, Dag, that it might be interesting to have a way to exchange e-mail addresses even if you hide them when sending move notifications. I mean, there have been some interesting e-mail exchanges between me and your father, and I'd like that to be possible with others too. I don't know exactly how you could do it, perhaps an additional option that would ask the other person for the permission to sent a personal e-mail?! Hmm, I'm sure you can find a better way! Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Yeah. I considered allowing messages through the site, but that's cumbersome. I'm still considering my options.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Ok, take your time.
By the way, it seems you have a problem in the e-mail notification. The current message is: "towerguy in the game towerguy v. Corwin at :link to the game:", and before there was a "moved" between the name of the player and "in": "towerguy moved in..."
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
OK, I thought there was a problem. I'll check it out. I added notification for draws and resignations in the same function, and I might have messed it up for moves.
Looks like your game with towerguy is about to heat up even more.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Yeah, we're really going crazy there. I've got four more pawns but his activity is more than enough compensation for them. And there are some wild lines to check... I thought of starting other games, but seeing the time I spend at each move on this one I'm not sure that would be a good idea!
Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
ya...I got myself out of balance early in our game, trying to set up a rather aggressive knight fork. It is one of those things that is great when it works, but get get you off balance if it doesn't.
Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
Oh dag...Do you have "en passant" programed into your chess program (were a pawn captures a pawn that has advanced two ranks by attacking the square that it would be in if it had only gone forward one rank.
Just thought I would check...since it rarely comes up, and would be easy to forget.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Yep, it's in there.
I didn't program the actual engine for processing moves - that was freeware I used. And it handles en passant just fine.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
OK, I think I found the problem - darn PHP's lack of explicit variable declaration.
I didn't test it. Just look to see if it's fixed the next time you get an email.
Lupus, I'm not sure if you're getting emails, but Be6 was entered before the fix, and my upcoming move should have the fix in it.
Thanks for finding these things. It's a huge help.
And Lupus, I almost just really screwed the pooch and hung a piece, which would be a shame. This game is shaping up to be an interesting ending.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Wow, your father sure plays carefully, Dag! I *think* it's over for me now, but I'm not sure yet. I was expecting him to go for a check, but instead he went for a quite move that keeps all the threats from the previous position AND adds one more. I've tried looking at it every time I had a short break, and I'm still not sure that the line I played helps me survive or I'm doomed in it as well... If I remember correctly in one of the variants I allow a double check and still manage to live to tell, but I'm quite sure there are some moves I haven't seen... That is one freakishly complex game!
So, did you already test the message thing? Because I saw that your games advanced a little today. Anyway, I'll tell you if it works for me when I receive the next notification.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Yep, I tested the message thing qand it works. It was just a dumb mistake on my part.
I'll get the feature in to spawn a new game from any position and you guys can try a different line.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dagonee: I'll get the feature in to spawn a new game from any position and you guys can try a different line.
I'm not sure I really want that. It's eating all my free time! Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I streamlined the interface a little. It now only has options for active games, new game, and complete games. The active games screen is divided into your games where it's your move, your games where it's your opponents move, and all other active games. The complete games screen is divided into your complete games and all other complete games. Long term I'll add filtering to the complete game list, but I don't anticipate the list getting too long to handle for a while.
Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
ya, I'm getting the e-mails.
though, right now...clicking the pieces doesn't do anything. Thought I'm not sure if it is a browswer problem, or an issue with the latest update. I'll try my move again tomorrow.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
That's fixed now, Lupus. Edit: You caught me mid-update.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
I just saw the different possibilities for creating a game from a particular position, Dag. Can you do that even from a previous one? Meaning not from the current position, but a few moves back. And how about from a position in an already finished game? And I was also wondering: if you do a copy of a game with the same opponent, is he required to acknowledge it? Or would you have to tell him before doing it that you want to recreate the game and then you'd just select that and "Voila! You have a new game in progress!" ?
Nice job until now, by the way! Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
It's from the position you're currently viewing, so you can start a new game from any position in any game except a checkmate/stalemate position. To start a game a few moves back, just click on the move, then select the option.
I haven't decided whether the opponent should have to acknowledge it. I need to think about that. It's doable, and not too much work, but I'm not sure it's desirable. What are your thoughts?
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dagonee: I haven't decided whether the opponent should have to acknowledge it. I need to think about that. It's doable, and not too much work, but I'm not sure it's desirable. What are your thoughts?
Well, I'm not sure I want games issued in my name when I don't want to try other variants. I think it would be polite in case you want to restart from a position against a specific opponent to ask him for his permission. Not that I think anyone would abuse the function, but it seems better like this. As I said, we could also go on by just asking this through an e-mail. If you don't mind I'd like to hear what others have to say about it too before you go on with any of the solutions, ok? You have their e-mails, so you could ask them directly.
Of course, when it comes to just issuing challenges from a certain position - instead of playing against the same opponent - I don't think any special acknowledgement is needed.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Yeah, maybe I'll just remove the options for "same players" and "same players/switch sides." The only difficulty is someone accepting the challenge before your current opponent.
I plan to add targeted challenges at some date, but it was lower on the priority list. Maybe I need to move it up.
Hopefully others will weigh in.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Targeted challenges could be interesting, I guess, and a combination of this and starting from a position could solve that problem too. And there's nothing really important that's left to be done, is there? There's the "cancel challenge" thing, the highlighting* and the comment at the end of the page problem. Did I forget anything that we've talked about? And what else is on your list?
*(which isn't much of a problem in the first place; I think you can forget it, it's probably just an odd color setting on my screen, it works fine on any other one...)
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Dag, my game with your dad ended in a draw. We tried both to type "DRAW" in the comment field but it didn't move the game to completed. Could you look into that? I don't know if it's still asking your dad for a move or not... (I was the one who accepted.)
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
The person offering the draw types DRAW in the move field, not the comment field. The other person will have buttons to click to accept or not.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Yeah, I guess I didn't read that well. I'll see if your dad is still there and ask him to do that.
----
"If at first you don't succeed, look in the trash for the instructions."
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I need to clarify the instructions.
Makes for fun commentary, though. Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
See, I didn't actually *read* the instructions, I was sure that I remembered things correctly! And you're right, boldly anouncing DRAW looks nice.
P.S. I think I was stuck on that because when you play in a "normal" game you have to make a move together with your draw offer. Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I didn't actually know that. Oops.
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
I finally moved, Corwin :blush:
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Dag, I guess in a way it's like saying: "Look, I'm not gonna blunder right now!" I'm not sure if it's a problem at all here anyway. What happens if you decline a draw, by the way? Is the opponent able to resubmit a draw offer at the same move? Or is that option blocked for him?
mothertree, welcome to the game! Don't worry about not moving earlier, I had my hands full with the game against Dag's dad. It ended a draw, but it was a really crazy one. He said he'll try to analyze it and send me the results, I'll do the same and then I'll post it here for anyone to see. I wonder how many "forced wins" were there that we missed?!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~ And some advice for your games in general: when you consider a move there are certain things you always have to take into account:
*for your own move* - any available checks? These are the most forceful moves, and the threat needs to be answered immediately. Also look for these when you are defending, a well timed check can get you out of much trouble.
- does your opponent have any hanged (undefended and ready for capture) pieces? Also check if it's not really a trap! Dag's dad offered me a pawn at one point but that would have resulted in my queen being trapped with only two available squares, and the game could have ended in a draw by repetition.
- any available captures? Even defended pieces can be captured... In correspondence chess you have time to calculate even the most crazy-looking sacrifices. I'll post some lines I thought about in the game against Dag's dad - wouldn't have amounted to anything, but you never know unless you try!
- any attacks? Especially double attacks. Look for your opponent's weaknesses and see if you can couple more of them - attack them simultaneously. Queens and knights are especially "gifted" for this kind of actions.
*for your opponent's answer* - does he have any checks? Hey, it works both ways, what did you think?!
- do you have any hanged pieces that he could take advantage of? How about "capturable" pieces?
- are your weaknesses defended?
- what squares aren't covered anymore by the piece you just moved? This is very important, as players tend to see "ghost" defenses quite often - you forget that the move you just played means a certain square isn't defended anymore, you think the piece is still at its old location. This becomes more obvious when you start a long combination when playing over the board, maybe it's less obvious in correspondence chess where you can try out the moves on the board instead of in your head. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~
You are probably aware of most of these, but it's a long way until this becomes a routine. I still have my moments of blindness even on one-move "combinations".
By the way, if there's anything that is unclear feel free to ask. I'm not sure how good of a teacher I am.
Edit: Ouch, that came out waaaay longer than I expected...
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:What happens if you decline a draw, by the way? Is the opponent able to resubmit a draw offer at the same move? Or is that option blocked for him?
There's no such restriction. I'm counting on some good faith from the players. Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Hey, I'm a computer scientist: "If a program can fail, it will!"
I was just wondering how you dealt with it, that's all. Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I'm going to implement a per-player restriction on active games if it ever seems necessary. This will require allowing cancelling games after inactivity by other players.
Since I have open registration, there's no way right now I can stop someone from being a jerk, like opening 100 games or posting racist crap. But I'll lock it down if I need to.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Well, let's hope it doens't happen. Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Wow, I just gave my game against your towerguy a quick run in Chessmaster, and... - at one point early in the game I could have had a small advantage had I not decide to go for an extra piece exchange - then your dad obtained a small advantage and could have turned it into more - then I had the chance to turn the tables - and finally, I had the chance to trap his queen and gain a *real* advantage! How did I miss that?!
Anyway, toward the end it seems that the best he could hope for was a draw, there were no winning lines after all, not for him, and not for me either. And when we agreed to the draw anything else than a queen check - with the small exception of an unnecessary knight check, but continuing with queen checks - would have meant the end for him.
I can't wait to have some more free time and analyze this properly, it's definitely worth a good look! Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Targeted challenges are now available. The only limitation is that they can only be made to people who have started at least one game.
Suppose you want a rematch with towerguy, Corwin. You just make a new challenge and select towerguy from the list of opponents. towerguy will then have the option to accept or decline the game. If accepted, it starts normally. If not, the game is deleted. You are notified in either event if you enable email notification.
Two caveats: making a targeted challenge does not notify the player via email at this time.
If you don't allow yourself to be notified via email for the new game, you will never receive notification. The game will just disappear.
Other than that, it works pretty well. I'll add email notification for targeted challenges as soon as I figure out how I want to save and set up user settings.
This was an unplanned feature I put in which will allow me to leave the two options for forking games using the current players.
Dagonee
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Edit: the targeted challenge feature is working now.
[ July 23, 2005, 03:13 PM: Message edited by: Dagonee ]
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
OK, the fork game function seems to be working. It needs more testing, of course.
To fork, select how you want to issue the challenge from the drop-down list, then press the go button next to the list. The challenge will appear on the new game screen and, if it's a speific challenge, on the active game screen.
Let me know what you think. Current limitations:
1.) If the opponent is being offered the forked game, he is not notified via email of the new challenge, even if notification is turned on.
2.) The challenged person can't see the position, although the info is there for them to go see it.
3.) The challenger can't look at the list of outstanding challenges he has. Ideally, I'd like him to be able to revoke challenges that are not accepted.
But, forking is done, so have at it, if you dare. Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Some final tweaks to the challenge system. I'm going to sum up the way it works.
Challenges can be open or specific. They are created either as new or forked games.
To create a challenge for a new game, go to the New Game page. Select the color you wish to play, the opponent (which can be left "** Any Player **" to make an open challenge, and whether you wish to be notified via email. Comments may be entered as well.
To create a challenge for a forked game, go to the game and position you wish to start the new game at. This can be any position in any game (even one not your own) except a mate or stalemate position. Simply select the player setup from the drop down list at the bottom of the screen and click the "Go" button next to it. If it's your game, you can play with the same players or switch sides. You can issue an open challenge with yourself as either color whether it's your game or not.
To accept either type of challenge, go to the New Game screen and choose a challenge to accept. If the game is forked, the starting position will be displayed.
Only people who have played part of at least one game will show up in the opponents list; to play your first game you need to issue a challenge or accept an open challenge.
I also added the ability for the one who issued a challenge to delete the challenge before the challenge is accepted. Just go to the New Game screen, click on the game under "The following challenges were issued by you:", and click "Revoke Game". There's no confirmation screen, so use judiciously.
[ July 24, 2005, 09:48 PM: Message edited by: Dagonee ]
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Wow, you've certainly done a lot of stuff during the weekend! I hope I'll have the time to look through all of this soon. Posted by Choobak (Member # 7083) on :
me too !
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Thank goodness I'm a better developer than chess player. I'm about to go do in ignominious defeat to both my dad and Lupus.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Dag, is it me or are the wins & losses of a player both stacked under "wins" in the player listing screen?
And yeah, those two games don't look very well for you...
I keep saying I'm going to post some analysis for the games already completed, but I've hardly had the time to do that... Let's say I'll do it "in the near future"! I'll probably try to make it interactive, you know, asking the player where he thinks he made an error and working together for a better plan. It would be more interesting than just me posting lots of variations all over the place, what do you think? And I'd love to hear other players' in-game plans, to discuss why they worked / didn't work. Anyway, this won't happen anytime soon, as from next week I'll have limited internet access for at least two weeks...
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Yep, your right about the wins/losses thing. I'll fix it tonight.
I agree that asking for where they think they made an error would be best, but I'm betting most people will think there error was about 3 moves after it really happened. So be prepared to provide some steering. Maybe instead of identifying the actual error, look to identify what was weak about the position. Then you can look for what led to the weakness.
I'm going to try to set up a forum over there that can make a thread for each game. Maybe I'll be able to display a game and the forum on the same screen. But that's definitely a fair bit off, so feel free to post commentary here for now. I, for one, would appreciate it. For example, I know I had at least a slight edge at one point in the game against Lupus, and I didn't exploit it right at all.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Yeah, I know what you mean about spotting the actual error in a game! But we can always work our way backward: say, if someone says the mistake was on move 15, I'll ask what better did he have there, and failure to identify one usually means you have to go back at least another move. And so on.
Edit: By the way, there's another problem with the "Create new game at this position" field. The comments are partly covered if they happen to overlap it. Is there a way to make sure the comments are the topmost displayed thing?
[ July 25, 2005, 01:28 PM: Message edited by: Corwin ]
Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
I know I put myself into a weak position in the first 6 moves, trying to set up a knight fork that I had used successfully in the past (to great effect). The problem is, I tried to push it to hard, after it should have been clear that it wasn't going to work against dag. The goal was to have my bishop protect f7 from an attack from the king and then get my knight there. Dag would then have to choose btwn protecting his rook and his queen. I jacked the idea from an old chess match a while back. It has worked in the (recent) past...and once I played an opponent that had a brain fart which allowed me to take both the rook and the queen (though it wasn't correspondence chess, so there was a bit more of a time factor involved). Though, I'm worried I'll burn out if I play to much. I have been playing a crazy amount of chess lately.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Yeah, that's the point I thought I had a decent advantage. My middle game just sucks, apparantly, because that's where I blew it against Corwin (although he had a slight edge, I made two mistakes that made it almost insurmountable) and you.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:Dag, is it me or are the wins & losses of a player both stacked under "wins" in the player listing screen?
That actually wasn't the problem, but it was similar. Fixed now.
quote:By the way, there's another problem with the "Create new game at this position" field. The comments are partly covered if they happen to overlap it. Is there a way to make sure the comments are the topmost displayed thing?
Same library is the problem. This will get fixed when the scrolling problem w/ comments is fixed.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dagonee:
quote:Dag, is it me or are the wins & losses of a player both stacked under "wins" in the player listing screen?
That actually wasn't the problem, but it was similar. Fixed now.
Yeah, I realized sometime after I posted it that it was stranger than that, but decided to let it be, as I was sure you'd get it. Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Dag, on your site after you log in it won't say what your user name is anymore. You just have the "logout" button there.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I added forum software yesterday, which combines the login for both the forum and content management software. I'm still tweaking the login stuff. I added the name back.
If anyone has problems, just logout and back in again. That should fix problems, and you should only have to do it the one time. If not, let me know.
Also, I added a chess forum where we can discuss games and the like. Soon I'll be adding a direct link from any game to a dedicated thread, and later (much later) I may try to add a way to see the board while in the thread.
But for now, if you add a link to the game in the initial post, I think it will work out fine.
Now I've got to figure out if take my Dad's queen pawn or make him take my king pawn. Ah, Ruy Lopez!
Dagonee
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Hey, nice "logout" button!
Cool that you added the forum. I can't wait to have enough time to go through those games! An idea: could you put a direct link to the chess forum in the chess page? Yeah, I know, I'm lazy... :yawn:
quote:Now I've got to figure out if take my Dad's queen pawn or make him take my king pawn. Ah, Ruy Lopez!
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:An idea: could you put a direct link to the chess forum in the chess page?
Possibly. If I put the cutom link for each game, then I won't have a general link to the forum. But that may be a good stopgap until I can do so.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
I'm just saying that if not people over there won't be aware of the chess forum at all. Even if you'd put it as "news" on the home page - I have bookmarked the chess one directly. Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Ah, good point.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
OK, I made some more UI changes. These are intended to integrate the program into the overall menu structure.
The menu options should now show up on the side menu. Old bookmarks will most likely work, but should probably be updated in order to make the appropriate menu option appear to be selected.
Let me know if you notice odd behavior. I had to change links throughout the program, and it's possible I messed one up. Just let me know and I can fix it pretty easily.
Corwin, I just stupidly blew a game against towerguy. It's sooooooooooo frustrating to screw up that badly - it was totally my fault. I just had to be careful, whittle down our pieces through attrition, and I'd have won.
Dagonee
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
I saw the changes and they're ok with me. I still have the old bookmark and it doesn't appear to cause any problems.
And yeah, I saw your game against your dad. I check all the games every day. He had an interesting attack going on, but I think you could have defended it and after some piece exchanges I don't see why you wouldn't have won... I know the feeling, I've had my share of totally won games lost in one or two moves! Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Yeap, just checked it with Chessmaster. It gave a -3 evaluation had you played Kh8 instead of Re5. Basically a won game for you. Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I added a link to the chess forum at the bottom of each game.
It's going to be far harder than I thought to make a link for each game to a specific forum thread, so this will be the functionality for a while.
I added a sticky to the forum telling people how to make a link for the chess game and how to title the thread so we can tell what game it is - this should make it easier to manage.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:Yeap, just checked it with Chessmaster. It gave a -3 evaluation had you played Kh8 instead of Re5. Basically a won game for you.
Yeah. I just needed to wait out the attack - each iteration constricted the board for him a little more. Eventually he'd have to trade, and that's as good a queen side as anyone's likely to see.
Ah, well. Life goes on.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
So I'm back from my (short) holiday. I saw you posted some guidelines on the chess forum but no one took interest in it yet... Well, I will, soon! In the meantime I issued a challenge for you, I hope you're interested.
A question about the forum profiles. I had to play a little with the links to get to mine, is there any easier way to do it?
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Welcome back! I chopped out the menu links when I wrapped it in my content management system. I have to go in and add them back, which I will do at some point. But I'm moving this week and sending out 35 applications for clerkships, so that's going to be a while.
You missed two of the worst games I've played in years against Cr1spy and towerguy.
Challenge accepted.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
And we're off!
It's no rush for the forum management thing. Just wanted to let you know about it.
I've only been able to glance from time to time at the ongoing games; I'll take a look later this week to see what you are talking about and where things went wrong. I won't have internet at home for at least 10 days unfortunately, but I'm going to check things out from friends of mine quite frequently, so going on with our game won't be a problem.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
No problem - I will have limited time this week as well. As soon as we get past what I know from memory, I'll be stopping for the day. Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Hmm, what has just happened to your site? I'm logged in as Corwin but it won't let me make a move in our game... And it works slowly...
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
It is sluggish. Hopefully just traffic - it's generating pages in a tenth of a second or so, so processing time is OK.
When you say won't let you, do you mean it doesn't show the form or gives an error when you click "go"?
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
It was acting as if I weren't logged in: no form, no nothing. Now it seems to work out fine.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Strange. Let me know if it happens again. Could be a problem with the forum user functions.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Oh, I forgot to tell you: it was showing my username and the "Logout" button, but it just didn't seem to realize that I was actually signed in. And yeah, I'll let you know if it happens again.
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
I'm sorry I've been such a bum (chess wise) I've had family coming and going all month.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
No problem. I've started two other games against Dag and towerguy and I think they'll keep me pretty in form. Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Dag, I was wondering what's with this:
quote:This game was forked at move /white from the game between marian v. Fardo that was started on 16 Aug 05.
It's the text associated to a challenge by "marian". I think marian forked it before the first move and probably that's why it shows the "move /white" thing?!
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I thought I already replied to this. Guess I hit "Go" instead.
I'm assuming the code I put in to determine if a game can be forked doesn't check correctly for no moves being present. I'll fix that this weekend. I'm starting to get requests for the program from other web sites. I'll be publishing next week.
Meanwhile, I need to think more about the next move, so it will be a while.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
quote:I'm assuming the code I put in to determine if a game can be forked doesn't check correctly for no moves being present. I'll fix that this weekend.
"If something can go wrong, it will."
quote:I'm starting to get requests for the program from other web sites. I'll be publishing next week.
I also see we've got some new players around. It's turning into quite a nice place to play!
Understood for the next move. I'm just about to leave work so no net for me until tomorrow morning anyway.
Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
one thing I noticed in my game with towerguy, if you click on squares planning on making a move...but then change your mind there is no way to unhighlight them. You can change your move by erasing the notation in the move box, and then click on new squares on the board, but the old squares stay highlighted as well. It doesn't prevent a move or anything, it just looks funny.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Lupus, I want to change that some day, but that one is low priority. Ideally, I'd like to move the images around so you could see the board updated before clicking "Go." That's a really low priority. Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Dag, I have a non-chess related question: what's with the PrinceClan email? Do you get one when you register on the site, or do you have to ask for one? I'm just curious, don't need another email.
Edit: Oh, and a chess related thing: you have "numbers" for the piece images, you might consider hiding them so as not to see them when I hover over the piece. Not very disturbing for me - heck, some time ago when I programmed a chess game I used the same method, so I know what it's all about -, but someone who has no idea what they're for might wonder about it.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I get a certain number of 100MB email accounts with the hosting plan I use. I set them up for my family, but the webmail url is hard to remember. So I just added a login to the site. Eventually I'll tie it to the login for the site, and then I'll hide the link from people who don't have accounts.
The site was primarily designed to just be a family site (I first set it up for my wedding), but the recipes and chess ideas caught my interest so I went with them. I've got to lay out a plan for the whole site. I want to change the gallery software, set up a file management system for downloads, and start getting content up. I have an idea for a series of "so you're going to law school" articles that might be useful.
I need to leave the hover tooltips in for accessibility reasons - I'm trying to stay XHTML-transitional compliant. I'll change them to piece names eventually, which at least will make a little sense.
The code for board display is freeware, so I haven't done too much with it.
I would never have let the program out of my old company in the shape it's in, but now that I've regained my ameteur status, I'm more comfortable getting it up and running before it's totally refined.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Ok, thanks for the answers.
Edit: Oh, and what happens if you try to play an illegal move? I haven't tried it... yet... Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
It stops you. Doesn't tell you why, though.
Give it a try. Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Drat. I will next time it's my move in one of my games.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Well, you shouldn't make such unanticipated moves that make me think you're up to something sneaky I can't see if you don't want to wait for the next move. Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Sneaky?! Moi? Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Hmm, I tried to play an illegal move against your dad and it said that his previous move wasn't legal in that position! And while the move squares aren't highlighted anymore the text field still contains the illegal move coordinates.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Huh. Would you look at that.
This list is getting long.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Hey, Choobak & mothertree, what's up? No mood for playing? Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Dag, if I'd want to post this "chess" story on your forum, should it go under "chess" or "general"?
And also, where are you finding all those people?! I see we're becoming more and more international, with an Italian and a Dutch as newest additions! Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
By the way, I fixed the previous move showing up when an invalid move is entered, but I had to revert back to long algebraic notation ("e2-e4"). The chess engine only converts to standard algebraic after it processes the move.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:And also, where are you finding all those people?! I see we're becoming more and more international, with an Italian and a Dutch as newest additions!
I published the program at a site for Mambo, the CMS system it's written for. People are trying it out before downloading.
It's pretty cool, no? We've had a pretty international flavor from the beginning, considering you, Choobak, and bongobongo.
quote:Dag, if I'd want to post this "chess" story on your forum, should it go under "chess" or "general"?
I'd post a link to it in the chess program and quote the first few paragraphs.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Edit: Was in response to your previous post, not the last one!
Good to hear it. Btw, Fardo playing the King's Gambit against you really scares me! I'll wait and see how he handles it until the end, but I'm quite sure I'll never answer his 1. e4 with 1... e5...
On the other hand, his Sicilian looks... unorthodox, to say the least... Hmm...
:reminds himself not to judge chess skills too early:
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I accepted. I've never actually played this before. Should be interesting. Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
I think I only played it once with the white pieces - that's since I really became involved with chess. It's the main reason I usually refrain from answering e4 with e5, but at one point I know I'll have to bite the bullet and see at least a couple of lines as well as some usual traps... Work, work, work... Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Hmm, our game's getting either interesting or drawish... I think I'll take some time to consider the next move, probably take it home after work and analyze a bit. Your last two moves (16... Nh6 and 17... d5) really got in my way there, but I'm not ready to give up my attacking ambitions just yet!
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
There's an awful lot going on there. If I miscounted tempo, it will end quickly and badly. If I didn't, there's a lot of play left.
Take your time.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I added an export feature at the bottom of each move list. It should be standard PGN format with comments included, but I don't have any program for checking the format. Both complete and noncomplete games have the export feature.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Ok, I'll try to test the export function sometimes next week. I have a program that can view PGNs, but it's at home and since I have no net there yet I'll need to transfer the files with a USB key.
And I moved in our game. Gotta love the position! Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Dang... I just blew it against your dad, Dag; didn't see a simple two-move combination that wins him a bishop. And I have zero counter-play to show for it. Oh well...
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
OK, I've uploaded a set of files that will allow internationalization. It looks like we'll get Italian, Dutch, French, and Rommanian versions at some point.
I am really liking being part of an open source community. The recipe system I wrote has already been taken and improved (it's being used on a Greek site), and the chess program is getting some serious downloads from around the world.
Pretty cool. Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
I've seen the posts on your forum. Don't know for sure when I'll have the time to do the translation, sometimes in the next two weeks hopefully, but I *will* do them!
Oh, and I have a request. I saw somebody named "Chess" posted something about my game against towerguy. Went in there but realized in time that it's the *current* game (said Corwin vs towerguy, not the other way around) and didn't read anything in it. Could you ask that person to modify the title to include the starting date, or do that yourself? Thanks.
And I'm glad your components are spreading like that! Good work with them! Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Hehe, went in there, covered Chess's post with my hand and read yours. Thanks. Btw, do you intend to link threads to games since the beginning of the game? Seeing that you said you encourage things like that now (commenting on a game in progress), I think that's the normal thing to do.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I added the date and left him a note to explain why. I recommend going in to give your thoughts when you're done with this game.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
BTW, I decided to try a Sicilian against Sean. He pushed d4, and I didn't even study that line.
Still, I'm liking the pawn structure so far. Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:Btw, do you intend to link threads to games since the beginning of the game? Seeing that you said you encourage things like that now (commenting on a game in progress), I think that's the normal thing to do.
I need to figure out how to do that. It will be tricky because of the way the forum software works.
My intention is to somehow place the link right below the game.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dagonee: I added the date and left him a note to explain why. I recommend going in to give your thoughts when you're done with this game.
Sure, I will do that.
quote:Originally posted by Dagonee:
quote:Btw, do you intend to link threads to games since the beginning of the game? Seeing that you said you encourage things like that now (commenting on a game in progress), I think that's the normal thing to do.
I need to figure out how to do that. It will be tricky because of the way the forum software works.
My intention is to somehow place the link right below the game.
Well, you have a better idea than me about how things work, that's for sure! So do your best and hopefully the solution will be satisfactory for all of us!
quote:Originally posted by Dagonee: BTW, I decided to try a Sicilian against Sean. He pushed d4, and I didn't even study that line.
Still, I'm liking the pawn structure so far.
Hehe, tricky little guy, isn't he? That's why playing the Sicilian is a problem: there are quite a few "anti-Sicilian" lines. The 2. d4 one is called the Smith-Morra Gambit (or Morra-Matulovici, depends where you're from ), but it isn't known as an especially effective opening. Of course at our level that doesn't mean much, does it?! If you're interested, you could take a look into some of the main lines on chessgames.com after the game.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
For those who posted about being interested on the first pages of the thread, what's up? Where did you go? Dag's really managed to give us something good there, you might want to check it out. Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Thanks for the plug.
Your friend Qndronic just beat me. I keep screwing up analyzing tactical situations.
I think have a forced win against Fardo, and I'm liking my position against Sean, but both are lagging on their moves.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
You're welcome. I've seen so many that seemed interested and then never showed up... Maybe because of the holidays?
Yeah, I saw the game against Qndronic. His tactics were quite similar to what I used with black against you, if you remember. You need to get your pieces out there a little faster, otherwise you'll have no counter-attack and just be a sitting duck. An idea would have been 9...dxc4 in order to force him to move his light square bishop again (either to capture on c4 or to keep it on the diagonal), followed perhaps by c5 to really open the center and the long diagonals for your bishops. For example that could lead to Bxc3+ from your part if he would play dxc5, thus messing with his pawn structure a little bit.
As for the other two games, I pretty much agree with you, you look the better in both. Hope you manage to get them to a good end. Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
I wonder if this works... I'm gonna put a link to the chessgames opening explorer up to where it still finds games with moves from your game against Qndronic. Usually the opening explorer is set to allow only a shallow depth search from non-premium users, so I'm not sure if you're going to be able to see this properly. It's supposed to show until black's 8th move.
Edit: Ok, so I logged out from chessgames and it lets me see the position but I can't search games with that position or go any further into the opening. So this are the games that had that position after the 8th move: chessgames database games.
There are more games in the chessbase database, but you'll have to go there and search yourself, as I can't link to the search results. I've seen some in which h6 is played at some point, and if white plays Ng5 you're not obliged to capture, and you're not going to lose a pawn on h7 since you moved it. So you can leave his attack like it is and start throwing pawns at white's center instead.
[ September 15, 2005, 09:30 AM: Message edited by: Corwin ]
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Thought I'd bump this to invite any chess players who haven't moseyed over to www.princeclan.org to give it a try. Play is as slow as you need, and there are some very good players on the board. There's also quite a few of us not so good players. It's good competition, good learning experience, and pretty low pressure. Plus, it's easy to use.
You have to register to play, but it's fairly easy to jump into once you do. Just Click "Chess".
Edit: Oh, and hi, Miro! I didn't see your note until after I posted. Maybe I need to fix it to make the last comment more visible.
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But, i am interested by your own site !![[Angst]](graemlins/angst.gif)
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.![[Cry]](graemlins/cry.gif)
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I started wondering about that when I saw how he handled the openings in the two games he played against you, but the real surprise was when he went "by the book" in the Sicilian Najdorf in my game! ![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
Sure makes for an interesting game though! ![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)
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I'll see if your dad is still there and ask him to do that.![[Wall Bash]](graemlins/wallbash.gif)
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