Internet Chess Server: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Service to play, discuss, and view chess over the internet}}

An '''Internet chess server''' ('''ICS''') is an external [[Server (computing)|server]] that provides the facility to play, discuss, and view the board game of [[chess]] over the [[Internet]]. The term specifically refers to facilities for connecting players through a variety of graphical chess clients located on each user's computer.

{{For|chess on the internet broadly|Internet chess server}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}

The '''American Internet Chess Server''', commonly known as '''Internet Chess Server''' ('''ICS''') was a [[telnet]]-based [[Online chess|chess server]] which allowed users to play live chess over the internet.

== History ==

In the 1970s, one could play correspondence chess in a [[PLATO System]] program called '"chess3'". Several users used chess3 regularly; often a particular user would make several moves per day, sometimes with several games simultaneously in progress. In theory one could use chess3 to play a complete game of chess in one sitting, but chess3 was not usually used this way. PLATO was not connected to internetInternet predecessor [[ARPANET]] in any way that allowed mass use by the public, and consequently, chess3 was and still is relatively unknown to the public. In the eighties, chess [[play-by-mail game|play by email]] was still fairly novel. Latency with email was less significant than with traditional [[correspondence chess]] via paper letters. Often one could complete a dozen moves in a week. As network technology improved, public, widespread use of a centralised server for live play became a possibility.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

Michael Moore, of the [[University of Utah]], and Richard Nash recognisedrecognized the potential of an Internetinternet chess server and created its first incarnation, hosted at lark.utah.edu and accessible through [[telnet]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Harasim|first1=Linda|title=Learning Networks: A Field Guide to Teaching and Learning Online|date=1997|publisher=MIT Press|___location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|isbn=9780262082365|pages=[https://archive.org/details/learningnetworks00hara/page/299 299]|edition=3. print.|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/learningnetworks00hara/page/299}}</ref> The official opening date of the ICS was January 15, January 1992. John Chanak, William Kish, and Aaron Putnam moved the server to a host machine at [[Carnegie Mellon University]] in July 1992, and took over its operation. Although it was [[Software bug|buggy]] and suffered from [[Lag (online gaming)|lag]] problems, the server was popular among a small group of chess enthusiasts. Over time, many features were added to the ICS, such as [[Elo rating system|Elo ratings]] and support for [[Graphical user interface|graphical]] clients, and the server was made more stable.<ref>{{cite web |author=Tim Mann |title=Internet Chess Servers |url=http://www.tim-mann.org/ics.html |accessdateaccess-date=May 14, May 2013}}</ref>

In the eighties, chess [[play-by-mail game|play by email]] was still fairly novel. Latency with email was less than with traditional [[correspondence chess]] via paper letters. Often one could complete a dozen moves in a week. As network technology improved, public, widespread use of a centralised server for live play became a possibility.

In late 1992, [[Daniel Sleator]], professor of [[computer science]] at Carnegie Mellon University, took over management of the ICS. He addressed, among other issues, the frequent complaint that players would lose blitz games on time due to network lag. In 1994, he copyrighted the code, and began receiving purchase offers from companies wanting to commercialisecommercialize the server. There were questions about whether Sleator was right to claim that the ICS was his intellectual property, since he did not code the original server, although he had made substantial improvements to its code.{{citation needed|date=July 2014}}

Michael Moore, of the University of Utah, and Richard Nash recognised the potential of an Internet chess server and created its first incarnation. The official opening date of the ICS was January 15, 1992. John Chanak, William Kish, and Aaron Putnam moved the server to a host machine at [[Carnegie Mellon University]] in July 1992, and took over its operation. Although it was [[Software bug|buggy]] and suffered from [[Lag (online gaming)|lag]] problems, the server was popular among a small group of chess enthusiasts. Over time, many features were added to the ICS, such as [[Elo rating system|Elo ratings]] and support for [[Graphical user interface|graphical]] clients, and the server was made more stable.<ref>{{cite web |author=Tim Mann |title=Internet Chess Servers |url=http://www.tim-mann.org/ics.html |accessdate=May 14, 2013}}</ref>

On 1 March 1, 1995, Sleator announced his intentions to commercialisecommercialize ICS himself, renaming it the [[Internet Chess Club]], or ICC, and charging a yearly membership fee of {{US$US |49}} ({{US$US |59.95}} in 2007). This announcement was highly controversial among existing members. Many volunteers who had contributed in various ways to the flourishing of ICS were upset that anyone would attempt to profit from their efforts. Active players on the server who were used to the service being provided without charge were not pleased with the addition of the membership fee.

In late 1992, [[Daniel Sleator]], professor of [[computer science]] at Carnegie Mellon University, took over management of the ICS. He addressed, among other issues, the frequent complaint that players would lose blitz games on time due to network lag. In 1994, he copyrighted the code, and began receiving purchase offers from companies wanting to commercialise the server. There were questions about whether Sleator was right to claim that the ICS was his intellectual property, since he did not code the original server, although he had made substantial improvements to its code.{{citation needed|date=July 2014}}

A handful of programmers who had worked on the original ICS became unhappy with what they saw as the commoditization of their project. They formed the [[Free Internet Chess Server]] (FICS), and continued to allow everyone to have access to all features for free. In 1996, [[John Fanning (businessman)|John Fanning]], uncle of [[Napster]] founder [[Shawn Fanning]], started Chess.net,<ref>[{{cite web |title=a creative chess online community |url=http://www.chess.net/ Welcome to Chess|website=chess.net<!- |access-date=20 BotAugust generated title -->]2021}}</ref> a commercial Internet chess server to rival ICS. Both services remain operational today.

On March 1, 1995, Sleator announced his intentions to commercialise ICS himself, renaming it the [[Internet Chess Club]], or ICC, and charging a yearly membership fee of $US 49 ($US 59.95 in 2007). This announcement was highly controversial among existing members. Many volunteers who had contributed in various ways to the flourishing of ICS were upset that anyone would attempt to profit from their efforts. Active players on the server who were used to the service being provided without charge were not pleased with the addition of the membership fee.

A handful of programmers who had worked on the original ICS became unhappy with what they saw as the commoditization of their project. They formed the [[Free Internet Chess Server]] (FICS), and continued to allow everyone to have access to all features for free. In 1996, [[John Fanning (businessman)|John Fanning]], uncle of [[Napster]] founder [[Shawn Fanning]], started Chess.net,<ref>[http://www.chess.net/ Welcome to Chess.net<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> a commercial Internet chess server to rival ICS. Both services remain operational today.

== Protocol and access ==

The [[ICS protocol]] is a simple, [[text-based]] variant of the [[TELNET]] protocol. It is sparsely [[Documentation|documented]] and not standardised, although a few [[Reference implementation (computing)|reference implementations]] and several [[Client (computing)|clients]] exist.

In addition to standalone clients, many servers also offer [[Java Platform|Java]] interfaceswebsites that can be used directly from a [[Web browser]]. These are popular with [[Newbie|new users]] and users of public computers.

In theory, an ICS can be accessed from any TELNET client. However, almost all [[User (computing)|users]] choose to play using a graphical client, called an interface. Currently, the most popular interface is [[XBoard]] (and its [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] counterpart, [[XBoard|WinBoard]]){{Citation needed|date=August 2007}}. In recent years, however, it has lost ground to newer interfaces like [[Pychess]] and [[eboard (chess)|eboard]]{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}}.

In addition to standalone clients, many servers also offer [[Java Platform|Java]] interfaces that can be used directly from a [[Web browser]]. These are popular with [[Newbie|new users]] and users of public computers.

== Available servers ==

{{main|List of Internet chess servers}}

Over the years, several Internet chess servers have been created. The most popular are [[Chess.com]],<ref name="alexa">{{cite web|url= http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/chess.com |title= Chess.com Site Info | publisher= [[Alexa Internet]] |accessdate= 2014-02-28 }}</ref><!--Updated monthly by OKBot.--> [[Lichess|Lichess.org]], [[Internet Chess Club|ICC]], [[Playchess.com]], [[Free Internet Chess Server|FICS]], and [[Chesscube]]. Chess is also among the games previously offered by non-specialist site [[Yahoo! Games]].

== See also ==

* [[List of Internetinternet chess serversplatforms]]

* [[Chess engine]]

* [[Computer chess]]

* [[Correspondence chess server]]

* [[List of Internet chess servers]]

== References ==

{{reflistReflist}}

== External links ==

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100313150500/http://members.cox.net/cpetroff/FICS/ History of the Internet Chess Server 1992–1995], Chris Petroff

{{Chess|state=collapsed}}